1. Chapter 5

2. 1. Making characters believable
2. Physical acting—the use of the voice
and body
3. Synthesis and integration: combining
inner and outer skills
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4.  Making Characters Believable
 The Development of Realistic Acting
▪ The Stanislavski System: A Technique for
Realistic Acting
▪ Relaxation
▪ Concentration and observation
▪ Importance of specifics
▪ Inner truth
▪ Action onstage: What? Why? How?
▪ Through line of a role
▪ Ensemble playing
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5.  Making Characters Believable continued
 The Development of Realistic Acting
▪ Stanislavski and Psychophysical Action
▪ Purposeful action undertaken to fulfill a character’s goals
was the most direct route to the emotions
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6.  Making Characters Believable continued
 Modern Approaches to Realistic Acting
▪ Lee Strasberg, founder of the Actors Studio in NYC
▪ Emphasized a technique called emotional recall
 A tool intended to help performers achieve a sense of
emotional truth
▪ Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, and Uta Hagen
▪ Balanced the emphasis on inner resources with the inclusion
of given circumstances and purposeful action
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7.  Making Characters Believable continued
 Modern Approaches to Realistic Acting
▪ Uta Hagen
▪ Respect for Acting
▪ Emphasis on emotional recall and memory
▪ Robert Cohen
▪ Acting One
▪ Emphasis on the use of text as an instrument of action
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8.  Making Characters Believable continued
 Modern Approaches to Realistic Acting
▪ Robert Benedetti
▪ The Actor at Work
▪ Emphasis on the actor’s body and how performers can use it
to help shape character
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9.  Physical Acting: Voice and Body
 The Actor’s Instrument: Voice and Body
▪ Theatre makes strong demands on a performer’s
body
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10.  Physical Acting: Voice and Body continued
 The Actor’s Instrument: Voice and Body
▪ The performer’s voice
▪ Key lines must be clearly heard by the audience
▪ A performer must project his or her voice
▪ Maintain a balance between credibility and the necessity of
being heard
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11.  Physical Acting: Voice and Body continued
 Training for Special Forms of Theatre
▪ Certain types of theatre require special discipline
or training
▪ Musical
▪ Pantomime
▪ Avant-garde
and experimental
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12.  Synthesis and Integration
 Goal of training is to create for the performer
an instrument that is flexible, resourceful, and
disciplined
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13.  Judging Performances
 Has the performer mastered the techniques?
▪ Movements; vocal projection
▪ Response to other performers and audience
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