‘An Actor Prepares’ by Stanislavski is follows a fictional
student, Kotya, as he begins his actor training. Although it follows a
fictional character it is also autobiographical in the sense that the character
is just replacing what Stanislavski himself did at the time. The book is about
the various techniques and exercises he explored In order to find himself as a
performer. It teaches the reader to explore their creativeness and imagination
through acting in order to find truthfulness in performance. It also lays out the foundations of his
natural approach to theatrical truth and his approach to the equilibrium
between performance and truth.
It was originally published in 1936. (Stanislavski, 1981)
‘Symbolism in Theatre’ is an ejournal by Tisdel.F looks at
the impact of symbolism in theatre and what meaning it generates for audiences.
It also asks what symbolism is as well as looking at prominent uses it ranging
from Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ to Ibsen’s ‘The Master Builder’. Tisdel was a
Professor of literature who worked in many universities where he would study
and write books on many different aspects of literature including the use of
symbolism in plays. (Tisdel, 1920)
‘Twentieth Century Actor Training’ by Alison Hodge looks at
various practitioners who have had a strong hand in creating the methods of
acting taught around the world. It looks at the father of Naturalism,
Stanislavski as well as influential expressionists such as Brecht. It outlines
the basic approach of naturalism and how Stanislavski came up with his various
approaches to it. (Hodge, 2000)
This
picture was taken off a blog, which was looking Edward Craig Gordon and his use
of symbolism in the theatre. The picture shows how Gordon was stage a play and
it shows how his form of symbolism uses light an shadow to convey meanings i.e.
More sinister characters would always be in the shadows or if a characters mood
has darkened the would perform in the darker areas. It is a useful source in
that it gives a clear visual representation of how symbolism can be used in the
theatre. However, as I have not seen it live I cannot form my own solid opinion
on how it was used and as such I can only speculate on how I believe it could
be used based on my own theatre experience. Picture will not show on blog
Hodge, A.
(2000). Twentieth century actor training:
London : Routledge, 2000.
Stanislavski, C. (1981). An actor prepares: London : Methuen & Co Ltd, 1981.
Tisdel, F. M. (1920). Symbolism in the Theatre. The Sewanee Review, 28(2), 228-240.
Gordon.E, Sebastiao and theatre, http://sebastiaoandtheatre.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/edward-gordon-craig.html
Some good stuff here Sam - in particular, your 'academic voice' which you are developing, and the fairly succinct way in which you sum up what your sources are saying. However you really need to proof read your work - there are typos and errors which would lose you marks in a graded scenario.( e.g. Kotya as Stanislavski's character - isn't it Kolya?) Maybe try getting a peer to read through what you have written ? In any case , a good start and well done
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