Is Acting an Art or a Sport?
If that sounds like a stupid question, read closely, I’m going to argue that acting should be reclassified as a sport instead of an art form. Yes, this is a little bit tongue in cheek, but.. I’m making a serious point nonetheless…
30 REASONS ACTING IS A SPORT
It’s essentially a physical skill – anyone can learn it with certain restrictions.
The ‘performance’ occurs as a result of an interaction between the ‘players’.
You do it in front of spectators.
There are people paid to get the best out of you when you do it.
Everything is a reaction to the goal of the game and what is happening in that moment.
It’s competitive (characters compete to win – achieve their goals)
There are basic rules to follow
The strategy for the game is planned in advance and practised but as the game itself unfolds, it takes on a fluid quality where the game occurs from moment to moment.
Focus on the self, usually means ‘taking your eye off the ball’.
People write about you unkindly in the newspaper sometimes.
You wear a special outfit to play.
It is played within a fixed time period.
No two games are ever the same.
Sometimes spectators leave before the end.
It doesn’t matter what you say, it really only matters what you do.
You get feedback after you do it.
It can be done alone, or also in groups.
Selection to do it professionally is extremely tough.
Some people get paid a fortune to do it
The opportunities for men are still better than they are for women.
You practice together before you do it.
Not everyone follow’s the coach’s advice.
You get to roll around on the ground pretending to be hurt.
If you do it exceptionally well, you might end up television.
There is dramatic tension when people don’t know what will happen next.
People laud those that are very good at it.
People treat those that do it like it comes naturally to them and conveniently turn a blind eye to all the work that goes on behind the scenes.
The people that do it are notoriously bad at talking about what they do
Not being properly prepared leads to the pain of losing in public.
The instincts have to be trained and heightened levels of sensitivity are developed.
I’m of the belief, that if we reclassified acting as a sport, then we might prepare for it differently.
Do you imagine that sports people do such laughable activities as backstories?
Our drama schools would consider themselves developers of skills like sports coaches, and not developers of largely useless ‘creative’ skills that are never actually used by actors outside of drama school.
So, let’s reclassify acting as a sport and start developing actor’s tangible skillsets, rather than harking back to one hundred year old techniques that didn’t work very well then – sport doesn’t do that, sport is always pioneering innovation – why not acting too?