Thursday, 13 November 2014
Thursday, 6 November 2014
STANISLAVSKY - UNPLUGGED
Konstantin Stanislavski
1863 - 1938
Imagination
Truth
Realism/Naturalism
Magic if
Given
circumstances
Circles
of attention
Tempo-
rhythm
Emotion
memory
Through
line of action
Units
and objectives
The
superobjective
Subtext
Method
of Physical Action
INTRODUCTION
MELODRAMA
Stanislavski’s
ideas were a reaction to the theatre of his time, i.e. melodrama, where the
personality of the actor was more important than the character being portrayed.
The performers relied upon fixed movements, gestures and facial expressions to
demonstrate their roles.
“The
actors playing was considered good when none of them spoke in his natural
voice, but in a totally artificial tone, when the words were delivered in a
loud voice and when each of them was accompanied by a gesture. The words ‘love’, ‘passion’ and ‘treachery’
were shouted as loudly as possible but the facial expression did not add to the
effect since it remained invariably tense and unnatural.” Schepkin (on
Russian Melodrama)
DEMONSTRATION
Explore melodramatic gestures for “The Lover”, The Villian”, “The Genius” and
“The Hero” and “The Damsel in Distress.”
Bring all these elements of voice and action into the choral speaking of
the line:
“Even though you and I have
only just met, already I am filled with great love for you”
- the facilitator leads, breaking the line up into sections and
demonstrating large gestures (such as holding the heart and shouting out on the
word “love”) as a call and response with
the rest of the group.
“An actor played a certain
role excellently. A second actor saw the
performance and did not understand the genuine process of its creation but
remembered the form of it. A third takes
the form as an example. A fourth takes
the form to be a theatrical tradition and copies it as law. These chains prevent us from being guided by
the most important director of theatre – life.”
Stanislavski
Even though we have
come to accept realistic acting as the norm Stanislavski’s ideas were
revolutionary at the time. He did not
discover his system one day and stick with it for the rest of his career but he
developed his ideas through constant exploration and experimentation with his
actors over a period of approximately thirty years.
¨
NATURALISM and REALISM
There are subtle
differences between the two artistic movements that followed melodrama. Naturalism began as a literary
movement and was concerned with real people doing real things. No one spoke in verse and plots were not
built around kings, queens or fairies, as in Shakespeare. Naturalism looked at characters and the new
social structures of the time that hadn’t been examined before.
BACKGROUND
In 1867 French
novelist Emile Zola wrote Thérèse Raquin, which was later adapted for the
stage. He believed
that an author must simply establish his characters in their particular
environment and then observe and record their actions as if conducting an
experiment.
Plot: The sensual Therese and her lover Laurent murder her
weak husband Camille. After marrying they are haunted by Camille's ghost and
their passion for each other turns to hatred. They eventually kill
themselves.
Zola's shocking tale dispassionately dissects the
motivations of his characters as mere "human beasts” who kill in order
to satisfy their lust. It is a key
manifesto of the French Naturalist movement, of which Zola was the founding
father.
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Naturalism was a
necessary reaction to the melodrama prevalent at the time in theatres but taken
to its extreme it can result in un-engaging performances.
EXERCISE
§
Directed
by the facilitator someone mimes making a cup of tea in the manner and detail
that they last made one
§
The
rest of the group observe and try to work out what they are doing.
§
The
mime will be naturalistic, full of detail and take a long time.
§
A
second participant repeats the task but the facilitator directs them to only
show the essential elements or moments that communicate the task.
§
Discuss
the difference between the two mimes.
SUMMARY
Although moments of
the mime engage the audience’s interest a naturalistic performance is
unnecessarily detailed. For naturalism
dialogue, actions and the environment were slavishly reproduced.
For example, a
naturalistic performance set in a kitchen would include a working fridge
complete with electricity supply and real food inside, the kettle would be
filled from taps that really do release hot and cold water.
A certain degree of
naturalism can be engaging – the BBC
situation comedy The Royle Family uses the length of time to boil a
kettle or make a bacon sandwich as part of the dramatic action.
Realism only
retains those elements of naturalism necessary to carry the action onwards, a familiar parallel are the football
highlights in Match of the Day or the edited highlights of Big Brother.
