Acting and Directing

Главы из книги Р.В. Болеславского «Пики вниз: Меж огней в Москве» (1932) = Chapters from "Lances Down: Between the Fires in Moscow"(Garden City Publishing, 1932)
Публ., перевод, вступит. статья, подбор иллюстраций и коммент.
С.Д. Черкасского

Впервые переведенные на русский главы книги Болеславского рассказывают об актерах Первой студии МХТ, об их десятидневном затворничестве в здании Студии на Тверской (тогда Скобелевской) площади в разгар уличных боев конца октября – начала ноября 1917 года.
Здесь же воспоминания о жизни Художественного театра 1910-х годов, зарисовки театрального быта, описание репетиционного процесса, портреты мхатовских корифеев – К.С. Станиславского, В.И. Немировича-Данченко, В.И. Качалова, а также А.А. Стаховича, С.М. Волконского; на страницах книги действуют Б.М. Сушкевич, Н.Н. Бромлей, В.С. Смышляев, С.Г. Бирман, Л.И. Дейкун, Г.М. Хмара, А.М. Жилинский, В.В. Соловьева и др. Многие из фактов, сообщаемых Болеславским, оказываются новыми для отечественного театроведения.

Именно эти главы (восемь из двадцати восьми, составляющих полный текст книги) и представлены в настоящей публикации с соответствующими комментариями, вписывающими беллетризованный рассказ Болеславского в историю российского театра.

This book deals with one of the most important sources of the Stanislavsky System - Yoga, its practice and philosophy. Sergei Tcherkasski carefully collects records on Yoga in Stanislavsky's writings from different periods and discusses hidden references which are not explained by Stanislavsky himself due to the censorship in his day. Vivid examples of Yoga based training from the rehearsal practice of the Moscow Art Theatre and many of Stanislavsky's studios (the First Studio in 1910s, the Second Studio and Opera Studio of the Bolshoi Theatre in 1920s, Opera-Dramatic Studio in 1930s) are provided.

The focus of Tcherkasski's research consists of a comparative reading of the Stanislavsky System and Yogi Ramacharaka's books, which were a main source for Stanislavsky. Accordingly, Tcherkasski analyzes elements of the System based on Yoga principles. Among them are:
-  relaxation of muscles (muscular release),
-  communication and prana,
-  emission of rays and reception of rays,
-  beaming of aura,
-  sending of prana,
-  attention,
-  visualizations (mental images).
Special attention is paid to the idea of the superconscious in Yoga, and in Ramacharaka's and Stanislavsky's theories.

Tcherkasski's wide-ranging analysis has resulted in new and intriguing discoveries about the Russian master. Furthermore, he reveals the extent to which Stanislavsky anticipated modern discoveries in neurobiology and cognitive science.

In this book Tcherkasski acts as a researcher, historian, theatre director, and experienced acting teacher. He argues that some forty per cent of basic exercises in any Stanislavsky based actor training program of today are rooted in Yoga. Actors, teachers, and students will find it interesting to discover that they are following in the footsteps of Yoga in their everyday Stanislavsky based training and rehearsals.

Resumo:
Os autores propõem uma reflexão sobre uma atuação cênica viva e presente, sem bloqueios, de acordo com a perspectiva do encenador britânico Declan Donnellan. Para isso, discutem aspectos que frequentemente implicam o bloqueio do ator bem como evidenciam fatores indispensáveis para que este consiga sustentar uma atuação viva e presente. Como resultado, os autores apresentam uma reflexão com características filosóficas e práticas, convocando o ator a compreender a natureza de uma atuação cênica viva segundo as “escolhas incômodas” e o “alvo” de Declan Donnellan.

Palavras-chave: Atitude Cênica. Atuação Cênica Viva. Declan Donnellan. Presença.

Abstract:
This text is an expanded study of the British director Declan Donnellan’s ideas on acting. Those ideas are about problems that can damage acting, ‘uncomfortable choices’ the actor needs to make as well as a strategy with which the actor can see things and react. Then, the actor should be familiar with some philosophical and practical principles concerning acting. Afterwards, he needs to develop some skills and by using the “target” to train some ways of reacting, in order to not to feel blocked in his acting.

