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P a t r i c e P a v i s - R e c o n s i d e r i n g A c t i n g : a f e w i mpr

P a t r i c e P a v i s - R e c o n s i d e r i n g A c t i n g : a f e w i mpr ov i s e d a nd pr ov i s or y t hou g ht s on a c t i n g t o d a y Rev. Bras. Estud. Presença, Porto Alegre, v. 6, n. 1, p. 173-182, Jan./Apr. 2016. Available at: <http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2237-266054652> 173 E-ISSN 2237-2660 Reconsidering Acting: a few improvised and provisory thoughts on acting today Patrice Pavis University of Kent, Canterbury – United Kingdom ABSTRACT – Reconsidering Acting: a few improvised and provisory thoughts on acting today – This paper summarizes my thoughts during the presentation of the conference Acting reconsidered. The study of the actor in contemporary performances should be reevaluated in the light of the experiments of the last fifty years, particularly performance art, post-dramatic theatre, participative theatre and many political theatre. The new tasks and conceptions of the actor are introduced. Stanislavki’s notion of psychological realism is questioned. The suggestion of de-dramatizing, delocalizing, de-training the actor might help the actor to orient oneself in the world. Keywords: Acting. Staging. Actor’s Training. Post-dramatic. Theatre. RÉSUMÉ – Revoir le Jeu de l’Acteur: quelques remarques improvisées et provisoires sur le jeu de l’acteur aujourd’hui – Cet article résume mes idées présentées pendant la conférence intitulée Acting Reconsidered. L’étude de l’acteur dans les spectacles contemporains devrait être réévaluée à la lumière des expériences de ces cinquante dernières années, notamment le perfomance art, le théâtre postdramatique et les expériences du théâtre de participation et des nouvelles formes de théâtre politique. Il s’agit de présenter les tâches et les conceptions nouvelles de l’acteur. En particulier, d’aller au-delà de la conception du réalisme psychologique d’inspiration stanislavskienne. On propose donc de dédramatiser l’acteur, de le délocaliser, de le vider plus que de l’emplir, de le dés-entraîner, bref d’aider le spectateur à mieux s’orienter dans le monde. Mots-clés: Interprétation. Mise en Scène. Entraînement de l’Acteur. Postdramatique. Théâtre. RESUMO – Para Repensar o Trabalho do Ator: algumas considerações improvisadas e provisórias sobre a atuação hoje – Este artigo retoma algumas ideias apresentadas durante a conferência Acting Reconsidered. O estudo do ator em performances contemporâneas deveria ser reavaliado à luz de experiências dos últimos cinquenta anos, particularmente a arte da performance, o teatro pós-dramático, o teatro interativo e muitos teatros políticos. Apresentam-se novas tarefas e concepções de ator. Questiona-se a noção de realismo psicológico de Stanislavski. A sugestão de desdramatizar, deslocalizar, destreinar o ator pode ajudá-lo a orientar-se no mundo. Palavras-chave: Atuação. Encenação. Treinamento do Ator. Pós-dramático. Teatro. P a t r i c e P a v i s - R e c o n s i d e r i n g A c t i n g : a f e w i mpr ov i s e d a nd pr ov i s or y t hou g ht s on a c t i n g t o d a y Rev. Bras. Estud. Presença, Porto Alegre, v. 6, n. 1, p. 173-182, Jan./Apr. 2016. Av a i l a b l e a t : < h t t p : // w w w. s e e r. u f r g s . b r /p r e s e n c a > 174 E-ISSN 2237-2660 One cannot speak in general about acting or about the actor1. My sole aim here is to provide an overview of current issues, with only a few hints at new fields of research. Has the identity and the function of the actor changed recently, and how? What are the main factors of change? What should we study? What kinds of performan ce, for instance? For playwrights: the acting gives your text its final meaning. It is not a neutral instrument; it controls and determines everything. As soon as it is performed, or even read by another person, the text escapes its author. The Actor: new tasks, new conceptions 1) The theatre, in its aesthetics, goals, has changed. The actor no longer has to do the “work of the actor on oneself” (Stanislavski). Theatre (often) has moved away from the idea of a role conceived psychologically and mimetically. The actor does not always have to imitate, or even to represent, a character. We are no longer in an aesthetic of pure imitation. The actor sets her own conventions: for example to show social mechanisms (Brecht), to focus on only one aspect, or one object, to allow another type of identification. 2) From actor to performer: being a performer means: a) to be oneself, instead of playing a role; b) to present instead of representing; to be able to perform different technical tasks: singing, dancing, fencing etc. 3) The actor must always be considered within the performance/ mise en scène, and also in tune with a changing society, i.e. with a changing audience. 4) The contemporary actor is more and more involved in the process of directing, staging, even devising the whole performance (in the so-called devised theatre). Thus the boundaries between actor, director, playwright, set designer are blurred. For playwrights: if you don’t know what your actor should be doing, ask yourself how it could help the understanding of the situa tion and general direction. Use the gliding scale of abstract/concrete. Think geometrically. Use the actor as a way to relativize your text, finish it, test it. Go back to writing after this probing. 5) The status of the actor within the dramaturgy also changes: the actor no longer says the text as a role, from her point of view, P a t r i c e P a v i s - R e c o n s i d e r i n g A c t i n g : a f e w i mpr ov i s e d a nd pr ov i s or y t hou g ht s on a c t i n g t o d a y Rev. Bras. Estud. Presença, Porto Alegre, v. 6, n. 1, p. 173-182, Jan./Apr. 2016. Av a i l a b l e a t : < h t t p : // w w w. s e e r. u f r g s . b r /p r e s e n c a > 175 E-ISSN 2237-2660 but she sometimes acts as a narrator. The traditional categories of imitating (mimesis) and telling (diegesis) are challenged. Acting and telling merge in an instance which can be both actor and narrator (sometimes called narractor). The performer thus oscillates between a dramatic actor and an epic storyteller. 6) Even when not called devised theatre, playwright and director sometimes tend to become one and the same person (for instance, the French director Joël Pommerat). The actors no longer follow the instructions of a director as in Regietheater (Director’s theatre). There is a constant back and forth between writing and staging, between inventing a situation for actors and putting words upon them, and vice-versa. Actors can be the source of speech (through their impro visations) and become later the interpreter of the dramatic text of the playwright. For playwrights: the actor does not only fulfil a limited task, she is also a part of the creative process. Here in this workshop, you can use the actors while writing and you can change your text after their performance, thus you can re-write, i.e. re-act, re-stage. It obviously depends on the acting style and genre, but generally the acting should remain open, ambiguous, not telling everything. An exercise consists in writing a short text after a non-verbal improvisation. The Actor and the Spectator: new relationships, new views 1) In today’s performance, we experience the actor in different ways, much richer than before. Actors are no longer only interpre ters, readers of the text; they have often become responsible for a new experience of the spectator, for new ways of looking at a text, of producing different interpretations, or simply enjoy theatre in another way. For instance, in immersive theatre or in one-to-one performan ce: the actor speaks in her name, asks personal questions, answers questions from the spectator (as herself or as an imaginary persona). The idea is no longer to deliver a message or a text, to characterize a person, but to create a new, unexpected experience for the specta tor. The play-text is just a pretext for a personal experience; theatre becomes a therapy, instead of an aesthetic experience. Other experiences with acting styles include the non-acting style: performers talk about themselves, their own personal life; gra P a t r i c e P a v i s - R e c o n s i d e r i n g A c t i n g : a f e w i mpr ov i s e d a uploads/s3/ 2237-2660-rbep-6-01-00173-pdf.pdf