VSEVOLOD MEYERHOLD (1874-1940)

1. Theory BIOMECHANICS
 A system of actor training
 Purpose:
 to widen the emotional potential of a theatre piece and express thoughts and ideas that
could not be easily presented through the naturalistic theatre of the period.
 The techniques were developed
 during the rehearsals of a series of plays directed by Meyerhold
 in the 1920s and 1930s when Socialist Realism was at its height in Russia
 A precursor to and influence on much of the 20th century's physical theatre.
 An acting system which relied on motion rather than language or illusion.
 Opposing the Stanislavsky System
 which Meyerhold believed over emphasized the 'spirit' and 'psychologizing'
 biomechanics emphasized “elementary laws of reflexes”
 Each movement in biomechanics was important and deliberate (unnecessary movements on
stage were eliminated)
 For the actor, biomechanics involved:
 Preparation for an action
 The state of mind and body at the moment of action
 The reaction to what follows (Styan)
2. The basic skills i. Precision
ii. Balance
iii. Coordination
iv. Efficiency
v. Rhythm
vi. Expressiveness
vii. Responsiveness
 KONSTANTIN STANISLAVSKI (1863 – 1938)
1. Stanislavski’s  Stanislavski studied how people acted in everyday life, then found a way to bring this genuineness onstage.
Techniques  He developed a series of exercises and techniques for the actor to follow:
a) Relaxation
o involved removal of all tension; performer must attain a state of physical and vocal relaxation
b) Concentration and Observation
o focus that should be placed on one object, person or event
c) Specificity
o concrete details, rather than generalities in acting are key
2. Stanislavski’s  Stanislavski method acting is basically in seven steps, these techniques where developed to help actors to build
7 Steps believable characters. These are:
i. Who Am I?
ii. Where Am I?
iii. When Is It?
iv. What Do I Want?
v. Why Do I Want It?
vi. How Will I Get It?
vii. What Do I Need To Overcome?

 Ways to use the Stanislavski Method

 Read the script carefully to get good understanding of the characters’ motivations, needs and desires;
by doing this you will get a better identify of the role you are playing.
 Working out how the character would behave in situations and how they should react.
 Your character’s objective is what they want and obstacles are the things that stand in their way of
achieving their objective and also how far they will go to achieve their objective.
 Break the script down into bits or beats, these are individual objectives of your character and may be as
simple as going into a room.
 Then determine your character’s motivation for this action, this in turn helps you to portray the emotions
that the character is experiencing whilst you complete the objective.
3. Techniques A. Sense Memory
o The actor take time out to recall every detail of their memory using all 5 senses. Instead of remembering
solely the emotion, they remember what they heard, tasted, touched, smelled, and saw while feeling it.

B. Emotional/Affective Memory
o The actor calls on a memory in parallel or similar in detail or sensation to their character’s situation.
Through empathy, the actor lives the character rather than simply reciting it.
o For example, your character is feeling outraged because his work has been stolen. You have never
experienced this, but you might feel similarly outraged when your enemy steals your boyfriend.
4. The Magic If  An actors job is to be believable in unbelievable surrounds, to help achieve this Stanislavski created the 'Magic
If', "What would I do if I found myself in this (the character's) circumstance?
 The ‘magic if’ simply involves an actor putting him/herself in the character’s shoes within a certain scenario and
asking the question ‘how would I react if this happened to me?’ By asking this simple question, an actor can
understand the thoughts and feelings that they need to portray for each scene or ‘beat’
 JERZY GROTOWSKI
(1933-1999)

POOR THEATRE
 Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999) is best known for his intense actor training processes. Grotowski experimented with the
 Physical,
 Spiritual,
 Ritualistic aspects of theatre,
 The nature of role,
 Relationship between actor and spectator.
 Poor Theatre
- defines a performance style that rid itself of the excesses of theatre, such as lavish costumes and detailed sets (hence ‘poor’).
- centers on the skill of the actor and are performed with only a handful of props.
- ‘No matter how much theatre expands and exploits its mechanical resources, it will remain technologically inferior to film and television.
Consequently, I propose poverty in theatre’
(Jerzy Grotowski, Towards a Poor Theatre, p.19)

