Re: Book Review: An Actor's Work

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Book Review

Staniewski and Hodges Hidden Territories. Jessica Smith

Staniewski believes that sound and musicality are the fundamental
principles needed within life. He believes that we as a generation and
European nation have lost our sense of sound within our soul and have
'became to be more and more deaf'. This is meant in a direct sense; in
that we literally cannot hear as there is a 'direct, indispensible
relation between what you see and what you hear', and we have come to rely
too much on what we see. Additionally, he is also referring to our inner
lives stating that we do not hear the same harmonies, sounds and
polyphonies as 'ancient people' heard, with our ancestors being able to
hear the microtones within sound which are fundamental for music and
antiquity. He says that the problem he faces as a practitioner is in
'developing visual perception while audio perception is reduced' as he
believes the two are strongly linked together with 'equality between time
and space'.

Furthermore, Staniewski worked on developing harmonies as a technique
using the physical body to encourage the inner harmonies out of one's
soul. He used movement when rehearsing with his performers such as,
jumping and moving from side to side in order to direct the pitch level
and tone of the sound being produced. Thus, this encouraged the performer
to follow the physicality with their voice to produce the desired harmony.
Staniewski wanted to extract the sound from the inner body thus, training
his performers to listen to their inner bodies in order to reach the sound
they required. He developed this technique using the flute and playing a
sound on the flute that the performer would have to imitate exactly,
moreover, re-creating a sound with their body that was created by an
instrument. This required intense focus and concentration into oneself in
order to express such a sound and thus, the performer had to listen deeply
from within. Additionally, Staniewski used movement to encourage his
performers to listen to their inner sounds of their body with physicality
leading to musicality.

Furthermore, this is apparent in the work we have been studying as we
always begin by working or developing something physically before adding
sound thus, the sound is developed from our inner body as an impulse
reaction to our physical movement. In addition we have always been
encouraged to use sound and voice throughout our classes as well as
movement filling the space with life and sound creatively and naturally as
a way of energising the space and each other thus, listening to one
another and developing our audio perception.

Furthermore, Staniewski is working to create a 'way of inventing
sound...bringing them back to our practise and our memory' as he believes
we have lost the art of hearing which is connected with the 'invisible
organ', being the soul. In addition, he believes that our creativity and
imagination depends on the depth of our souls which become more open
through our 'channels of absorbing sounds'.

vanessa hunt

Jacques Lecoq is one of the most influential theorists and teachers of physical theatre. Published in France in 1987 'The Theatre of Movement and Gesture' is the first English language translation of his book 'Le Theatre du Geste'. The book sets out his philosophy of the human movement and the manner in which it takes expressive form in a wide range of different performance traditions such as the history of pantomime and the Commedia del'arte. His ideologies challenge a different pathway to Stanislavski as Lecoq emphasized physical movement, mime and the use of non-text based acting style. An important part of Lecoq's method, which he focuses a lot of attention to, is the definition of mime and the components of it. He also discusses the explosion of physical theatre in the second half of the twentieth century.

Lecoq developed his training methods over thirty years but still encouraged his actors to discover their own style rather than merely have it imposed on them. He refuses to allow an academic distinction to be made between the text and the performance as he insists that the actor 'writes with his body in the space' and compares it to the way in which an author 'writes with black lines on white paper'.

In his interview with Jean Perret he explains that his earlier career began as a sportsman not as an actor, director or practitioner. Thus his first and most important interest was always in the ability of the human physique and the manner in which every action, every movement that a human being makes carries meaning, whether intended to or not. The explorations of movement is therefore always practical and can and should be only experienced through the body however he was still searching for the way to incorporate the imagination and a sense of the poetic into the movement.

An essay on the universal practice of imitation introduces the play. In this Lecoq draws attention to the fact that it is simply by mimicking movements that children are able to learn about the world around them, and this simple copying of gestures is continued into adulthood subconsciously and consciously. He explains that everyday gestures are conditions of time, place, class and fashion, thus affecting each individual differently, however he also question the aspects of physical expression and whether there are some gestures that are shared by all. His aim was to find the physical impulse, which he believed, would show the thinking, emotions and the expression of the actor.

Lecoq has been a huge influence on many directors and theatre practitioners such as Ariane Mnochkine, Robert Wilson and peter Stein hence the contributions in the book from those that were influenced by his methods.

