Phenomenology for Actors - Daniel Johnston

Phenomenology for Actors

Theatre-Making and the Question of Being

(Autor)

Buch | Softcover
174 Seiten
2023 | New edition
Intellect Books (Verlag)
978-1-78938-759-9 (ISBN)
31,10 inkl. MwSt
This book explores how phenomenology – the study of how the world shows itself to conscious experience – can provide new insights into acting and theatre-making. It explores Being-in-the-world in everyday life with practical exercises for rehearsal and performance. 7 b/w illus.
This book gives new insight into acting and theatre-making through phenomenology (the study of how the world shows itself to conscious experience). It examines Being-in-the-world in everyday life with exercises for workshops and rehearsal. Each chapter explores themes to guide the creative process through objects, bodies, spaces, being with others, time, history, freedom and authenticity. Key examples in the work are drawn from Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Sophocles’ Antigone and Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Practical tasks in each section explore how the theatrical event can offer unique insight into Being and existence. In this way, the book makes a bold leap to understand acting as an embodied form of philosophy and to explain how phenomenology can be a rich source of inspiration for actors, directors, designers and the creative process of theatre-making.



This original new book will provide new insight into the practice and theory of acting, stimulate new approaches to rehearsal and advance the notion of theatre making a genuine contribution to philosophical discourse.



The fundamental task of the actor is to be on stage with purposeful action in the given circumstances. But this simple act of ‘Being’ is not easy. Phenomenology can provide valuable insight into the challenge. For some time, scholars have looked to phenomenology to describe and analyse the theatrical event. But more than simply drawing attention to embodiment and the subjective experience of the world, a philosophical perspective can also shed light on broader existential issues of being.



No specialist knowledge of philosophy is required for the reader to find this text engaging and it will be relevant for second-year students and above at tertiary level.



For postgraduates and researchers, the book will provide a valuable touchstone for phenomenology and performance as research. The book will appeal to theatre and performance studies, and some applied philosophy courses. The material is also relevant to studies in literary and critical theory, cultural studies and comparative literature.



The work is relevant to The International Federation of Theatre Research (IFTR/FIRT) (Performance and Consciousness), Performance Studies International (psi) and the Performance Philosophy Research Network — an influential and growing research field.



Primary markets for this book will be students (both at university and conservatoires) and academics in theatre studies, as well as practitioners and actors in training. The text will be useful to students in units or modules relating to acting theory and theatre-making processes, and which combine critical theory with practical performance. It will also be useful for practitioners of theatre looking to expand or inflect their own methods of approaching performance.

Daniel Johnston is an Honorary Research Associate at the University of Sydney with a research background in the philosophy of acting. He holds a PhD in Performance Studies (University of Sydney) and MA (Cantab) in Philosophy (University of Cambridge).

List of Illustrations



Acknowledgements



A Note on the Text



1. Beginnings: Being There



Touching Hands with Being



What Is Phenomenology?



Performance and Phenomenology



Philosophers on Stage



Mapping the Self



2. Phenomenology: Being-in-the-World



Some Background Terms



Space and Bodies



The History of Being



Destruktion and the Text



From Theory to Practice



Observe a Walk



Observe Stillness



Scrutinize an Object



Chart a Place Well Known to You



Unpack a Place Where You Feel At Home



Dissect a Familiar Activity



Describe a Person



Recount a Time When You Struggled to Communicate



Demonstrate a Moment When You Had an Unusual Experience of Time



Stage a Life Choice



Recreate the Instant in Which Your Life Was Threatened



Text-Character-Performance



3. Being-with Others: The Cherry Orchard



Equipment



Involvement



Touch



Being Elsewhere



Other People





Authenticity and Freedom: Antigone


Falling



Nothingness



Moods and Faring



Thrownness and Projection



Fate and Destiny



5. Time and Resoluteness: Hamlet



Timeliness



Having a History



Being-a-Whole



Resoluteness



Being-towards-Death



6. Possibilities: Aletheia



On the Essence of Truth in Theatre



Poetry, Language, Theatre



Building, Dwelling, Theatre



The Question concerning Theatre Technology



Ereignis



References



Index

Erscheinungsdatum
Zusatzinfo 7 Halftones, black and white
Sprache englisch
Maße 170 x 244 mm
Themenwelt Kunst / Musik / Theater Theater / Ballett
Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophie der Neuzeit
ISBN-10 1-78938-759-0 / 1789387590
ISBN-13 978-1-78938-759-9 / 9781789387599
Zustand Neuware
Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt?
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich