Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its

enactment Enactment may refer to: Law * Enactment of a bill, when a bill becomes law * Enacting formula, formulaic words in a bill or act which introduce its provisions * Enactment (British legal term), a piece of legislation or a legal instrument made un ...

by an actor or actress who adopts a

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

—in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

, or any other medium that makes use of the

mimetic Mimesis (; grc, μίμησις, ''mīmēsis'') is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including '' imitatio'', imitation, nonsensuous similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the ...

mode Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...

. Acting involves a broad range of skills, including a well-developed

imagination Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations ...

, emotional facility, physical expressivity,

vocal projection Voice projection is the strength of speaking or singing whereby the human voice is used powerfully and clearly. It is a technique employed to command respect and attention, as when a teacher talks to a class, or simply to be heard clearly, as used ...

, clarity of

speech Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...

, and the ability to interpret

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

. Acting also demands an ability to employ

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

accents Accent may refer to: Speech and language * Accent (sociolinguistics), way of pronunciation particular to a speaker or group of speakers * Accent (phonetics), prominence given to a particular syllable in a word, or a word in a phrase ** Pitch acce ...

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

, observation and emulation,

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...

, and

stage combat Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet ...

. Many actors train at length in specialist programs or colleges to develop these skills. The vast majority of professional actors have undergone extensive training. Actors and actresses will often have many instructors and teachers for a full range of training involving

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, scene-work,

audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...

techniques, and acting for

camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

. Most early sources in the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

that examine the

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

of acting ( grc-gre, ὑπόκρισις, ''hypokrisis'') discuss it as part of

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

History

One of the first known actors was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

called

Thespis Thespis (; grc-gre, Θέσπις; fl. 6th century BC) was an Ancient Greek poet. He was born in the ancient city of Icarius (present-day Dionysos, Greece). According to certain Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle, he was the first pe ...

Icaria Icaria, also spelled Ikaria ( el, Ικαρία), is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. According to tradition, it derives its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, who was be ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Writing two centuries after the event,

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

in his ''

Poetics Poetics is the theory of structure, form, and discourse within literature, and, in particular, within poetry. History The term ''poetics'' derives from the Ancient Greek ποιητικός ''poietikos'' "pertaining to poetry"; also "creative" an ...

'' () suggests that Thespis stepped out of the

dithyramb The dithyramb (; grc, διθύραμβος, ''dithyrambos'') was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in ''The Laws'', while discussing ...

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

and addressed it as a separate

. Before Thespis, the chorus

narrated A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc.). N ...

(for example, "Dionysus did this, Dionysus said that"). When Thespis stepped out from the chorus, he spoke as if he were the character (for example, "I am Dionysus, I did this"). To distinguish between these different

modes Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...

of storytelling—enactment and narration —Aristotle uses the terms "

mimesis Mimesis (; grc, μίμησις, ''mīmēsis'') is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including ''imitatio'', imitation, nonsensuous similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the act ...

" (via enactment) and "

diegesis Diegesis (; from the Ancient Greek, Greek from , "to narrate") is a style of fictional, fiction storytelling that presents an interior view of a world in which: # Details about the world itself and the experiences of its characters are reveale ...

" (via narration). From Thespis' name derives the word "thespian".

Training

Conservatories and

drama school A drama school, stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution (such as the Drama section at the Juilliard School); which specializes in the pr ...

s typically offer two- to four-year training on all aspects of acting. Universities mostly offer three- to four-year programs, in which a student is often able to choose to focus on acting, whilst continuing to learn about other aspects of

. Schools vary in their approach, but in North America the most popular method taught derives from the 'system' of

Konstantin Stanislavski Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( Alekseyev; russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈgʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Russian Soviet Fe ...

, which was developed and popularised in America as

method acting Method acting, informally known as The Method, is a range of training and rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, u ...

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American theatre director, actor and acting teacher. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931 ...

Stella Adler Stella Adler (February 10, 1901 – December 21, 1992) was an American actress and acting teacher.
''

Sanford Meisner Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905 – February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Group ...