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Book Review

Building a Character - Stanislavski

Constantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski (1863-1938) was a Russian actor and innovative Theatre director. He viewed theatre making as a serious endeavour, and the work of an actor as an artistic undertaking. Many of you may have read Stanislavski's first book, An Actor Prepares, which focuses on the inner imaginative process. His next book, Building a Character, concentrates on the physical realization of character on the stage - expressions, movements, tempo-rhythms, accentuation of speech and so on.

Like an actor prepares, he uses fictional characters obviously based on the actors from the Moscow Art Theatre, with the director, Tortstov (think Stanislavski) being the one with all the knowledge. Through the chapters Stanislavski is as detailed as ever in describing precisely how one may come to be human on stage.

He goes on to discuss that one should not lose themselves when performing a "character". It should simply be a division of the self, an alter ego, in order for the actions and physicality to be true. The character should be a creation of the individual not a stereotype, for example; when we think of an old person we may picture a walking stick, a bulge of grey hair, a hunched back, yet one must delve deeper in to their circumstances - imagining the pressure on every joint in the body, the inability to freely bend the knees and back etc.. In order to give examples he often refers to exercises he approached in his first book, such as the Given Circumstance or Magic "IF". Stanislavski believes it to be essential that an actor be able to control his body, to feel the fluidity of his movements like a ball running through the muscular system in order for his motions to be believable and not plastic. Torstov uses rehearsal methods with his actors that allow this ability to develop; an actor could easily mirror these techniques to further develop his skills.

Further on in the book Stanislavski goes on to discuss the diction, pronunciation of the voice, and the use of pauses. He expresses the importance of bringing the text to life - a musical score is not a symphony until it is executed by the orchestra. To an actor a word is not simply a sound but 'the evocation of the images'. 

It is difficult to simply summarize Stanislavski's descriptive methods as his artistic writing is so specific; almost every sentence provides a detailed analysis of the self as an actor. There are many useful exercises throughout the book that if used in the rehearsal process correctly could further develop an actors ability and understanding of how to become true. Above are only a couple of brief explanations regarding his self-reflecting process and the book goes on to subject the actors to a rigorous process of self-analysis. After reading this book one should go on to read his third book, Creating a Role.

An Acrobat of the Heart Emily Defries

Emily's Book review

An Acrobat of the Heart

Stephen Wangh depicts a physical approach to acting inspired by the work of Jerzy Grotowski.

Stephen Wangh wrote this book for all actors who wish to connect their bodies more fully with their acting work. In this workbook Wangh writes detailed directions for exercises that connect the mind to the body. In this blog I am going to talk about 'An Actor's Warm-Up' as I feel this is essiential in our current work, and is a start in connecting the mind with body. Wangh calls this 'Tuning your inner strings.'

Konstantin Stanislavski wrote:

'You know that a sculptor kneads his clay before he begins to use it, and a singer warms up his voice before his concert. We need to do something similar to tune our innr strings, to test the keys, the pedals, and the stops[Stanislavski, 1936,p.250]

Wangh questions 'how does an actor do this?' and if there a warm-up that can prepare all these different parts of the actor's instrument and at the same time connect the body, voice, and emotional life with each other?Wangh comes to the conclusion when reflecting what he had learned from Growtowski, that it is in the awareness of the connections between the body, the mind, and the emotions, an awareness that can be reawakened and strengthened every day as part of the warm-up process. This warm up should not be a fixed regimen, it is a practice that will grow and change as your acting skills and your circumstances change.

The first question asked by Wangh, is what space to choose.

'One must create an atmosphere, a working system, in which the actor feels that he can do anything, and that nothing he does will be mocked, that all will be understood...Often, the moment the actor understands this, he reveals himself'-Jerzy Grotowski, Les Lettres Francais.

The process of finding a space is the first step toward connecting our unconscious. Wangh gives a detailed by point guide to finding a 'safe space' and it is surprising what affect the chosen space can have on your warm up.The body sense of actual, physical space acts as a barometer of inner, emotional space. Often we are unconscious of the connection between our outer actions and our inner state.

This simple space exploration of Wangh, helps to develop an awareness of the connection between your external choices and your internal feelings- 'the perception that something as simple as moving your body from place to place can have an immediate effect on your mental and emotional state.

