Chapter 4 Discussion: Reflection on “Method” Acting Experience

Answer

1. Chapter 4 Discussion: Reflection on “Method” Acting Experience

   My participation in the experimentation with “method” acting has provided me with an experience of stage performance. I cannot act every day for nine months because I found out that it is not only a tiring exercise but also a time consuming one. Notably, according to Wilson and Goldfarb, there are differences between acting in daily life and stage acting (103). In specific, one of the apparent differences is that whereas the audience in real life, an audience may not be essential to the acting, the actors and actresses doing it on stage are always being observed. Notably, the presence of a performer on stage during acting is not incidental but also a preplanned aspect which makes the actor be on the spotlight (Wilson and Goldfarb 103). As such, one of the reasons as to why I could not engage in the same exercise every day for the next nine months is the fact that I will be in the spotlight all the time and the audience judges any mistakes that I make.

   Considering that on a typical Broadway production, actors will perform seven performances a week; 6 days a week, as well as five performances a week for 2-4 weeks for the Off-Broadway production, acting every day for the next nine months, will not be possible. Notably, some of the challenges with acting is making myself believable, the physical acting itself (voice and body use), and the synthesis and integration of both inner and outer skills (Wilson and Goldfarb 106). I cannot pretend to be a person who I am not every day for the next nine months. Additionally, the fact that I might act different roles makes it hard for me to participate in the acting for that long.

   Acting every day for the next nine months would bleed over the other aspects of my life. According to Wilson and Goldfarb, there are various forms of training which seeks to ensure that the actors and actresses on stage are both believable and truthful (115). As such, I will have to spend a majority of time in such exercise which would consume time for my personal and social activities. Additionally, the stringent demands made on the body of the performer by traditional theater such as running and engaging in sword fights are aspects which require time and will take a toll on my body. The voice training done (considering that human voice is not considered enough in the contemporary theater) seeks to change my way of talking which to me seems to be an uphill task (Wilson and Goldfarb 115). Additionally, the time I will take in undertaking such activities makes it hard for me to act every day for nine months.

   My emotional level would be adversely impacted as I will have to change my emotions based on the particular role that I play every day. Notably, actors have devised various contemporary approaches to real acting. One of those is the emotional recall tool which was intended to be used in aiding performers in the attainment of an emotional truth on stage (Wilson and Goldfarb 111). As such, I will have to; every day, make emotional changes based on what the director wants me to depict in my performance. As a result, I will be not only physically affected but also emotionally confused. In conclusion, I cannot participate in acting every day for nine months because it would take a toll on my body as well as emotions.

   
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