Actor-Acting

CONTENTS

A.Introduction

I. The Actor-Acting

II. Acting Techniques

1.The value of motion in the performance of the modern actor ........4 2. Expression and theatrical improvisation .................6

3. Perceptive aculty..........................7

4. The attention ..............................8

5. The Memory .......................... .9

6. The Imagination ........................11

III.STYLES OF ACTING

Naturalism..........................13

The Method ...........................14

Improvisation ........................15

Epic Acting.........................16

Musicals .............................16

Physical Theatre...........................17

IV. STAGE AND SCREEN...............17

V. SCHOOLS AND COMPANIES...........20

VI. AN ACTOR'S WORK.................21

VII. SHAKESPEARE AND MODERN ACTING......22

B. Conclusion...................25

C. Appendixes

INTRODUCTION

"Bring yourself to the part of taking hold of a role as if it were your own life. Speak for your character in your own person. When you sense this real kinship to your part your newly created being will became soul of your soul, flesh of your flesh."

Konstantin Stanislavski

This quote could take the form of a definition for acting, but I do believe that acting as a creative process oversizes the limits of a definition. Still, I thought it was necessary to include in the 1^st chapter some notions upon this matter and to introduce a few facts on the origins of theatre.

This small research is an incursion in the impressive world of performance, an insight over the techniques and styles that have represented and coordinated this form of art over the years. I'm sure that some of us, theatre fans or not, have already seen several plays; and many of you have remained fascinated by the actors performance, and why not curious. What few of you know is that behind the scenes there is a perfected technique that represents the foundation for the dramatic interpretation. The actor must be a sharp observer of life and toughly trained in voice projection, pronunciation, and body movement in order to become "an athlete of the heart". Qualitative notions like coherence and uniformity all express the set of ideas about styles of being and acting-in life and on stage. That's what I will try to do in the ^2nd chapter by reviewing some of the actors techniques such as the value of motion because the performance assumes movement as it is by excellence a dynamic process. By doing so I will also try to emphasize the importance of dramatic elements: improvisation, expression, perceptive faculty, attention, memory and imagination that are necessary for the rendition of a play. The 3^rd chapter represents a short summary on some of the most influential acting styles and some of their technical skills, approaches and systems. Further on I tried to distinguish the different relationship between the two spaces of dramatic action -stage and screen-that are both governed by specific 13413b117n and different rules. The 5^th chapter gives information upon some of the most important dramatic schools and companies that provide training for those who want to become professional actors. The acting has changed its status in the modern times, it has become a competitive profession as you will notice in the next chapter. Last but not the least, the final chapter is a small research upon Shakespeare's lasting influence on later theatre and literature, the way he managed to expand this field through his work.

I. THE ACTOR-ACTING

The actor is commonly known as a person who acts in a dramatic production or in a film and radio. The acting is the creation of a character on stage or on screen, character that becomes involved in a series of actions and situations usually outlined by an author, or set out in a script or scenario and later conveyed by the actor to an audience.

In his performance the actor makes use of a lot of elements and attributes such as: vocal and physical apparatus, emotional and kinetic responses. These are usually enhanced by the use of make-up, costume, masks and specialized lighting. Theatre, as a form of art has evolved as well as the styles of acting and the actor's status within society as well.

Origins

The first acting manifestations seem to have been found in religious rituals and perhaps in the act of worship. The art of drama developed around 534BC in the festivals of Dionysus in ancient Greece. Thespis was the first known person to speak words as a character in a play. In honor of Thespis, actors are commonly called "thespians", some still believe that he exists to this day as a mischievous spirit who causes disasters in plays.

In Roman theatre, actors had a low social status, and many of them were slaves. With the fall of Rome in 476,and the advent of Christianity, the theatres were closed. Vestiges of these early forms of theatre were retained throughout the 14^th century to the 15^th century by troupes of jugglers, acrobats, mimics and raconteurs who were the professional entertainers of the Middle Ages. Still, the actors did not have a high status in these times as their activity of entertainment was regarded with distrust .In many parts of Europe they could not even receive a Christian burial as they were thought to be condemned.

The profession of the actor was established during the 16^th century with the creation of the company at the Hotel of Bourgogne in France, or with the "Commedia Dell'arte" in Italy (when the first professional actress Isabella Andreieni appeared on stage). In England, actors, all of whom were male, used to tour in troupes. The most famous actor of his day was Richard Burbage who in 1576 founded the first permanent purpose-build theatre in London.

Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare brought plays up to the level of great literature, although actors were still viewed as" vagabonds or charlatans". During the English Renaissance, until theatre was banned by the Puritans, boys and young men played female roles, as it was considered to be a disgraceful activity. It was not until 1660 when Charles the II re-established the theatre in London those professional actresses appeared on the English stage.

The craft of the actor was artistically reformed in the 18^th century by David Gavrick who the first British theatre director. His less mannered style represents a move towards Naturalism in the 19^th century. The seminal proponent of this shift was Konstantin Stanislavksi. His work at the Moscow Arts Theatre was to have enormous influence over the acting styles in the 20^th century.

In the 19^th century Irwing became the first actor to become knighted by the queen, as a sign of the rise in status of this profession. The 20^th century saw the evolution of new acting techniques in response to the development of cinema and television. The modern actor must be a good"all -around" equipped to work within these media as well as the traditional and alternative theatrical variables.

II.ACTING TECHNIQUES

Acting makes use of a variety of techniques that are learned through training and experience, some of these are:

-The rigorous use of the voice to communicate a character's lines and express motion. This is achieved through attention and projection by correct breathing and articulation. It is also achieved through the tone and emphasis that an actor puts on words.

-Physicalisation of a role in order to create a believable character for the audience and to use the acting space appropriately and correctly.

-Use of gesture to complement the voice interaction with other actors and to bring emphasis to the words in a play, also the gesture must have and get a symbolic meaning.

1.The value of motion in the performance of the modern actor

Theatre is considered to be a faithful reflection of reality, this comparison takes the form of a condition that imposes itself to everyone who is willing to build a top-grade theatre. A mirror of it's own time, some have said. In what way? On stage people have looked at themselves from different perspectives and different angles, they have divisioned themselves, stepped out and took a shipper's eye view, they have admired and mocked themselves, contemplated and acclaimed themselves in all their grandeur or unsightliness. People project themselves on stage; it is a projection that solicits not only the actors but also the viewer's attention.

How are they projected? Through the art of performance, a complex art, which makes use of different and various techniques and it can also create strong reactions by sight, hearing or movement to the delightment of the audience. This form of art is composed of many theatrical variables: the play script conveyed by the interpretation of the actors on the limited space of action-the stage.

The performance assumes movement and so the theatrical show is a dynamic process accomplished through the individual and personal performance of each actor from the protagonist to the last extra on stage. The performance develops pursuant to its own stage laws, through which the theatrical behavior is established in order to affect the spectator. This process also demands plasticity, mouldability, and expressiveness along with the force of rendition.

As many have observed today modern theatre makes use of the actor's abilities in the interpretation of roles. This calls for adaptation and educability in the development of the physical movement. Therefore, the exercises of expression and improvisation become imperative for the execution of both simple and complex motions. In this way, they are supposed to give a strong veridical shade to the artistical act. Still, it is not only about the artistic preparation but also about the technical part too, that requires a fully trained body.

Improvisation is in itself a form of art composed by both physical and pshyhical difficulties that need to be confronted and outdared in the specific frame-the stage. The stage is a dynamic atmosphere situated in a direct and constant link with the audience. The motion and stage is conditioned by other data such as: the props, the costumes, the effects, although some theatrical experiences have demonstrated otherwise-here we should mention Jerzy Grotowky who rejects these traditional facts.

The Polish Theatre director and one of the leading figures in avant-garde in the 20^th century, redefined the performance and its purpose by introducing the idea of "poor theatre"-in other words, the work of the actor exclusively with the audience not supported by sets, costumes or lightning effects. The motion of the actor in actually the center of interest for many modern plays.

The goal of every training experience is to create an expressive actor capable of vivid, powerful and artful expression of thought and feeling that is spectacularly human and rarely demonstrated in our daily common life.

2.Expression and theatrical improvisation

Theatre has appeared as a necessity for communication and vision enlargement. Therefore, we can easily say that it has become a microuniverse in which existential dilemmas and problems have been embodied. From this idea derives the fact that the spectacle is a representation of the human problems. Actors as humans too are conditioned by a diversity of compulsory elements -the so-called "game rules". The adaptation to the scenery climate is attained through scenic movement. These motion reckon upon a sum of rules which perfected and assumed lead to the conscious control of its own possibilities. Once the notion have been elaborately learned and practiced we will attain expressivity and the creative fantasy will be stimulated. Another important factor is the physical capability of every individual, his natural movements and aptitudes that need correction and full exploitation.