“Acting is elimination rather than embellishment, but
you must go through the journey … find and trust the writer.”
Michael Cronin
BACKGROUND
Realist literature is defined
particularly as the fiction produced in Europe and the United States from about
1840 to 1890. This form of realism began in France in the novels of Gustave Flaubert and the
short stories of Guy de Maupassant. In
Russia, realism was represented in the plays and short stories of Anton Chekhov.
The novelist George Eliot introduced
realism into English fiction; as she declared in Adam Bede (1859), her purpose
was to give a “faithful representation of commonplace things.”
Mark Twain and William Dean Howells were
the pioneers of realism in the United States. One of the greatest realists of
all, the Anglo-American novelist Henry James, drew much
inspiration from his mentors, Eliot and Howells. James's concern with character
motivation and behavior led to the development of a subgenre, the psychological
novel.
"A literary and theatrical practice valuing direct
imitation or verisimilitude. Often associated with Naturalism, modern realism
is something described as the inheritor of naturalism. In practice, realism is
usually more concerned with psychological motives, the "inner
reality," and less committed to achieving a superficial verisimilitude
alone."
Bakhtin
- Modern Drama
¨
RELAXATION
It was important
for Stanislavski that his actors were relaxed in order to be able to access
their imagination and creativity.
Unwanted tension had to be eliminated in order to attain a state of
physical and vocal relaxation.
“Muscular tautness interferes
with inner emotional experience. Muscles
must be relaxed in order not to impede your actions” Stanislavski
Once he asked his
actors to lift a grand piano and do mental arithmetic at the same time. They found this very difficult – which
demonstrates that physical tension interferes with the process of the mind.
Stanislavski
suggested that actors practised the breathing and poses of Hatha yoga to
build habits of relaxation. He also
taught progressive relaxation, which is the contracting and releasing each
muscle of the body in turn in order to teach the body (including the voice)
the difference between the two.
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EXERCISE
- some gentle stretches, including neck rolls
- physical exercises that explore tension and relaxation by going from
one state to another (i.e. the body slowly freezes up, section by section, limb
by limb, and then thaws in reverse order OR the body locks up and then loosens
up as if being slowly oiled.)
- standard yoga moves, including a simple sun salutation, to which visual
images can be associated in order to connect
physical control with the imagination.
Stanislavski also
encouraged his actors to continue the traditional physical training of actors,
i.e. dance and fencing, and this re-enforced their ability to have bodies that
were ready to respond and act at any time.
This physical state
of awareness is important to many contemporary practitioners, from Complicite
to Shared Experience.
¨
IMAGINATION
Stanislavski’s books document the rehearsal process of a fictional theatre
company and inspired by his own experiments in rehearsal. In these books the fictional director often
gives his actors exercises to do which use their imagination to unlock truthful
emotional qualities.
“Every moment you make on the stage, every word you
speak, is the result of the right life of your imagination.”
Stanislavski, An
Actor Prepares
EXERCISE
- Sit relaxed, in silence and with your eyes closed. Picture something (an object or thing) that
you dislike – focusing on something concrete like an animal or a food, rather
than an abstract concept e.g. ‘I don’t like the dark.’ or ‘I don’t like being
poor.’ The facilitator may give an
example here
- Home in on the details of the ‘thing’, focussing on its shape, size,
texture, smell – think in specific
details.
- Three participants are chosen to describe their objects whilst
everyone keeps their eyes closed.
- Everyone opens their eyes and each one of the three, in turn,
describes what they saw, describing it as if it is in the centre of the circle
(without revealing to the rest of the group what it was.)
The object of the exercise is not to be the first to guess correctly but
to build up an image from particular descriptive information.
- Once the “thing” has been described other participants can offer their
interpretation of the description. This
should include details of their understanding, such as what they thought it was
at the beginning and what they thought it was at the end and which detail
was the most important.
SUMMARY
This exercise
highlights the use of the imagination.
Firstly the actor
has the task to build up a detailed description without simply stating what it
is. Secondly the audience use their
imagination in order to complete their own picture from the details given by
the actor. Each actor and each member of
the audience will inevitably offer variations on a theme.
This is essentially
how a piece of realistic theatre works.
When a character enters he does not say to the audience ‘I am an evil
man’ but his actions, lines and behaviour may gradually build up to convey that
overall picture. Each member of the
audience is able to form their own impression of the character, they are to
free to interpret what they see on stage rather than being forced into accepting
a stock character.
“Establish truly and precisely
details that are typical and the audience will have a sense of the whole,
because of their special ability to imagine and complete in imagination what
you have suggested.”
Stanislavski in Benedetti, 1989: 12
This approach also
offers possibilities for the actor and the director as they can interpret
details of a script and apply their imagination to every individual
performance. This will result in an
ever-shifting interpretation of the same character every time the play is
staged.
“During every
moment we are on the stage, during every moment of the development of the
action of the play, we must be aware either of the external circumstances which
surround us (the whole material setting of the production) or of an inner chain
of circumstances which we ourselves have imagined in order to illustrate our
parts”
Stanislavski – An
Actor Prepares
¨
MAGIC IF / WHAT IF?
Stanislavski said
that there is one question we can ask ourselves which will open up infinite
possibilities for the imagination: “What if…” .
He wrote about
asking actors in rehearsal to do a scene with the question “What if there was a
murderer behind the door.” The “If” is
the most direct and natural means of arousing true feelings
“…It is necessary
for the actor to develop to the highest degree his imagination, a childlike
naivete and trustfulness, an artistic sensitivity to truth and to the truthful
in his soul and body.” Stanislavski
EXERCISE
- Half the group or a few participants are asked to walk around the room
as if they are on their way to college.
- Lead by the facilitator the
group are asked to respond to a series of
‘What if”s that alter the circumstances.
For example, “What if a car
suddenly pulled out in front of you.”
The participants have to physically react immediately rather than trying
to explain in words.
- The audience are encouraged to propose their own “What if’s…” that become more unusual, are set in the
present tense and that will provoke an emotional response. Each new “if” is given time to be established
and explored
Ie. “What if ….. it is your first day school…. …. you find a ten pound note on the floor
……..you hear footsteps behind you … … it is your last day at school …. You are
about to get your exam results … the sun suddenly comes out ….. you hear your
favourite tune in the distance …. your remember that it is PE today …. you can
feel a barrel of gun between your shoulder blades … you can’t hear, you have
suddenly lost your sense of hearing .. you smell burning… you have something
stolen in your pocket… … you see an ex-lover… the street is filled by a
mudslide …. ”
- Audience and participants can be swapped.
- Finally the audience are asked to come up with a few ideas that are
completely extraordinary (such as “…your legs are made of jelly”, “… your head
has fallen off.”, “ you are wading your way through custard”, “you are naked..”
SUMMARY
The ‘magic if’ asks
that the actor and audience commit to the truth of the stage in that moment,
and engage the imagination to create a complete picture.
This is not about being childish, but childlike. Watch children play and they really believe
in the truth of the game (e.g. getting shot.)
Stanislavski said his actors needed this level of engagement with the
imagination to be successful and that :
“’ “if” acts
as a lever to lift us out of the world of actuality into the realm of
imagination” Stanislavski
¨
GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES
There is an
essential problem with the “Magic If..”
If we are trying to create conditions where we can act truthfully and
believe in the truth of the action on stage having “What if your legs were like
jelly…” is funny, but unlikely to be useful.
So in rehearsal we
create given circumstances to work with or find them in the play itself through close study of the text.
EXERCISE
- PART ONE
- Three identical chairs are placed side by side in a row and a
volunteer sits on one of the chairs.
- The group are asked to describe the truth (or actuality) of the situation
or scene that they are looking at.
“In ordinary life truth is what
really exists, what a person really knows.
Whereas on the stage it consists of something that is not actually in
existence but which could happen.”
Stanislavski
- The actor also needs to be
cast realistically - so what is their
realistic age range? They can only play
their own gender etc…
- What is truth of the stage?
Where could you find chairs placed in similar arrangements? Suggestions may be an airport lounge, a
doctor’s surgery or job interview etc…
- A setting is chosen that has potential for a dramatic atmosphere.
