"To Be or Not to Be"...It's Not a Question

Because I talked about the basics of singing in my last post, I thought I would be fair and talk a little about the basics of acting in this one. I read up on some interesting techniques that actors use to make realistic characters when acting on stage.

For probably as long as professional acting has been around, rookie actors and actresses have longed to unlock the secrets behind great acting. For a long time, it was an art that couldn't be taught; no structure to be handed down through the generations of actors to come. That is, until the 1800s, when a Russian actor and director Konstantin Stanislavski developed a system of techniques that taught people the basics of acting.

"The Stanislavski System"

Through the powers of observation, Stani noticed that all good actors possessed certain characteristics that were apparent when they performed, namely:

• Relaxation. For actors to effectively portray their characters, and thus create realistic scenarios and worlds on the stage, they need to be completely comfortable with where they are, and what they're doing. This enables them to have freedom of movement, and greatly helps to project and express themselves vocally as well. They can't be stiff or frozen while on stage; the consequences could be extremely awkward, and the whole performance would collapse.
• Concentration and Observation. Actors must maintain what Stanislavski called a "circle of attention". Actors must focus all of their energies and imagination on a single other person or thing, to imagine that it's only them and that other thing or person on stage. Once they've got this down, they can expand their circle to eventually include the rest of the stage. This helps to place them into the world they are playing in, to focus on whatever is happening and not so much on the audience, so they won't be so self-conscious.
• Importance of Specifics. An actor must truly know the character they are portraying. They can't act imprecisely. They need to know specifically the ins and outs of their character--their quirks, habits, temperament and even ticks. They need to know the play, and how their character would react within its context. Examples of this would be how a frustrated man would brush his hair, or how he would nervously tug at his collar; if a woman was really excited about something she couldn't express, would she tap her fingers or bite her nails?
• Inner Truth. Actors must perceive everything that happens onstage during a performance as truth. Not just the concrete truth of events, but the truth of the inner world of a character, how they think and feel. One of the means that Stanislavski developed to achieve this inner truth was what he called the "magic if". With the "if", people could effectively imagine how they would react in practically any setting. "If it was really cold out and I was lost..." "If I was really hungry..." "If I was extremely happy..." "If I really wanted to persuade someone...How would I react?" This is a great tool that works wonders for actors.
• Action Onstage: What? Why? How? This is similar to being attentive to the importance of  specifics for a character. "What, why and how should my character react?" For example, Charlie Bucket (the main character in the play "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"), is opening (what?) a candy bar. He opens it (why?) to see if there is a golden ticket inside. And he opens it (how?) slowly and deliberately, because if there is one in the candy bar, he would be able to achieve his dream of meeting Wonka and touring his factory--his life would change.
• Through Line of a Role. Actors have to have what Stani called a "superobjective" of a character. They need to know what the main objective, purpose or motivation of a character is. This could help with the inner truth and specifics of a character, and how they react to the circumstances throughout the play. It insures that a character will maintain consistency. This is also called the "spine".
• Ensemble Playing. Finally, more often than not, an actor will have an ensemble of other main characters and background players to act with. Their challenge is to not lose the through line of their character, to "stop acting", as it were, whenever another actor has the attention on stage. They need to stay in character and act to the other actors, not just with them.

I thought that these techniques were very fascinating, and it makes perfect sense that they would be so effective for actors. Looking back at not only theatrical performances but also on-screen acting, I could see how they would use these techniques to truly develop a believable character, thus telling a compelling story.



Source:

Wilson, Edwin; Goldfarb, Alvin. Theatre, The Lively Art. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print. (Pages 100-103).