Another "sine-qva-non" criterion for the modern actor who has to respond to the constantly rising demands is-mobility. In this way we acknowledge the necessity of the Theatrical exercises (muscle tension or relaxation that lead to flexibility and agility).We can also talk about acrobatic studies that have proved their efficiency in the maintenance of mobility. Probably the most important part of the study upon motion is the "game". It has not only a recuperative purpose but also a stimulating effect on the spontaneous qualities of actors by enlarging the rope of his precious imagination. It is essential for the performer to grasp the artistic character through scenary motion.

The most agile and motivated won't have a real theatrical meaning unless they make use of plasticity and of a powerful form of expression, capable of transmitting the idea that generates them. The plasticity and the element of movement act like stimulus for the spectators whoa re already integrated in the dramatic atmosphere.

The physical capacities of mobility are closely linked to those of pshical domain. That is why besides imagination there is a strong need for: attention, focus, memory, imagination, and observation.

3. The perceptive faculty

The perceptive faculty is something everyone possesses. Still, many times we have deprived ourselves from its benefits. We usually let this fade and that is why we begin ignoring important things that we don't easily see, feel or hear. For example if we ask someone about events that happened the other day, few of us can recall details. What has probably remained is a vague shade and some minor events that impressed them and this of course with an extensive effort of concentration.

The perceptive faculty is specific to every person in a different measure. Some of us recount with few words but compensate this lack with gestures, motions that unifies the situation into a veridical painting. Some render stories minutiously or broadly. From this type of daily involuntary exercises we can observe that there are individuals with a developed observatory sense, while some others need to educate it. The future actor must advance in this direction. His sensitive organs must be alerted every time in order to intercept any type of vibe around him, any form that palpitates.

We can educate our perceptive faculty by observing humans in their daily behavior, the way the talk, walk, run, the way they look, how they stop, sit, sleep, cry etc. It's impressive how vast are our emotions, reactions, feelings. Still, our behavior is dependent to the environment in which we live in. It is strongly related to our age, profession and character. For a better effect we can begin to notice the animals life and specifical rituals and especially the way they play. We must also notice the influence that atmospheric conditions have upon us-usually the action of a play is set in a different season. Pursuant to this we should digest the type of behavior specific to a certain season, because human conduct depends on weather status.

Our perceptive faculty is assisted by sensitive mechanisms that allow us to intercept the necessary data, which we can use in our exercises through a collective editing. Any assignment assumes a research in the field of perceptions upon the theme or the environment. The perceptive faculties, common to all people, need to be directed, when it comes to performance domain. This directing is done through a carefully and attentively extraction of the essential elements that will permit to reconstruct the life on stage in that specific way, proper to the dramatic show.

Although these exercises may seem rather infantile and simples they are vital for learning the attributes of work on stage.

4. The attention

Attention is an essential factor in the fulfillment of every human action. It must be studied and also educated because it helps the observation and the memory to function to their high standards. The quality of the actor is earned through the practice of all these elements. The attention prepares the student for more complex interior experience within the fragments of the play he is supposed to interpret. The basis of these exercises is the physical actions. There is an obvious link between dramatic problems and needs within the repertory.

In the role interpretation the attention, as a necessary faculty is no longer accidental, as in our daily action. The attention is not only the adequate response to external demands but can also be an effort to overcome a problem or a way to step out of our subjective and ordinary state. The aim of attention exercises is to self-transgression by becoming fully dedicated and involved in the creation of a play character .In the center of these exercises there is an object placed or a problem that becomes the gravitational point of the interpretation. This object is usually represented by one element that can be later increased. In this way we begin to focus upon a small detail, we try to analyze it from different perspectives, we try to depart fragments from the whole. By the time we have succeeded in being fully drawn by our point of concentration, we can begin engaging others as well and in the end we have created a game out of both realistic elements and imaginary ones.

The capacity of concentration over one or more points in the inner our outer space assures a disengagement. This is compulsory for the actor, especially in the critical situations.

