The debate continues...
There is an old comic of a man trapped in a box next to a mime, who is behaving as though he is trapped in a box. The caption cites the hazards of being a “method actor.” The idea of a “method actor,” a person who puts oneself into situations or calls upon experiences to prepare for a role, has long been a source of amusement for Americans. The idea that a person would relive a personal trauma or try “slumming it” just to prepare for a role strikes many people as going a little bit too far.
The American Method, as it should be more specifically labeled, is a perversion (albeit a popular one) of its roots, which are credited to Constantin Stanislavski of the Moscow Art Theatre. Stanislavski’s innovations were in response to the demands of Anton Chekhov’s new “realist” plays, but he only employed psychological realism, as it is also termed, in his late work. The version of psychological realism that Lee Strasberg popularized as the American Method is far more formal and in-depth than that of Stanislavski’s.
Given the visibility of method acting and the fact that there are alternatives, it is perhaps surprising that no other form of acting is commonly discussed. There are numerous alternatives (including Stanislavski’s earlier style) which are still in use today, but the humorous mental images conjured up by method preparation have surpassed other practices in terms of recognition. Another problem is that most actor training styles are intended to make it look effortless, as is the case with method acting. Finally and most importantly, it can be quite difficult to distill the work of an actor into a single method. There is a sharing of techniques and ideas that naturally occurs. One would have to look long and hard to find an actor who only ever used one technique.
Among those other widely used techniques is improvisational theater (or improv, as it is more commonly known), popularized by Chicago’s “Second City” troupe and present on Swarthmore’s campus in the form of Vertigo-go. Even as improv has become a viral source of entertainment through YouTube, the population often forgets that it is, in fact, a legitimate acting methodology. It is something that can be taught, follows rules, requires practice and can greatly enhance the work of those actors when they are scripted.
The American Method, as it should be more specifically labeled, is a perversion (albeit a popular one) of its roots, which are credited to Constantin Stanislavski of the Moscow Art Theatre. Stanislavski’s innovations were in response to the demands of Anton Chekhov’s new “realist” plays, but he only employed psychological realism, as it is also termed, in his late work. The version of psychological realism that Lee Strasberg popularized as the American Method is far more formal and in-depth than that of Stanislavski’s.
Given the visibility of method acting and the fact that there are alternatives, it is perhaps surprising that no other form of acting is commonly discussed. There are numerous alternatives (including Stanislavski’s earlier style) which are still in use today, but the humorous mental images conjured up by method preparation have surpassed other practices in terms of recognition. Another problem is that most actor training styles are intended to make it look effortless, as is the case with method acting. Finally and most importantly, it can be quite difficult to distill the work of an actor into a single method. There is a sharing of techniques and ideas that naturally occurs. One would have to look long and hard to find an actor who only ever used one technique.
Among those other widely used techniques is improvisational theater (or improv, as it is more commonly known), popularized by Chicago’s “Second City” troupe and present on Swarthmore’s campus in the form of Vertigo-go. Even as improv has become a viral source of entertainment through YouTube, the population often forgets that it is, in fact, a legitimate acting methodology. It is something that can be taught, follows rules, requires practice and can greatly enhance the work of those actors when they are scripted.
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