Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1991 - 34

feeling, rarher rhan [Q affecr rhe
semblance of an experience or
emorion. It wasn't enough [Q feign
sleep: you had [Q lie there remembering the sensation of feeling
sleepy. It wasn't enough [Q present
a heart-rending picrure of starvarion: you had [Q remember whar ir
acrually feels like [Q be hungry. Ir
wasn'r enough ro manifesr depression, to shed rears, even-you
acrually had ro feel sad. Any suggesrion of artifice in acring was
anarhema to Sranislavsky. The
very concepr of simularion
smacked of empriness and charlaranism. Merhod acring soughr ro
pur onsrage nor an image of realiry, bur realiry irself. For
Sranislavsky, illusion was a dirty
word ... (Bur) method acring
didn't eliminare artificialiry in
srage acring, ir only updated ir,
giving rise ro a more individual
style of mannerism. It didn'r reach
rhe acror how ro be a chameleon,
eirher, merely how [Q rum every
character into himself. .. " Whar
would I do if I were in rhar siruarion?" is rhe quesrion rhar rhe
American merhod actor always
asks himself; never" ... and if I

were somebody else, whar rhen?"
(This) approach to method acting
had another, more serious consequence fOr theatre: it made a mockery ofthe idea ofthe audience. For
when the actor's own feeLings
became the standard by which the
vaLidity of the perfOrmance was to
be gauged, the audience ceased to be
an entity upon which the theatre
was supposed to have an effect
(emphasis mine). "How was
rhar?" asks rhe naive merhod
acror. The answers are always rhe
same- "How did ir feel? Did ir
feel righr?" -until, finally, rhe
merhod acror srops asking. He is
no longer naive.
Of course, some element of
rhis attirude was implicir in
Sranislavsky's own rhinking abour
rhe thearre. He wanted rhe quality
of life onsrage ro be identical ro
whar you would see if rhe "fourth
wall" of a house were removed.
He wanted acrors ro be carrying
on as if no one was warching, like
ants ar a picnic, oblivious ro rhe
lirtle crowd of day-trippers
observing rheir movemenrs.
Unfortunarely, the quality of srage
acrion has abour as much ro do

wirh narural habir as life on rhe
moon-and for rhe same reasons.
The srage actor inhabirs wholly
differenr worlds of space and
rime, owing ro rhe physical condirions of rhearre. You cannor "ralk
normally" on a srage and hope ro
be heard; jusr so, you cannor
behave normally onsrage and
hope ro have an effecr on anyone
bur yourself. The facr is rhar an
audience is rhere, a necessary parr
of rhe rhearrical process if rhe
experience of rhearre is ro be anyrhing more rhan make-believe.'

ISSUE OF ACTING SYTLE
And so when a rheatre is dominared
covertly by rhis agreement on everyday
reality as rhe norm and rhis style of acring, a curious and sad rhing happens. In
rhis kind of impoverished rhearre-rhe
vasr majoriry of American rheatre, for
example; or a growing secrion of rhe
Czech rhearre, for anorher-whole eras
of dramaric lirerarure and rich rradirions
of performance pracrice are closed off
eirher because: the actors are incapable of
deaLing with materiaL that cannot be
adapted to their own personaL experience
and enacted realisticaLLy; or because the

* NEW TITLE FROM BROADWAY PRESS *
Stock Scenery Construction Handbook is a complete shop reference book with
over 150 ful~page drawinlia showing how to build every conceivable kind of stock
scenery piece: standard lats \of course), door units, hardwall flats, platforms, both
continental and standard ~a leis, stairs (includin~ folding-brace steps), dr~s,
curtains, and much more. e autho~s wry sense 0 humor about this potenti Iy
boring subject will be appreciated by every reader, from the novice crew member
who still hits his or her thumb
with the hammer to the seasoned
techie who knows aCrosby clamp
from aNicopress sleeve.

STOCK SCENERY
CONSTRUCTION
HANDBOOK

IbBILL RAOUL
Y

Draperiel
* Lighting
* LamPI *

Dimmeu

* makeup
245 pages
154 full-page illustrations
$12.95

Headfetf

Gel

Special Effects

Rigging *

Hardware

* SPECIAL DISCOUNT· LIMITED TIME OFFER *
Order a copy of our new title, Stock Scenery Construction Handbook (or any of
our other titles) and receive a copy of our popular Backstage Forms
FOR HALF PRICE when you mention this ad!

Backstage Fonns is a collection of standard
paperwork forms compiled by Paul Carter, author
of the Backstage Handbook. Save yoursen
hours of tedious work by photocoPfcing these
well·organized forms or use them or good ideas
to improve your own favorite paperwork.
For a limited time, you can take advantage of this
half-price oHer to see just how valuable
Backstage Forms can be to you.

~~~

166 pages
$12.95

To order, call 800·869·6372 or 516·749·3266
* SATISFACTION GUARANTEED·

1991

SPRING

TD&T

4925 Harley Drive· P.O. Box 519
Walkertown, N.C.
27051
Telephone: 919 ·595 -2122
800·992-9871 * (N()800-682·4011

fAX:919'5'15-6JJl

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1991