Acting

Lorenzo Mango, Studing acting during avantgards age. Some methodological
issues
The avantgard theatre of 1900 has changed completely the theatrical style,
counterposing the concepts of representation, the mise-en-scene and the
centrality of the literary text.
According to that, the concept of acting has changed deeply. New scenic
conditions didn't consider as important the problems connected with acting
a specific character and two new phenomena were born such as the change
of position of acting and the improvement of it.
The former considers the work of the actor as a physical action during the
development of the stories, not contemplating his interpretation of a
specific character. The latter is referred to the insertion of non-theatrical
phenomena in the world of acting such as dance, happening and
performance.
The main point of these procedures is the centrality of the presence,
considered as the most important thing concerning the actors.

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.

Stage Acting and Gestus Explanation of the the history and concept of gestus, which is an essential device for the stage actor, in a scientific way with examples while scientifically emphasizing that this concept is a norm in Epic Theatre with a practical, explanatory approach. Documents the the creation process of finding, internalizing and interpreting of gestus in stage actor's mind. Gestus is also a device for the actor; he/she interprets this device in his/her subjective cosmos in parallel with the principle of expediency and utilizes it on stage along with the phenomena whose areas of creation were also appointed by him/her. Enquiry 1: Where does an actor gets gestus into his/her memory? What is the source? Enquiry 2: What can be understood from the utilization of gestus in subjective cosmos? Third enquiry might be thus: In what way actor processes his/her gestus and social criticism? ÖZET Tiyatro Oyuncusu için çok gerekli bir araç olan Gestus kavramının, tarihsel sürecini...

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.

Grand Guignol was a popular cultural form that first developed in France, notably at the Théatre du Grand Guignol. It was basically a style of macabre, melodrama, generally featuring women in peril, ghosts and horrific stylized murders. London’s Grand Guignol shows how the genre was imported to Britain and enjoyed its greatest period of popularity during the 1920s [...] Hand and Wilson argue that theatre audiences after the end of the First World War responded enthusiastically to this type of play; this was perhaps inevitable, in the light of the horrors of the war and the resulting trauma.

Acting and affectation. My article deals with a characteristic focus on the importance of human personality in Danish thinking around the middle of the 19th century. A philosopher and poet – Poul Martin Møller (1794-1838) – inspired Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) with his sharp observations of affectation in social life. He was a friend of the famous actress Johanne Luise Heiberg (1812-1890), who managed to rise from a poor social background into fame and high status, but like another social rocket, Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), maintained an outsider’s view on the affectation of the snobbish elite in Copenhagen. I found many examples hereof in her autobiography as well as fascinating thoughts about the subtle relations between acting, personality, and affectation.

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

The Golden Hoop exercise is a regular ritual part of some Michael Chekhov teacher/director's work while others avoid it completely. This article gives some background to the way in which Lisa Dalton, National Michael Chekhov Association Master Teacher, works with the Golden Hoop. The documents includes how she learned it, variations on when and how to do it and detailed guidance of images for side coaching the exercise. Lisa concludes with a more esoteric perspective rarely revealed for those interested and suggestions on simplifying and secular approaches.

This article provides a stylistic examination of Sidney Lumet's thriller Deathtrap (1982), analyzing how its strategies of staging and performance generate narrational effects of suspense and surprise. It argues that Lumet anchors these performative strategies to a broad authorial program grounded in expressive subtlety; as such, Lumet's film reminds us of a waning tradition of US filmmaking in which stylistic ingenuity resides at the denotative and expressive (rather than the decorative or parametric) levels of stylistic discourse. The article treats Lumet's stylistic choices as creative solutions to a distinctive set of aesthetic problems. It canvasses-and identifies the functions of-the motivic staging schemas patterned throughout Deathtrap; and it illuminates how these schemas, actuated by star players, shape the viewer's cognitive uptake in substantive ways.