Some of the exercises Wangh uses to achieve the connection of the mind to the body we have used in class. A particular one that sticks out is the undulation from the pelvis up and from the head down.

In a way, spinal movements act as a kind of massage for the entire nervous system- (Yoshi Oida, The Invisible Actor)

I found this exercise tricky in class however Wangh gives a step by step guide and describes the bodily process of this exercise. Wangh speaks of the spine 'as the central energy transporsition and communication lines for our body.' This is a great exercise of physical expression which Wangh goes into detail about in the book.

I would definitely recommend this book if you feel after a lesson that you have not quite understood a reason for one of the exercises or simply cannot get your head around it. This book is a great physical guide, and when you read it , it makes you want to get up on your feet and experiment!

class summary first week back

We started off the session by getting into partners and in turn stretching and massaging each other's bodies, concentrating on our partner's individual needs. We also vocalized the sense of touch we felt using our breathing, sighing and yawning. This allowed a stretch to go further with the help of the partner than if we were stretching individually.

 

After stretching we then proceeded to 'Wind' dance, making full use of the space and concentrating on our weight placement and the sense of energy from the floor and receiving energy from the rest of the group. We also explored our awareness of others, aiming to become more loose and ready with our bodies to prevent collisions. We then picked an animal to embody within our spines and made encounters in pairs, exploring the relationships that's formed. The rest of the group remained at the sides of the room throughout the encounters to ensure the rhythm continued.

 

We then moved onto a 'calling' exercise, experimenting with our vocal range in terms of calling to a place or person near or far. We then started to incorporate the body whilst calling, aiming to find the natural physical action that was appropriate. This allowed the exploration of the different interpretations and emotions e.g. negative or positive behind a phrase such as 'go away' or 'come here'.

 

We then applied this experimentation into the different sides of 'go away' and 'come here' to an exercise that we will call 'The Alien Game'. It started with experimenting with intonation and inflection to convey a meaning to a 'being' that does not understand the words. The next task was to isolate certain body parts whilst still aiming to convey the same meaning but without the use of physical action or facial expression. For example, using only the hips to accompany the phrase.

We found that not only was it difficult to not rely on the use of facial expression but also being the 'alien' within the exercise was challenging as it was hard to consciously block out the meaning behind the words and just concentrate on the other's use of movement.

 

To finish the session we moved onto an exercise that tried to find a walk that used conflicting physical actions e.g. feet pushing away and hands pulling in. We then used this positive/negative within encounters with a partner, pretending to cross them on a street.

 

We hope we have covered everything, if we have forgotten anything please feel free to add it!

 

 

Ali and Alannah xx

Verity's book review- The Paper Canoe

Eugenio Barba's "The Paper Canoe" was conceived during his silent
rehearsals, on journeys through his life and meeting people from around
the world. In the preface he questions the presence of a performer and
what makes a performer's actions believable.

A part of the book which I found interesting was Barba delving into his
memories and explaining what stuck out most in his mind and how this could
affect theatre which he later produces. The first example was as a young
boy, walking on his knees for a religious festival, the smell of incense
and rich colours around him and how it filled him with a sensation which
still stirs his senses now and can still feel the burning pain he suddenly
felt in his knees from walking for so long and seeing his mothers friend.
The other memory is that of his grandma, wearing a long white nightdress
with very long white hair. He remembers vividly the image of his
grandmother sitting at her dressing table, her withered old body looking
like a young girl in a wedding dress. He explains that these images both
contain a "moment of truth" because he believes that there are opposites
which seem to embrace each other and it's not just a visual memory, the
pain in the knee's is a physical memory.

He talks about "Transition" being a culture within itself and explaining
how a culture must have three components within it- material production,
biological reproduction, and the production of meanings, he believes that
it is very essential for a culture to have meaning, if it doesn't, it does
not exist.
Later on in the book he also notes how performers are performers- "they
are accustomed to controlling their own presence and translating their own
images into physical impulses" I found this very interesting as it related
back to the work we had been doing in class about what makes you move, how
do you move and recognising those impulses so you could surprise yourself,
making it more believable for the audience to be surprised.

The history of Theatre and Dance is mentioned and how it is confined by
the spectator and is made to be seen as superficial because there is no
logic behind the creative process, however he then goes onto say how the
history of theatre is essential in understanding new theatre, he see's
theatre from the past as "a pool of knowledge" which every once in a while
you can pick from and use in your own way, this emphasising his unique
intercultural performance.