The education of attention creates stability by increasing our field of vision and mobility.

5. The Memory

Memory, as a mental process helps us orientate easily by using a baggage of already accumulated experiences. Memory can be educated for a better efficiency in our relationship with the environment. If attention and observation are steps to knowledge enlargement in what concerns the scenery phenomenon ,memory works as a condition for the understanding of the actor's technique. Through observation and attention the student becomes familiarized with the diversity of various states, gestures, and expressions. We make use of memory both in our daily life and stage. It's the faculty that permits the selective usage of several accumulated experiences. This is what leads to a top grade rendition of the dramatic role.

The difficulty in the actor's memory practice comes from the fact that he must appeal not only to his accumulative ordinary faculties but also to superior ones, that are harder to train due to their affective pattern.

There is an obvious and qualitative distinction between the mechanical memory, the logic-verbal memory and the affective one. Of course the mechanic part is very important for the learning of notions, but it will never be sufficient for the performer who wants to animate a learned gesture that has to be charged with a sort of dramatic tension. Therefore, there is a strong difference between memory as an exclusive intellectual process that helps for example an engineer to perform his activity, and the affective memory that helps the actor to release affective correspondence with the audience.

Because it is a complex process that includes both sensorial, physical and intellectual qualities, the actor must exercise his visual, tactile, kinestezic and verbal abilities. The kinestezic memory will help the actor reproduce characteristic gestures and motions; In fact the performance relies much on this. Memory also leads to a better orientation in the scenic space. A sustained traninig of this faculty allows him to recompose his part by using varied and improved means.

The stage also implies acceptance of some principles that involve an extended knowledge of life. This allows the actor to materialize himself through a "plastic language" in order to be able to transmit the complexity of a role.

Every gesture, every motion that composes the actual rendering means a conscious muscular interaction. The same gesture will later demand a different tension in the course of the action. For example you can rise your hand or make a few steps in very different areas within the play but all movements require another muscular expression and tension.

Memory is highly integrated in the rendition of the text. This presumes not only adoption and retention, but also the capacity to integrate the text into a dramatic complex. A good actor will never create separate spaces between the text and the interpretation; he will integrate every word in the process of the artistic interpretation demanded by the actual role.

Probably the most important thing in the rendition of a part is to imply a lot of variety in what concerns the physical and intellectual exercises, to maintain an active knowledge and to accumulate every dramatic experience in order to fulfill multiple requests.

6. The Imagination

Last but not least, imagination is what makes a good actor. Every child has precisely used this faculty at some point while playing. It is reflected in the use of dolls that are portrayed as real characters. They are brought to life, they are given a story and a background and actually imagined to be true. This is a very important concept for actors to grasp. They must use it in order to create an environment for their characters and avoid false moments.

Within the performance the actor must create infinite possibilities by putting himself in a range of different positions. A part might give one the opportunity to portray a king, or a beggar, a young man or and old man, he can incarnate different human typologies, he can be a contemporary character or a historical one. If observation, attention, memory is necessary for an actor to constantly enlarge his knowledge he also needs to transfigure the accumulated data into a creative usage. That's why imagination plays a very important part in the development of this art.

Through imagination the individual has always managed to enlarge his horizon because he discovered it was not sufficient to just memorize and react to stimulus he felt the need to create a different reality. The exercises of agility, plasticity, and expression will stimulate the actor's imagination and will allow the animation of the part according to the artistic criteria. The performance is full of imaginative charge. The person who wants to embrace the actor career finds great pleasure in transposing in unusual situations. This disposition must be fully exploited and encouraged. Every actor must completely participate, integrate and interact with the theme of his role.

The essential condition for the development of imagination is recess of inhibitions. Still this should not be transformed intro an uncontrolled expansion as we have to stick to the basic principals that balance the acting process. The elements with which the imagination must operate are not related to immediate reality, they usually have fantastic shades that imply transformation of different objects of reality. We can make use of all types of reminiscences .Imagination is what releases the real emotion on stage. Very often the actor needs to rethink the script and to imagine details by making them specific.

Just as every human being is a product of their lifelong environment, every character can be as well. The burden to create a character's past and to portray him is placed upon the actor. Let's think about the following scenario; You are playing a secondary character and you are given a scene in which your character decides to attack a person. The first thing to remember is that "there are no small parts, there are only small actors". Now it's time to rationalize your character's behavior by simply asking several questions:

1.Why have you chosen to attack that person (why at that moment and why that particular person?)