Príspevok reflektuje časť štúdia vyučovacieho predmetu Herecká pohybová výchova IV. na Fakulte dramatických umení Akadémii umení v Banskej Bystrici dištančnou formou. Keďže denné štúdium a kolektívna tvorba neboli možné, hľadali sme iné spôsoby, možnosti a zadania v rámci stanoveného tematického okruhu pre daný semester. Zamerali sme sa viac na individuálnu prácu jednotlivca, ale tiež na pozorovanie a analyzovanie ľudí z blízkeho okolia. Ako prirodzene reagujú a konajú v rôznych situáciách a ako môžeme vidieť rôzne zmeny v ich fyzickom výraze. Pozorovanie môže hercovi slúžiť ako východisko a inšpiračný zdroj pre jeho ďalšiu tvorbu.

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.

A video file containing the instances discussed in this paper can be found at this URL:
https://mega.nz/file/RL4UyIAa#3oCV3REMrIqioqrRu5zWxmIuvXwjQAZ8bEUryg-43zY

With reference to a compilation of clips (see above and in 'Files') from a live Berliner Ensemble performance in 1957, this paper considers the variety of movement and locomotion in Helene Weigel's assumption of Mother Courage, and its role in embodying and articulating the ethical contradictions essential to our experience of the play.

English text to follow below
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Черкасский С. Д. 
Мастерство актера: Станиславский — Болеславский — Страсберг: История. Теория. Практика. — СПб: РГИСИ, 2016.  — 816 с. — 403 фото

В книге режиссера и педагога, доктора искусствоведения С. Д. Черкасского впервые в отечественной театральной литературе рассматриваются режиссура и педагогика Ричарда Болеславского (1889–1937) и Ли Страсберга (1901–1982) как опыт развития системы Станиславского. Исследована творческая деятельность возглавляемых ими коллективов — нью-йоркского Лабораторного театра (1923–1930), театра «Груп» (1931–1940) и Актерской студии (с 1947), работа которых является важнейшим сквозным сюжетом истории американского театра XX века. Проанализированы недоступные русскоязычному читателю труды Болеславского и Страсберга, в первую очередь книги «Мастерство актера: Шесть первых уроков» и «Сочиненные чувства».

Книга основана на многочисленных архивных материалах, содержит более четырехсот уникальных фотографий из архивов России, Америки и Польши. Исследование идет на нескольких уровнях — различные главы раскрывают новые страницы истории американского и российского театра XX века, поднимают основополагающие вопросы методологии актерского творчества и дают конкретные упражнения для практических тренингов по Методу Страсберга.

Издание адресовано всем людям театра — опытным актерам и студентам, критикам и историкам театра, любителям театрального искусства.

ОФИЦИАЛЬНЫЕ ОТЗЫВЫ о КНИГЕ, НАПЕЧАТАННЫЕ НА ЗАДНЕЙ ОБЛОЖКЕ:

ЛЕВ ДОДИН,
ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННЫЙ РУКОВОДИТЕЛЬ МДТ — ТЕАТРА ЕВРОПЫ:
Методология Станиславского, суть его учения, понятийный аппарат сегодня в России, кажется, мало кого интересуют. Обо всем этом модно стало говорить с некоторым пренебрежением… У нас выработался какой-то фрондирующий нигилизм по отношению к великой театральной культуре, в итоге благополучно переместившейся на Запад и во многом определившей пути развития американского театра и великого американского кинематографа середины XX века.
Книга С. Д. Черкасского может хотя бы кое-что поставить с головы на ноги.

ВАЛЕРИЙ ГАЛЕНДЕЕВ,
ЗАВЕДУЮЩИЙ КАФЕДРОЙ СЦЕНИЧЕСКОЙ РЕЧИ РГИСИ (СПБГАТИ):
Читал вначале докторскую диссертацию Черкасского, а затем и рукопись его книги, раскрывши рот от радостного изумления — столько нового и неожиданного я почерпнул оттуда. Я не знаю ни одного отечественного исследователя, который бы с подобной мерой компетентности, исследовательской страсти и азарта перелопатил бы такие горные хребты материала, не завяз бы в нем и пришел бы к столь четким и, я бы сказал, вдохновляющим выводам.
Но книга, конечно же, отличается от диссертации автора. Она более сюжетна и занимательна.

