Midterm theater - Lecture notes 1-10 PDF

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Midterm 1) External Technique-Activity by which an actor chooses, imitates, or outwardly illustrates a character’s behavior. The mimetic actor approaches a role through a deep and passionate study of human behavior in all its outward forms. a) David Garrick- approached acting as an imitation of life i) He called acting minical behavior ii) Introduced naturalistic acting into the english theater, believed that the actor could produce emotions by convincing imitation and skilled projection of those emotions being imitated 2) Internal belief- “from the inside out” mirror psychology of the person we are trying to act a) Ask yourself a question like “what would I do” b) “I will try to make my psychological state mirror that of the character I will be playing.” c) Konstantin Stanislavski: changed acting to internal belief 3) The difference between external technique and internal belief is seeming and being. 4) Stanislavski method of acting- to work from the inside outward a) Before stan, acting was all done through external technique b) Brought about a more psychological approach to acting c) Connected to Chekav d) “ACTING IS DOING” -Stanislavski (Looking for the brooch) 5) Emotional recall- could remember a time when you felt something and used that to make that emotion when acting. 6) Realism came about in the 1900s 7) Psychophysical actions- emotional recall tied to a physical gesture a) Use actions to trigger emotional recall, organically trigger emotional memory 8) Stanford Meisner technique-reality of doing; spontaneous being and emotion (came after the Stanislavski method) a) Acting is: “living truthfully in imagined circumstances” b) Kevin Oaks: acting is “living truthfully within the given circumstances” 9) Anne Bogart six viewpoints (elements) a) Space, time, shape, movement, story, and emotion b) Co-founded the Saratoga theatre institute 10) Lee Strasberg a) Actor’s studio i) Transformed Stanislavski’s system of acting into an American “method” ii) Members of the group theatre:Elia Kazan, Robert Lewis, Cheryl Crawford> started the Actors Studio b) Who they are c) What they did d) What group they're with 11) Sanford Meisner a) Started the neighborhood playhouse school of the Theatre b) Founding members of the group Theatre c) Used Stanislavski’s ideas

d) Developed own approach to training actors “Reality of doing” 12) Practical aestheticsa) David Mamet+WIlliam H. Macy i) David Mamet= Atlantic Theatre Company (1) mixed the beliefs of ancient stoics and Stanislavski’s principle (to work truthfully within the given circumstances of the play) (2) Mamet said that” a good actor sticks to his objective, no matter what…” b) Focus on things within the actor’s control i) Actions, words, textual analysis 13) Auditioning, improvisation, exercises games, voice training (early 2000s) a) Auditions i) gateway to roles and rehearsals, audition process is unpredictable and actors encounter creative and emotional obstacles as they try to present themselves ii) obstacles include: distractions, atmosphere, cold reading iii) Callbacks: follow the preliminary audition iv) waiting period- before actors are notified of their success v) Open call: allows interested actors the opportunity to audition b) Improvisation i) is useful in actor training and in rehearsals to free the actor’s imagination and to strengthen concentration. ii) in rehearsal can be used to establish rapport between actors to solve acting problems, spur spontaneity, encourage new responses iii) Movement Training: emphasis is on developing the actor’s body as a more open, responsive, physical instrument by first eliminating unnecessary tensions and mannerisms iv) Voice training: the actor involves both technique and imagination in vocal work (Cicely Berry Voice Coach) c) Rehearsals and Performance i) the actor brings a living humanity with physical actions and the playwright’s words and given circumstances to the stage d) Acting with the Camera i) actor must concentrate on “being” rather than “performing” because camera transmits subtleties of emotions and thought and reveals in closeups the character’s thoughts. 14) Kristin Linklater a) Freeing the natural voice b) Freeing shakespeare's voice 15) Page 212 people 16) Peter Brook- suggests- at the heart of the theatre experience is the act of seeing and being seen. That requires a special place. a) Director in France, lets kids watch play without words to see if they understandAfter blocking, he would bring in school children and have the actors