2.What made you attack that person? (Because you're angry with her/him, because she represents a threat?)

3.What are your plans after you have completed the deed?(where are you going/doing after attacking him/her?)

You can also imagine yourself as a journalist by making a list of questions you might ask someone who has done what your character is about to do. This will lead to a veridical rationalization of the dramatic action and further development of the character as a person with a back-ground and a personality. Of course this is just one of the many exercises that works with your imagination.

III. STYLES OF ACTING

When we talk about the idea of "acting style" we are talking about ways of handling the artifice. We are discussing the organization of bodily actions and words into a performance that is in some way a product of intention and can sometimes give the impression of coherence and why nor ordinariness. The notion of acting style suggests a way of mediating between the world and the body of the performer. The conventions of acting styles change from time to time and across cultures. Either good or bad, acting can make us concentrate on the performer's body.

1.Naturalism

Contemporary drama has been extremely influenced by this style. Its origins date from late 19^th century and the movement is associated with the work of Konstantin Stanislavski. This movement seeks to replicate a believable everyday reality, as opposed to Romanticism or Surrealism.

The style means creating a perfect illusion of reality through a range of dramatical stratagems such as:

-detailed, three-dimensional settings

-everyday speech forms(prose over poetry)

-a secular world view(no spirits, ghosts or gods intervening in human lives)

-an exclusive focus on subjects that are contemporary and indigenous (no exotic or fantastic locations)

Naturalism requires the identification with the inner life of the character that needs to be played with the whole being of the actor.

2. The Method

The method evolved from the work of Elia Kazan and later Lee Strasberg at the "Actor's Studio" in New York. It is a sistematic approach to the actor's training, based on the work of Stanivslavki which invites the actor to give an authentically interpretation to his roles that should be based on personal experience. His ideas were adopted by the Actor's Studio in New York which produced actors such as Marlon Brando, James Dean, Julie Harris, Paul and more.
Stanislavksy's system was "You must live the part every moment you are playing it." An important technique he developed is emotional recall where an actor delves into his or her own past to discover feelings that are analogous to those of the character.
Stanislavasky was known for his lengthy rehearsal periods where players would discover the subtext. "The subtext is one of the film director's most valuable tools. It is what he directs " Spoken language is secondary to Method players.Stanislvasky encouraged players to analyze all the specifics of a scene. Stanislavsky suggested that the actor, in approaching his work on a scene, ask himself four questions: (1) who he is (character), (2) where he is (place), (3) what he is doing there (action and intention), and (4) what happened before he came there (given circumstances). The answers to these questions provide the actor with the necessary background for his performance

It is a modern theatrical practice through which actors draw on their emotions, memories and experiences in order to influence their portrayals of characters. The method tries to make the actor "be" rather than "act".

This style of acting appears to be particularly appropriated for the cinema. Marlon Brando and Rod Steigner are examples of success of this practice.

3. Improvisation

This type of acting is done without a text but with some ground rules. Like previously stated in chapter 2, improvisation is widely used in the actor's training in order to stimulate imagination and encourage spontaneity.

The general meaning of improvisation is making something as you go along; is making up what you say and what you do. We do this on a regular basis in our conversations or actions. We can also improvise drama by not writing down what a character says. Still this technique has been perfected over the years and consists of various principals to perform spontaneously. This genre of acting integrates the audience in the actual performance by using their suggestions in order to create dialogue, setting and plot.

Improvisational theatre performances tend to be comedic. There as some basic skills such as: listening, clarity, confidence and of course the ability to interpret instinctively. This type of acting allows an interactive relationship with the audience, it is a process of co-creation in which the parameters of action are established on the spot and with the help of the spectators. With each spoken word or action on stage, an actor makes an offer, meaning that he or she defines some elements of the reality of the scene. This means giving another character a name, an identity, a location and even using mime to define the environment.

Because improvisational actors may be required to play a variety of roles without preparation, they need to be able to construct character spontaneously with acute gestures, voice changes or other techniques demanded by the situation. Improvisation has become a genre in its own right in theatre as well as in television.

