Practical Aesthetics - An Overview
An Overview of Practical Aesthetics Action Talks and Bullsh*t Walks: Practical Aesthetics and the Principles of Pragmatism PROVOCATION Acting can be taught, and if taught, then learned and then anyone could learn to act and act well.
To be an actor, does not require the mysterious impalpable thing called talent, or the ability to 'become' the character, none of these things are within our control.
In this provocation, I will focus on the basics of Practical Aesthetics, an important progression of Stanislavski's work.
BACKGROUND Practical Aesthetics is a set of pragmatic principles on the craft of acting.
The technique falls into three areas, Philosophy, Script analysis and Performance Technique.
In 1983, David Mamet and William H Macy began to teach a group of students from the Drama Division at NYU under the auspices of the Practical Aesthetics Workshop.
The technique derived from Stanislavski's work on physical action and Sanford Meisner's work on repetition and focus on the Other.
These students went on to write and publish the results of this workshop as 'A Practical Handbook for the Actor' in 1986; they then founded the Atlantic Theatre Company, one of the most successful off-Broadway companies in New York City.
Although Mamet and Macy still teach at Atlantic, Practical Aesthetics has grown, adapted and developed beyond Mamet.
There is minimal critical commentary available on Practical Aesthetics in the UK.
Merlin and Moseley have both written on Mamet's perspective on acting, but specifically related to his book 'True and False'.
However both writers comment without acknowledging Practical Aesthetics.
If they had, many of their concerns might have been alleviated.
Philosophy Three particular works inform the working philosophy.
The Enchiridion (or handbook) by Epicectus teaches us to change only those things that we can control.
The script, the director, the outcome of the audition are not within your control and lead to a waste of time and energy.
What is within the actor's control? The way one conducts oneself professionally or the research or homework done.
William James' Principles of Psychology provides the value of habitualisation.
Rote memorisation of lines leave inflections to be driven by the pursuit of an action in the truth of the moment.
Lastly, The Poetics serves as a basis for the simple four-step script analysis technique.
Script Analysis Actors are encouraged to read a script for action seeking their through-line.
What obstacles are presented to the character and what actions do they take in order to overcome those obstacles? Character is the sum of the illusion created when action is taken.
We measure someone's character by their actions, or their inactions, these are their characteristics and the only 'work on the character' you'll ever have to do.
Script Analysis features four steps.
The first asks what the character is literally doing; it must encompass the entire scene and be free from judgment or metaphor.
Expressed in the third person, the literal provides an anchor for the scene, prevents the actor from interpreting without cause and reminds the actor of what the audience sees on the simplest level.
An example: A married couple are talking about the husband's problems at work.
The next step, not an original step in Mamet and Macy's teaching but an important one in establishing an essential action is to express the character's want for that scene.
This again is expressed in the third person to emphasise the division between actor and character.
It is expressed as my character wants the other character to do something.
An example, the character may want her husband who is being bullied at work to be a man.
Next, the actor seeks an essential action that encapsulates the character's goal in that scene alone.
This is expressed in the form of 'to get something from someone'.
An example for our married couple, to get someone to stand up for themselves, to get a loved one to take chance.
The choice of actions can be tested against the checklist of nine criteria.
These are: 1) It must be in line with the playwright's intentions 2) It must not be an errand 3) It must have a cap 4) It mustn't be emotionally or physically manipulative 5) It mustn't predetermine an emotional state 6) It must have its test in the other person 7) It must be specific 8) It must be physically capable of being done 9) It must fun If the action changes, a new beat begins and a new analysis is performed.
(1 minute) A whole range of potential tactics or tools, are put into place.
These are expressed as a transitive verb, words that one can do to someone else.
It is not uncommon for a list of thirty, forty or fifty possible tactics to be listed by the actor, with the aim that they employ these throughout the scene as needed in response to what they are being given by their scene partner in each moment.
The scene partner's very presence will provide the obstacles against which the actor can work.
The actor should use whatever tactics will help remove the obstacles.
With this volume of tactics, if the tactic is unsuccessful, the actor should just change tactics.
The final step is to find a route into the scene by asking what is this essential action like to me.
The actor creates an 'as if'.
For the action 'To get someone to seize a great opportunity', an 'as if' might be 'it's as if my girlfriend has a job in New York but is scared to take it up'.
The as if should probably be distant in type from the action of the character, if real it should be an unresolved matter, if fictional it must be plausible.
If effort is required to buy into the as if, a new as-if is required.
Rehearsal includes a technique called as-if-ing which allows the actor to practise achieving their action by trying different tactics but using their as-if as the basis for an improvisation rather than the text.
This work firmly implants and habitualises the tactics required for the scene, text is added later and quickly the need for the as-if decreases, leaving the scene in physical form in the muscle-memory.
Technique In order to develop a technique for actors, one must have a definition of what the actor's job is.
In Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, Aaronow, one of the salesmen, worried about an interrogation with the law is offered some simple advice 'Tell the truth, it's the easiest thing to remember.