Theory iii. Acting & Characterization v. Space & Actor-Audience

- Actor and his/her skills was Relationship
 Influences- Stanislavski, Brecht and Meyerhold at the core (No place for an - traditional theatre spaces
 Focus on actor training (most extensive since Stanislavski) ego actor) were ignored by Grotowski in
 Poor Theatre is non-commercial theatre; the antithesis of modern- - Use no ‘real’ props, actors preference for rooms and
day blockbusters as props (Aim: acting to be buildings
 Theatre could never compete with film and television authentic) (saw little need for a
 Those that did were often performed only once before a number of - Actor training was intense
spectators traditional stage dedicated to
over long periods of time acting or a purpose-built
 Grotowski’s ‘poor theatre’ phase was between 1959 and 1970
(Grotowski used a variation theatre for performances)
 Grotowski’s ‘paratheatrical’ phase (1970-1976)
of Stanislavski’s emotion - involved an intense
- is often associated with Grotowski (‘para’ = beyond)
memory technique with his exploration of the relationship
- experiment with actors in training programs and other non-
performed works own actors) between participant and
 1975 marked the end of all public performances connected to spectator
Grotowski Grotowski pushed theatre to the (aim - to eliminate the division
limit in terms that he asks his
 Grotowski’s collected writings on theatre are published in ‘Towards between actor and audience,
actors to look for their deepest
a Poor Theatre’ (1968) creating a communion
feelings, personal experiences
and display them. It’s like an between the two)
actor’s gift to the audience in - actors typically performed
which the act is to reveal with the spectators on many
i. Scripts iv. Stagecraft
themselves and all their sides
Experimented with classic - Acting area was typically vulnerabilities, showing their - participants also performed in
works, changing their bare, no set deepest most inner emotion but and around the spectators
setting for contemporary - Lighting flooded the acting in a very controlled, precise and
strategically placed amongst
relevance area disciplined manner’
(Professor Paul Allain) them in the space
- Few props
- Costumes would be
ii. Movement and Gesture anonymous
Physical movement was a - Object transformation was
key component a key aspect
 JACQUES COPEAU
(1879-1949)
THEATRE DU VIEUX-COLOMBIER
 Founded in 1913
 Aims:
o Freeing the stage from complicated machinery and
showy effects.
o A response against the overly, artificial style of
French theatre of the early 20th century
o Escaping from excessive naturalism of Andre
Antione at the Theatre Libre.
 Opened the Vieux-Colombier with a performance on
Elizabethan play and followed by a short play by Moliere.
o Reason of selecting Elizabethan text:
o Belief in using a minimum of scenery, relying on
the words to paint the environment
o Demand simplicity, clarity and stylization against
the spectacularly visual theatre in France at that
time
CHARACTERISTIC OF COPEAU’S THEATRE
 Simple, without footlights and proscenium arch
 Décor used in small quantities
 Atmosphere for each play being created almost entirely by
lightning and addition of one or two properties
 Naked stage (Treteau Nu)
 Saw theatre as essentially free play, playfulness and has
fascination with:
 Mime
 Improvisation
 Commedia Dell’arte
ACTING IN COPEAU’S THEATRE
 Realistic and minimum. Each gesture is used selectively
and thereby, significant.
 Acting of a really physical kind- similar to Kabuki Theatre.
 Deeply sensitive to the underlying rhythms of the text, the
intervals of time and elements of drama that are similar to
music.
COPEAU’S SCHOOL FOR ACTORS
 Achieved fullest realization during 1921-1924
 Courses were offered for:
- General public
- Actors and theatre artists who wish to learn more
about their craft
- Young people who had no experience but interested
in theatre
 Copeau then closed the Vieux-Colombier in 1924 and
withdrew to Burgundy with his young actors to train them
 His method of training the young actors:
 Worked with themes without texts
 Improvisation with masks
 Rehearsed a Japanese Noh play
 Studied in depth on Commedia Dell’arte
 Mime, dance, acrobatics and improvisations as
means of dramatic expression
[Emphasis on physical and technical expertise of the actor]
GORDON CRAIG SPARKED THE IDEA OF COMMEDIA
DELL’ARTE IN COPEAU
 Characteristics of commedia dell’arte of Copeau:
 Regards commedia dell’arte as vital to training of
actors
- Leads to the creation of a modern comedy
form
 Use of masks
- to establish allegorical figures and character
types that are larger than life
- began to use masks in Moliere comedies
and also when training his actors
 Copeau’s aim was to create more communal theatre and
more communal society
 The actors were to dedicate their lives to theatre through
playing
 celebrating birthdays, homecomings and other
festivals with improvisations, songs, games and
dance
 In 1929, Copeau retired at the age of 53.
 Michel Saint Denis (nephew and also student of
Copeau) took charge of the young actors who
were named, ‘Les Copiaux’ and changed the
name to Compagnie des Quinze.
 Saint-Denis reopened the Vieux-Colombier and all
the actors who were trained under Copeau can
perform:
- Mimes
- Acrobats
- Invent and improvise characters
- Some could sing and play musical
instruments
 Jean Louis Barrault regarded Copeau as the father of the
whole modern theatre, advocate of the creative director as
the true artist of theatre.
 ANTONIN ARTAUD (1896 – 1948)
THEATRE
1. Theatre of Cruelty 2. Double of Real Life
 Aim: to shock audience through gesture, image, sound, and  Artaud created 'doubles' between theatre and metaphysics, the
lighting plague, and cruelty
 Cruelty = Sensory  Claimed: if the theatre is the double of life, then life is the double
 Believe gesture and movement to be more powerful than text of theatre
 Interested in the use of facial expressions and the relative  His theatre was to mirror not that everyday life, but the reality of
unimportance of spoken word the extraordinary
 Gesture:  Extraordinary = a reality not contaminated by ideas of morality
o Could communicate an artist’s unconscious and and culture
conscious intentions in a way that words were incapable  Text:
of expressing o Emphasis significantly reduced on the written and
o Make things visible on stage spoken text
o Artaud referred to spoken dialogues as “written poetry”
o Emphasis on improvisations, not scripts
 Acting and Characterization
o Actor encouraged to openly use emotions
o No emphasis on individual characters in performance
(opposite to Stanislavski)
o Characters were less defined by movement, gesture,
and dance (compared to spoken dialogue)
THEORIES
i. Movement & Gesture ii. Space & Actor-Audience Relationship
o Artaud was inspired by a performance of Balinese dancers in o Relationship between the actor and audience in the Theatre of
1931 (use of gesture and dance) Cruelty was intimate
o Balinese dance is dynamic, angular and intensely expressive. o Preference for actors to perform around the audience in the
o Artaud wished to create a new (largely non-verbal) language for centre (rectangle/ring/boundary)
the theatre o Artaud attempted to reduce or eliminate the special space set
o (Ritualistic) movement was a key element aside for the actors (the stage)
o Performers communicated some of their stories through ‘signs’ o Grotowski disproved Artaud’s concept of eliminating the stage
- ‘Signs’ in the Theatre of Cruelty were facial expression area
and movement o Performers placed in four corners / on four sides of the space
o Stylized movement was known as ‘visual poetry’ o Grotowski argued Artaud’s use of space was not revolutionary
o Dance and gesture became just as effective as the spoken word o The audience was therefore placed in a weaker, less powerful
- Movement and gesture replaced more than words, position (encircled by actors)
standing for ideas and attitudes of mind o The audience was often seated on rotate chairs (easily
- Movement often created violent or disturbing images on swinging around to follow the action)
stage o Galleries and catwalks enable the performers to look down on
- Sometimes the violent images were left to occur in the the audience
minds of the audience (not on stage)
iii. Stagecraft (Theatre of Cruelty) iv. Costumes
o Emphasis on light and sound o Dismiss modern costumes, employing clothing used for ancient
- Loud, piercing & hypnotising rituals
o Colour, light and costume added theatrical effect o Mask was also used on occasions
o Music and sound (voice, instrument, recorded) often
accompanied stage movement or text
o Lighting used a combination of flooded light and pinpointed, more
directed light
o Audience’s senses were assaulted
o Sets were eliminated from performances
 BERTOLT BRECHT
(1898-1956)

