"All of the actor's exercises and preparations, then, are directed at reaching the body at that point where it functions as matrix and threshold. The objective is to "re-code" the body, as it were, so that when it behaves in the context of the scene it will presence the character in the play and not the actor. The actor's training, according to Barba, teaches her how to separate herself from what her body shows. The effacement that lies at the heart of the theatre metamorphosis is achieved when a new form is instituted which functions as the soul 'of a living but re-invented body ... [giving rise to] a behaviour which has been separated from the behaviour of every day, a naturalness which is the fruit of artificiality.'"(Barba. The Paper Canoe, p. 104.)

(Performance as Metamorphosis. Aldo Tassi)


:: comment :: . . . excellent essay on the way of the actor . . . nice historical survey with exceptional insight . . . yes theory but deeply rooted in practice . . . articulation of the practice is as important as the act . . .

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