Advanced Acting Assessment

Advanced Acting Assessment

‘The actor does not need
to “become” the character. The phrase, in fact, has no meaning. There is no
character. There are only lines upon a page. They are lines of dialogue meant
to be said by the actor. When he or she says them simply, in an attempt to
achieve an object more or less like that suggested by the author, the audience
sees an illusion of a character upon the stage. To create this illusion the
actor has to undergo nothing whatever. He or she is as free of the necessity of
“feeling” as the magician is free of the necessity of actually summoning
supernormal powers. The magician creates an illusion in the mind of the
audience. So does the actor.’ Mamet, D. (1999). True and false: Heresy and
common sense for the actor. New York: Vintage Books. Pg. 3.

The
main focus of your essay should be a critical analysis and reflection on your
experience of testing out the various exercises explored in workshops and in
your practical assignment.
Think
of these exercises as research. Your task is to experiment with, test out and critically evaluate these
exercises in relation to what did and didn’t work for you as an actor and why.

You’ll
need to read some of the articles on Moodle to give your analysis sufficient
critical depth and focus. Aim to use two to three article as your main source
of evidence plus two to three other articles as supporting evidence.

Section One (300 words approx)

In
this section set out the key areas of debate and discussion that will inform
your main argument. This requires you to identify and discuss key concepts and
arguments from the required reading and.
You should engage with some (though not all) of the following issues and
debates;.
-Diderot’s
paradox of acting
–
Stanislavski’s system and how it helps actors connect to emotions
-David
Mamet’s criticism of Stanislavski’s ideas
–
Bella Martin’s defence of Stanislavski’s system and criticism of David Mamet’s
argument

Remember
you are establishing the field of enquiry in this opening section. The most
effective way of doing this is engage closely with the reading to set out the
specific debates and arguments that your main thesis will develop from.

Section Two (700 words approx)

In
this section discuss your experiences of testing out a range of acting
exercises to explore some of the following questions in relation to the
specific demands of Annie Bakers writing style:
What do we mean by feelings and
emotions?
How do we access feelings and emotions
through an acting process?
When acting do we ‘feel it or fake
it’?
Can an audience tell the
difference?
What inhibits the actor and creates
obstacles and problems when trying to connect to or stimulate feelings and
emotions?
1. What methods/techniques
did you try out and why?
2. How did you adapt these
exercises in to the specific needs of your characters and scenes?

These are some of the questions that could be
covered in your analysis. Develop your own and don’t try to cover everything.
Keep your analysis focussed and only engage with questions that are relevant to
your thesis. Remember, an analysis is an
in-depth study of the whys and how’s of your process. As if you are looking through a microscope at
different elements—go in depth about your research and choices.

Section Three: (500
words approx)

This is a section to
reflect on the process and what you’ve learnt about specific aspects of acting
theory. And detail any insights and conclusions from your experiences of your
acting process and you’ve explored the relationship between acting and emotion.

Annie Bakers work has been described as ‘hyper
naturalism’. What this requires is a form of mimetic acting that presents human
beings on stage as they actually behave. For the written analysis you should
analyse and critically reflect Based on your work on the play this practical assignment you’re encouraged
to investigate this term and find ways of performing extracts from the play
which allow you to achieve some of the following:
a micro-naturalistic depiction of the
characters and their behaviours
perform dialogue and movement which
avoids some of the adornments and theatrics of more dominant styles of
naturalistic acting
perform Bakers dialogue in styles that
mimics natural life and reflects the stutters, silences, confusions and
meanderings of everyday life

The Essay must
be properly referenced, and include a properly formatted bibliography.

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