Performance, Part 5
Question 1: Provide a brief history of directing beginning with the ancient Greeks.
Answer 1: In ancient Greece the modern director’s role was performed by a choregus. The choregus was the leader of the chorus, and it was his job to direct and coordinate songs and movements. In ancient Roman theatre, productions were organized by a wealthy patron who provided the financing necessary for a performance. In medieval times, the role most closely related to that of the modern director was called the “master of secrets.” The master of secrets was responsible for special effects and because of the detail and coordination required to perform these effects successfully and safely, he was responsible for telling actors where to stand. When actors had to register in order to perform, the director’s role was carried out by the keeper of the register. The register was an official copy of a script that was performed by a specific theatre company. The keeper of the register was usually a guild, or group of craftsmen, each of them responsible for maintaining the integrity of the script by handing it down to each successive generation.
There are lots of good resources about Performance that you can find available.
Question 2: Define the following terms relating to dramatic performances: acting process, affective memory, atmospheres, and character acting.
Answer 2: Acting process—refers to the methods and materials from which an actor draws his or her ability to perform; actors should be able to verbalize the tools they use in their acting processes.Affective memory—a technique in which an actor reactivates a past experience to gain the emotional and psychological feelings associated with those events and then transferring them to a performance; used when the actor believes the character they are portraying is undergoing an event that emotionally parallels that which the actor experienced in real life. Atmospheres—defined by Michael Chekhov as the inherent energy within a specific place; actors may imagine they are in a specific location while performing in order to depict the corresponding emotions and actions that would best suit that environment thus creating an atmosphere.Character acting—occurs when an actor must make a change to their physical person in order to perform a role; may include the use of dialect or accents that are not part of the actor’s real persona or using stage makeup to create a specific facial disfigurement.
Question 3: Discuss the Alexander Technique used in acting.
Answer 3: The Alexander Technique was developed by Shakespearean orator and actor Frederick Matthias Alexander. The technique arose from Alexander’s desire to overcome his chronic laryngitis. Alexander discovered that he held unnecessary muscular tension while performing, which caused him vocal problems. The Alexander Technique requires that actors become aware of the tension they hold in their necks while performing. When this tension is released, the head relaxes and allows the spine to remain long and uncompressed. This simple physical alignment results in an overall healthy condition of the body. The technique attempts to rid the body of tension and stress through the alteration of one’s daily physical movements. Tension blocks an actor’s ability to effectively portray the characters and stories in a performance. Studying the Alexander Technique can help an actor reduce the amount of tension in his or her body body and better understand how energy should be allocated to certain tasks in order to most efficiently accomplish one’s acting goals.
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