PRACTICAL AESTHETICS – An Introduction

What is Practical Aesthetics? An approach to acting devised by writer David Mamet and actor William H Macy in the
early 1980s to counter the self-indulgent and self-centred training and performance that was being witnessed in the
USA as a result of Method Acting techniques.

What is acting? Meisner ‘Living truthfully in imaginary circumstances’.

How can we train to do this?

Practical Aesthetics is based on two pillars:

a. Think before you Act script analysis, focus completely on script.

b. Act before you Think don’t think, be in the moment, thinking brings things to the character n
. that don’t need to be there.

The four questions for the Think Before You Act portion of the approach are:

1. What is the character literally doing?

2. What does the character want the other character to do in the scene? (and only in this scene) This is the
obstacle / problem
3. What is the actor doing onstage to achieve this goal? (ACTION) (this is the solution = how getting it and is
the closest to an objective)
4. The ‘as if’ that personalises it OR What is this to me?

Scene – Script Analysis to Think before you Act – apply the questions to the scene below.

Boyfriend / Girlfriend

Boy is talking to girl about how to To get someone to trust me

solve his problem Boy

Girl is talking to boy about how to Go on sign the form Write down in cosi script
solve his problem
Girl
- What is character doing
This isn’t my problem - What does character
The concept of what the want
character wants the other Boy - What is actor doing
character wants them to do onstage to achieve this
You know I can’t afford this
allows the actor to disassociate - As if
themselves with the character, so Girl
that they do not bring themselves
into the character Take some responsibility

Boy
Boy wants girl to take
responsibility for his problem I swear it won’t happen again

Girl wants boy to take Girl

responsibility for his own
That’s what you said last time
problem

Acting Exercises – How to train to Act

before you Think

1. Listening (with the whole body – in the senses)

2. Observation (being in the moment)
3. Repetition (being in the moment and speaking truthfully)
4. As If scenarios (living the stakes truthfully)