, and others. Other approaches may include a more physically based orientation, such as that promoted by

theatre practitioner A theatre practitioner is someone who creates theatrical performances and/or produces a theoretical discourse that informs his or her practical work. A theatre practitioner may be a director, dramatist, actor, designer or a combination of these tr ...

s as diverse as

Anne Bogart Anne Bogart (born September 25, 1951) is an American theatre and opera director. She is currently one of the Artistic Directors of SITI Company, which she founded with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki in 1992. She is a professor at Columbia Univ ...

Jacques Lecoq Jacques Lecoq (15 December 1921 – 19 January 1999) was a French stage actor and acting movement coach. He was best known for his teaching methods in physical theatre, movement, and mime which he taught at the school he founded in Paris known as ...

Jerzy Grotowski Jerzy Marian Grotowski (; 11 August 1933 – 14 January 1999) was a Polish theatre director and theorist whose innovative approaches to acting, training and theatrical production have significantly influenced theatre today. He was born in Rzesz ...

, or

Vsevolod Meyerhold Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (russian: Всеволод Эмильевич Мейерхольд, translit=Vsévolod Èmíl'evič Mejerchól'd; born german: Karl Kasimir Theodor Meyerhold; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre ...

. Classes may also include

psychotechnique Psychotechnique forms part of the 'system' of actor training, preparation, and rehearsal developed by the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( Alekseyev; russian: Константин С ...

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practic ...

work,

physical theatre Physical theatre is a genre of theatrical performance that encompasses storytelling primarily through physical movement. Although several performance theatre disciplines are often described as "physical theatre," the genre's characteristic aspe ...

, and acting for camera. Regardless of a school's approach, students should expect intensive training in textual interpretation, voice, and movement. Applications to drama programmes and conservatories usually involve extensive

auditions An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...

. Anybody over the age of 18 can usually apply. Training may also start at a very young age. Acting classes and professional schools targeted at under-18s are widespread. These classes introduce young actors to different aspects of acting and theatre, including scene study. Increased training and exposure to

public speaking Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

allows humans to maintain calmer and more relaxed

physiologically Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

. By measuring a public speaker's

heart rate Heart rate (or pulse rate) is the frequency of the heartbeat measured by the number of contractions (beats) of the heart per minute (bpm). The heart rate can vary according to the body's physical needs, including the need to absorb oxygen and excr ...

maybe one of the easiest ways to judge shifts in

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

as the heart rate increases with

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

. As actors increase performances, heart rate and other evidence of stress can decrease. This is very important in training for actors, as adaptive strategies gained from increased exposure to public speaking can regulate implicit and explicit anxiety. By attending an institution with a specialization in acting, increased opportunity to act will lead to more relaxed physiology and decrease in stress and its effects on the body. These effects can vary from hormonal to cognitive health that can impact quality of life and performance

Improvisation

Taglia Cantoni, Fracasso - Gallica 2012 (adjusted)

Some classical forms of acting involve a substantial element of

improvised Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

performance. Most notable is its use by the troupes of the ''

commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

'', a form of

ed comedy that originated in Italy. Improvisation as an approach to acting formed an important part of the Russian

's 'system' of actor training, which he developed from the 1910s onwards. Late in 1910, the playwright

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

invited Stanislavski to join him in

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...

, where they discussed training and Stanislavski's emerging "grammar" of acting. Inspired by a popular theatre performance in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

that utilised the techniques of the ''commedia dell'arte'', Gorky suggested that they form a company, modelled on the medieval strolling players, in which a playwright and group of young actors would

devise Devise may refer to: * To invent something * A disposal of real property in a will and testament, or the property itself which has been disposed of * Devise, Somme See also * Device (disambiguation) * Devizes Devizes is a market town and civ ...

new plays together by means of improvisation. Stanislavski would develop this use of improvisation in his work with his First Studio of the

Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; russian: Московский Художественный академический театр (МХАТ), ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ)) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was f ...

. Stanislavski's use was extended further in the approaches to acting developed by his students,

Michael Chekhov Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov (russian: Михаил Александрович Чехов; 29 August 1891 – 30 September 1955), known as Michael Chekhov, was an American actor, director, author and theatre practitioner. He was a nephew o ...

and

Maria Knebel Maria Osipovna (Iosifovna) Knebel (russian: Мари́я О́сиповна (Ио́сифовна) Кне́бель; 1 June 1985)For dates before the Soviet state's switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in February 1918, this ...

