Style is the angle from which reality is observed. Neither is it necessarily characterized by an expansiveness or broadness in acting. Style is not, as is sometimes assumed, the opposite of realism. Even in Kabuki and Nō theatre there have been conflicts of styles like those in Western theatre. The Elizabethan form of theatre had conflicting styles within it, judging from a description of them in Hamlet, and so did the Greek and the French classical theatre. Such manners may be more strikingly elegant compared with those of the present, but they remain only manners. Style is the attribute of any complete achievement it is not merely the manners and customs of a particular period. In an effort to bring new life to plays of the past and present and to advance the imaginative possibilities of theatre, there has been a rediscovery of “style” in the 20th century. The relation between the individual actor and the ensemble is welded during the rehearsals, and it is during rehearsals that the director “blocks” the scenes and the actors memorize their lines. There is enormous value in improvisation, when it is understood and used correctly. There are, for example, significant possibilities in the reading rehearsal, in which the actors, usually seated in a circle, read aloud from the script and discuss its meanings as they proceed through it. Without an understanding of the psychology of the rehearsal procedure, much of the work of the actor and the director may be defeated in production. Without a logical sequence of rehearsals, the actor’s creativity cannot be properly stimulated. This is primarily the time in which the director’s conception of the play must be harmonized with those of the actors it is of immense importance that the actor approach the rehearsal in a creative frame of mind, ready to enlarge both his own and his colleagues’ interpretations. The actors must act out the elements involved in the analysis in order to receive any concrete benefit from it otherwise it may remain superficial or merely intellectual.Īnother area deserving attention is the rehearsal process. The attempt to determine it, however, may lead to an excess of verbal and mental gymnastics that are of little actual value, unless the actors have been trained in the proper procedures. For some plays an additional element is necessary: the overall mood, or pervading texture, that surrounds the play or out of which the play stems. He must discern the beats of the play ( i.e., the smallest units of dramatic action into which each role can be divided) as well as the rhythms of the play as a whole, and he must determine what adjustments must be made in his performance for each of the other characters. In approaching the play in its entirety, the actor must subject his role to more intense analysis: he must search for the spine, or the kernel, of the play as well as its division into separate sections or units of actions. The answers to these questions provide the actor with the necessary background for his performance, helping him to create the scene. Stanislavsky suggested that the actor, in approaching his work on a scene, ask himself four questions: (1) who he is (character), (2) where he is (place), (3) what he is doing there (action and intention), and (4) what happened before he came there (given circumstances). SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.
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