- What are the other minimal given circumstances? – i.e. time of day,
weather outside, date etc..
- The audience watch the actor onstage.
The scene runs but the volunteer is told not to act and imagine
that there is a “fourth wall.”
- Both actor and audience use their imaginations to conjure the truth
(or story) of the stage in that moment i.e. the actor is someone, a character,
waiting in a given place, such as a doctors surgery or waiting for a job
interview.
Discuss their performance: Is this a truthful performance? What are they feeling? What type of person are they? How do we know?
It is important to draw out as much detail as possible and that the
audiences’ perception of what they see is interrogated. For example what body shapes / relationships
are made, and therefore what is the meaning of the body language.
EXERCISE - PART TWO
-A second volunteer and then a third join the first person on the
chairs.
-The audience pays close attention to shifts in body language.
Discuss what has happened.
What are the characters’ stories? What
are they feeling? (Rather than the plot)
The internal story that they
are trying to keep hidden leaks out in small and unconscious ways.
SUMMARY
In the previous
“What if ?” exercise we allowed our imaginations to run riot. If we are to create realistic theatre, we
must be aware of the need to set guidelines to help the actor/director shape
the performance. The Given Circumstances
provide a structure within which to work creatively and truthfully.
“Properly envisaged ‘given circumstances’
will help you to feel and to create a scenic truth in which you can believe
while you are on the stage.” Stanislavski
The key is not to
act, however much you feel like you are not doing anything, because your body
is actually betraying many internal stories.
The body language is there but in realism there is also a subconscious
level that is very revealing. The tempo-rhythm of the actors fidgets /
movements / tension / breathing / eyelines tell us what the character is
feeling internally. Tempo being the basic speed and rhythm being the intensity
of the movement
Because the scene
in a doctors waiting room or waiting for a job interview is slow and quiet a
tempo-rhythm can emerge which will reveal the characters’ hidden feelings.
“Tempo-rhythm carries with itself not only external
qualities which directly affect our natures but also our inner content which
nourishes our feeling. In this guise
tempo – rhythm remains in our memories and may be used for creative purposes.” Stanislavski
¨
CIRCLES OF ATTENTION
An actor must be
able to focus their attention on stage and constantly re-focus their
concentration depending upon where the stage action lies, whether that be with
the person sitting next to you or the cherry orchard in the background.
In addition an
actor who is working with such complex tools as truth and imagination also
needs a safe place to root their performance.
Stanislavski called this
“Solitude in public; using different circles of attention
on stage to focus the attention on the stage: re-focus up on an object if
attention is lost and create circles emanating around that object”
Stanislavski, An
Actor Prepares.
EXERCISE - Bus Stop Story
- Half, or some, of the
group stand as if waiting at a bus stop.
This is not about showing but feeling – this is not about acting, it
is about training the actors muscles.
- The other half of the
group are watching – and they should pick out one person to watch (but not
indicate who they are watching.)
Narration is given by the
facilitator for the “on-stage” group to react to internally, each instruction
is given time to sink in: E.G…
- You feel as if you are there
completely on your own
- You are chewing gum –
what flavour is it?
- You have a bag on your
shoulder – how heavy is it?
Individual actors are asked:
What was your smallest circle of attention?
What was your largest? What was
in between?
Ask the whole group – what
was the difference in the concentration levels between the smaller circles and
larger circles. What did you do about
it?
Compare to Tim
Henman serving for the Wimbledon final or Kelly Holmes at the Olympics. Their focus needs to be on themselves and on
the opposition, on the ball or on the finishing line etc.
¨
CIRCLES OF ATTENTION / FOCUS
EXERCISE 2
The given circumstances of the situation are that ‘A’ is standing at a
bus stop and that a bus stop must be by the side of a road. ‘A’ is told to wait and the audience
observes, eventually ‘A’ is told that his/her bus could be approaching…but it
turns out that it’s not.
‘B’ joins ‘A’ at the bus stop (and perhaps a third person is introduced
and given the same instructions as ‘B’).
‘B’ is secretly given the direction to stand as neutrally as possible
and to focus solely on ‘A’.