. In the United Kingdom, the use of improvisation was pioneered by

Joan Littlewood Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...

from the 1930s onwards and, later, by

Keith Johnstone Keith Johnstone (born February 21, 1933) is a British and Canadian pioneer of improvisational theatre, best known for inventing the ''Impro System'', part of which are the Theatresports. He is also an educator, playwright, actor and theatre direct ...

and Clive Barker. In the United States, it was promoted by

Viola Spolin Viola Spolin (November 7, 1906 — November 22, 1994) was an American theatre academic, educator and acting coach. She is considered an important innovator in 20th century American theater for creating directorial techniques to help actors to be ...

, after working with

Neva Boyd Neva Leona Boyd (February 25, 1876 in Sanborn, Iowa, Sanborn, Iowa – November 21, 1963 in Chicago) was an American sociologist. She founded the Recreational Training School at the Hull House in Chicago. The school taught a one-year educational pr ...

at a Hull House in Chicago, Illinois (Spolin was Boyd's student from 1924 to 1927). Like the British practitioners, Spolin felt that playing games was a useful means of training actors and helped to improve an actor's performance. With improvisation, she argued, people may find expressive freedom, since they do not know how an improvised situation will turn out. Improvisation demands an open mind in order to maintain spontaneity, rather than pre-planning a response. A character is created by the actor, often without reference to a dramatic text, and a drama is developed out of the spontaneous interactions with other actors. This approach to creating new drama has been developed most substantially by the British filmmaker

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...

, in films such as '' Secrets & Lies'' (1996), ''

Vera Drake ''Vera Drake'' is a 2004 British period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Daniel Mays and Eddie Marsan. It tells the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal abor ...

'' (2004), '' Another Year'' (2010), and ''

Mr. Turner ''Mr. Turner'' is a 2014 biographical drama film based on the last 25 years of the life of artist J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851). Written and directed by Mike Leigh, the film stars Timothy Spall in the title role, with Dorothy Atkinson, Paul Je ...

'' (2014). Improvisation is also used to cover up if an actor or actress makes a mistake.

Physiological effects

Acting in front of an audience many times can cause "stage fright", a form of stress in which someone becomes anxious in front of an audience. This is common among actors, especially new actors, and can cause symptoms such as increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and sweating. In a 2017 study on American university students, actors of various experience levels all showed similarly elevated heart rates throughout their performances; this agrees with previous studies on professional and amateur actors' heart rates. While all actors experienced stress, causing elevated heart rate, the more experienced actors displayed less heart rate variability than the less experienced actors in the same play. The more experienced actors experienced less stress while performing, and therefore had a smaller degree of variability than the less experienced, more stressed actors. The more experienced an actor is, the more stable their heart rate will be while performing, but will still experience elevated heart rates.

Semiotics

The

semiotics Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes ( semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something ...

of acting involves a study of the ways in which aspects of a performance come to operate for its audience as

sign A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or me ...

s. This process largely involves the production of meaning, whereby elements of an actor's performance acquire significance, both within the broader context of the dramatic action and in the relations each establishes with the real world. Following the ideas proposed by the

Surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

theorist

Antonin Artaud Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud (; 4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French writer, poet, dramatist, visual artist, essayist, actor and theatre director. He is widely recognized as a major figure of the E ...

, however, it may also be possible to understand communication with an audience that occurs 'beneath' significance and meaning (which the semiotician

Félix Guattari Pierre-Félix Guattari ( , ; 30 April 1930 – 29 August 1992) was a French psychoanalyst, political philosopher, semiotician, social activist, and screenwriter. He co-founded schizoanalysis with Gilles Deleuze, and ecosophy with Arne Næss, ...

described as a process involving the transmission of "a-signifying signs"). In his ''

The Theatre and its Double ''The Theatre and Its Double'' (''Le Théâtre et son Double'') is a collection of essays by French poet and playwright Antonin Artaud. It contains his most famous works on the theatre, including his manifestos for a Theatre of Cruelty. Compos ...

