Towards an Intracultural Actor Training

206 Pages·2016·3.86 MB·English

Towards an Intracultural Actor Training:

Utilising the cultural context of the performer

Kristine Landon-Smith

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of
the University of East London for the degree of Master of Philosophy

October 2016
ABSTRACT

This thesis offers an evolved methodology of practice that acknowledges and utilises
difference in performance, and offers a potential way forward for theatre practice. This
methodology is addressed primarily to directors and teachers in both training and professional
theatre environments, and therefore offers specific guidance on rehearsal room practice. In
2016, state funded theatres in the United Kingdom and Australia (the territories in which I
locate this thesis) are still largely monocultural, both in terms of the people on stage and the
people watching the work created. While there are theatres that serve varied communities and
engage with international and intracultural arts, there is still an imbalance whereby cultural
representations reflecting society’s diversity are not seen on a consistent basis. The pace of
change remains slow. Why is it that theatre has not yet moved beyond a homogenous world
view to presenting a world that more accurately reflects society’s heterogeneity?
I have developed a methodology for directors, teachers and actors that seeks to speak
back to these discriminatory practices by opposing the idea of ‘neutral’; in which actors’
differences are stripped away and “the assumption of a shared universality” (Bharucha, 2000:
35) is favoured. After all, the category of ‘neutral’ more often than not overlaps with the
identity of the cultural authority, and so is not in fact politically neutral.
The methodology described in this thesis offers a pathway to step beyond notions of
identity as “fixed” and instead engage with identity as something that is fluid and ever
changing. For individuality to flourish, teachers and directors need to develop an
understanding of how to embrace and play with difference on the rehearsal room floor and
move their focus away from a “one approach fits all” mentality. The methodology outlined in
this thesis offers teachers and directors the skills and freedom to work courageously with
multifarious personalities and diverse historical narratives as a rich resource in the realisation
of work for performance.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iii
LIST OF FIGURES v
LIST OF ACCOMPANYING MATERIAL vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Rationale 2
1.2 Practice as Research 7
1.3 Methodology of the Thesis 9
1.4 Roadmap 13
ENTER THE INTRACULTURAL 15
2.1 Introduction 16
2.2 Genesis of the project: Influence of Stanislavski 18
2.3 Towards an Intracultural Performance Practice 23
2.4 Thinking Intraculturally 27
2.5 The Intracultural Methodology in Brief 30
2.5.1 Setting the culture of the rehearsal room: An ethics of engagement 30
2.5.2 The actor as expert at the centre 32
2.5.3 A multilingual, multi-vernacular practice 34
2.6 Conclusion 38
METHODOLOGY 1: BEHIND AND IN FRONT OF THEIR MASKS 39
3.1 Introduction 40
3.2 Samson: An Intracultural Audition 43
3.2.1 Engaging Cultural Context 45
3.2.2 Multi-vocal Improvisation in Audition 49
3.3 Masterclass: Intracultural Theatre Practice in a Teaching Environment 51
3.3.1 Overcoming Barriers to Embracing Cultural Context 52
3.3.2 Multi-Lingual Improvisations 57
3.3.3 Building Bridges for Actors 62
3.4 Conclusion 67
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METHDOLOGY 2: STANDING STILL, BUT NOT STANDING STILL 69
4.1 Introduction 70
4.2 The Arrival 73
4.2.1 Games 76
4.2.2 The Readthrough & the Actor as Expert 82
4.2.3 Rehearsal Room Improvisations 84
4.2.4 Contesting the Centre 89
4.3 Conclusion 94
CONCLUSION: CONTESTING THE CENTRE 96
5.1 The Orphan of Zhao 97
5.2 Australia: Where are we now? 100
5.3 Both/and Modality 103
5.4 Praxis as Intervention 106

BIBLIOGRAPHY 110

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Production photograph from The Arrival (2013). p. 71
Figure 2 Charlie Foloronshu in The Arrival (2013). p. 75
Figure 3 Antoinette Akodulu in performance in The Arrival (2013). p. 81
Figure 4 Antoinette at a point in rehearsals for The Arrival (2013) where p. 92
she understands how to bring her Nigerian context to her work.