act w/o words, if they couldn't tell what the story was, would reblock. b) A Midsummer Night’s Dream , The Mahabharata-based on an ancient Hindu poem c) Believes the stage should be pretty empty d) Every play should have all four elements i) Earth ii) Air iii) Fire iv) Water e) Plays on just carpet f) The Mahabharata (play) i) Epic play based on sacred HIndu myths ii) Very long (7 hours) 17) What you’re directing as a director a) Actors b) Movements (blocking) through space c) Director wants people to see the play as if for the very first time. 18) Stage directions a) Upstage- towards the back of the acting area b) downstage - towards the front c) Stage right and stage left- the performer’s right or left when he or she faces the audience d) Stage floor= divided into section: up right, up center, up left, down right, down center, down left. e) Body positions i) Turn out- turn more toward ghge audience ii) Share a scene, play in a profile position so that they are equally visible to the audience. iii) Dress the stage-move to balance the stage picture 19) Blocking a) “Reinforcing the narrative of the play” b) “Telling the story” c) director’s preplan the actor’s movements in each scene, arrange the actors in the stage space to show their physical and psychological relationships d) Preplanned Approach: i) director use early rehearsals to block the play, in blocking rehearsals the director goes through each scene, working with actors on when to enter or exit, where to stand or sit and which lines to move on 20) Dionysus a) God of theater. Ecstatic states, wine, bodily fluids b) Followers carried penis things that exploded milk c) Can turn water into wine d) A vegetation god 21) Forerunner

a) Somebody who came before b) In the 1860’s in Europe, the practice of a single person guiding all aspects of the production process began to take hold. c) In shakespeare’s day there was no director d) There eventually was an actor manager (Caroline Neuber) i) resembled the modern director in some respects, but was first of all an actor and considered the production from the perspective of the role he or she played ii) An actor who would tour areas, (most of the money head actors, have all the leads), would hire other actors to play other roles, would control blocking. 22) Actor manager→ producer-director when directing really started) a) Georg II, Duke of Daxe-Meiningen: Producer- Director i) Directed from the house ii) Developed a stage picture w/ “an outside eye” b) Andre Antoine: Producer -Director, Theatre Libre “Free Theatre” c) Konstantin Stanislavski i) Acting teacher an Actor Prepares + Building a character ii) Directed Anton Chechov’s plays iii) “Internal belief”- (looking for a brooche) 23) Pg. 220-221 Focus on People in the Theatre a) Caroline Neuber (actor-manager)- formed an acting company in 1727 i) Goals: raising the artistic level of theatrical productions ii) Replaced the older plays that featured clowns as leading figures with serious drama in imitation of french neoclassical writers. iii) Instituted reforms in the staging practices of her days: plays were staged with careful rehearsals and without improvisational materials; actors were assigned added duties, such as painting scenery or sewing costumes; and the actors personal lives were monitored in an effort to overcome moral prejudices against them. b) Georg II, Duke of Saxe- Meiningen (producer-director)- transformed the DUchy of Meiningen court theatre in Germany into an example of scenic historical accuracy and like life acting i) Designed costumes, scenery, and properties for historically authentic style and worked for ensemble acting. that for historically authentic style and worked for ensemble acting\ ii) Crowd scenes- members of the crowd had individual traits and specific lines iii) Actors were divided into small groups, each under the charge of an experienced actor (1) This practice was in keeping with the company's rule against actors being stars and was the beginning of the new movement in the 1870s towards unified production under the directors control (a) This is called single creative authority

c) Andre Antoine (producer- director)-founded a theatre in 1887 and a naturalistic production style that became world famous. i) His theatre The Theatre Libre was a subscription theatre, one open to members and therefore exempt from censorship. ii) Showcased controversial plays (Ibsen’s Ghost) and new realistic production techniques iii) Producing exact environments- hung real beef carcasses onstage iv) Stage “real” life, Antoine developed three important principles that influenced the direction of the european theater: realistic environments, ensemble acting, and the director’s authority. d) Konstantin Stanislavski- (producer director)- cofounder of the Moscow Art i) Aimed for ensemble acting and the absence of stars (1) Intensive study of the play, and extensive research by visiting locales and museums to re-create the play’s milieu. ii) Reputation was made with Anton Chekhov's plays, depicting in realistic detail the lives of the rural landowning class in provincial russia 24) Pg 222 director as Artists a) Three types of directors i) -Director that treats actors and designers as “servants” : to the director’s concept they are expected to deliver the “look” and “meaning” of the play as conceived by the director ii) -Create coordinator: limits his own vision to the suggestions, criticisms and encouragements of the group. iii) - functions as a guide: creates an atmosphere in which actors dig, probe, and investigate the whole fabric of the play. (1) Elia Kazan: Director, A streetcar Named Desire , member of the Group Theatre (a) Directed Tennessee Williams play (b) Directed in plays and movies (waterfront) (2) Peter Brook: Director, founder of International Centre for Theatre Research (Scientific approach to acting), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Mahabharata-based on an ancient Hindu poem 25) 4 types of plays a) Tragedy i) Tragic hero (great fall through tragic flaw reversal fortune character trait ii) Fatal flaw= Hamartia iii) About one person whom we can all see ourselves in iv) Tragedy is balanced (1) World is in order at the start while it ends with the world in disarray *ab an individual: metaphysical, death, error, suffering, pain, life denying, separation b) Comedy: in comedy the playwright examines the social world, values, and people as social beings i) Ends in harmony, unity, and marriage

ii)