EPIC THEATRE

 Epic theatre is a type of political theatre that addresses contemporary issues, although later in Brecht’s life he preferred to call it
dialectal theatre.
 Brecht believed classical approaches to theatre were escapist, and he was more interested in facts and reality rather than escapism.
 Epic theatre does NOT attempt to lay down a tidy plot and story, but leaves issues unresolved, confronting the audience with
sometimes uncomfortable questions.
 ‘THE ALIENATION EFFECT’
 Audience are engage emotionally in a scene but be able to stand outside it to think about it and make a judgement on it.

• Breaking the fourth wall

This is where the wall between the audience and actors on stage is
broken. Rather than allowing the audience to sit passively and get
lost in the show, the actors will sometimes directly address the
audience with a speech, comment or a question - breaking the
fourth wall.

POOR THEATRE
• Montage
 Theory of Verfremdungseffekt, also known as V-effect, alienation Short movie clips are put together, often to show factual events.
effect, or distantiation effect. Sometimes clips are edited and sometimes the montages are used
 ‘The Alienation Effect’ to highlight the issues Brecht is trying to communicate.
- Audience are engage emotionally in a scene but be able to
stand outside it to think about it and make a judgement on
• Use of song, music and dance
it.
Some of Brecht’s work includes songs, music and dance. This helps
to remind the audience that they are not watching real life.
Sometimes the songs are ironically, with cheery upbeat music but
BREAKING THE with dark lyrics.
FOURTH WALL

• Narration
COMING OUT
MONTAGE Narration is used to remind the audience that they are watching a
OF CHARACTER
story. Sometimes the narrator will tell the audience what is about to
happen in the story, before it happens, because if the audience
ALIENATION knows the outcome then they may not get as emotionally involved.
EFFECT

MINIMAL SETS,
SONG, MUSIC
• Minimal set, costumes, props and lighting
LIGHTING AND
COSTUMES
AND DANCE Brecht believes the stage should be brightly lit at all times. That sets
should not be realistic, just suggestive. And that actors should use
minimal props, often only one per character. Also props can be used
NARRATION in several different ways, for example a suitcase may become a
desk.

• Coming out of character

Actors will sometimes come out character, often at heightened
moments of drama, to remind the audience that it is a piece of
fiction that they are watching.
 LEE STRASBERG (1901-1982)
1. ACTING METHOD
 First called the ‘System’ by Stanislavsky.  Method acting focuses on achieving realism, differing from classical
 The Lee Strasberg Method Acting acting styles
- described as a form of acting where the actor mystically  Method acting dictates that actors should prepare for a role by
‘becomes’ the character or tries to somehow literally live immersing themselves as much as possible in the circumstances of
the character in life. their characters.
- “Method Acting is what all actors have always done  Method acting has come under scrutiny because it is believed that
whenever they acted well.” some actors go so far to replicate the lives of their characters, that
 The creative play of the affective memory in the actor’s imagination they actually put their health or lives at risk.
- meant to break down the actor’s barrier between life on  In addition, many stories have been told of actors who played their
and off the stage. roles to extremes, refusing to step outside of their roles, even when
 Trains actors to use their imagination, senses and emotions to the cameras were not rolling.
conceive characters with unique and original behavior
- creating performances grounded in the human truth of the
moment.
2. GROUP THEATRE 3. ACTORS STUDIO
 Lee Strasberg, Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford formed Group  The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional
Theatre in 1931 based in NYC. actors, theatre directors and playwrights in New York City.
 They were the pioneers of “American acting technique”  It was founded in 1947 by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford and Robert
- forceful, naturalistic and highly disciplined artistry (derived Lewis, who provided training for actors who were members.
from the teachings of Stanislavski)  In 1951, Strasberg became the artistic director.
 Recruiting 28 actors, the Group produced works by many important  The Studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method
American playwrights (Clifford Odets and Irwin Shaw). acting
 The group gathered at different summer locations to train intensively - which was developed by the Group Theatre in the 1930s
for 6 of its 10 years of existence. based on the innovations of Stanislavski
 Most successful productions were:
- 1937 Broadway hit Golden Boy
- 1933 Men in White (won Pulitzer Prize for Drama)
 It was in the Group that Strasberg came up with ‘The Method’
or ‘Method Acting’ (initiated by Stanislavski).
 The group ended in 1941 due to factors ranging from finance and
“artistic difference”.
 Still, Group Theatre has been called the bravest and single most
significant experiment in the history of American theater, and its
impact continues to be felt.
4. LEE STRASBERG’S METHOD AND PHILOSOPHY