'' (1938), Artaud compared this interaction to the way in which a

snake charmer Snake charming is the practice of appearing to hypnotize a snake (often a cobra) by playing and waving around an instrument called a pungi. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerou ...

communicates with a snake, a process which he identified as "

"—the same term that

in his ''

'' () used to describe the

in which

communicates its story, by virtue of its embodiment by the actor enacting it, as distinct from "

", or the way in which a

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...

may describe it. These "vibrations" passing from the actor to the audience may not necessarily precipitate into significant elements as such (that is, consciously perceived "meanings"), but rather may operate by means of the circulation of " affects". The approach to acting adopted by other

theatre practitioners A theatre practitioner is someone who creates theatrical performances and/or produces a theoretical discourse that informs his or her practical work. A theatre practitioner may be a director, dramatist, actor, designer or a combination of these tr ...

involve varying degrees of concern with the semiotics of acting.

, for example, addresses the ways in which an actor, building on what he calls the "experiencing" of a role, should also shape and adjust a performance in order to support the overall significance of the drama—a process that he calls establishing the "perspective of the role". The semiotics of acting plays a far more central role in

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

epic theatre Epic theatre (german: episches Theater) is a theatrical movement arising in the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners who responded to the political climate of the time through the creati ...

, in which an actor is concerned to bring out clearly the socio historical significance of behaviour and action by means of specific performance choices—a process that he describes as establishing the " not/but" element in a performed physical "''

gestus ''Gestus'' (, from Latin meaning "gesture, attitude, carriage") is an acting technique developed by the German theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht. It carries the sense of a combination of physical gestures and "gist" or attitude. It is a means by ...

''" within context of the play's overal "''

Fabel A ''Fabel'' is a critical analysis of the Plot (narrative), plot of a Play (theatre), play. It is a Dramaturge, dramaturgical technique that was pioneered by Bertolt Brecht, a 20th century German theatre practitioner . ''Fabel'' should not be con ...

''".

Eugenio Barba Eugenio Barba (born 29 October 1936) is an Italian author and theatre director based in Denmark. He is the founder of the Odin Theatre and the International School of Theatre Anthropology, both located in Holstebro, Denmark. Biography Barba was ...

argues that actors ought not to concern themselves with the significance of their performance behaviour; this aspect is the responsibility, he claims, of the

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

, who weaves the signifying elements of an actor's performance into the director's dramaturgical "montage". The theatre semiotician

Patrice Pavis Patrice Pavis (born 1947) was Professor for Theatre Studies at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England (UK), where he retired at the end of the academic year 2015/16. He has written extensively about performance, focusing his study and re ...

, alluding to the contrast between

Stanislavski's 'system' Stanislavski's system is a systematic approach to training actors that the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski developed in the first half of the twentieth century. His system cultivates what he calls the "art of experiencing" ...

and Brecht's demonstrating performer—and, beyond that, to

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promine ...

's foundational essay on the art of acting, ''

Paradox of the Actor ''Paradox of the Actor'' (french: Paradoxe sur le comédien), written between 1770 and 1778 but first published after the death of the author in 1830, is a dramatic essay by Denis Diderot elucidating a theory of acting in which it is argued that gr ...

'' (–78)—argues that: Elements of a semiotics of acting include the actor's gestures, facial expressions, intonation and other vocal qualities, rhythm, and the ways in which these aspects of an individual performance relate to the drama and the theatrical event (or film, television programme, or radio broadcast, each of which involves different semiotic systems) considered as a whole. A semiotics of acting recognises that all forms of acting involve conventions and

codes In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

by means of which performance behaviour acquires significance—including those approaches, such as Stanislvaski's or the closely related

developed in the United States, that offer themselves as "a natural kind of acting that can do without conventions and be received as self-evident and universal." Pavis goes on to argue that: The conventions that govern acting in general are related to structured forms of

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

, which involve, in each specific experience, "

rules of the game ''The Rules of the Game'' (original French title: ''La règle du jeu'') is a 1939 French Satire, satirical comedy-drama film directed by Jean Renoir. The ensemble cast includes Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély, Marcel Dalio, Julien ...

."Pavis (1998, 8-9). This aspect was first explored by

Johan Huizinga Johan Huizinga (; 7 December 1872 – 1 February 1945) was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history. Life Born in Groningen as the son of Dirk Huizinga, a professor of physiology, and Jacoba Tonkens, who died two y ...

(in ''

Homo Ludens ''Homo Ludens'' is a book originally published in Dutch in 1938 by Dutch historian and cultural theorist Johan Huizinga. It discusses the importance of the play element of culture and society. Huizinga suggests that play is primary to and a nece ...

