ACTING AND DIRECTING DIRECTING the evolution of directing a bit of history the process ACTING Acting Traits approaches to acting inside out representational style Outside in presentational Julie taymor directed the lion king on broad way and was the first woman ever to win a tony award DIRECTING Historical Foundations Richard Wagner 1813 83 Gesamtkunstwerk Master Artist design piece compose t he piece do everything for the piece Innovations Fan shaped auditorium got rid of box seats and did fan shaped auditorium darkened auditorium darken the auditorium so people couldn t see one another in the audience and would have to pay attention to actors on stage Georg II Duke of saxe meiningen 1st director 1879 Crowd scenes enormous and intricate work with people to make sure they had instinc movements Innovations 3D sets sets before were a painted drop actors could walk amongst set pieces acting styles actors would talk to each other instead of just talking to the audience Contemporary Directing Primary goals Unification Interpretation Worshipful zeffirelli stays very true to the text VS Heretical luhrman does not adhere to what the playwright probably intended THE DIRECTING PROCESS Production concept Director s approach to the play execution of the central theme idea Coordinate the production team Designers dramaturg stage manager Enter Actors Casting 90 monologues actor doing a speech individually Cold readings short scenes performed without rehearsal Rehearsals blocking actor coaching pacing timing of the entire show happens late in rehearsal practices Enter Outsiders tech acting design all other technical elements 10 of 12 for every 12 hours of technical rehearsals the actors can only be working there for 10 dress rehearsals start to finish of what the show ill look like preview all of the performances that happen before the official opening performance let go director has to let go What is Acting building a character interpretation and analysis physical and emotion psychological Acting requires discipline concentration a trained instrument imagination playfulness Acting vocabulary Given circumstances things events that the playwright gives to you about the character imagined circumstances stuff that surrounds the events what the events and experiences feel like HOW stuff happended this is what the actors add in Objective what the actor wants what he or she is fighting for at any given point in the play Tactic strategies that actors will use to obtain their objectives obstacles what is standing in the actors way preventing them from obtaining their objective text subtext text is what is written on the page black and white subtext is what the underlying meaning might be under the line MAJOR APPROACHES TO ACTING Inside out or Representational acting emotion first physicalization emerges naturally from the emotions problem can be inconsistent Outside in or presentational acting physical first get haircut for part limp if the character limps then emotions occur emotions appear to emerge from the physicaliztion technical approach requires extensive training problem can appear mechanical ex when harry met sally Inside out or representational acting Konstantine stanislvski 1863 1938 redefined acting moscow art theatre acting system objective relaxtion you cannot be on stage and play a role if your stressed private moment something that would allow the audience to pretend the audience wasn t there emotional recall think about a time you experienced the moment in real life instead of creating it from scratch cry from a moment you were really sad magic if allows the actor to ask what would i do if i was in this situation instead of own person ex periences method acting relieve emotions that happened to you outside in or presentational acting modern physical theatre conveys messages physically some examples blue man group stomp mime clowning Bill irwin 1950 famous physical actor the clown prince cirque du soleil spectacle music dance puppetry mime acrobatics and more THEATRE AND SOCIAL CHANGE individual vs society social ills question of morality SOCIAL DRAMA CHARACTERISTICS 1 2 3 Some examples Most of greek theatre august wilson and the Pittsburgh cycle uncle toms cabin amiri baraka lorraine hansberry arthur miller REALISM Industrial revolution 1780 1830s 1850s steam powered ships railroad electricity urbanization Iconoclasts marx believes to establish a system that is classless freud beginning of psychoanalysis theories of unconscious mind darwin advocated natural selection evolution comes from him sociology auguste comte he founded the school of sociology REALISM MID 19TH CENTURY truth you don t see reality but a representation of reality the 4th wall theatrical convention imaginary invisible wall in a proscenium theatre ti forms a barrier between audience and actors on stage Middle class characters and audience are middle class social problems and questions nature VS nurture Long term effect on theatre example house M D henrik ibsen 1828 1906 the father of realism a doll house 1879 women walks out on her husband and children When she walks out it is called the door slam heard around the world RESPONSES TO REALISM BEGIN WITH SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DISASTER work war 1 1914 1918 the war to end all wars economic depression 1920s and 1930s both in the US and throughout europe WWII 1939 1945 another war to end all wars only worse DADA 1916 1919 created in zurich switzerland characteristics mockery of high art chance and silliness meaningless words and actions rejection of WWI pacifism Absurdism 1945 1950s emerged in germany bertolt brecht and the berliner ensemble brecht did not want emotional involvement from the audience he wanted intelligence and critic from the audience he would use simple white light on stage he does not want empathy mother courage and her children the three penny opera characteristics didactic alienation effect eliminate illusion no empathy Melodrama character types clear cut morality poetic justice action and spectacle disguise abduction battles floods earthquakes murder the octoroon dion boucicault 1856 THE FEDERAL THEATRE PROJECT 1935 1939 the only national theatre this country has ever had agitprog agitational propaganda emerged in russia living newspapers the cradle will rock 1937 by marc blitzstein dealt with unions LUIS VALDEZ father of chicano theatre el teatro campesino 1965 actos inspire the audience to social action illuminate social problems lost vendidos 1967 no