Pixie Dobbs
220135729
THEA307 The Actors Craft
Reflective Essay
As a dramatist, lover of the stage and all things theatrical, I have learned to appreciate that simple definitive moment when one’s dancing mind is able to still itself, finally melding with the body in a cohesive and satisfying performance on stage.
Throughout the seven-day intensive, I was able sharpen my stage artistry by challenging any perceived capabilities I may have had of myself as an actor. By delving further into the character’s inner life, analyzing motivations and unlocking their inner actions and psychological gesture, I felt Impelled to understand my character more intimately. I embarked upon a new relationship and fell in love with the
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This was achieved by intellectually and emotionally tuning into our characters speech. This particular exercise used Rudolf Steiner’s theory of connecting speech to the thoughts, feelings and will of our characters, freeing the breath using “speech as an invisible gesture”pg87At. To truly sense the intension of our character. ‘No single sound is ever formed without it’s reflecting some inner feeling of the soul’ Speech and drama lecture 6 Rudolf Steiner pg 136.
The evolution of the pole exercises grew over the next seven days, broadening our perspectives as actors by deepening our understanding and unity with the other actors we were working with to create a harmonious ensemble. This created a feeling of a heightened sensory awareness. It was not an experience to be intellectualized but merely felt. I was able to put into practice “the idea of expressing the essence of the role in a gesture” 81 diversifying my skills as an actor through embodying the psychological gesture of the character I was playing in the scene from Anton Chekhov’s The Three Sisters. Once these techniques were put into practice I was able to delve into the emotional life of my character “experiencing of another’s being in our own soul pg 37 langman, using the gift of transformation without losing my identity, moulding and layering the idiosyncratic characteristics based upon my characters
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I could spend a long time working with the mask and elicit a different result or persona each time. It felt as if the character had come from within the mask and not through some aspect of my imaginative processes. As another great trainer
Jacques Lecoq said‘ to make a mask come to life you have to know it, make friends with’ the mystery of working with the masks. By observing others in their everyday environment and then working with the masks it is possible to create and transform into character of depth and unique qualities that can be drawn out of you.
Although I have highlighted only two actors covered from the set txt I was able to see a flowing connection in training styles skills influences and with many of the methodologies we covered in the fundamentals of actor training.
Over a prolonged period of training (perhaps several years) I may be able be able to embody these theories. Once put into practice these and methods styles opened my mind to the complexities involved in honing the craft of the dramaturge
To take something positive from each of the trainers and forge our own craft carving out the very nature of our being for it to take shape as a polished
In this area of theatre i have learned more about brainstorming, character position, the effectiveness of music, the effectiveness of light and at what darkness and more about character goals and character formation both physical and vocal.
...Acting teacher, Sandy Meisner, described a technique of living truthfully under imaginary circumstances. To do so is to apply Burke’s pentad to an aesthetic performance completely.
Masks are a way an individual expresses themselves with various types of people. We are given different occasions and have to act a certain way to do so. Gergen states that the cause of having a mask is “When an individual seeks approval from this diverse range of personalities,he or she adopts a wholly different mask or public identities.” (197) Each person has a different personality when they are with certain people, based on actions and reactions. For instance, when having a guest visiting for the first time, we tend to look our best and choose the best way to make them feel welcome. We tend to hide things that don 't seem “appropriate” and take out things that seem new. We probably don’t notice, but we create a mask based on appearance since we are hiding the reality based on their first
There are any kinds of masks. There is the story; the masks are the masks that tell
In the play “Circle Mirror Transformation” by Annie Baker took place at an acting workshop in small town Vermont. Annie Baker presented the characters to the audiences by them getting to know each other in the almost uncomfortably intimate way. In the play, the characters underwent the emotional growth and the knowledge about each other personal issues. Although theater is only pretending yet the play suggested that it is the best way to get to the truth.
The playwright provides many aspects to create a play and to make it interesting. The actions and dialogue the characters make must be fluid and have a purpose. The playwright entices the audience with the different aspects to captivate their attention and keep it throughout the play. In The Illusion, Tony Kushner provides vivid details of the characters’ actions through dialogue. The actions characters perform absorbs the audience’s attention and leaves them wanting to see more of what will happen next to the characters. Although all aspects provided by the playwright are essential, action is the most riveting.
I am a big fan of the film Mask, a psychological film starring Cher, Eric Stoltz and Laura Dern. Although, I had watched the film previously, I decided to re-watch it recently for old time’s sake. Additionally, I wanted to know more about the film and so I started looking for information on the internet. I stumbled onto a site that gave an in depth analysis of the film. Although it is a fairly old film, the story will move one to tears. It’s so inspiring and empowering to anyone who is facing any difficulty in life. It makes ones problems to seem so small compared to the character in the movie.