4. Epic Acting

Epic acting was developed by Bertlot Brecht, who saw theatre as a force for social change. He taught it was more important for the audience to be intellectually engaged and to stimulate their power of reasoning rather than to arouse their emotional involvement. The style assumes that the purpose of the play is to present ideas and invites the audience to make judgements of them. Theatre is no longer a form of entertainment or simply an imitation of reality. Also the characters are not asked to mimic real people, but to represent opposing sides of an argument, archetypes or stereotypes.

The audience should always be aware of the fact that they are watching a play and should keep themselves emotionally distant. The style encourages actors to absorb themselves in their roles but in the same time to abandon the idea that they are "living the part" an instead to play the character at a critical distance.

5. Musicals

An actor working in a musical theatre will need to continue being a good all-around actor, able to convey a wide range of emotions with the development of the other abilities and vocal skills. Both the singing voice and the dancing ability of the actor should be adaptable to different genres of musicals. It combines music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance.

The emotional content of the piece has pathos, love, anger-as well as the story itself that is communicated through musical movement and other technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole.

6.Physical Theatre

Physical Theatre is a broad term that embraces a lot of acting styles and influences. The roots of physical theatre are in the Expressionism and in the experimental work of Jerzy Grotowky .He envisaged a poor theatre, stripped of all its essentials, such as light, music or text. The actor's physical vocal and mental skills are the essence of this type of acting. Today physical theatre has become more mainstream and incorporates the influence of dance, mime and circus skills.

IV. STAGE AND SCREEN

The theatre actor performs on a stage where the focus for the audience is governed by the changes in the stage picture and indicated by the other actors. On screen, however, the audience sees the actor at much closer range and the screen actor must be able to adapt his or her approach to creating a role in response to the technical specifications of film-making. There are 4 categories in which film acting can be divided in.

1. Extras

-The actors who provide a sense of a crowd
-They are used as camera material like landscape or a set.

2. Nonprofessional performers

-Amateur players who are chosen not because of their acting ability but due to their appearance for the role -- they look right for the part.

3. Trained professionals

-Stage and screen performers who are capable of playing a variety of roles in different types of styles.
-The majorities of actors fall under this category

4. Stars

-Famous performers who are widely recognized by the public due to their appealing power as one of the main attractions of a film or stage play.
-Star system was developed and dominated by the American cinema, though it's only just unique to movies.

Despite of how a film actor is classified, nearly all performers in this means admit that their work is shaped by the person who literally and figuratively calls the shots.

Thus the movie actor is mainly a tool of the director because it is another "language system" that the filmmaker uses to communicate ideas and emotions.

The difference between stage and screen acting are mainly established by the dissimilarities in time and space in each medium.

The live theater seems to be a more satisfactory medium for the actor because he/she tends to dominate the events, while in movies, this is not the case because the actors are limited to what the director directs them to do.

The requirements are different in each medium as well.

The vital fundamentals for the stage performer are to be seen and heard clearly.

The ideal theatrical actor must have a flexible, trained voice.

His/her voice must be powerful enough to be heard even in a theater that has thousands of audience.

Because language is the major source of meaning in the theater, the traces of the dialogue must be said through vocal expressiveness.

Screen actors need to be aware of the technical vocabulary of film-making, especially the different shots and angles that will affect or limit a performance. An understanding of the relationship between actor and camera is crucial. The camera tends to magnify even the slightest of movements giving the screen actor the opportunity to work in the smallest detail. In close-up shots where the focus is on the actor's thoughts, feelings, responses, and reactions, the actor must be confident that the camera registers the nuances of the performance.

For many actors the most difficult aspect of film-making is the discontinuity of the shooting schedule. In the theatre, scenes are played consecutively, allowing the actor to gather emotional momentum as the play progresses. This is not the case in film-making. Film and television scenes are made in little bits and pieces, or "shots". The actor's performance must retain the same level of concentration and emotional intensity from one shot to the next. The actor must be able to recall, in minute detail, the exact sequence of the character's emotional response, often at a moment's notice. This requires enormous concentration and mental coordination.

It is often said that film is a director's medium, whereas theatre is an actor's medium. Certainly in the theatre the actor is much more in charge of his performance. In film-making, it is the director who decides, for example, from where the actor's performance is shot; how it is lit; and whether the voice will be dubbed by another actor. It will be the director's vision of the character that is recreated during the final editing of the film.

