The Actor’s Score

Abstract

An actor preparing for a performance creates a score, defined as a sequence of actions that is more or less precisely repeatable, depending on the nature of the event. In some instances, such as the Living Theatre’s production of Paradise Now, the actors have a very loose structure to follow, responding to the impulses of the other actors or members of the audience.¹ At the other end of an imaginary spectrum, the performers in Robert Wilson’s Einstein on the Beach were drilled in meticulously orchestrated movement and vocal patterns with the expectation that they would be repeated with great precision.² However, to think of the score as simply a sequence of activities does a disservice to a very complex structure. This chapter begins with three examples, followed by an examination of the rehearsal process and the cognitive structures that facilitate the creation of a score. The first is a workshop experience in which I participated; the second is Grotowski’s discussion of Ryzard Cieslak’s performance in The Constant Prince; and the third is one of my experiences acting in The Grapes of Wrath.