98 Character Questions

If you're an author or an actor, then you must know the importance of getting to know your character(s).
Character research and development is the aspect of writing and acting that I think I love the most - it's like creating a whole new person; and you get to decide everything about them! However, this is sometimes hard to do, so I've created a list of 98 things that can define your character(s), whether to write or play. I've used this list so many times myself, and it's really helped. (Plus, I think it's kinda fun!)

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. Birth Name

2. Current Full Name

3. Gender

4. Age

5. Birthday

6. Zodiac

7. Nationality

8. Class As Child

9. Class As Adult

10. Hometown

11. Current Residence

12. Occupation

13. Income

14. Name Origin/Meaning 

15.Nickname(s)

16.Title(s)

17. Element

18. Personality Type 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

19. Height

20. Weight

21. Eye Colour

22. Hair Colour

23. Hair Length

24. Hair Style (Casual)

25. Hair Style (Formal)

26. Skin Colour

27. Face Shape

28. Distinguishing Features (Scars/Piercings/Tattoos/etc)

29. Clothing Style

30. Makeup (Casual)

31. Makeup (Formal)

32. Typical Outfit

33. Accessories

34. Health/Disabilities


INTERPERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

35. Mother

Relationship 

36. Father

Relationship

37. Sibling(s)
Relationship

38. Pet(s)

39. Best Friend
Relationship

40. Friends

41. Acquaintances

42. Enemies

43. Loyalties

44. Groups And Rankings

45. Spouse/Partner
Relationship

46. Grandparents 

Relationship

47. Other Relatives

48. Love Interests


EDUCATION/WORK

49. Place(s) Of Education

50. Graduating Year(s)

51. Intelligence Level

52. Known Languages

53. Savvies

54. Ineptities

55. Average Grade

56. Degree(s)

57. Study Habits

58. Occupation(s) And Rank(s)

59. Character Zoom #1

60. Character Zoom #2

61. Character Zoom #3
(Character Zooms are when you take your character and zoom in on an interesting/complex relationship they have with another character, so you can go into more detail. I find that doing 3 is the perfect amount, but of course you can do more/less/none.)


EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

62. Virtues

63. Vices

64. Short-Term Objective(s)

65. Long-Term Objective(s)

66. Priorities

67. Motivation(s)

68. Accomplishments

69. Failures

70. Self-Confidence

71. Traumas

72. Most Valued Possession

73. Introvert/Extrovert

74. Emotional/Logical

75. Optimist/Pessimist

76. Religion


COMBAT FEATURES

77. Strengths

78. Weaknesses


VOCAL CHARACTERISTICS

79. Accent

80. Laughter

81. Pitch Of Voice

82. Volume Of Voice


STORY FEATURES

83. Archetype

84. First Appearance 

85. Key Scenes

86. Defining Moment

87. Personal Development

88. Social Development

89. Physical Development
(The Development questions mean from the beginning of the story to the end of it; how have they grown/changed?)

OTHER CHARACTERISTICS

90. Favourite Colour

91. Favourite Country

92. Favourite Place

93. Hobbies


BIOGRAPHY (This is where it gets real deep. Spare no details!)

94. Infancy (Age 1-3)

95. Childhood (Age 4-10)

96. Adolescence (Age 11-18)

97. Adulthood (Age 19-54)

98. Seniority (Age 55+)

Consensual - A Review

On Friday, I had the pleasure of seeing Consensual by Evan Placey at the Nuffield Theatre. Here is my spoiler-free review of it.

Imagine a play that starts with a giant penis being drawn on the wall, then ends with you in tears and squirming uncomfortably in your seat. Doesn't seem possible, right? Well it is with Consensual, performed by Nuffield Youth Theatre.

The story is one of lies, betrayal, consent, and social issues. There are moments of hilarity, directly interspersed with those of horror and sadness. The director, Max Lindsay, used naturalism mainly, perfectly unified with sections of Frantic-Assembly-style symbolic physical theatre. The actors (who were all superb, by the way) used chalk to draw the 'set' on the floor of the stage, a dynamic approach which produced pacy and exciting breaks between scenes. Although the theatre was small, this heightened the feelings of discomfort when the artistic intentions were as such, and intensified the moments of heartbreak for both the actors and the audience.
At the lighter points of the play, it is set in a classroom filled with rowdy children. Anyone who's ever been in a class full of teenagers can relate to this scenario, and it was the type of setting where every audience member could point at a character and identify someone like that in their own lives. The actors painted almost caricature-like characters, but it didn't feel for a moment forced or overly dramatic (if you can be overly dramatic during a play). The plot flowed easily and despite it's complexity, was followed to the letter by everyone in the audience.

As well as being stimulating visually and emotionally, the play poses many hard questions about consent, maturity, and "quite who is doing the leading astray" (Fiona Mountford, for the Evening Standard). As an audience member, you are left to deliberate which character is in the wrong, if any of them are.

As an actor, to force an audience to like you and hate you and empathise with you all at the same time is exceedingly difficult. This, however, was achieved by both main characters; Laurie McNamara as the then-15-year-old schoolboy Freddie, and Evelyn Blackwell as Diane, the schoolteacher who 'led astray' Freddie (or did she?). Being an actor myself, I realise the talent that this requires, and appreciate it when I see it. The audience's emotions are further manipulated consciously by the twists and turns in the plot, and unconsciously by the exquisite physical theatre that cohesively force them into caring for these characters and their situation, whilst questioning the characters' morality and therefore their own.

In my opinion, it was a masterpiece. I encourage anyone who has the chance to see it done by anyone to do so, and also to see anything else that Nuffield Youth Theatre perform in the future. I've added Consensual to my bucket list of plays I want to do before I die!