V. SCHOOLS AND COMPANIES

The objective of drama school is to provide training for students who wish to become professional actors. The student is encouraged to develop and refine voice, movement, and physical skills, and to apply these skills to work on productions for public performance. Specialist classes may also be taught. Most schools, although by no means all, use Stanislavski-based teaching methods. In Europe, the Center of Theatre and Dance Research, the Theatre School in Amsterdam, and the Lecoque School in Paris are examples of schools specializing in teaching physical theatre skills from a range of influences.

Although there are now fewer of them, repertory theatres formally provide actors with a professional start. One play is performed in one place while another is in preparation. Experience and exposure, although little, if any, payment, may be acquired working "on the fringe"-this can mean anything from performing in a small room above a pub to a marketed enterprise in a small "studio" theatre. The theatre establishment in Britain is the subsidized theatre of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal national Theatre. West End Theatre holds a similar status but is a commercial enterprise.

VI .AN ACTOR'S WORK

An Actor's Work Acting is a profession that is chronically overpopulated and highly competitive. With well over 90 per cent of the profession unemployed at any one time, the aspiring actor must be prepared for the possibility that much time may well be spent "resting" (the theatrical euphemism for being unemployed). Most actors sign with an agent, as employers generally prefer to deal with them rather than directly with the actor. Agents deal with the business side of the actor's career, and determine how much their client is paid, and their status in a performance ("billing", from an actor's place on the bill advertising the performance). The percentage an agent takes varies from job to job. It is a minimum of 10 per cent of the actor's fee. In cooperatively run agencies each actor acts as an agent for fellow members.

Employers who think an actor might be suitable for a particular role may ask him or her to audition. This process can take many forms. At an audition for a theatre role the actor may be asked to perform a pre-prepared piece or pieces; sight-read; sing; or even improvise. For film and television work the actor may be asked to do a screen test which is an audition for the camera. If the audition is successful the actor accepts the role and a contract will be drawn up.

The amount of time spent in rehearsals varies. In the theatre there is generally a three-week rehearsal process for a full-length play. However, in the case of a devised piece, a longer period of time may be necessary. In television production far less time is allocated to rehearsals. Where there is text involved, the rehearsal period usually begins with a read through with all parties present. The actors may already have spent time researching their parts and learning their scripts.

Rehearsals are conducted by the director. The director's role in the theatre varies. He or she might be the initiator of the entire piece or have a relatively superficial role. Usually by the time the play goes into rehearsal the director will have already had a great deal to do with the play. He or she may well have chosen the play, cast it, and made important decisions about how it will be performed. The director works closely with the producer, who is responsible for the business side of the production and, as such, may have a say in the casting.

VII.SHAKESPEARE AND MODERN ACTING

"He was not of an age, but for all time"

As we all know, William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. His work brought a strong and lasting contribution on later theatre and literature. In particular, he expanded the dramatic potential of character building, plot, language and genre.

As the modern times brought a revolution in arts during the early 20th century, Shakespeare's work has been enlisted in the service of avant-garde. The Expressionists in Germany and the Futurists in Moscow mounted productions of his plays. One of them was Marxist playwright and director Bertold Brecht, who has set in this way the basis of Epic Theatre, under his influence. The poet and critic T.S.Eliot brought a counterargument against Shaw's comment upon Shakespeare's "primitiveness", saying that this is exactly what made him truly modern. More than this, Shakespeare's characters have become an important element in the staff organization of theatres across Europe and mainly in Britain. Representations of Shakespeare's plays are test of dramatic ability, and Shakespearean impersonations are keystones of every actor's reputation. British actors have perfected the art of reciting highly stylized dialogue- the language of

Shakespeare, Wilde, and Shaw-without violating the believability of their characters.

Due to the lack of stage directions telling us or the producers exactly how he would have imagined his play, modern play writers can draw in this way their own interpretations on the matter, which makes it very moldable. We do not know for sure if the writer had done this intentionally or not but it is beneficial for the dramatic structures that keep on changing from time to time. Play writers can direct by their own choice of actors, lightning, music, effects and direction. As a result of the lack of detail from the original text and wide choice of variations, interpretations can be very different. Maybe that is precisely why Shakespeare is considered to be very accessible.