Begin with the world in chaos and ends in union or reunion. About society, social insurance, folly, joy, pleasure, and procreative, union/runion, wedding dance or banquet to celebrate union of mismatches forces. iii) In comedy the playwright examines the social world, values, and people as social beings. (1) Ends in harmony, unity, and marriage c) Tragicomedy- is a mixed dramatic form d) Melodrama- greek word for music is Melos. It is a combination of music and drama in which the spoken word is used against a musical background. 26) Oedipus the King a) Tragic flaw=hubric (arrogance) i) Tragic realization: anagnorisis , the hero/ main character makes a realization of a real situation, the realization of things as they stand (example is Oedipus realizing his own mother is the mother of HIS children)27) Aristotle a) First drama critic b) Loved sophocles (oedipus) c) Perfect tragedy=thought oedipus the king was the perfect tragedy because it happened in only 24 hours. In addition it incited terror and pity in the audience d) -*ends with separation e) Comedy: in comedy the playwright examines the social world, values, and people as social being i) ends in harmony, unity, marriage f) Wanted people to be purged of fear 28) Comedy- ( page 107) a) Opposite of tragedy (start with world in order, endy in disarray) b) Start in chaos end in union/reunion (typically marraige) c) About society d) Have diff. Comic types e) Shakespeare said it another way “all’s well that ends well.” f) Moliere-French playwright-actor-manager’ i) helped found the Illustre Theatre Company in Paris ii) Started as an actor iii) The Miser, Tartuffe, the Misanthrope (a funny tragedy-not true comedy, there is no one stupid in it, hates everything) 29) Harold Pinter:started as an actor under the name David Baron, acted in rep thrillers a) Became famous for the Caretaker b) Plays usually about power struggles c) Always an undertone of sex or aggression Lecture Notes Theater is an immediate art ● without any intervening agent or medium.

● It is direct (happens right in front of us) ● It is personal Mediated: media> TV (screen), social media Active Listening: ● engaged and sharp focus ● trying to figure our the relationship, and find what is important ● trying to find out what characters want from each other. Passive Listening: ● multi tasking ● information just washes over ● not really listening, attention is unfocused and divided Theater vs. Film Theater: is ephemeral = short lived ● fixed viewing point (one angle) ● know you’re watching actors on stage ● plays can never be the same twice ● actor can interact with and have direct communication with audience ● get information from ears Film: ● ● ● ●

multiple viewing points Films are always the same Get information form eyes, don’t need much dialogue Can put you in two places at the same time

*Picasso: “Art is a lie that tells the truth” ● It is and isn’t there at the same time ● It is being enacted- happening before our eyes’ however it is not happening because it is not real, just actors. Story Board: drawings like comic strips tat explain what will happen, used as a visual map in order to know what you are looking for. Elizabethans: boys in dresses= audience is aware that the actor is a boy Acting ● Actors Job: Sanford Meisner: to live truthfully in imaginary situation

Oaks: to live truthfully in given circumstances of the play ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Every scene is based on Agon, Greek word for conflict: which is when two characters want mutually exclusive things Super Objective: How do we get what we want? Through Tactics: beg, charming, pleading Improvisation: make things up as you go, acting without a script, surprises make it more interesting. Rehearsal technique what gets in our way of what we want is the obstacle. As soon as we get what we want the scene is over. Given circumstances of the play: rules you are dealing with; who, what, when, where, how. Actors are the opposite of human beings: everything we do in private they do in public Acting is Doing : actors have to imagine themselves really doing something

Directing: ● Directing the eyes of the audience with sound, light, movement, music ● Two types of plays: new or old -Old palys: revivals- fairly modern plays that people have seen and Classics- older plays, subdued. ● Director wants people to see the play as if for the very first time. ● Two jobs: visual composition- set, lighting, costume… and directing actors ● Blocking: should reinforce narrative of the play -Peter Brook: Director in France, lets kids watch play without words to see if they understand ● Design conferences: talk about details of play. ● Anton Chechov: Cherry Orchard (Staislavski was the first to direct) ● *Anachronism: out of place and time ● Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream has another name “Robin Goodfellow” ● David Salle- postmodern painter Auteur theory- the director is the author of the film The playwright is the author of the play....