The term Sats is explained within the book and how he started to form the
idea, it was at the Odin Teatret in which he started to see beyond the
monotonous reciting text and try to save the performance by concentrating
on just one part of the actors body either a hand or a foot or an eye. He
goes on to say that most actors held the impulse the move or "sats" when
their knees were slightly bent, it was through the realisation of of
recognising the knees importance in that he began to form the first
principles of theatre anthropology, the change of balance.

Stephanie Taylor's Book Review

'An Actor's Work' Constantin Stanislavski, trans. Jean Benedetti.

Constantin Stanislavski's 'An Actor's Work' contains both his works 'An
Actor Prepares' and 'Building a Character', in a new translation by Jean
Benedetti. The book is split into two parts, 'Year 1: Experiencing', and
'Year 2: Embodiment'. Stanislavski was of the opinion that to portray
'absolute truth' on stage, an actor must achieve 'psychological realism.'
During classes in which we have studied Stanislavski, this has been
pressed upon us; however, we are told in Jean Benedetti's introduction to
the book the reasons for him putting the two parts together again.
Throughout history the two parts have become separated, and the
'psycho-physical technique' lost. Benedetti says, "Stanislavski had
serious misgivings about dividing the book. He feared that the first
volume, dealing with the psychological aspects of acting, would be
identified as the total 'system' itself, which would be identified as a
form of 'ultranaturalism'. His fears were justified." (pg. xvi) Benedetti
goes on to explain, "directors have seen the 'system' as purely
'psychological.'" (pg. xvi.) By bringing the two together, Benedetti has
tried to bring about a change in the way we view Stanislavski, in a way
other than completely concerned with psychology.

Stanislavski's technique of writing throughout the book does at times
cause confusion; it is written in the form of the diary of a first year
acting student, substituting people's names for those which Stanislavski
believed "reflected the essential nature of their personalities." (pg.
xxi). Stanislavski labels himself Tortsov, meaning 'creator' and the
student essentially writing the diary is intended to portray the young
Stanislavski, as he would be if learning his own system.

The book begins with the 'Original Draft Preface' by Stanislavski,
included by Benedetti but left out by other translators. The point he
impresses upon us from the start is that his system has "no pretensions to
be scientific." He talks about his views on other acting training
programmes, believing that the intuitivism of actors is being rapidly
replaced by an almost scientific equation; we know from the beginning of
the book that it will be concerned mostly with employing the use of the
actor's subconscious feelings, and using instincts. However, he does
counter this argument with the point that although this use of instinct is
true to a certain degree, the actor must have almost a 'bank' of personal
experience and knowledge on which to draw from when acting; it becomes
difficult when there is nothing to relate to. This is what 'Part 1' is
concerned with.

We see the young students surprised at the lack of technical equipment;
the naïve diary entry discusses how it was difficult to become their
character and act properly when they were surrounded by a bare stage. This
is when they are first taught that the literal surroundings must be
forgotten, and the setting of their scene must be completely rooted within
their mind, the environment is of the utmost importance. It is pressed
upon them that these feelings that must be felt are not dependable upon a
camouflage of lights and make-up, although these do ultimately assist one
in gaining absolute realism. Stanislavski talks about 'Action, 'IF',
'Given Circumstances''. He says that action is arbitrary and looks forced
and wooden if there is no intention; these are the given circumstances –
why a character is doing something, what is their intention or their
motivation.

In a later chapter the students are taught about 'Units and Objectives';
in Benedetti's translation, he uses Stanislavski's original 'home-grown'
terms, 'Bits and Tasks'. Our student splits his walk home from the theatre
into units and objectives but finds himself hundreds. Stanislavski here
teaches us to be far less specific with our tasks and, in a positive
sense, make them more vague.

'Part 2', 'Building a Character' deals with what happens after
'Experiencing'. The students must apply what they have learnt about the
psychological side to their approach to embodying a character. This
section of the book deals with the physical side of the acting; the
expressions, speech and movement of a character. This is briefly touched
on when we see Kostya (young Stanislavski) attempting to recreate the
character of Othello by changing his facial expression in front of a
mirror. This is referred to again at the end of the book when the students
look back at how much they have learnt, intended to be echoed within the
reader.