Acting

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Chapter 14

• Acting

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Acting

• Actor as the only theatre artist that the
  audience normally sees
• Actors function to embody character
• Living presence of actor as most essential
  element of audiences experience
• Actors as among the few artists whose basic means
  of expression cannot be separated from themselves

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Acting

• Acting as extension of everyday behavior
• Acting skill as mixture of 3 basic ingredients
• Innate Ability
• Training
• Practice

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Acting

• Innate Ability or Talent usually not enough in
  itself
• Training is vital
• nurturing and development
• extensive training
• Practice
• repeated application in performance

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The Actors Training and Means

• The Actors Instrument
• Body
• Voice
• Imagination
• Concentration
• Psychological responsiveness

• Flexible
• Disciplined
• Expressive

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The Actors Training and Means

• The Actors Instrument
• Actors may also pursue training in dancing,
  fencing, singing, and other skills

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The Actors Training and Means

• Observation
• Human beings learn about each other in large part
  through observation
• Observed behavior may be drawn on in creating
  convincing characterizations

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The Actors Training and Means

• Imagination
• Imagination helps actors to feel their way into
  the lives of others and into fictional situations
• Begin with given circumstances who, what, when,
  where of the characters situation

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The Actors Training and Means

• Concentration
• Concentration the ability to immerse oneself in
  the situation and to shut out all distractions
• Helps actors to make each moment seem as if it
  were happening for the first time

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Stage Vocabulary

• Routine tasks have been reduced to a set of
  conventions that actors are expected to know
• Functions like stage shorthand

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Stage Vocabulary
Upstage
Centerstage
UR
UC
UL
Stage Right
Stage Left
C
R
L
DR
DL
DC
left and right from actors perspective
Downstage
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Stage Vocabulary

• Other stage vocabulary refers to
• Body Positions
• Full front
• One-quarter
• One-half or profile
• Three-quarter
• Full back

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Stage Vocabulary

• Open up turn slightly more toward audience
• Give stage one actor gives dominant stage
  position to another by facing away from audience
  more than other actor
• Focus look at or turn towards a person or
  object in order to direct attention there
• Dress the stage move to balance the stage
  picture

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Scene Study

• Close attention given to dramatic action and how
  it develops
• Units or beats scenes are broken down into
  small increments, based on alterations in
  character motivation, changes in tactics, or
  external changes

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From Training to Performing

• Prior to 20th century, actors learned primarily
  on the job
• Current training occurs in colleges,
  universities, and actor-training studios

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Creating a Role

• Most essential aspects of role
• What character wants
• What character is willing to do to get it

• These aspects define the spine of the role
• Actor examines relationships between his/her
  character and others

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Creating a Role

• Actor needs to understand plays themes,
  meanings, overall significance
• Actor needs to examine his/her role in relation
  to directors interpretation

How does the script function in creating a role?
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Psychological and Emotional Preparation

• Actor must be able to project himself or herself
  imaginatively into characters feelings and
  motivations
• Emotion Memory searching ones own past for a
  parallel situation, recalling emotion felt, and
  using that emotion in present scene
• Improvisation, theatre games, and research may
  also aid the actors preparation

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Movement, Gesture, Business

• Determined in conjunction with the director
  during the rehearsal process
• Physical Characterization in 3 steps
• Consideration of physical traits required by role
• Assessment of which physical traits should
  dominate in any given unit/beat
• Working for distinctiveness through greater
  specificity
• Judged by appropriateness, clarity,
  expressiveness, distinctiveness

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Movement, Gesture, Business

• Actors pursue various methods of movement
  training, designed to eliminate points of
  tension, to build physical skills, and to improve
  expressiveness

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Vocal Characterization

• Variable factors in voice
• Pitch
• Volume
• Quality
• Variable factors in speech
• Articulation production of sounds
• Duration length of time assigned to any sound
• Inflection rising and falling pitch
• Projection audibility

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Memorization and Line Readings

• Actor often memorizes speeches and movements
  simultaneously
• Actor must memorize own lines and cues the
  words and actions of others that immediately
  precede and trigger his/her lines
• Actor colors understanding of lines through
  controllable factors of voice and speech line
  readings

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Refining a Role

• Time spent on deepening ones understanding of
  motivations and relationships
• Complex business, precise timing, pacing, and
  variety are also addressed

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Dress Rehearsals and Performance

• Actors work with all properties, settings,
  costumes, makeup, and stage lighting work in
  actual performance space