'', 1938) and

Roger Caillois Roger Caillois (; 3 March 1913 – 21 December 1978) was a French intellectual whose idiosyncratic work brought together literary criticism, sociology, ludology and philosophy by focusing on diverse subjects such as games and play as well as the ...

(in ''

Man, Play and Games ''Man, Play and Games'' () is the influential 1961 book by the French sociologist Roger Caillois, (French ''Les jeux et les hommes'', 1958) on the sociology of play and games or, in Caillois' terms, sociology derived from play. Caillois interpret ...

'', 1958). Caillois, for example, distinguishes four aspects of play relevant to acting: ''

'' (

simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...

), ''

agon Agon (Greek ) is a Greek term for a conflict, struggle or contest. This could be a contest in athletics, in chariot or horse racing, or in music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. Agon is the word-forming element in 'agony', ...

'' (

conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...

or competition), ''

alea Alea or ALEA may refer to: Places * Alea (Arcadia), a town of ancient Arcadia, Greece, located near the modern town in Argolis * Alea (Thessaly), a town of ancient Thessaly, Greece * Alea, Arcadia, a village in the municipal unit Tegea, Arcadia, ...

'' (

chance Chance may refer to: Mathematics and Science * In mathematics, likelihood of something (by way of the Likelihood function and/or Probability density function). * ''Chance'' (statistics magazine) Places * Chance, Kentucky, US * Chance, Mary ...

), and ''ilinx'' (

vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

, or "vertiginous psychological situations" involving the spectator's

identification Identification or identify may refer to: *Identity document, any document used to verify a person's identity Arts, entertainment and media * ''Identify'' (album) by Got7, 2014 * "Identify" (song), by Natalie Imbruglia, 1999 * Identification ( ...

catharsis Catharsis (from Greek , , meaning "purification" or "cleansing" or "clarification") is the purification and purgation of emotions through dramatic art, or it may be any extreme emotional state that results in renewal and restoration. In its lite ...

). This connection with play as an activity was first proposed by Aristotle in his ''Poetics'', in which he defines the desire to imitate in play as an essential part of being human and our first means of learning as children: This connection with play also informed the words used in English (as was the analogous case in many other European languages) for

: the word "

" or "game" (translating the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

''plèga'' or

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''ludus'') was the standard term used until

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's time for a dramatic entertainment—just as its creator was a "play-maker" rather than a "dramatist", the person acting was known as a "player", and, when in the

Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

specific buildings for acting were built, they was known as "play-houses" rather than "

theatres Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

Resumes and auditions

Actors and actresses need to make a resume when applying for roles. The acting resume is very different from a normal resume; it is generally shorter, with lists instead of paragraphs, and it should have a

head shot A head shot or headshot is a modern (usually digital) portrait in which the focus is on the person. The term is applied usually for professional profile images on social media, images used on online dating profiles, the 'about us page' of a cor ...

on the back. Sometimes, a resume also contains a short 30 second to 1 minute reel displaying the actors ability's, so that the

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra (acting), extra for a particular role or part in a scr ...

can see your previous performances, if any. An actors resume should list projects they have acted in before such as plays, movies, or shows, as well as special skills and their contact information. Auditioning is the act of performing either a monologue or sides (lines for one character) as sent by the

. Auditioning entails showing the actor's skills to present themselves as a different person; it may be as brief as two minutes. For theater auditions it can be longer than two minutes, or they may perform more than one monologue, as each casting director can have different requirements for actors. Actors should go to auditions dressed for the part, to make it easier for the casting director to visualize them as the character. For television or film they will have to undergo more than one audition. Oftentimes actors are called into another audition at the last minute, and are sent the sides either that morning or the night before. Auditioning can be a stressful part of acting, especially if one has not been trained to audition.

Rehearsal

Rehearsal A rehearsal is an activity in the performing arts that occurs as preparation for a performance in music, theatre, dance and related arts, such as opera, musical theatre and film production. It is undertaken as a form of practising, to ensure t ...

is a process in which actors prepare and practice a performance, exploring the vicissitudes of

between

s, testing specific actions in the scene, and finding means to convey a particular sense. Some actors continue to rehearse a scene throughout the run of a show in order to keep the scene fresh in their minds and exciting for the audience.

