Transference

A transference is the process of finding identification with aspects of a character's life and experiences by using people, places, and things from your own life.

This process is easier said than done. The process of finding these transferences is another example of what Hagen called "Self-stretching exercises".

What things do we need to find transferences for?

We need transferences to find identification with all aspects of the character's past and present, to substantiate our faith in the time and place of the opera, detailed surroundings, the circumstances that the character finds themselves living in, as well as endowing the relationships within the opera.

Most singers may do one or two transferences here and there, not realizing the scope and breadth of the work that will create a living human being onstage. All of the previous ideas should start the work for any singing-actor.

The secondary reason for transferences is to discover the BEHAVIOR of the character, justifying it while alerting you to EVERY circumstance, to EVERY inanimate object that stimulates you to act, to do something consequential about what you feel and want.

All the thoughts and ideas you have MEAN NOTHING until you put them INTO action. Remember that TO ACT is TO DO. This is a major point to always remember when you are in the midst of creating a character.

It is these NEW ACTIONS that will reveal the new you - the character.

This work is HIGHLY PERSONAL and it should light the fires of your own creativity and exploration. If something doesn't work for you as a transference - find something else. The reason is that if YOU don't believe it, how do you expect the audience to believe it as well?

Nothing should exist in the world of the opera to you IN GENERAL. Why? Because NOTHING in your OWN LIFE exists in general. You know your relationship to everything in your life - your clothing, your relationships, your locations, etc. etc. This was all discovered in the Destination exercise.

Also remember that finding the transference is NOT a means in itself. The application of the transference is the important reason we find them in the first place. If you carry around a mental picture of your boyfriend/girlfriend in a scene that you're playing with a lover and not finding the behavior that the image inspires in you - then the transference has not served you.

Remember that when you perform an action to another character onstage, you are putting the action or behavior ONTO the other person or object, NOT to your original source. That's where most errors can be made - the singing-actor carries around the image, doing homework onstage, and losing the relationship to the characters and objects onstage.

You also MUST GUARD AGAINST SHARING YOUR TRANSFERENCES WITH THE OTHERS IN YOUR SHOW.

Why?

Because if you share what you're using, the other singing-actor onstage will be judging the effectiveness of what you're using, rather than having a genuine give-and-take with you onstage. He/she will be an OBSERVER to your work, rather than a participant in it. If you do share the source of your transferences, you will negate their use in your work by making you self-conscious of them until they become useless.

Start now to build the warehouse of transferences that you can use in any and every opera you ever perform. I find it's useful to keep a private spiral-bound notebook of sources that I can refer to when performing in an opera.

Best of luck!