SUMMARY
1 During the exercise, A’s attention shifts
from his/her immediate area to the imaginary space where the audience/actor
envisages the approach of a bus. The
focus widens thus describing a large circle of attention. The second person has a small circle of
attention firmly fixed on ‘A’.
This exercise
highlights the actor’s need to be fully focussed in spite of any possible
distractions. It also emphasises the
ability of the actor to speak and move at the same time – something we do
naturally in life, but which can become challenging when it has to be done
again and again in the performance space.
OBJECTIVES
What is an
objective and what is a super-objective?
OBJECTIVE: the task of a scene or a
character
SUPER-OBJECTIVE: a task that spans a whole
play.
eg., Romeo & Juliet, the super-objective
is “the resolution of an ancient grudge” and each character tries to resolve
this conflict through different ways – marriage, power, law, fighting,
negotiation etc.
“The future in a part is it’s
super objective. Let the character keep
moving towards it.”
Stanislavski
EXERCISE
A) Everyone walks around the
space. As you move around the space
focus on a specific point in the room (a hook on the wall, a knot of wood in
the floor etc…) and move directly towards it.
When you reach it turn, focus on another point and head for that.
B) Keeping this objective
going another objective is added, that is to become aware of one other person
and to know where they are in the room (do
not obviously turn and stare at the person you have chosen). After a few moments another objective is added
to become aware of a second person in the space. You have two people to track while they and
you continue to head towards their chosen objectives.
C) In addition to being
aware of the two people you now have to keep both people at an equal distance
from themselves. They will form a kind
of triangle.
D) Keep moving but this time
the first person, A, is your worst enemy and you need to keep as far away from
him/her as possible. Moments later the
second person, B, is a shield that needs to be the barrier between you and A.
E) Forget about the
enemy/shield people and simply move around the space heading for your
objectives once again. They must now
come to a group stop without anyone leading or and without anyone getting left
behind
F) After a group stop, do a
group start
OR
After a group stop, one person starts walking, and then another, and
then another, until the whole group is walking.
There should be no prior agreement as to what order the group
restarts. If the group make a mistake
they return to the group stop.
SUMMARY
What do the
different stages of these exercises feel like?
How do they affect how the group moved and how individuals felt?
Actors do not
perform in a vacuum, even if they are not directly interacting they must be
aware of others at all times. In each
scene a character has a purpose, an objective to be achieved. In achieving their objectives characters
will invariably cross other characters who have their own objectives, and
strategies to achieve those objectives.
This conflict
creates dramatic tension as we react truthfully to the behaviour of those
around us (i.e. if character drops or changes his or her objective every time
he/she encounters an obstacle or conflicting objective this would not be
truthful or dramatic.)
And it is at these
moments that the inner stories of the characters are revealed.
“Tempo-rhythm cannot be
clearly recalled and felt unless there are inner changes present to correspond
to it, unless certain circumstances are suggested to affect the emotion
concerning objectives and actions to be achieved.” Stanislavski
For example: If something endangers us we react
truthfully by trying to get away from them (the fight or flight instinct.) The group speeded up when trying to get away
from your enemy. This external action
was a truthful reaction to your internal impulse.
If the walking
around was the dramatic structure of a play, what would the story be? A love triangle, as between Romeo, Juliet and
Paris?
There is a need for
heightened awareness and focus. No actor
works in a bubble and must be aware of what’s happening on stage and react to
that tension and atmosphere. We all move
around in our own tempo-rhythm in life but on stage we need to become aware of
our characters’ tempo-rhythm as well.
¨
EXERCISE
NEUTRAL PLAY.
Students work in pairs on the neutral play. Read through altogether explaining
the neutrality of the text and ask for suggestions as to what the situation
could be and who these characters could be. Our interpretations are informed by
our reading of the subtext (the mental activity behind dialogue), which
comes as a result of stimulating our imagination within the given
circumstances, which you have just created.
In pairs improvise the scene and decide upon a situation. Pair to answer
the six W’s, which must be a coherent and logical sequence, which is part of
the characters through line of action. An actor must always have a
knowledge and justification for the characters imaginary situation to fill in
what the writer has left out and the more precise their understanding of this
situation, the more precise my response to it and my behaviour will be.