Keywords: Acting. Attitude. Declan Donnellan. Presence.

Link Original do Artigo: https://www.eba.ufmg.br/lamparina/index.php/revista/article/view/181

Script Analysis for Theatre: Tools for Interpretation, Collaboration and Production provides theatre students and emerging theatre artists with the tools, skills and a shared language to analyze play scripts, communicate about them, and collaborate with others on stage productions. Based largely on concepts derived from Stanislavski's system of acting and method acting, the book focuses on action - what characters do to each other in specific circumstances, times, and places - as the engine of every play. From this foundation, readers will learn to distinguish the big picture of a script, dissect and 'score' smaller units and moment-to-moment action, and create individualized blueprints from which to collaborate on shaping the action in production from their perspectives as actors, directors, and designers.

Script Analysis for Theatre offers a practical approach to script analysis for theatre production and is grounded in case studies of a range of the most studied plays, including Sophocles' Oedipus the King, Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, Georg Büchner's Woyzeck, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, and Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive, among others. Readers will develop the real-life skills professional theatre artists use to design, rehearse, and produce plays.

Reviews

“Script Analysis for Theatre provides excellent techniques developed over a lifetime of work with actors, directors, designers, in the classroom and on stage. The book is seasoned, smart and practical, equipping students with an essential toolbox for engaging with scripts.” –Jim Volz, Professor of Theatre History at California State University at Fullerton, USA

“I am deeply impressed by the precise way in which it fuses a broad theoretical understanding of drama with the practical analysis of texts, and have little but praise for it. I am very familiar with the range of existing script analysis texts, and this is one of the few I would consider assigning in full to an undergraduate script analysis class.” –Art Borreca, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Department of Theatre Arts, University of Iowa, USA

Integrative Performance serves a crucial need of 21st-century performers by providing a transdisciplinary approach to training. Its radical new take on performance practice is designed for a climate that increasingly requires fully rounded artists. The book critiques and interrogates key current practices and offers a proven alternative to the idea that rigorous and effective training must separate the disciplines into discrete categories of acting, singing, and dance.

The myth that musical theatre actors cannot act is alive and well. Director, musician and lecturer Dr Zachary Dunbar asserts that the industry frequently chooses between actors who cannot sing or singers who cannot act (2016, 71). Popular blogger WestEndProducer purports that the musical theatre ‘twirley’ is often considered as a jack of all trades but a master of none (2017). In conservatoire style training, could traditional triple-threat skill-focused courses include more holistic educative approaches that integrate the three disciplines of acting, singing and dancing and, longer-term, contribute to dispelling the aforementioned myth? Whilst this question cannot be answered without the passing of time, contemporary conservatoire-based training seems to be moving in the right direction with classes in scene-to-song and acting-through-song. In a new Musical Theatre course at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), we have also adopted several other integratory me...

Stephen Berkoff’s one-act play Lunch was first presented in Greece by Persona Theatre Company at Dipylon Theatre in Athens in February-March 2005, sponsored by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture.

A man and a woman meet on an unnamed beach, exchanging experiences and emotions about a life that they gradually ask to live through each other. Berkoff’s violently versatile language captures the ultimate mental and psychological alienation of people today. Written with a biting sense of humor combined with tenderness and cynicism, it is the contemporary existential play par excellence.

Directions for Directing. Theatre and Method, a new textbook for directing methodology, by Avra Sidiropoulou, is now featured in the ground-breaking Routledge Performance Archive.

An integral part of Directions for Directing, this extensive web component contains interviews, master classes and video workshops by inspirational directors, actors, set and lighting designers, choreographers, and directing students, from the U.S., the U.K, Greece, Japan, Denmark, Spain and New Zealand.