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LIST OF ACCOMPANYING MATERIAL

Appendix A Transcript of Focus Group: Intracultural Masterclass p. 123
Series, conducted 3 February 2013.
Appendix B Interview with actor Martina Laird, conducted 3 p. 149
February 2013.
Appendix C Written reflections on Intracultural Masterclass Series, p. 164
completed in 2013.
Appendix D Transcript of Focus Group: Intracultural Masterclass p. 172
Series, conducted 4 March 2014.
Appendix E DVD of clips from The Arrival rehearsal process (2013). p. 199
References to these clips are included in the body of the
thesis in bold text.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I can’t pretend that this document is a solo work. So many people assisted me on my journey
as I endeavoured to interrogate a practice that came instinctively when working with actors
on the rehearsal floor. The articulation of the interrogation has opened my eyes and deepened
my practice in a way that I could never have imagined. However, the exploration and the
writing of my enquiry were not easy. It was immensely difficult and required patience and a
break with regular rhythms in order to get deeply under the skin of the investigation. It was
frustrating and exhilarating in the same measure and I would not have succeeded if it were
not for the exceptional individuals who supported, encouraged and guided me in moments
where I had lapses of confidence and in moments where I needed direction in the
development of my argument.
Dr Dominic Hingorani has been an exemplary supervisor throughout this project:
patient and rigorous, and with the ability to make me feel that my practice-based research was
an important addition to working propositions in intracultural theatre practice. My second
supervisor Dr Ananda Breed was immensely supportive and at critical moments in my
journey prompted me with a range of rich and diverse sources that gave me inspiration and
hope.
My colleague Dr Chris Hay at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) has been
the rock I needed to complete the thesis: always there for me, sharing his breadth of
knowledge and instilling his own rigorous attention to detail in me. He was also my
completion cheer squad, helping me to get across the finish line with his gentle and non-
judgemental guidance. Dr Robin Dixon also at NIDA has been generous, and added his own
expertise to this long process. Oliver Burton and Eva Auster have responded tirelessly to
every small administrative request.
I would never have started this thesis without the push and interest from my close
colleagues Hannah Charlton, Sudha Bhuchar and Sita Brahmachari, who for many years have
insisted that I write down what I do. Others have shown interest along the way, and Dr
Melissa Agnew’s particular enthusiasm and collaboration was just what I needed as I entered
my final year of study. The students and actors I have worked with and who have contributed
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to this study deserve special thanks, as I could not have completed this without their
generosity and commitment.
As always my family have been incredibly supportive of this project: Colette, Marie-
Claire, Felix, Louis and Ishan have had a lot to put up with and I am in their debt for their
patience, encouragement, and good humour.

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Chapter One
INTRODUCTION

The thesis is that our identity is partly shaped by recognition or its absence, often by
the misrecognition of others, and so a person or group of people can suffer real
damage, real distortion, if the people or society around them mirror back to them a
confining or demeaning or contemptible picture of themselves. Non-recognition or
misrecognition can inflict harm, can be a form of oppression, imprisoning someone in
a false, distorted, and reduced mode of being.
(Taylor, 1994: 74)

1
1.1 Rationale

In 2016, state funded theatres in the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia (the territories in
which I locate this thesis) are still largely monocultural, both in terms of the people on stage
and the people watching the work created. While there are theatres that serve varied
communities and engage with international and intracultural arts,1 there is still an imbalance
whereby cultural representations reflecting society’s diversity are not seen on a consistent
basis. The Creative Diversity report, recently published by the Creative Industries Federation
in partnership with Music of Black Origin in the UK, suggests that only 6% of those working
in the performing arts are from black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds (2015: 1-8).
There is no similar report in Australia capturing recent statistics in this area, which is broadly
indicative that Australia lags behind the UK in incorporating performers and other creatives
of diverse backgrounds into the cultural industries.
The pace of change remains slow, despite the fact that the Arts in Australia is
incorporated into the official policy of Multiculturalism2. In the UK, there have been
numerous reports and initiatives – starting with Naseem Khan’s seminal report published in
1976, The Art Britain Ignores: The Arts of Ethnic Minorities in Britain – investigating racism
in theatre and advocating for both faithful representation and broader inclusion. Why is it that
theatre has not yet moved beyond a homogenous world view to present a world that more
accurately reflects society’s heterogeneity? To address this challenge, this thesis offers an
evolved methodology of practice that understands how to acknowledge and utilise difference
in performance, and offers a potential way forward for theatre practice. This methodology is
addressed primarily to directors and teachers in both training and professional theatre
environments, and therefore offers specific guidance on rehearsal room practice.
The focus on training is key, as many actors first experience the erasure of their
cultural context during the course of their creative training. Making adjustments to training
practice will therefore affect future professional practice. Joyce E. King speaks of racism in
the context of higher education, and names this form of discrimination as ‘dysconscious’:

1 The term “intracultural” is explored in more detail later in this thesis and refers to the mélange of cultures
within a nation state.
2 Multiculturalism became official policy in Australia with the Whitlam government in the 1970s. This followed
the policy era of the White Australia Policy. The journey to multiculturalism is documented in Culture,
Difference and the Arts (1994), edited by Sneja Gunew and Fazal Rizvi.
2