ACTING

Dionysus Tragedy developed from

religious festivals
honoring Dionysus, the
god of wine and the
grape vine.

These festivals
celebrated Dionysus as
the sacrificial bleeding
god who is slaughtered
and then is magically
reborn.
Thespis
In 534 BC, Thespis stepped out of the chorus (the nucleus from
which tragedy developed) and began to act out the story
being told. Thus, narrative (telling a story) became drama
(enacting a story) for the first time.
Thespis
The term for this first actor was “protagonist.”
The name of this first actor, Thespis, of course,
is where we get the term “thespian.”

According to some legends, Thespis became a

ghost upon his death and continues to haunt
dramatic productions, imparting lessons of
humility to actors and directors.
A Definition of Acting
• Actors select physical and emotional responses in the search
for selected behavior pertinent to a character’s needs within
the given circumstances of the play.
What is acting?
• Acting is the truthfulness and technique by
which actors bring human presence onto the
stage.
• Theatre is the art human beings make out of
themselves
• “[L]iving truthfully in imagined
circumstances” (Sanford Meisner)
• “[A]n everlasting search for truth”
(Laurence Olivier)
• Foundation of acting: search for truthful
behavior
Denis Diderot and the
Paradox of the Actor
• Denis Diderot, best
known for his
Encyclopedia, defined
the paradox of the
actor. He said that, in
order for an actor to
seem natural, he must
act artificial.
Three Bases of Acting
• Physical imitation
• Emotional recall
• Textual understanding
The Goals of an Actor
• To tell the character’s circumstances in play
truthfully and effectively.
• “Circumstances” are conditions of world of
play:
• Time
• Place
• Surroundings
• Other characters
• To attune him or herself to the reality of the
play
Stage vs. Film Acting
• Stage acting relies on an • Film acting is a more
exaggeration of voice, subtle art, often relying
reaction and gesture in on physical responses
order to be seen by the that cannot be seen on
audience. stage.
• Stage acting is done in • Films are almost never
continuity, and thus the shot in sequence, and
stage actor maintains a the time it takes to set
certain flow, which helps up shots insures a
with concentration. lengthy wait between
scenes. Film actors have
to maintain focus despite
this.
Stage vs. Film Acting
• Stage acting does not
allow for retakes. As
they say, the show must
go on.
• Stage acting is in front of
an audience, which
allows the actor to feed
off the energy of the
audience, assuming that
the performance is well-
received.
• Film acting affords actors
the opportunity to shoot
a scene more than once.
• Film acting does not
have the energy of an
audience to affect the
performance. Often the
crew, while present, do
not pay attention to the
actors much because
they are paying attention
to their own job.
Stage vs. Film Acting
• Stage acting often • Film acting depends
allows actors a on actors hitting a
greater range of particular mark and
movement, which is being able to deliver
lines in the midst of
ironic given the camera, microphones
limitation of the and crew (all the
stage itself. while pretending
they don’t exist).
Mimetic vs. Anti-mimetic
Acting
• While acting strives to
create truth, not all
actors create
performances that
seem realistic.
Mimetic acting is when
actors strive to create
characters who are like
“real” people.
Mimetic vs. Anti-mimetic
Acting
• Anti-mimetic acting is
when actors create
performances that
don’t remind us of the
people around us.
• This is a choice of
acting style; it is not a
matter of being a good
actor.
External vs. Internal Technique
• External technique is • Internal technique is
the traditional generally a twentieth
approach to acting. century approach to
acting.
• It involves working
• Internal technique
from the outside – in. involves working
As an actor once from the inside – out.
said, “I build the The actor attempts to
house first, then live become the
in it.” character.
External Technique: Mimetic
Acting
• Technical, “outside in” approach:
• Actor observes and studies human behavior.
• Naturalistic
• David Garrick:
• 18th century British actor
• Approached acting as imitation of life
• Prepared for role of King Lear by observing friend who had been
driven mad by child’s death
• Felt that actor should not feel the emotions being portrayed
• Aims to recreate authentic human behavior
Internal Belief: “Realistic”
Acting
• Aims to build authentic response to world of play from
subjective emotional responses
• Actor works from “inside out”:
• Searches for emotional impulses from personal experience
• Transfers these to portrayal of character
• Uta Hagen as Nina in Chekhov’s The Seagull:
• Used awe of fellow actors as basis for similar feelings experienced
by her character
• Stanislavski’s “Method”
Stanislavski’s Method
• Konstantin Stanislavski
(1863-1938) is
generally credited with
inventing the internal
technique.
• His “Method
Acting” is one of the
most popular
approaches to internal
technique.
Method Acting
• Method actors first attempt to enter the world
of the play or film by learning as much as
possible about that world.
• They then study the text (the script).
• They practice emotional recall.
• They use the “magic if.” NOT: If I were Kane,
what would I do? BUT: If I(being Kane) were in a
situation like this, how would I respond?
Preparing the Role:
Stanislavski’s “Method”
• Psychotechnique:
• Set of exercises designed to help actor call on personal feelings
and experiences
• Actors learned to experience what their characters
experienced as if it were happening to them:
• “The magic ‘if’” (e.g., “If I were in Othello’s situation,
what would I do?”)
Preparing the Role:
Stanislavski’s “Method”
• “Emotional recall” (or “affective memory”):
• Process by which actor creates reality of emotions
• Effort to remember circumstances surrounding a past emotional
event to stimulate emotions that could be used onstage (Lee
Strasberg)
• Psychophysical actions:
• Reframing of concept of emotional recall
• Physical action as means of triggering emotional memory
Trends in Training American
Actors
• Sanford Meisner’s Foundations:
• Derived from “Method”
• “The reality of doing”:
• Instinct and imagination
• Practical Aesthetics (David Mamet and William H. Macy):
• Combined stoicism with “Method”
• Focused on those things in actor’s control:
• Voice, body, concentration, script analysis
• Process of making acting tools habitual to free the actor to live
truthfully and fully within the play’s circumstances
Misc. Acting Terms
• Casting Call: A call for actors for a particular film
• Audition: A tryout for actors
• Screen Test: An on film audition
• SAG: Screen Actors Guild, the union for film
actors
• AEA: Actors Equity Association, the union for
professional live theater actors
• Instrument: The body and voice of the actor