Building a Character: Rumpelstiltskin
Written by: Megan Belanger "The Flying Clown"
The beautiful thing about creativity is that everyone goes about it differently. Certain details that we encounter can inspire, whether that's hearing a song or watching another performer, or maybe we see something in our minds when we close our eyes and say "That's IT!". It's a combination of art and physics, thought and magic, and no two people are going to have the same process when it comes to building...well, anything! I've only been performing for a few years, but this is what my brain seems to like to do when it comes time to create a character.
If I know that an upcoming show has a theme, that's always helpful. And once I know that, I find that usually one of three things kicks the character creation in motion. In no particular order:
1. Visual inspiration
2. Music
3. Story
Visual inspiration - Sometimes from the get-go, an image of a character that fits that theme will pop into my mind, but it's still a little fuzzy - just a flicker of an idea. If I want to flesh out that visual, I might go to Google and image-search certain keywords or ideas and see if I can find an inspiration picture or two (or many!). If that happens, the creative process tends to get set in motion, and then my mind starts honing in on costuming. I want to really SEE the character in my mind before I can have an idea of what I'm going to do with them. This is what happened with the Dandy character for the Let Them Eat Cake show. I knew once I heard the theme that I wanted to be a futzy, sassy, sashaying man all dressed up in period garb, but it didn't feel very solidified at first. Only when I saw this picture of Alan Cummings in costume was I like "YES! That's HIM!" and then it all took off from there and I started thinking about music and story after that.
Music - In addition to finding inspirational pictures, music is huge, and sometimes a song will be the catalyst that leads the whole thing. For my "Insane" act for the Deity show, I didn't have any visuals in mind, but I liked the spunk of the song so much that the character grew out of that. If I have a visual of a character but not sure about what music to use yet, I'll comb through Spotify until I hear something that hits the spot, that just FEELS like the character would want to move to that song or combination on songs, and I also think about what music might energize the audience. And then I'll practice moving to that music as I feel the character would - not even necessarily on the apparatus yet, but just dancing and walking.
Story - Sometimes it's the story that I want to tell that leads the charge. My first-ever performance told a story of someone working too hard in the rat race who had to remember how to play and have adventure again, and the character and music followed after that. Rumplestiltskin from the GRIMM show is another example of a very story-driven character. It took re-familiarizing myself with the original Grimm story and thinking of a way to tell that story on stage in a few words and a short amount of time, through a character that fit the theme but still felt like it fit me as a performer.
When it makes sense, I also try to find a mood shift for the character within the act. The Dandy had a moment where he went from being braggadocious and all about the money to being a little bit sexy. Rumpelstiltskin started out as mainly good-natured and likable, but once the miller‘s daughter asked him to do more work, he became more of a greedy little asshole. Some of the best performances and competition pieces I have seen have a character arc to them, and they can really be powerful or simply help amp up the mood and give the audience something new to watch or consider.
As time has gone on, I realize that many of my characters tend to be of a similar flavor - typically a saucy, sassy, impish troublemaker, but I try to vary the ways in which that comes across in the music and the movements and facial expressions. I’m usually smirking a lot, though! Something I strive to improve on is my ability to portray different types of characters and to widen my range of expression.
One thing that I always do is break the fourth wall. I've always liked that concept of having the audience be part of the story. They are in on the jokes, there is not a barrier between them and me, and I want them to feel immersed in the music and the energy and the story, so I like for the character, whoever they are, to acknowledge that the audience is part of it all from the beginning.
Whatever the character, I always have SO much fun creating them, getting to know them and how they behave and move, and then having the chance to portray them in front of an audience. I'm really grateful to places like studioXpresents that have allowed me to tap into this goofy, theater-kid part of myself and have supported me and other budding aerial and pole artists who have a desire to create amongst a community. We all have different creative processes, but I've seen firsthand the undeniable magic that happens when we all gather and bring our characters together on stage!