Approaches to Acting Past and Present

by Meyer-Dinkgräfe, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780826449009
• ISBN10: 082644900X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-08-15
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

For centuries the theatre has been one of the major forms of art. How did acting, and its institutionalization in the theatre, begin in the first place? In some cultures complex stories relate the origin of acting and the theatre. And over time, approaches to acting have changed considerably. In the West, until the end of the 19th century, those changes occurred within the realm of acting itself, focusing on the question of whether acting should be 'natural' or 'formal.' Approaches to acting were closely related to the trends in culture at large. Acting became more and more professional and sophisticated as philosophical theories developed and knowledge in the human sciences increased. In the 20th century, the director was established as the most important force in the theater--able to lead actors to pinnacles of their art which they could not have achieved on their own. Approaches to acting in non-Western cultures follow quite different patterns. This book provides a clear overview of different approaches to acting, both historical and contemporary, Western and non-Western, and concludes with a challenge to the future of the art.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vii
Introduction	1	(3)
Worldwide Origins of Acting	4	(4)
The Foundations of Western Approaches to Acting: Greece and Rome	8	(5)
Renewing the Sources: Approaches to Acting in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance	13	(7)
Nature or Form: Approaches to Acting from 1550 to 1900	20	(18)
Approaches to Acting in the Twentieth Century	38	(56)
Stanislavsky and His Legacy: Realism and Naturalism from Psychotechnique to Physical Actions	38	(16)
Psychotechnique and Method of Physical Actions	38	(9)
Stanislavsky's Legacy 1: Psychotechnique and the American Method	47	(3)
Stanislavsky's Legacy 2: An Emphasis on the Body	50	(4)
Developments in Anti-Realism	54	(26)
German Expressionism	54	(4)
Bauhaus	58	(2)
Futurism, Dada and Surrealism	60	(3)
Brecht	63	(4)
Artaud	67	(7)
Grotowski	74	(6)
Director's Theatre	80	(5)
Acting, Postmodernism and Performance	85	(9)
Non-Western Approaches to Acting	94	(43)
India	94	(29)
Japan	123	(5)
China	128	(5)
Islamic Countries	133	(4)
Approaches to Acting in the Intercultural Paradigm	137	(22)
Training the Actor, Past and Present	159	(12)
Theatre Criticism	171	(6)
The Future of Acting	177	(6)
Notes	183	(24)
Bibliography	207	(12)
Index	219