Audience

A critical audience with evaluative spectators is known to induce stress on actors during performance, (see Bode & Brutten). Being in front of an audience sharing a story will makes the actors intensely vulnerable. Shockingly, an actor will typically rate the quality of their performance higher than their spectators. Heart rates are generally always higher during a performance with an audience when compared to rehearsal, however what's interesting is that this audience also seems to induce a higher quality of performance. Simply put, while public performances cause extremely high stress levels in actors (more so amateur ones), the stress actually improves the performance, supporting the idea of "positive stress in challenging situations"

Heart rate

Depending on what an actor is doing, his or her heart rate will vary. This is the body's way of responding to stress. Prior to a show one will see an increase in heart rate due to anxiety. While performing an actor has an increased sense of exposure which will increase

performance anxiety Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...

and the associated physiological arousal, such as heart rate. Heart rates increases more during shows compared to rehearsals because of the increased pressure, which is due to the fact that a performance has a potentially greater impact on an actors career. After the show a decrease in the heart rate due to the conclusion of the stress inducing activity can be seen. Often the heart rate will return to normal after the show or performance is done; however, during the applause after the performance there is a rapid spike in heart rate. This can be seen not only in actors but also with

and

musicians A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

Stress

There is a correlation between heart-rate and stress when actors' are performing in front of an audience. Actors claim that having an audience has no change in their stress level, but as soon as they come on stage their heart-rate rises quickly. A 2017 study done in an American University looking at actors' stress by measuring heart-rate showed individual heart-rates rose right before the performance began for those actors opening. There are many

factors Factor, a Latin word meaning "who/which acts", may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, suc ...

that can add to an actors' stress. For example, length of monologues, experience level, and actions done on stage including moving the set. Throughout the performance heart-rate rises the most before an actor is speaking. The stress and thus heart-rate of the actor then drops significantly at the end of a monologue, big action scene, or performance.

References

Sources

* Boleslavsky, Richard. 1933 ''Acting: the First Six Lessons''. New York: Theatre Arts, 1987. . * Benedetti, Jean. 1999. ''Stanislavski: His Life and Art''. Revised edition. Original edition published in 1988. London: Methuen. . * Brustein, Robert. 2005. ''Letters to a Young Actor'' New York: Basic Books. . * Csapo, Eric, and William J. Slater. 1994. ''The Context of Ancient Drama.'' Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. . * Elam, Keir. 1980. ''The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama''. New Accents Ser. London and New York: Methuen. . * Hagen, Uta and Haskel Frankel. 1973. ''Respect for Acting.'' New York: Macmillan. . * Halliwell, Stephen, ed. and trans. 1995. ''Aristotle ''Poetics. Loeb Classical Library ser. Aristotle vol. 23. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. . * Hodge, Alison, ed. 2000. ''Twentieth Century Actor Training''. London and New York: Routledge. . * Magarshack, David. 1950. ''Stanislavsky: A Life.'' London and Boston: Faber, 1986. . * Meisner, Sanford, and Dennis Longwell. 1987. ''Sanford Meisner on Acting.'' New York: Vintage. . * Pavis, Patrice. 1998. ''Dictionary of the Theatre: Terms, Concepts, and Analysis''. Trans. Christine Shantz. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press. . * Stanislavski, Konstantin. 1938. ''An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary''. Trans. and ed. Jean Benedetti. London and New York: Routledge, 2008. . * Stanislavski, Konstantin. 1957. ''An Actor's Work on a Role''. Trans. and ed. Jean Benedetti. London and New York: Routledge, 2010. . * Wickham, Glynne. 1959. ''Early English Stages: 1300—1660.'' Vol. 1. London: Routledge. * Wickham, Glynne. 1969. ''Shakespeare's Dramatic Heritage: Collected Studies in Mediaeval, Tudor and Shakespearean Drama.'' London: Routledge. . * Wickham, Glynne. 1981. ''Early English Stages: 1300—1660.'' Vol. 3. London: Routledge. . * Zarrilli, Phillip B., ed. 2002. ''Acting (Re)Considered: A Theoretical and Practical Guide''. Worlds of Performance Ser. 2nd edition. London and New York: Routledge. .

External links

Collection: "History of Acting: Gestural Acting and Realism"
from the

University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...

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