Taryn Williams

THR-100-01-SPRING2011
02-28-11

Pericles
Response Paper

I believe that good acting is defined as the amount of depth that a person puts into their

character. You should be able to tell that the person is buried deep into another persona, another

lifestyle. To be a good actor, a person must first convince their selves that they are the character

before they convince the audience. They must convince their selves that they are feeling the

certain emotions and they are in the predicaments that the play presents them with. The amount

of dedication put into a part is beamed onto the audience and it becomes obvious.

When it comes to acting badly, I define that as when the audience aware of their

surroundings. They are in touch with the fact that they are in a room, watching a play be

performed. They are not lost in another time or another setting. The acting is not realistic and

you know that they are acting. I personally believe that bad acting often comes from a person

trying too hard to play the part. It is less of trying and more of becoming. It takes dedication and

skill and experience. You can’t be a bad liar and a good actor. Lying is all about making yourself

believe and untrue idea so that others do. Acting and lying goes hand in hand with each other.

People can grow into acting well. Practicing, studying, and dedication are what get you places in

everything.

The majority of the acting in the play was good. The main characters were rather good

and believable. They kept in character and I believed that I was in the time of kings, queens, and

Pericles. The scenery and music and costume might have been a big part of it, but I also think the

same with some of the acting. In my opinion, the acting in the second part of the play was better
than first. I was basically about to fall asleep in the first part and I was half of the time thinking

how some little character got a part in the play. Even little characters should have some skill. A

lot of the little characters had skill in staying in character though. For instance the soldiers were

mostly serious and fierce looking the whole time.

The actor that caught my eye the most in the play was Marina, the daughter of Pericles.

Her emotions showed well on her face and I can’t forget the moment where she stayed in

character though her oversized slipper was falling off of her foot. The monologues and dialogues

were spoken with sincerity, like as if the words were coming from her thoughts. When put in

frightful situations, she made us feel scared for and feel for her. My interest jolted up many

levels after she appeared on the stage for 5 minutes. She was that innocent and pure girl that can

do no wrong or harm.

Another actress that had my interest in their sincerity was Cerimon, the physician.

Though her part was limited and not that large, I felt like she was the character. Just by a few

motions, I could read what her character was about and their personality. All this was in the first

few seconds of seeing her appear on stage, crushing the medicine and with a serious, determined,

and headstrong look on her face and motions. Her concern about finding a fresh body out from

see was a legit one. I had wished that more of the actors were like her; I also wished she had a

bigger part.

Then, there was the actor who had me wondering how he got a part with as much stage

time as he had. Though it wasn’t a huge role, it was too huge for him. The governor who tried to

take the virginity of Marina. He was not comfortable in his role and minus the fact that he forgot

his lines, with the few that there were; he didn’t even look that comfortable on stage. I saw his
own personality coming through too much at many times. For instance, how he had trouble

getting coins from his purse, it wasn’t played off well. I do give him points for hopping right

back into the play when he didn’t remember lines. Still, he did not maintain the posture and body

language or the tone of and important person such as a governor. I would like to know how he

got casted as that part. Maybe it was more about who he knew rather than what he was capable

of.