The Magic from the Mysticism

Someone once said to me:

“Mark, why are you so determined to rob the theatre of its magic? So determined to reduce all theatre to a boring realistic kitchen sink drama”.

I was shocked, this person could not be further away from the truth.

Of course, these are two interrelated but separate issues:

I have no desire to turn all theatre into a realistic soap opera.

And I have no desire to rob it of its magic.

To my mind, divorcing the magic of the theatre for the audience member from the mysticism of the craft of the actor robs no one.

Well that’s no true.

Those actors that want the spectacle of the theatre to exist for them as much as the audience, must hate me. I have no time for the theatrical personality, I want hard grafting actors, intelligent, strong and supple actors with great voices and open minds.

But taking away the bullshit mysticism of the craft from the actor, does not rob the audience of any of its pleasures. They do not see behind the curtain, therefore it doesn’t affect them. They can still believe these people are the characters to enjoy the fiction of the play.

I think actors like to indulge themselves perhaps in ‘magic play time’ and they forget that they are the makers of the magic, because their presence is part of that magic when it is presented on stage. Actors have indulged and been indulged in this fantasy for centuries, it will be a hard habit to break.

The second accusation is a misunderstanding about realism and truthful acting. Truthful acting has nothing to do with realism or naturalism, it’s just that the acting style that historically emerged to cope with Chekhov was called ‘truthful’.

The technique of acting that I teach is at home with all styles, but yes, like the work of Stanislavsky was to realist plays, our approach suits television, film and theatre that we might call psychologically real, but it can more than help with Shakespeare, Pantomime and Physical Theatre.

Why? Because our approach is about understanding the script, working off your partner, being in the moment, having something to achieve in the scene, and responding to the truth of the moment. None of which has to do with the genre of material, or the size of the acting/performance requires by the material.

I hope that helps to set things straight.

COACH

Mark Westbrook is Senior Acting Coach at Acting Coach Scotland

Based in Australia? Mark is coming to Sydney in November for a week-long intensive masterclass! Find out more here.