Brecht: Drama schools, neglect the need for observation and mimesis of the objective of this observation. Young actors have the tendency to express themselves without taking into account the stimulus they receive and in which they owe the way they express. The actor has not only to produce poetic morphs but also to recreate and elaborate constantly real types from his surrounding. For the actor the entire world transforms into a theatre and himself in a spectator. (Uber den Beruf des Schauspielers)
"Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes farthest is generally the one who will do and dare." -- Dale Carnegie
“Art, especially the stage, is an area where it is impossible to walk without stumbling. There are in store for you many unsuccessful days and whole unsuccessful seasons: there will be great misunderstandings and deep disappointments… you must be prepared for all this, expect it and nevertheless, stubbornly, fanatically follow your own way.” – Chekhov to his wife.
Summary
There are several Chekhov's one-act comedies I use for class projects in my acting-directing projects (finals): Wedding, On the High Road, Proposal, Bear. [public domain]
Questions
Film Casting and other "casting" pages: Cast in directing, Typecast in BioMethod, Actors and Cast in Method. Plus, Auditions.
Maybe, the real answers are in Book of Spectator and/or Virtual Theatre, but I do not teach those subjects and as a result I have no time to work on theory...
Notes
Oh, we have to wait when the vertical subdirectories will be developed; each part has its own subdirectory. BM theory by itself needs a book, not a few webpages (even if they grow into chapters). There are some areas, which are not even established (mass of stage event, gravity of dramatic event, intensity and etc.) -- I have listing of the new terms in glossary, but even the difintions are taken from film theory. Without those new concepts the chronotope can't be studied (no workable formulas for stage space and time).
Handbook of the Stanislavsky's Method *
A RUSSIAN - AMERICAN COLLABORATION BRINGS A SUPPRESSED MASTER WORK TO LIFE : The Meyerhold Project is a co-venture between the Yale School of Drama and the St. Petersburg Academy of Theatre Arts in Russia. Begun in 1995, the project is dedicated to reawakening the tragically silenced voice of Vsevolod Meyerhold, the brilliant theatre artist who is arguably the greatest stage director of the 20th century. Rightfully compared to Picasso, Meyerhold was little known in the West, and after his Stalin-ordered execution in 1940, his name was deleted from the artistic record of the Soviet Union. The recent opening of archives in Russia have, for the first time in decades, allowed for a full examination of this extraordinary artist's work.
2004: Lesson 13:
Lesson 14:
Lesson 15:
Lesson 16: "He believed that reality should be created in the mind of the spectator rather than on stage, and based his work on Pavlov's Theory Association." (S)
The real test is not in class, but on stage, on public!
I began doing my research, preproduction, production and post-production online in 1999 with The Three Sisters. By that time I already had my early webpage for theatre and film classes. I thought that the "production" books could be usefull not only for myself, but also students to see the process of working on the shows.
Because of the Virtual Theatre (VT) webcast's potentials, I had to use my own translaslations/adaptation and the plays which are in public domain. I do not mind extra work or working with the classics (Shakespeare, Wilde).
Anyway, since BM are good for comedy, I use scene and monologues from the produced scripts in my acting and directing classes. I recommend to read the pages on playwrights in script.vtheatre.net (Dramatic Literature and Playscript Analysis classes).
[Later] I hope that I developed the subdirectories for showcases, but right now select the scenes for class and do your homework, using the webpages. [ BM I -- for class, BM II -- cyber-students. ]
Also, I use one-acts for my finals (public presentation, class projects). "Small Chekhov" [right table] is also online (comedies).
Textbook: Part VI. Comparing, Choosing, and
combining Approaches.
"Bianca Story" with the film directing class: read film acting pages!
Checklist:
[ UAF students in THR221 Intermediate Acting]
1. Research the character (write in your journals): story and 5w's. Post to eGroup (must)!
2. Through-line, super-objective, each scene analysis.
3. Rehearsing outside of our regular class-time: partners and homework.
4. Use of prop and costumes.
5. [ Shooting 2005 class ]
6. PM : summary of your experience working on your role (must in your journals).
"BUSINESS of ACTING":
text -- YOU -- show
"YOU" is the acting machine!
I'll be writing on the subject in all PS pages: what you need to know in order to function in business.
"How to work on yourself" page -- ?
Homework
Read shows.vtheatre.net -- there are several directories to study BM and Comedy. Most developed is the 12th Night, least --Inspector General. Use the text of Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest) and production notes for Don Juan.
[ How to hyperlink the old BM and Class-BM directories? Logic -- different issues, topics, subjects. Many are missing; "Directing Groups" -- comedy or tragedy, as long we have "chorus"... ]
Spring 2005: the showcase for the BM textbook -- Shakespeare (comedy) or "Small Chekhov"? Both? 12th Night or The Taming of the Shrew ("Kate - Petruccio" short version?) Notes and comments are in shows.vtheatre.net (methods of rehearsing). Historic Notes (Commedia) as if Meyerhold directing?
Monologues for Acting III -- Method
Other directors to mention: Tairov and Vakhtangov (at least). Also, comparing Brecht and Mayakovsky styles (episodic structure and epic theatre) -- maybe in script.vtheatre.net.
The captions/notes for the photos on my pages: who is Lentulov (left)? Three pix of "Death of Tarelkin" -- dates, designers (Stepanova), synopsis of the play, summary of the production and etc. I don't know when I can get to it. For now, you should check the appendix, list, links, biblio pages.
Read the books on M. -- the data is there!
Meyerhold in Stagematrix (Directing class) -- "Master" v. "Teacher" (Stanislavsky).
Theatre Theatre Files
"No person who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life. All the opportunities in the world are waiting to be grasped by people who are in love with what they're doing." — Samuel Goldwyn
[ part 4. Theory in Action -- biomx files @ film-north ]
"Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes farthest is generally the one who will do and dare." -- Dale Carnegie