In William Golding’s “Lord Of The Flies”, a group of boys is stranded on an island that completely changes them. The boys turn totally different from how they act from society as if they were putting on masks. It’s not just the boys that wear masks, but a lot of people try to hide from other people. What a mask does is that it hides a person’s trait and shows something completely different. I have made a mask like one of the boys, Ralph, that tries to show that he’s a leader, but hides a different personality. Here are some of the qualities of my mask.
of the use of the mask, gave no illusion that this story is happening before
The play that we read for this unit is Too Much Punch For Judy, by Mark Wheeller. It is a form of Verbatim Theatre, meaning that it is based on the spoken words of real people. This play is about the story of a young woman who kills her sister in an alcohol related accident. When I first read the play I couldn’t empathize with the story as I haven’t experienced such a shocking event before. In this essay I will describe, analyse and evaluate both my work and the work of other actors in my group, focusing on the mediums, elements and explorative strategies of Drama.
Superheroes. We’ve grown up with their stories of saving the day, dressed up as them for halloween and wanted to be just like them when we grew up. But something that I’ve always thought was extremely interesting about superheroes are they all wear masks. Whether they are saving the day or just out and about, they are always hiding a major part of who they are by putting on and taking off that mask on a daily basis. But when you think about, don’t we do that too? We constantly put on these masks to make us feel “cool” or to fit in. We are more comfortable putting on these masks rather than be who we truly are. Because if we took these masks off in front of others, just like superheroes, we have the fear of being thought of differently or judged for showing someone who we truly are.
...without being too open-ended or, as Stanislavski’s Method Acting turned out to be, dangerous. Chekhov’s theories have been integrated into the acting styles of so many distinguished, beloved actors and actresses that it seems reasonable to say that his technique is a healthy, valuable tool that every aspiring young artist should take advantage of in their own practice and performance. His overall goal seems to have been to free the actor, not hinder them. The real challenge is allowing ourselves, as actors, to be free to experiment and learn. In his book, Chekhov said, “Discover the differences between the character and yourself. The similarities will take care of themselves.” If an actor truly believes this, then they will make conscious decisions, resulting in a compelling, unique, and informed performance that is worthy of the character they are portraying.
Lazarus, Joan. "On the Verge of Change: New Directions in Secondary Theatre Education." Applied Theatre Research 3.2 (July 2015): 149-161. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1386/atr.3.2.149_1.
Our latest topic has been Blood Brothers. We spent 6 workshops studying the play written by Willy Russell. Blood Brothers tells the story of the Johnstone twins, Mickey and Eddie, brothers separated at birth who reunite and become friends in their childhood, unaware of their relation to each other or of what the consequences of their friendship will be. The key themes throughout the play are superstition, nature vs. nurture, social classes, dramatic irony, contrast and and stereotyping. In one of the first workshops we focused on Mickey and Eddie initially meeting. We were required to create two freeze frames acting as the boys. I had to consider the boys age and how this would affect how they acted. We then added layers to the scene including a piece of movement and then dialogue. I realised that, as they had grown up in different environments, there would be a contrast between the two boy’s freeze frames. When I was required to portray Eddie, I sat on the floor, reading a book. I showed I was bored by half heartedly turning the pages when I added movement. When playing Mickey I pretend to fly a fighter jet. This was a reference to the time the play was set (early 60s) not long after World War two had ended. This showed Mickey being resourceful as he would have been unlikely to have been able to afford toys.
While standing in front of it I transform myself from the plain, boring nobody who I fear more than anyone else in the world to the outgoing, bubbly, mature creature I wish I really was. For me, putting on my make-up is not the simple task my friends seem to regard it as; it is the carefully perfected art or creating my disguise.It is only when I am wearing this disguise that I feel I am a ‘normal’ person, that I fit in with the rest of our critical society. On the rare occasions when I have not adopted my disguise (only when I am in no danger of meeting any acquaintances) I become like a ‘Magic Eye’ picture; you have to look really hard in order to see the complete image.The reason I am so unwilling to remove my mask in public is that, to be quite honest, I am terrified of what is underneath. As a result of my creating this mask, I have never acquainted myself with my thoughtful, emotional, sensitive character traits which I try so desperately to conceal. I am not sure whether I like that girl very much, and I am too busy trying to hide her to have the time to find out.I have not always been divided like this. When I was younger I somehow managed to let all the aspects of my character show, resulting in a fairly even mix of the side of me which I hate and the side I promote.