The Actor and the Craft of Acting

Question 1

Define the Actor

Answer 1

• Without them there is no theater
• They are also good performers (Not all performers have to be good actors)
  > Musicals require both
  > Actors portray characters for the audience that do more than just perform

Question 2

The Paradox of An Actor

Answer 2

• The actor both is and pretends to be the character
• Successful acting is making the audience believe that the falseness on stage is true
• THE PARADOX IS … to be convincing, the actor must lie

Question 3

Without them, there is no theater: …

Answer 3

• An empty stage
• Director cannot direct
• Designers cannot design

Question 4

What are the two approaches to Acting?

Answer 4

1. Inspiration
2. Technique
   (most actors use combination of both)

Question 5

An “Inspirational” Actor …

Answer 5

• Use mental and emotional techniques to reach their “center”
• Often use past personal experiences to inform characters
• Which then turns into onstage movement & vocalization

Question 6

A “Technical” Actor…

Answer 6

• Builds a character out of careful and conscious use of body and voice
• Rehearses inflections or carefully chooses specific poses and hand gestures
• Can sometimes be thought of as “full of tricks” with no life or imagination in their work

Question 7

The Character in a play

Answer 7

• The character is an imitation of a human being created by the playwright
• Characters don’t always affect the plot
• The ACTOR is a PERSON, the CHARACTER is a CONSTRUCT

Question 8

What are the 3 characteristics involved in actor training?

Answer 8

• Analyzing the script
• Training the actors “instrument” - Body and Voice
• Training the actor’s imagination

Question 9

What are the 2 main goals of Script Analysis?

Answer 9

Understanding the entire play and the details and the place of the character in the whole play

Question 10

What is a script?

Answer 10

The foundation of the actor’s work

Question 11

Understanding the entire play…

Answer 11

• The first reading - judgements and impressions are made
  > The style of the play (ie. Abstraction, language, historical era)
  > The overall shape of the play
• Actors will also find out what demands will be put upon them in the production

Question 12

Understanding the details and the place of the Character in the whole play

Answer 12

• More details can be found from repeated readings of the play
• Character traits can be found in: Stage directions, Characters own speeches, Speeches of other characters

Question 13

Training the “Instrument”…

Answer 13

1. The Body
2. The Voice

Question 14

What are the goals of an actor’s body?

Answer 14

• Resistance of fatigue
• Quick responsiveness
• Adaptive reality

Question 15

What is the purpose of Neutral Mask Work?

Answer 15

• “Neutral” masks are used so that the character or image is expressed through the body
• The actor is not able to use facial expressions to convey emotions
• It must be expressed through the body

Question 16

Examples of body language/nonverbal cues in plays:

Answer 16

• Simple gestures (hand waving)
• Complex statements (postures that convey something different than the words said)
• Practical applications (Rhythmic movements - dancing, Period movement, and the use of props)

Question 17

What must actors train their voices to do?

Answer 17

• Learn to control the muscles involved in speaking, including the resonance chamber or chest
• Learn how to project their voice
• Unlearning and relearning is often necessary for most beginning actors
• Train to maximize control over every word and sound their voice makes

Question 18

Actors train their voice through:

Answer 18

• Breath control exercises
• Vocal relaxation
• Articulation exercises
• Dialect work

Question 19

Training the Actor’s Imagination…

Answer 19

• Actors are encouraged to re-discover their imaginations
• Actors are encouraged to play games, often children’s games

Question 20

Why do teachers use creative exercises?

Answer 20

To free actors from embarrassment and inhibition

Question 21

What are image(creative) exercises for?

Answer 21

• Teach the actor to grasp the mental pictures the brain offers (Using memory to create a character)
• Creating simple characters around objects:
• Improvisation exercises (Create theater without a playwright, Enlighten an actor about a character)

Question 22

Who were the founders of The Group Theater?

Answer 22

Lee Strasburg, Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford

Question 23

Explain The Group Theater (1931)

Answer 23

• Was a collection of theater artists formed in 1931 to create a natural and disciplined form of theater
• What they began became an “American Acting Technique” based on the teachings of Konstantin Stanislavski

Question 24

Who was Konstantin
Stanislavski?

Answer 24

A Russian actor and director known for his system of actor training, preparation, and rehearsal technique

Question 25

In The American Stanislavski System, the actor is trained to discover:

Answer 25

• given circumstances
• motivation (every behavior is motivated)
• objective (what is the goal of the scene/character?)
• SUPER-OBJECTIVE (“life goals”)

Question 26

Who created method acting and was considered the “father of method”?

Answer 26

Lee Strasberg from the Group Theater

Question 27

What is Method Acting?

Answer 27

• The process of connecting to a character by using personal experiences, emotions, and memories, or “affective memory”, to portray the role
• Actors imagine themselves with the thoughts and emotions of the character to give a life-like performance

Question 28

Actors that use method-acting

Answer 28

Jared Leto, Dustin Hoffman, Christian Bale

Question 29

Who created the Meisner technique?

Answer 29

Sanford Meisner, a member from the Group Theatre

Question 30

What is the Meisner Technique?

Answer 30

• Does away with “affective memory” and emphasizes “the reality of doing”
• Strives to “Get the actor out of their head” and react more to their surroundings
• The actors “live truthfully under the given imaginary circumstances”

Question 31

What technique is taught at Rutgers?

Answer 31

Meisner Technique

Question 32

Actors that use the Meisner technique

Answer 32

James Franco, Chadwick Boseman, and Sebastian Stan (RUTGERS MASON GROSS ALUM)