АННА СТРАСБЕРГ,
ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННЫЙ РУКОВОДИТЕЛЬ И СОУЧРЕДИТЕЛЬ
ИНСТИТУТА ТЕАТРА И КИНО ЛИ СТРАСБЕРГА:
Мне доставляет особое удовольствие поддержать эту книгу. Я встречалась с профессором Черкасским в 2013 году, когда он посещал Институт театра и кино Ли Страсберга для проведения исследований в архиве моего мужа, и была поражена глубиной его познаний в истории развития современной актерской техники, в особенности здесь, в Америке. И я бесконечно счастлива, что теперь все, кто интересуется искусством театра на родине Станиславского, получат возможность всерьез познакомиться с принципами работы Страсберга.

АНАТОЛИЙ СМЕЛЯНСКИЙ,
ПРЕЗИДЕНТ ШКОЛЫ-СТУДИИ МХАТ:
С. Д. Черкасский выступает в этой книге и теоретиком, и историком, и реальным практикующим педагогом-режиссером, который пытается разобраться, что произошло с одной из «королевских идей» русского театра… И безошибочно, выбирает своего проводника — сталкера в этом запутанном мире: Ричарда Болеславского. Вот уж изумительный персонаж русской театральной истории!

ДЭВИД ЧЕМБЕРС,
ПРОФЕССОР ШКОЛЫ ДРАМЫ ЙЕЛЬСКОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА:
Превосходное владение м-ром Черкасским его темой основано на тщательном исследовании, глубоком постижении и поразительном знании истории, казалось бы, далекой от него страны. С полной ответственностью могу сказать, что познания автора в избранной им теме и его новые открытия превосходят уровень современных исследований в Соединенных Штатах… Никто прежде не выстраивал эту цепочку, идущую от Станиславского к Страсбергу, столь полно и во всей ее протяженности.

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Sergei Tcherkasski
Acting: Stanislavsky – Boleslavsky – Strasberg. History, Theory and Practice
St. Petersburg: SPbGATI, 2016.  – 816 pages, 403 photos. Hardcover, in Russian

Summary

SERGEI TCHERKASSKI'S BOOK contains fundamental research on the directing and teaching of Richard Boleslavsky (1889–1937) and Lee Strasberg (1901–1982) as a development of the Stanislavsky System.
The author closely scrutinizes documents of the life and work of the Moscow Art Theatre and its First Studio that became a cradle for the most important discoveries of Stanislavsky into actor training in the 1900s and 1910s. The book continues with exploration of the artistic creation and training methodology of the American Laboratory Theatre (1923–1930), the Group Theatre (1931–1940) and the Actors Studio (since 1947). The work of these three forms the most important line of continuity in the history of American theatre in the 20th century. The methodological legacy of Boleslavsky and Strasberg is examined with an emphasis on the analysis of their major books Acting: The First Six Lessons and Dream of Passion. A comparative reading of these books with those of Stanislavsky is not only refreshing but also practically useful. 
The study is conducted on several levels – different chapters open new pages in the history of American and Russian theatre of the 20th century, raise fundamental questions on the art of acting and actor training and provide specific exercises from the practice of Stanislavsky, Boleslavsky and Strasberg. 
Tcherkasski’s work is based on archival documents and considers many Russian and American publications. It contains 390 photographs from nearly 20 museums and private collections in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, New York, Paris, etc. Some of them are published for the first time in the literature of world theatre. 
  The publication is addressed to all people of theatre –  experienced actors and acting students, theatre critics and historians, theatre directors and teachers of acting, theatergoers and all those who are interested in Russian–American cultural links.
- - - - - - - - - -
TRANSLATION OF THE TEXTS FROM THE BACK COVER OF THE BOOK: 
LEV DODIN,
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, MALY DRAMA THEATRE – THEATER OF EUROPE:
It seems that few theatre people in Russia today are interested in the methodology of Stanislavsky’s System or in his teachings and conceptual apparatus. It has become fashionable to speak about all of this with disdain … We have developed a certain discontented nihilism toward the great theatrical culture that moved safely to the West and in many ways determined the development of American theatre and cinema of the middle of the 20th century.
Sergei Tcherkasski’s book ably puts many things right.