' A woolly and unspecific notion of truth underpins much of twentieth century actor training.
Practical Aesthetics follows the Stanislavski tenet of 'living truthfully under the imaginary circumstances of the play.
' For Practical Aesthetics, the truth of that moment is the actor's truth, not the character's, within the context of the given circumstances of the play.
The actors on stage must deal with what's in front of them in the truth of the moment.
Nothing is more likely to disturb that illusion more than failing to respond truthfully if your colleague on stage accidentally drops the bottle of champagne.
The audience will suspend their disbelief if they are not given a reason to react otherwise.
The actor employing Practical Aesthetics is in a constant state of improvisation.
Each moment on stage is unrehearsed in the traditional sense.
Instead, rehearsal writes into the muscle memory of the actor, the given circumstances of the play, including notes from the director and tools or tactics by which to pursue an essential action for each scene.
In Mamet's words 'we prepare to improvise'.
Lines are learned by rote without meaning or feeling.
This allows the individual line to serve any possible tactic without fixing a line reading.
Additionally, Practical Aesthetics employs techniques for getting the actor out of their own head.
The actor places their attention on the other, and tries to achieve in the other a change whilst observing and adapting their approach to the new and changing truth of the moment.
This takes the focus off the actor themself.
Constant and progressive use of Repetition exercises adapted from Meisner, habitualises this practise in the actor.
The truthfulness of the actors response is now only limited by what he or she can see before them and that possibility is endless and constantly shifting.
Under the given circumstances of the production, moment to moment, driven by a strong essential action, in line with the playwright's intentions, the scene will never play out twice in the same way.
Conclusion The technique is simple.
Like other forms of actor training, it is rigorous; it requires the development of skills, the adjustment of poor habits and the ability to bring immediacy to the role in the moment before an audience.
But Practical Aesthetics is not complicated; the technique is quick to learn (and like all things worthy of our time difficult to master).
If Mamet is seen as the spokesman for Practical Aesthetics, its presence refutes mistaken criticism of his views on acting.
He does believe in training, but not prolonged training aimed at avoiding work, he respects Stanislavski's work but does not revere him - Macy is quoted as believing that Practical Aesthetics is 'next generation of Stanislavski's work' and having its basis in both Meisner and Stanislavski it is possible to see where it fits within the range of systematic technique.
Practical Aesthetics is not magic; it is the pragmatic, no bullshit principles of the craft of acting.
I would all techniques and methodologies were as direct in application from theory to practise.
They often hide behind mysterious or intangible or impracticable garb.
And after all as Peter Brook once wrote 'There are no secrets.
'
To be an actor, does not require the mysterious impalpable thing called talent, or the ability to 'become' the character, none of these things are within our control.
In this provocation, I will focus on the basics of Practical Aesthetics, an important progression of Stanislavski's work.
BACKGROUND Practical Aesthetics is a set of pragmatic principles on the craft of acting.
The technique falls into three areas, Philosophy, Script analysis and Performance Technique.
In 1983, David Mamet and William H Macy began to teach a group of students from the Drama Division at NYU under the auspices of the Practical Aesthetics Workshop.
The technique derived from Stanislavski's work on physical action and Sanford Meisner's work on repetition and focus on the Other.
These students went on to write and publish the results of this workshop as 'A Practical Handbook for the Actor' in 1986; they then founded the Atlantic Theatre Company, one of the most successful off-Broadway companies in New York City.
Although Mamet and Macy still teach at Atlantic, Practical Aesthetics has grown, adapted and developed beyond Mamet.
There is minimal critical commentary available on Practical Aesthetics in the UK.
Merlin and Moseley have both written on Mamet's perspective on acting, but specifically related to his book 'True and False'.
However both writers comment without acknowledging Practical Aesthetics.
If they had, many of their concerns might have been alleviated.
Philosophy Three particular works inform the working philosophy.
The Enchiridion (or handbook) by Epicectus teaches us to change only those things that we can control.
The script, the director, the outcome of the audition are not within your control and lead to a waste of time and energy.
What is within the actor's control? The way one conducts oneself professionally or the research or homework done.
William James' Principles of Psychology provides the value of habitualisation.
Rote memorisation of lines leave inflections to be driven by the pursuit of an action in the truth of the moment.
Lastly, The Poetics serves as a basis for the simple four-step script analysis technique.
Script Analysis Actors are encouraged to read a script for action seeking their through-line.
What obstacles are presented to the character and what actions do they take in order to overcome those obstacles? Character is the sum of the illusion created when action is taken.
We measure someone's character by their actions, or their inactions, these are their characteristics and the only 'work on the character' you'll ever have to do.
Script Analysis features four steps.
The first asks what the character is literally doing; it must encompass the entire scene and be free from judgment or metaphor.
Expressed in the third person, the literal provides an anchor for the scene, prevents the actor from interpreting without cause and reminds the actor of what the audience sees on the simplest level.