Once these Q’s have been answered the given circumstances have
been formed, which will inform the characters inner monologue (which is
the first part of Stanislavski’s division of subtext), which is what we
are thinking during speaking or whilst listening to others. Every line is
loaded with subtext but actually speak out the characters inner monologue
during the pause – what are they thinking about here?
The situation will have been decided upon e.g. In a kitchen…both pairs
describe the room they see in detail i.e. Where is the furniture? What’s
outside the window? Between them they decide and fix a joint mental image of
this room.
Watch a couple of the scenes and analyse drawing out what the scene was
about and particularly how this was read through the subtext. Audience decide
who these characters are and what their relationship is.
TEXT WORK
Using a short extract of text the students
consolidate ideas presented in previous exercises and explore through lines
of action, subtext and Method of Physical Action (MoPA.)
THE CHERRY ORCHARD: The original production
of The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov was directed by Stanislavski in 1904.
BACKGROUND
The
first Russian revolution was in 1905. This had been preceded by the
emancipation of Russian serfdom which completely changed the social structure.
He
directed most of Chekhov’s premieres and their work is very closely
connected.
The given circumstances of this play are:
Russia, end of 19th Century, set in a country house on an estate
some distance from any major town.
The house is owned
by Mrs Ranevskaya, the family has fallen on hard times and she has come back
from Paris penniless. She had been
advised by a family friend, Lopakhin, a self-made man whose family had been
serfs, that she needs to sell the cherry orchard if she wants to keep the
house. She refused to compromise her
vision of herself as the head of an established artistocratic family with
beautiful lands. But now they are at a
crisis point, the land and the house have been auctioned, and bought by
Lopakhin.
Mrs Ranevskaya has
an adopted unmarried daughter, Varya.
Mrs Ranevskaya has told Lopakhin that Varya is in love with him and all
that he needs to do is propose. Mrs Ranevskaya
sends Varya to speak to Lopakhin.
What do you expect
scene to be about? Read the scene with
the group. Discuss
Do we get what we
expect? (i.e. a proposal) Why not? Does
it ever get close? What do they talk about instead? Explore what subtext might be? Do they know
what it is? Eg. Do you want to come in for a coffee? –
what could this mean….
What do they
really want to talk about? Would Chekhov
want to write about luggage? What is it
that they want to say?
METHOD OF PHYSICAL ACTION
Students work in
pairs with a director (not a dictator)
The following
questions are added as the facilitators circulate around the groups, and for
notes during the showing of the scenes.
MAGIC IF?
Do they love each
other? Does she know he is going to propose?
THROUGHLINE
Does she want to
marry him, does he want to marry her?
What do they think of each other?
How do the thoughts connect? Make
sure your choices are logical and consistent – i.e. a truthful subtext that
follows through.
EMOTIONAL MEMORY
What is it like to
propose to someone? Or be proposed
to? If you don’t know do you have a
similar emotional experience that you can draw on – i.e. asking someone else.
TEMPO-RHYTHM
How does the
tempo-rhythm change when Varya comes in, Lopakhin is already on stage. Experiment with Varya’s attitude to looking
through the luggage – how does this change her tempo-rthythm.
There is actually
a pause after the last line in the scene – what does this do to the
tempo-rhythm. What is its significance
to the meaning of the scene.
SUMMARY
Did we believe the
scene? Would they get together? How do we read the relationship? What were their objectives and were they
clear? What other elements of the system
are evident.
“Always…when you are on the stage, you must
play yourself. But it will be in an
infinite variety of objectives, and given circumstances which you have prepared
for your part, and which have been smelted in the furnace of your emotion
memory.” Stanislavski
A comparison can
be made between the Hugh Grant school of acting, who relies on his screen
charisma but invariably gives the same performances. There is no creative truth. And the many different characters and performances
by Renee Zwellger in Cold Mountain, Chicago, Bridget Jones and Jerry McGuire.
Therefore as an
actor you do use some of yourself but you also have to sacrifice your sense of
self to create an honest and truthful interpretation of the part, which is all
the audience can ask of you.
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