VALERY GALENDEEV,
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF VOICE AND SPEECH, RUSSIAN STATE INSTITUTE OF PERFORMING ARTS (ST. PETERSBURG STATE THEATRE ARTS ACADEMY):
I read Tcherkasski’s doctoral dissertation first, and later the manuscript of his book, open-mouthed with joyful surprise: I learned so much that was new and unexpected. I know of no other Russian researcher who has a similar degree of competence, passion and enthusiasm for research to sift through the mountains of material without getting get stuck in them and to come to such clear and, I would say, inspiring conclusions. 
The book, of course, is different from the dissertation. It has a much clearer narrative and is truly entertaining.

ANNA STRASBERG,
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER
LEE STRASBERG THEATRE AND FILM INSTITUTE:
It gives me pleasure to add my personal endorsement to this book. I met with                            Prof. Tcherkasski in 2013 when he visited The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute ® to do research for this book in my husband Lee’s archives. I was impressed with the depth of his knowledge of the development of modern acting technique, particularly the important advancements that were made in the United States by Richard Boleslavsky and his student, Lee Strasberg…
I am thrilled that those with an interest in acting and the theater arts in Stanislavsky's homeland now will be able to gain a deeper understanding of Lee Strasberg's work.

ANATOLY SMELYANSKY,
PRESIDENT OF THE MOSCOW ART THEATRE SCHOOL:
In this book Sergei Tcherkasski acts as a researcher, historian, theatre director and acting teacher with real practical experience.  He is trying to figure out what happened to one of the "royal ideas" of Russian theater ... and accurately he chooses Richard Boleslavsky as a guide in this confusing world. Boleslavsky is really an amazing character in Russian theatre history!

DAVID CHAMBERS, DOCTOR HC
PROFESSOR OF YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA, YALE UNIVERSITY:
Mr. Tcherkasski’s superb command of his topic is based on rigorous research, deep insight, and an amazing mastery of a history from outside his native country. Indeed, I can say with full honesty that the author’s knowledge of his topic, and his fresh revelations, go beyond any current work in the United States.
What Mr. Tcherkasski has done is to provide a continuum, a line of thought and a line of history, parts of which are known already in the US, but no one has put the complete string Stanislavsky – Boleslavsky – Strasberg together in a straight line.

St. Petersburg: SPbGATI, 2016.  – 816 pages, 403 photos. -- Hardcover, in Russian

The Family Sculpture can be an effective exercise or method using group members to take on the roles of people in the family of origin so that the protagonist group member can increase awareness of unresolved issues by demonstrating his or her old-pattern behavior, trying on new behavior, and verbalizing and expressing painful emotions.

Animation theorist Vivian Sobchack expresses her predilection for animated films that “visibly labor”, and describes 3D animations as “effortless” in appearance [1]. While many theorists may lack the practical experience of creating animation, essential knowledge of the nature of labour in 3D animation is gained through first-hand practice alone. Without this knowledge, much creative work in 3D animation is misconstrued as mere automation. Using my experience as an animator, actor, and educator, I engage in a self-reflective analysis to interrogate how evidence of an animator’s individual contributions can be detected in 3D animation. I employ the metaphor of “the artist’s/animator’s hand” as a means to understand the nature of this involvement. I establish a set of parameters for non-practitioners to employ when trying to locate the contributions of individual animators within 3D animation. With these tools, animation theorists will have a practice-informed lens by which to better understand the act of animating through 3D software, as well as strategies for locating individual animators’ contribution in 3D animation.