Shakespeare is also believed to have been commenting on the acting style and techniques of his time to the players in the play-within-the-play .He encouraged the actors to "speak the speech...as I pronounced it to you" and "avoid sawing the air too much with your hand", because even in a "whirlwind of passion you must give it smoothness". On the other hand, Hamlet urges the players not to "be too tame either". He suggests that they should make sure "to suit the action to word, the word to action", taking care "not to overstep the modesty of nature". In Modern Theatre the actor is free to negotiate his role and impairment due to stylistic and technical differences. Of course acting style is a way of doing things and our present methods of actor training and theatre spectatorship are being remodeled and updated every day. Shakespeare realized that rhetoric played an important role in establishing the principals upon which vocal delivery on stage was based. Shakespeare taught the actors the importance of balancing voice and emotion. For the first time actors were faced with the diversity of new techniques such as facial expression, gestures, posture, improvisation, attention and observation that had to be in harmony with the text in order to lift out it contents and character. Of course this was particularly relevant in the speaking of verse.

Many theatre practicants following a structural method of analysis, regarded the verse meter and design as an essential to the initial interpretation and delivery of Shakespeare in performance. Also modern theatre theoreticians have taken over the role which rhetoric once played in shaping the actor's vocal performance, by advocating different approaches to the voice, text, emotion and in their attitudes to moving or persuading the audience.

Stanislavski suggested ways of combining voice, text and emotion by using the "sub-text", although he later realized that in the performance of Shakespeare the "sub-text" alone would not suffice without compiling it into verse's rhythm and tempo.

The modern theatre in Europe and especially in Britain has been determined by the contribution of the director rather that the theoretician, the playwright or the actor, and this has had a great effect upon the acting style.

In modern Shakespeare productions a special interest to voice, text motion and physical interpretations has been shown. The poetic imagery is often eliminated and replaced by visual imagery, the order of scenes is often rearranged, the auditive aspects are underplayed and the acting style is usually an emotional and professional one, that makes use of course of a range of composing elements, some of which have been enlisted in the first chapter. In the acting industry, playing in Shakespeare's work is one of the most difficult tasks because of the complex language that makes it possible for some of the most literate people to miss about one fourth of the dialogue. Words should be pronounced crisply so that people could make out difficult words.
We can say that Shakespeare theatre is a multiple perspective theatre, because even to this day it presents to us as a mixed and contradictory aspect.

Multiple perspectives, actions and characters looked at from different and even contrasting points of view, by setting the subjective beside the objective and the real beside the illusory have become instruments for investigating the nature of Theatre itself.

CONCLUSION

The performance art, is the art in which the whole of human experience is co-involved, it is the very place in which complete events take place, in which human bodies, artifacts, music and other literary expressions are in play at the same moment. The art of acting is a high form of communication and a universal form of human behavior. Few people listen to a violin concert and think "I could do this", few people look at a renascentist building and think "I could design this" and few people could look at a Matisse painting and really say, "I could paint this". However, most of us after watching a play or seeing a movie have thought that acting is an easy job; after all they just mimic human reactions and put themselves in common human situations, they talk, they walk, they crack jokes, they get hurt, they get angry, they love, they dream, they die. Still, the road to become an actor is not an easy one, as it takes a lot of hard work, talent, risk, training and study, elements of which we the spectators are not aware of. That is what I tried to demonstrate through this short research upon the acting techniques. As we have seen, they play a very important, vital role in the performance of every actor as they have coordinated its purpose over different period of times. Acting has become in the last century a highly disciplined art with a high position of social esteem profession that is chronically overpopulated and highly competitive.

In conclusion, the art of acting is composed and relies on many structural elements. One frequently debated question is which element is the most important and the one on which all the other elements depend. I think that at different periods emphasis has been put on different elements in the performance, and therefore the theatre ought to be studied as a phenomenon in continuous change and development. The same type of element is not even necessarily present in every theatre production. This means that the presence of and relationship between the objects on stage are based on conventions and agreements that are subject to change in the course of time.

An analysis of the performance or of theatrical styles must, therefore, focus on the questions of how the different elements work and play upon each other and on their function in the performance as a whole.

NOTES

Constantin Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares, trans. Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood (New York: Theatre Arts Book, l936), pp. 121 - 122.

www.Encyclopedia Britannica Online.com

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Steve Vineberg, METHOD ACTORS, 6-7