From the introduction to "The Existential Actor: Life and Death, Onstage and Off." In the book I look at approaches to the art, craft, and training of actors beginning with Aristotle, through Diderot, Talma, Delsarte, Stanislavski, and on to Brecht, Strasberg, Meisner, Grotowski, Overlie, and more. I explore these many attempts to codify the actor's process and find my own synthesis in four elements: shape, action, transaction, and surrender. The underlying theoretical framework derives from existential philosophy and psychology, and especially the work of Ernest Becker who held that, in theatrical terms, the primary "action" of every human being is the construction and defense of a project of identity and meaning.

Only in the world of acting can an individual be denied a job simply on the basis of their appearance, and in my thesis, I sought to explore alternatives to this through the concept of nontraditional casting and casting against “type”, which included the presentation of a full-length production of the musical “Once on this Island” which I attempted to cast based on vocal quality and skill alone rather than taking physical characteristics into account. I researched the history and implementation of nontraditional casting, both in regards to race and other factors such as gender, socio-economic status, and disability. I also considered the legal and intellectual property challenges that nontraditional casting can pose. I concluded from this research that while nontraditional casting is only one solution to the problem, it still has a great deal of potential to create diversity in theater. For my own show, I held the initial auditions via audio recording, though the callback auditions were held in person so that I and my crew could appraise dance and acting ability. Though there were many challenges with our cast after this initial round of auditions, we were able to solidify our cast and continue through the rehearsal process. All things said, the show was very successful. It is my hope that those who were a part of the show, either as part of the production or the audience, are inspired to challenge the concept of typecasting in contemporary theater.

In Dancer in the Dark (2000), Icelandic popstar Björk portrays the main character of Selma. Lars von Trier, the director, described his film as an exercise in emotionally manipulating the audience. Drawing on Philip Auslander's concept of the "musical persona", this study argues that the decision to cast a popstar, in combination with the structure of the film, serves von Trier's purpose of intensifying the film's manipulative potential, by evoking an impression of shocking realism or authenticity. This study furthermore places the presentation of the filmic character in conversation with Björk's popstar status, critical reception of the film, as well as reception of her performance within it. Extending Auslander's concept of persona through a transmedial approach provides new perspectives on Björk's performance, Dancer's polarized reception, and analytical models for performers' public reception.

Part of Palgrave's Approaches to Adaptation in Theatre and Performance series, this book theorizes auteur Robert Lepage’s scenography-based approach to adapting canonical texts. Lepage’s technique is defined here as ‘scenographic dramaturgy’, a process and product that de-privileges dramatic text and relies instead on evocative, visual performance and intercultural collaboration to re-envision extant plays and operas. Following a detailed analysis of Lepage’s adaptive process and its place in the continuum of scenic writing and auteur theatre, this book features four case studies charting the role of Lepage’s scenographic dramaturgy in re-‘writing’ extant texts, including Shakespeare’s Tempest on Huron-Wendat territory, Stravinsky’s Nightingale in a twenty-seven ton pool, and Wagner’s Ring cycle via the infamous, sixteen-million-dollar Metropolitan Opera production. The final case study offers the first interrogation of Lepage’s twenty-first century ‘auto-adaptations’ of his own seminal texts, The Dragons’ Trilogy and Needles & Opium. Though aimed at academic readers, this book will also appeal to practitioners given its focus on performance-making, adaptation and intercultural collaboration.

Amaç, aynı zamanda ‘istek’, ‘yönelim’, ‘niyet’, ‘ihtiyaç’ olarak da adlandırılan; oyuncunun, oynadığı karakterin isteklerini belirlemesi ve bu istekleri içselleştirme veya kişiselleştirme yoluyla benimsemesine dayalı bir oyunculuk tekniğidir. Amaç tekniği, Konstantin Stanislavski tarafından geliştirilmiş olan Sistem’de ortaya konmuş; ve Metot Oyunculuğu tarafından geliştirilmiştir. Amaç tekniği, oyuncunun duygularını dıştan içe bir yolla harekete geçirmesine dayalı fiziksel eylemler yönteminin temel tekniklerinden biridir. Amaç tekniği, günümüzde de, oyunculuk öğrencilerine öğretilen ana ve vazgeçilmez oyunculuk tekniklerinden biridir. Bu makalede, amaç tekniğinin incelenmesi amaçlanmaktadır.