While an actor's performance in a stage play may be seen as a continuous and unmediated form of acting, an actor's performance in a film is constructed through shot framing, editing, effects work, and other cinematic apparatuses. With the advent of digital filmmaking, constructed performances have become more complex and nuanced, especially through the use of motion capture. This research explores how we frame acting within a motion capture context-and specifically, how this affects our larger understanding of what is acting and how acting can be constructed. What does acting become when the product of acting starts as data and finishes as computer-generated images that may only tangentially resemble the actor's "original" performance? Is the source actor solely responsible for the performance we see on screen, or should other people within the production pipeline receive credit for their creative contributions to the finished acting result? How do we understand the act of acting in motion capture? Through consolidating and linking theoretical and practical considerations of acting in motion capture, this paper proposes a number of ways to conceive of acting and presence within a virtual acting context.

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...

Article first published in "Acting Archives Essays" (www.actingarchives.it) April 2011, later included in “Theory of Acting. From Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century” (chapter 2), Napoli: Marsilio & Acting Archives, December 2012 (download: academia.edu).

Contrasting and comparing with acting theories from Stanislavski’s to Michael Kirby’s, the chapter shows why Schlingensief’s ideal of seemingly unprofessional and unpredictable acting style can still be called realist. Behind Schlingensief’s work with actors lie both a critique of institutionalized practices, as well as a resistance to trade in essentialisms about human nature. The chapter then analyzes Schlingensief’s project with a large cast of people with disabilities, Freakstars 3000, a detournement of reality-TV singing competitions in the vein of American Idol. The project encompassed under the same name the stage performance at the Volksbühne, the mini TV series airing on VIVA music channel in 2002, and eventually the documentary released in 2003 under Schlingensief’s direction. By acknowledging the Freakstars 3000’s collaborators as actors, the project unfolds not just as a show lobbying for disability rights, but as a project about actor training and professionalized work standards, about acting itself, on stage and off.

This article studies the persona which enabled Marion Cotillard to become a Hollywood star at the end of the 2000s. Insofar as her part in La Vie en rose (Olivier Dahan, 2007) was key to her success in the US, the author's analysis focuses first and foremost on her performance in this film, as well as the media content that accompanied its release. He pays specific attention to the national dimension of her image, the ambivalence of which explains the exceptional success that Cotillard has had in Hollywood, where so many other female French stars have failed.

Cet article étudie la persona qui a permis à Marion Cotillard de devenir une star hollywoodienne à la fin des années 2000. Dans la mesure où son rôle dans La Môme (Olivier Dahan, 2007) fut décisif dans son succès outre-Atlantique, mon analyse porte principale-ment sur la performance de l'actrice dans ce film, ainsi que sur les discours médiatiques qui ont accompagné sa sortie. Une attention particulière est portée à la dimension nationale de son image, dont l'ambivalence explique le succès exceptionnel rencontré par Cotillard à Hollywood là où tant d'autres stars françaises se sont cassé les dents.

The following theatre directing essay focuses on the analysis of the ensemble, according to the Russian and European tradition. The text is mainly based on the theatre directing études experienced during the triennial period of study at the International Theatre Academy of the Adriatic, an Italian institute of theatre arts for actors and directors.
The dissertation is fully written in Italian.

Animators are often expected to film their own acting reference. However, most animators are not trained actors, and as a result, their performances lack depth when dealing with emotionally-rich subject matter. The result is superficial acting in both reference and final animation. This superficial acting is essentially a caricature of an emotion, rather than the emotion itself, and has been used to create 'many believable characters with individual personalities'. However, while superficial acting may suffice for some caricatured performances, this paper explores how emotionally-driven and authentic acting reference provides benefits to all types of animated performance. I propose a methodology for achieving emotionally-driven acting reference, based on my experience as an actor and animator. I also compare and contrast superficial animated performances with emotionally-driven animated performances. This research extends the possibilities for greater acting possibilities within animation, including a greater emotional range of animated characters and more emotionally-rich subject matter.