An Acrobat of the Heart. A Physical Approach to Acting Inspired by the Work of Jerzy Grotowski

361 Pages·2000·1.79 MB·English

by  Stephen Wangh

Stephen Wangh
An Acrobat of the Heart
Stephen Wangh studied with Jerzy Grotowski in 1967. Since 1973 he has taught acting
in Europe, Boston, and New York, where he is currently Master Teacher at the
Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University. He is a playwright, lyricist, and
director, and has been Artistic Director of The New York Free Theater, Reality Theater,
and Present Stage. He was dramaturg for Moisés Kaufman’s Gross Indecency: The Three
Trials of Oscar Wilde, and was Associate Writer of the Tectonic Theater Company’s The
Laramie Project. His own plays include Class, Calamity! and Goin’ Downtown, as well as
numerous collaborative theater pieces.

For Suzanne
It would be disastrous for an acrobat to go off wool gathering just before he
performs a salto mortale or other neck-risking stunt!…He must jump, come
what may. This is exactly what an actor must do when he comes to the
culminating point of his part.
—CONSTANTIN STANISLAVSKI
When you perform a somersault in space which you are usually not able to do
because it seems impossible, you regain some trust in yourself…. It is not
knowing how to do things that is necessary, but not hesitating when faced with
a challenge.
—JERZY GROTOWSKI
The actor is an athlete of the heart.
—ANTONIN ARTAUD
Acknowledgments
This book owes the greatest debt to Jerzy Grotowski, whose teaching
inspired so much of my work. But it also owes much to many other
teachers—including Helen Houston, Martha Stodt, Alan Levitan, Omar
Shapli, Kristin Linklater, Alan Miller, and Linda Putnam—who taught me
what a bountiful act teaching can be. And it owes special thanks to Tom
Crawley, whose journal, The Stone in the Soup, provides a unique record
of Grotowski’s teaching work.
The writing was made possible by Una Chaudhuri, Chair of the
Undergraduate Department of Drama at the Tisch School of the Arts at
N.Y.U., and Kevin Kuhlke, Head of the Experimental Theatre Wing. Their
encouragement and support provided the time and supplied me with the
fortitude to finish this work. Thanks are also due to New York University
and the Tisch School of the Arts, whose Research Challenge Fund and
Senior Faculty Grants provided financial support.
For assistance with the research, I am indebted to Raïna Fernandez
von Waldenburg, who provided the main logistical, editorial, and moral
support for this project. Thanks also to those who read the manuscript
and whose insightful suggestions clarified the writing: Chris Rohmann,
Pamela Ricard, Jan Cohen-Cruz, Walton Wilson, Kristin Dombek,
Amanda Gronich, Beth Turner, and Daniel Banks. To Nanc Allen for her
administrative assistance, and to the students of the Experimental
Theatre Wing for their courage and dedication. To Moisés Kaufman for
his encouragement, and to Michael Earley of Methuen for his editorial
suggestions. Before and after all, I am grateful to my first reader and
loving accomplice, Suzanne Baxtresser, and to Noah Nuriel Alim
Baxtresser Wangh.
Contents
P
REFACE
I
NTRODUCTION
T R
O THE EADER
A A W -
N CTOR’S ARM UP
Asking Questions
Tuning Your Inner Strings
Finding Safe Space
The Stream-of-Consciousness Warm-up
A Balancing Act
Slow Motion
The Body Part Warm-up
Acting on Impulse
What Is an Actor’s Warm-up?
Work Clothes
L E C
ES XERCICES ORPORELS
The Spine
Undulations
Digesting the Work—The Hunker
The Cat
More Exercices Corporels
The Forward and Backward Rolls
The Headstands
The Backbends
Tiger Leaps
L E P
ES XERCICES LASTIQUES
Plastique Isolations
The Plastique River
Image? What Image?
Eye Focus
Touch
The Pushing Exercise
Image Walks
Sticking with Images
Working with Tension
The Container and the Kiss
Effort, Openness, and Imagery
Physical Acting and “Serious” Acting
Bad Acting
The “Just Stand” Exercises
Bodily Emotions
L
ISTENING
Paradoxes of Acting
I Feel
The First Crossing
The Second Crossing
Two-Person Plastique Rivers
Face Tracing
V W
OICE ORK
A Loss of Voice
Connecting the Voice and Body
Working with Sound in a Group
Receiving with the Voice
Consonants
“Yes-No” and Gibberish
S W
CENE ORK
Choosing a Scene
“Dropping-In” Plastiques
The Weapons Work
What about Objectives and Intentions?
Blocking and Stage Movement
The Dropping-In Crossing
Private Space
What about the “Prior Circumstances”?
Rehearsing on Your Own
How to Talk to Another Actor
Listening All the Time
Positive Feedback
The Eyes
Finding the Right Gesture
Plastiques with Real Objects
Working with Mistakes
Pauses
Details
Precision
The Improvisation and the Score
An Acrobat of the Heart
C W
HARACTER ORK
Why Bother?
What Is Character?
Character from the Body
Baseball (Three-Part Character)
Imitation
Character or Caricature
Anti-typecasting
Standing It
Dress-up
Characters Who Listen
Choosing Character Scenes
Character Word Jam: The Cinderella Exercise
“I Can’t Play You”
Autobiography
Rehearsing Character Scenes
Playing Comedy
There Is No Stanley Kowalski
Traduttore, Traditore
Field of Dreams
A , S , S
CTING ANITY AND URVIVAL
Self-Judgment and Stage Fright
Acting or Therapy?
A Stradivarius in the Rain
Is Acting a Spiritual Discipline?
Is Acting a Political Activity? or, What is Selling Out?
Acting in the Real World
How to Choose an Acting Teacher
A A G
FTERTHOUGHTS FROM NDRÉ REGORY