Advice to the Players
Peter Hall, Shakespeare and Antipathy to the Method

Paper for the John Barton & Peter Hall memorial conference, British Shakespeare association/Kingston Shakespeare Seminar. Presented 8/9/18 at the Rose Theatre, Kingston.

У нас в стране принято делить сегодняшнюю театральную культуру на представителей как бы трех временных слоев: те, кто начал свою деятельность в 1960-е годы и наполнил ее идеями надежды, связанными с тем временем, «хрущевской оттепелью»; те, кто начал свою деятельность в 1970-е годы; и те, кто начал свою деятельность в 1980-е годы. Эти три слоя существенно определяют сегодня театральную жизнь в этой стране.

The term ‘fragging’ originated during the Vietnam War to describe the killing of an incompetent or unpopular commanding officer. An equivalent phenomenon can occur when the cast of a production loses confidence in the director. The director is ‘fragged’ and the cast members either ignore, or explicitly refuse to obey her/him for the remainder of the process. This paper will examine the power dynamics that arise between actors and directors – in particular when they go wrong. How is authority assigned and accepted in the rehearsal process? What factors confirm or erode the actors’ trust in a director?
As Simon Shepherd puts it: “[the director] is under obligation to possess certain skills and to be able to relate to others in a particular way. […] By agreeing to be observed and led, the directed allow the director to have existence.”  Thus it is the actors who endow the director with her/his authority and are, therefore, in a position to withdraw it if necessary.

By exploring the actor/director power dynamic, this paper will shed light on the actor’s psychological journey through the process of rehearsal to performance.

[Originally presented at the Australasian Drama Studies Association Conference, Sydney, Australia, 2015]

This article aims to define and discuss the concept of inclusive theatre-making, from a theoretical, methodological and practical standpoint. Moving from previous research on accessible filmmaking, participatory accessibility and accessibility as a human right, the article proposes a paradigmatic shift from the somewhat privative notion of accessibility to the more comprehensive and equalitarian concept of inclusion. Drawing from drama studies, behavioural psychology and inclusive design theory, the article offers a set of key notions to be further defined and to be applied to the analysis of instances of inclusive theatremaking across Europe and beyond.

Directions for Directing: Theatre and Method. Routledge, 2019.

Directions for Directing: Theatre and Method lays out contemporary concepts of directing practice and examines specific techniques of approaching scripts, actors, and the stage. Addressed to both young and experienced directors but also to the broader community of theatre practitioners, scholars, and dedicated theatre goers, the book sheds light on the director’s multiplicity of roles throughout the life of a play – from the moment of its conception to opening night – and explores the director’s processes of inspiration, interpretation, communication, and leadership. From organizing auditions and making casting choices to decoding complex dramaturgical texts and motivating actors, Directions for Directing offers practical advice and features detailed workbook sections on how to navigate such a fascinating discipline. A companion website explores the work of international practitioners of different backgrounds who operate within various institutions, companies, and budgets, providing readers with a wide range of perspectives and methodologies.

Performance/Art explores the phenomenology of skilled performance, ranging from athletics to the performing arts, including musical performance, dance and acting. Gallagher reviews a variety of studies concerning different degrees of mindful awareness operative in performance, and builds on the model of meshed architecture, suggesting ways to make it more complex and dynamic. He draws on ideas from enactivist embodied cognition and also explicates the notion of an empathic mindfulness in performance. He develops the concept of a double attunement to explain aesthetic experience in performance.