An example: A married couple are talking about the husband's problems at work.
The next step, not an original step in Mamet and Macy's teaching but an important one in establishing an essential action is to express the character's want for that scene.
This again is expressed in the third person to emphasise the division between actor and character.
It is expressed as my character wants the other character to do something.
An example, the character may want her husband who is being bullied at work to be a man.
Next, the actor seeks an essential action that encapsulates the character's goal in that scene alone.
This is expressed in the form of 'to get something from someone'.
An example for our married couple, to get someone to stand up for themselves, to get a loved one to take chance.
The choice of actions can be tested against the checklist of nine criteria.
These are: 1) It must be in line with the playwright's intentions 2) It must not be an errand 3) It must have a cap 4) It mustn't be emotionally or physically manipulative 5) It mustn't predetermine an emotional state 6) It must have its test in the other person 7) It must be specific 8) It must be physically capable of being done 9) It must fun If the action changes, a new beat begins and a new analysis is performed.
(1 minute) A whole range of potential tactics or tools, are put into place.
These are expressed as a transitive verb, words that one can do to someone else.
It is not uncommon for a list of thirty, forty or fifty possible tactics to be listed by the actor, with the aim that they employ these throughout the scene as needed in response to what they are being given by their scene partner in each moment.
The scene partner's very presence will provide the obstacles against which the actor can work.
The actor should use whatever tactics will help remove the obstacles.
With this volume of tactics, if the tactic is unsuccessful, the actor should just change tactics.
The final step is to find a route into the scene by asking what is this essential action like to me.
The actor creates an 'as if'.
For the action 'To get someone to seize a great opportunity', an 'as if' might be 'it's as if my girlfriend has a job in New York but is scared to take it up'.
The as if should probably be distant in type from the action of the character, if real it should be an unresolved matter, if fictional it must be plausible.
If effort is required to buy into the as if, a new as-if is required.
Rehearsal includes a technique called as-if-ing which allows the actor to practise achieving their action by trying different tactics but using their as-if as the basis for an improvisation rather than the text.
This work firmly implants and habitualises the tactics required for the scene, text is added later and quickly the need for the as-if decreases, leaving the scene in physical form in the muscle-memory.
Technique In order to develop a technique for actors, one must have a definition of what the actor's job is.
In Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, Aaronow, one of the salesmen, worried about an interrogation with the law is offered some simple advice 'Tell the truth, it's the easiest thing to remember.
' A woolly and unspecific notion of truth underpins much of twentieth century actor training.
Practical Aesthetics follows the Stanislavski tenet of 'living truthfully under the imaginary circumstances of the play.
' For Practical Aesthetics, the truth of that moment is the actor's truth, not the character's, within the context of the given circumstances of the play.
The actors on stage must deal with what's in front of them in the truth of the moment.
Nothing is more likely to disturb that illusion more than failing to respond truthfully if your colleague on stage accidentally drops the bottle of champagne.
The audience will suspend their disbelief if they are not given a reason to react otherwise.
The actor employing Practical Aesthetics is in a constant state of improvisation.
Each moment on stage is unrehearsed in the traditional sense.
Instead, rehearsal writes into the muscle memory of the actor, the given circumstances of the play, including notes from the director and tools or tactics by which to pursue an essential action for each scene.
In Mamet's words 'we prepare to improvise'.
Lines are learned by rote without meaning or feeling.
This allows the individual line to serve any possible tactic without fixing a line reading.
Additionally, Practical Aesthetics employs techniques for getting the actor out of their own head.
The actor places their attention on the other, and tries to achieve in the other a change whilst observing and adapting their approach to the new and changing truth of the moment.
This takes the focus off the actor themself.
Constant and progressive use of Repetition exercises adapted from Meisner, habitualises this practise in the actor.
The truthfulness of the actors response is now only limited by what he or she can see before them and that possibility is endless and constantly shifting.
Under the given circumstances of the production, moment to moment, driven by a strong essential action, in line with the playwright's intentions, the scene will never play out twice in the same way.
Conclusion The technique is simple.
Like other forms of actor training, it is rigorous; it requires the development of skills, the adjustment of poor habits and the ability to bring immediacy to the role in the moment before an audience.
But Practical Aesthetics is not complicated; the technique is quick to learn (and like all things worthy of our time difficult to master).
If Mamet is seen as the spokesman for Practical Aesthetics, its presence refutes mistaken criticism of his views on acting.
He does believe in training, but not prolonged training aimed at avoiding work, he respects Stanislavski's work but does not revere him - Macy is quoted as believing that Practical Aesthetics is 'next generation of Stanislavski's work' and having its basis in both Meisner and Stanislavski it is possible to see where it fits within the range of systematic technique.
Practical Aesthetics is not magic; it is the pragmatic, no bullshit principles of the craft of acting.
I would all techniques and methodologies were as direct in application from theory to practise.
They often hide behind mysterious or intangible or impracticable garb.
And after all as Peter Brook once wrote 'There are no secrets.
'
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