Lee Strasberg's "Method” Constantin Stanislavsky's “System"

 one who prefers to have a planned performance, down to
the very detail of thoughts and actions
 goal was to produce a method of acting that would produce
repeatable and consistent performances.
 His focus was on an actor's awareness of self and on his
character's development.
 Stanislavsky's main goal was to achieve a system that
would produce genuine and natural performances.
 actors use a collection of their personal memories to
evoke their character's emotions
 His focus was using action to drive the natural responses
of an actor, so when in a scene, the actor should push for
an outward sense of observation

 Strasberg demanded great discipline of his actors, as well as great depths of psychological truthfulness. He once explained his approach
in this way:
“The human being who acts is the human being who lives. That is a terrifying circumstance. Essentially, the actor acts a fiction, a
dream; in life, the stimuli to which we respond are always real. The actor must constantly respond to stimuli that are imaginary. And yet
this must happen not only just as it happens in life, but [also] actually more fully and more expressively. Although the actor can do things
in life quite easily, when he has to do the same thing on the stage under fictitious conditions, he has difficulty because he is not equipped
as a human being merely to playact at imitating life. He must somehow believe. He must somehow be able to convince himself of
the rightness of what he is doing in order to do things fully on the stage.”
 AUGUSTO BOAL
(1931-2009)

1. THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED 2. ORIGINS OF ‘SPECT-ACTORS’

 Provides tools for people to explore collective struggles, analyse  In the 1960’s Boal developed a process whereby audience
their history and present circumstances and then experiment with members could stop a performance and suggest different actions
inventing new future together through theatre. for the character experiencing oppression.
 A form of interactive theatre intended to transform lives as  The actor playing that character would then carry out the
spectators become performers, acting out solutions to social audience suggestions.
problems.  A woman in the audience once was so outraged the actor could
 Is an arsenal theatre techniques and games that seeks to:- not understand her suggestion that she came onto the stage and
• Motivate people showed what she meant.
• Restore true dialogue - For Boal this was the birth of the spect-actor (not spectator) and
• Create space for participants to rehearse taking action. his theatre was transformed.
 It begins with the idea that everyone has the capacity to act once an - He began inviting audience members with suggestions for
actor and spectator. change onto the stage to demonstrate their ideas.
 In doing so, he discovered that through this participation the
audience members became empowered not only to imagine
Passive change but to actually practice that change, reflect collectively
Conflict resolves on the suggestion, and thereby become empowered to generate
audience
itself on stage social action.
members
 Theatre became a practical vehicle for activism.

Be in character
Have desire with that burning
desire
Identify desire Transfer the
and know how to desire to take
play the action onto the
character’s role character
3. FORMS OF THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED
ii. Image Theatre
- still images are used to explore abstract concepts such as
relationships and emotions, as well as realistic situations
- Participants rapidly sculpt their own or each others’ bodies to
express attitudes and emotions
- These images are then placed together and ‘dynamised’ or brought
to life
- The method is often used to explore internal or external oppression,
unconscious thoughts and feelings
iv. Legislative Theatre
- In 1992, Augusto Boal, was faced with a dilemma. His theatre
work was an international sensation. At the same time, he was
facing pressure at home in Brazil to run for the position of
vereador (a position similar to that of a City Councilor)
- Boal decided not to choose. Instead, he combined the two
possibilities and passions into one — and legislative theatre was
born.
- Takes forum theatre to the government. The audience
interventions are followed by a brainstorm and discussion of
policies or laws that could solve the problem.
- To not only attempt interventions on stage, but to write down the
successful interventions into suggestions for legislation and hand
them in to the elected officials in the room.
- Legislative theatre trusts the wisdom of the audience, and
provides them an opportunity to try out their ideas on stage to
see how they might work in real life, making a direct connection
between the ideas generated in the theatre and the legislative
process, which so desperately needs creative approaches to
problem solving.
i. Invisible Theatre
- Invisible theatre is a form of theatrical performance that is enacted
in a place where people would not normally expect to see one,
for example in the street or in a shopping centre
- Invisible theatre can give people who would not normally have the
chance to see plays the opportunity to do so
- The goal is to make the intervention as realistic as possible so
that it provokes spontaneous responses
- The scene must be loud enough to be heard and noticed by
people, but not so loud or conspicuous that it appears staged
- Bystanders can and will engage with the scene as if it were real
life, because for them it is real life
- Invisible theatre removes barriers between performer and
spectator and creates very accessible conflictual situations in
which people can rethink their assumptions and engage with
sensitive issues they might otherwise avoid
iii. Forum Theatre
- It begins with the performance of a short play that dramatizes
real situations faced by the participants and that ends with the
protagonist(s) being oppressed. After the first performance, the
play or scene is repeated with the spectators become “spect-
actors” and can at any point yell “freeze” and take the place of
an actor to attempt to transform the outcome.
- Spect-actors realize is that:
i. if they don’t intervene, nothing will change. The next
thing spect-actors find is that
ii. doing “something” is not enough, it must be strategic.
- The people acting as oppressors on stage will maintain their
oppression until they are authentically stopped — and just like
in life, stopping them isn’t easy.
o Forum theatre thus becomes a laboratory to
experiment with different courses of action.
- Forum theatre is facilitated by someone called a Joker, who
engages the spect-actors both on and off stage in dialogue
throughout the process.
o After an intervention, the Joker may ask, “Did this
work?”, “Was this realistic?”, “Can you do this in real
life?”
 ADOLPHE APPIA (1862-1928)
1. Theatre and Wagner
 Was especially drawn to Wagner's operas and his theories of  In 1891, he propounded his revolutionary theories of theatrical
staging them production
 Disliked the use of the proscenium stage, elaborate costumes,  Four years later he published La Mise en scène du drame
or painted sets Wagnérien (1895; “The Staging of the Wagnerian Drama”)
 Favoured powerful, suggestive staging  Maintained that two dimensional set painting and the
 Theorized that the scenery should be replaced with steps, performance dynamics it created, was the major cause of
ramps, platforms, and drapes that blended with the actor's production disunity in his time.
movements and the horizontal floor  He advocated three elements as fundamental to creating a
 Believed that lighting should be used to bring together the visual unified and effective mise en scene:
elements of the drama  Dynamic and three dimensional movements by actors
 Went on to study every scene of the opera and worked out how  Perpendicular scenery
the relationship of actor, scene, dialogue, music, and lighting  Using depth and the horizontal dynamics of the
combined to create a unified harmony. performance space

2. Theatre and Dalcroze

 In 1906 he met and was influenced by Emile Jacques-Dalcroze (1865-1960)
 Dalcroze was the inventor of Eurythmics, a system in which his students responded rhythmically to musical scores.
 He collaborated with Émile Jaques-Dalcroze on numerous experimental theatre and dance productions.
 Working with Dalcroze, Appia evolved his own theory that the rhythm inherent in a text is the key to every gesture and movement an
actor uses during a performance.
 He concluded that the mastery of rhythm could unify the spatial and other elements of an opera into a harmonious synthesis.

