Abstract
The claim made in the first chapter is that a general theory of acting is possible because there are a number of concepts held in common that form the foundations of the dominant approaches to actor training. The underlying assumption is that actors take the methods learned in the studio into the practice of theatre. Although actors learn new techniques and develop hybrid forms, the values and beliefs about what constitutes good acting remain relatively consistent throughout a career. Chapter 2 argues for a model of cognition that has the potential to account for the similarities and differences among the various approaches to the art, as well as for the actors’ penchant for learning new techniques to enhance their process. Dynamic Systems Theory (DST) provides a structure for exploring the principles on which acting discourse is based and for resisting the tendency to differentiate between qualities that arc seen as valuable (emotional availability) and qualities that are denigrated (intcllcctualism). A dynamic system is different from other systems in that it is not closed, but responsive to changes in the environment (internal and external). What happens in the world affects the actions performed and vice versa. Reciprocal communication between actors mirrors precisely this tenet of DST not only because it reflects qualities inherent in good acting regardless of the form, but also because it is the nature of human interaction.
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Notes
For an overview of the two models, see Dale Purves, et al. Principles of Cognitive Neuroscience (Sunderland: Sinauer Associates, Inc., 2008), 406–408.
Peter Rapp. “Structure and Organization of Memory in the Brain (and Other Stuff).” Presentation at the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook, Stony Brook University, video recording, December 12, 2007.
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See Judith Butler., Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex (London and New York: Routledge, 1993).
Defining categories is a necessary step in understanding phenomena, but it does a disservice to the complex, interactive nature of the system. Alain Berthoz uses a slightly different strategy in exploring the dynamic nature of movement. Proprioception and perception
Jerome A. Feldman. From Molecule to Metaphor: A Neural Theory of Language (Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 2008), 96.
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John Lutterbie. Hearing Voices: Modern Drama and the Problem of Subjectivity (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997), 33–37.
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David McNeill. Gesture and Thought (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2005), 93.
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© 2011 John Lutterbie
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Lutterbie, J. (2011). The Actor’s Tools. In: Toward a General Theory of Acting. Cognitive Studies in Literature and Performance. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230119468_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230119468_4
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