How to cry on cue in a play

Have you ever had to cry on stage for an audition or play? Here's how to reproduce real tears on cue.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• A memory of something very sad to use for "emotional recall."

1. Familiarize yourself with the material as much as possible. You'll need to decide just when, why and how you will make the tears appear.
2. Make up a "back story" for your character, containing information not given in the play. For example, you are playing a recently widowed woman, and although the scene does not call for the scene of your husband's death, you "remember" exactly how he died, and how you reacted.
3. This is the most difficult part, and causes some actors so much pain that they do not want to go further. Here it is: place yourself in a moment in your own life when you broke down crying, either from happiness or sorrow, whatever works best for you. Really remember: the place, the smells, the feel of your body as it tensed, the way other people were reacting. Actually relive the moment. This is referred to as "sense memory."
4. Practice over and over until you can actually use this memory to cry on cue when you must. The most important thing to remember is that controlled sorrow is much more convincing than hysterical sobbing. As you begin to put yourself into your private "sense memory", gradually allow the emotion to overtake you. When your eyes begin to fill with tears, blink and allow one or two tears to run down your cheek. At that point, keep on remembering the pain, but try to pull back, to control your emotion. It's painful, but once you're successful the first time, you'll know how to perform this most difficult of acting assignments.

Tips & Warnings

• Watch old movies that zoomed into closeups of the heroine crying. You'll be able to observe how you might look when performing.
• Remember: never lose control on stage! Even when the character is out of control, YOU must always be in control. An out of control actor is dangerous to the other actors, because they have no idea what may happen, causing them to lose concentration. As Shakespeare wrote: "The play' s the thing."