3. Appia’s Theatre
i. Lighting
 Became friend with Houston Stewart Chamberlain, who acted
as a friend and mentor, but also gained him backstage access
to several important theatres
 Had become an apprentice to "the father of light" Hugo Bahr
 Appia learned many of the techniques that he later used in his
designs from Hugo during this time
 Wanted lighting to move away from just lighting up the flats and  The productions were not praised universally, conservative
start to create a setting
 4 different forms of lighting
o fixed boarder lights
o foot lights
o moveable spotlights
o lighting by transparency (lighting from behind the
flats)
 One of the first designers to understand the potential of stage
lighting to do more than merely illuminate actors and painted
scenery, considered light as the primary element which fused
together all aspects of a production
In his productions, light was ever changing, manipulated from
moment to moment, from action to action.
ii. Staging
 Began to receive the recognition but only late in his life
 Productions:
 Tristan and Isolde for Arturo Toscanini and La Scala
in Milan (1923)
 Ring cycle in Basle (1924)
 Prometheus in Basle (1925)
critics found Appia too "Calvinistic“
 His ideas about the staging of "word-tone drama", together with
his own staging have influenced later staging, especially those
of the second half of the twentieth century.
 For Appia and for his productions, the mise en scene and the
totality or unity of the performance experience was primary and
he believed that these elements drove movement and initiated
action more than any thing else
 Appia’s designs and theories went on to inspire many other
theatre creators such as Edward Gordon Craig, Jacques
Copeau and Wieland Wagner.

“For him (Appia), the art of stage production in its pure sense was nothing other than the embodiment of a text or a musical composition,
made sensible by the living action of the human body and its reaction to spaces and masses set against it.”
-Jacques Copeau
 EDWARD CRAIG (1872-1966)
1. Theories
The Art of the Theatre (AT) The Actor and Über-marionette (AU)
• This pamphlet expounds his definition of the role of stage • The marionette offered Craig an alternative to the
director and his vision of a kind of performance generated personality cult of the ‘artless’ actor.
from the essential elements of theatre. • Ideologies:-
• Dialogue between the ‘expert’ stage-director and the i. The actors must be human
playgoer. ii. The actors must be the marionette and
• Dialogue form had been used by writers of theatrical theory ventriloquist for the Director; material for the
since Plato, whose Symposium Craig suggested should be theatre
performed for public edification. iii. The actor is to ignore all past representations of
• Content of the dialogues (3 parts) the character they are portraying
Beginning: iv. Emphasis on body language
- aesthetic debate and attempt to define the art of
theatre
Central:
- model description of the interpretative craft of the
stage director
Ending:
- a vision of future work of the stage director as
originator of a creative art.

2. Craig’s Theatre
i. Mask
• 'A Note on Masks' was written by Craig in 1910
- puts forward the idea of a mask being the
paramount weapon of dramatic expression.
• Craig expresses that drama is not trivial, it takes us beyond
reality and yet asks for a human face, the realist of things,
to express all that.
• Masks carry conviction and becomes part of the actor who •
is wearing it.
ii. Marionettes
• 'Gentlemen, the marionette' is a writing in which Craig
celebrates the string puppet. Craig had a great interest in
marionettes believing they are the only true actors who
have the soul of the dramatic poet, serving as a true and
loyal interpreter with the virtues of silence and obedience.
“Uber-Marionettes” were in his mind the perfect actor.
He writes that the marionette “hearts beat no faster, no
slower, their signals do not grow hurried or confused; and,
though drenched in a torrent of bouquets and love, the face
of the leading lady remains solemn,”

iii. Lighting iv. Movement

• In terms of lighting Craig was certainly among the first to • Craig, following his symbolist views, used movement to
recognise the potential of electric light, which was a new create mood.
direction for theatre at the turn of the century. • In his studies in 1906 he talked of removing elements of
• He did away with the traditional footlights and placed them set/props and replacing them with symbolic gestures.
upon above the stage, literally putting them in the ceiling • Craig is noted for trying to create plays where the
and behind the screens allowing for the light to be movements of the actors began to tell the stories and not
controlled (Innes, 281) the actual settings
• For example, a man battling through a snowstorm. Craig
questioned whether the snow was necessary. Would the
movements made by the actor be sufficient to suggest a
man battling the elements.