Nesta tese, discuto algumas especificidades da atuação de Charles Chaplin, sobretudo a partir do campo dos Estudos Atorais, os estudos da atuação no cinema. As especificidades abordadas se relacionam a três questões: autoria, modelos de atuação e atuação corporal. No primeiro capítulo, comento algumas características mais amplas do cinema de Chaplin, que não dizem respeito exatamente à sua atuação, mas que considero relevantes para a compreensão de alguns de seus elementos fundamentais. Inicialmente, discuto um ponto significativo do seu cinema: o seu posicionamento contrário ao cinema sonoro/falado, mais exatamente, contrário às falas no (seu) cinema. Esse aspecto é relevante, pois, ao defender seu ponto de vista, Chaplin destaca alguns elementos importantes de sua atuação, uma atuação corporal, em pantomima. Nesse capítulo, abordo como o posicionamento de Chaplin apareceu em falas ou textos seus e como esse posicionamento se manifestou de fato em suas obras. Também trago algumas discussões de outros pensadores, principalmente os da chamada tradição formativa, uma vez que as suas ideias, semelhantes às de Chaplin, podem ajudar a explicar melhor o posicionamento desse cineasta. Ainda nesse capítulo, trato da relação de Chaplin com a comédia produzida no seu tempo, o slapstick/burlesco, e dou destaque ao tema do corpo burlesco. Por fim, comento a mistura de comédia e melodrama nos filmes de Chaplin, que pode ser considerada mais uma das especificidades do seu cinema e que se relaciona à presença do pathos em sua obra, tema que também comento. No segundo capítulo, inicialmente, apresento o campo dos estudos atorais e algumas especificidades do ator de cinema. A seguir, abordo a questão da autoria na atuação. Discuto a teoria do ator-autor, proposta por McGilligan (1975), que defende que alguns atores de cinema podem exercer atividades autorais. A partir dessa noção, procuro apresentar e comentar o programa gestual de Chaplin, refletindo sobre a possibilidade de se caracterizá-lo como ator-autor. Também comento uma possível caracterização dele como personagem-autor,
proposta por Guimarães (2012a; 2012c). No terceiro capítulo, discuto dois modelos de atuação, o de Stanislavski e o de Brecht. Desenvolvo algumas considerações de Guimarães (2012a) de que Chaplin pode ser vinculado a ambos os modelos, o que levaria a uma definição desse ator como stanislavsko-brechtiano. No quarto capítulo, abordo mais de perto a atuação corporal de Chaplin. Essa atuação é dividida em três partes: gesto, dança e rosto. Tanto com relação ao gesto quanto com relação ao rosto, trago duas vertentes teóricas distintas, em certos sentidos, opostas. Nas discussões de gesto e rosto, por um lado, pode ser destacada a transmissão de uma interioridade do ator, de um sentimento, de uma ideia; por outro lado, gesto e rosto podem ser valorizados por si próprios, em sua exterioridade, em sua materialidade. Como mencionado, nesse capítulo, discuto ainda a presença da dança na atuação de Chaplin. O que diferenciaria dança de gesto/rosto é que ela se vincularia mais diretamente a apenas uma das vertentes, a da exterioridade. Na dança, o elemento fundamental seria a própria dança, em sua materialidade, em seu aspecto formal.

Στο άρθρο επιχειρείται μία αποτίμηση της προσφοράς του Σ.Α. Ευαγγελάτου και του Αμφιθεάτρου στο σημαντικό πεδίο της παίδευσης νέων ανθρώπων στη θεατρική τέχνη και πράξη. Συγκεκριμένα γίνεται αναφορά στη διαδικασία ανάδειξης και καλλιτεχνικής διαμόρφωσης των ηθοποιών που συνεργάστηκαν με το Αμφιθέατρο, μέσα από τη δημιουργία της παράστασης και τη συλλογική δουλειά του θιάσου, με εστίαση κυρίως στα στοιχεία νεωτερισμού που εισήγαγε ο Σπύρος Α. Ευαγγελάτος στη θεατρική έκφραση. Επίσης περιγράφεται η συμβολή του στη διαμόρφωση καλλιτεχνών μέσα από το Εργαστήρι Υποκριτικής Τέχνης για το Θέατρο και την Όπερα, το οποίο αποτέλεσε τη συνέχεια της παράδοσης που είχε ήδη δημιουργήσει το Αμφιθέατρο μέχρι την περίοδο 1989-92 κατά την οποία λειτούργησε υπό τη διεύθυνση της Λήδας Τασοπούλου.