Evangelatou, Aphrodite. 2019. 'Awakening the Actor’s Emotional Expressivity: A Work Demonstration'. In: The Makings of the Actor | Towards Contemporary Acting Techniques, Practices & Methodologies. Athens, Greece 17-26 July 2019. [Conference or Workshop Item]

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Abstract or Description

Following Stanislavski who argues that emotions are wild animals that can only be lured, rather than accessed directly,1 this presentation offers some suggestions for such an indirect accessing of acted emotion. Aiming to share the findings of a 6-year-long PhD research on acted emotion with the wider community of theatre practitioners and academics, the researcher will share some of the key triggers or entry points to accessing emotion. More specifically, the triggers of breath, musicality, centre-spine, fatigue, resistance, and togetherness will be explored.

Inspired—among others—by the work of the Japanese theatre practitioner Tadashi Suzuki, Evangelatou will lead the students through a physically demanding exercise to invite fatigue into the process. She will then work in tandem with the students throughout the exercise to encourage the appearance of emotion through the interaction with the other (the trainer, the fellow student, the explored material). The musicality of the language will also be explored (through the exploration of both tempo-rhythm and melody).

This demonstration draws inspiration from a wide range of theatre practitioners, searching for the similarities and shared principles in the practice of diverse, perhaps even contradicting at times practices. Some of the practitioners this research borrows from are: Konstantin Stanislavski, Jerzy Grotowski, Tadashi Suzuki, and Song of the Goat.

Notes
1. Constantin Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares, trans. Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood (New York: Routledge, 1989), 191.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Other)
Keywords:	actor training, acting, psychophysical
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Theatre and Performance (TAP)
Dates:	Date Event 18 July 2019 Completed 2 May 2019 Accepted
Event Location:	Athens, Greece
Date range:	17-26 July 2019
Item ID:	26735
Date Deposited:	12 Aug 2019 08:48
Last Modified:	29 Apr 2020 17:16
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/26735

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