The Nature of Acting: a State of a Performer’s ‘Inner Readiness

• Published in: International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology(IJACT) Vol. 12; no. 4; pp. 127 - 133
• Main Author: Bong-Hee Son
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 국제문화기술진흥원 31.12.2024
• Subjects: 과학기술학; The Nature of Acting; Active Awareness; Inner Readiness; Dynamic Unity; Preparation
• ISSN: 2288-7202; 2288-7318
• DOI: 10.17703/IJACT.2024.12.4.127

This thesis explores the practical meaning of a performer’s ‘inner readiness’ in reconsidering and articulating the nature of acting which underlies a performer’s preparatory process by means of his/her preparation to be on stage. To begin with, experiencing and inhabiting a performer’s inner vitality reminds us of the perception that obtaining active bodily awareness resonates sincerely listening and encountering his/her body through the moment. Consequently, the process in turn facilitates and empowers the performer’s body as to being present as an articulated integration. In contrast to such mimetic or representational acting and/or state centered on the performer’s intellectualization, it is in a state of psychophysical integration or that of balance initiated from his/her invisible dimensions. As the performer’s body is transformed or cultivated as oneness, the whole unity is defined and perceived as maintaining a sharpened sense which in turn leads the performer’s body towards a dynamic relationship, that is, being affected by someone/something concurrently responsive to others (someone/something) in the given circumstances. Here, we argue that in terms of the nature of acting, an appropriate psychophysical order or that of the balance should be taking place as the central value of whatever performer training since the key principles of acting with the demands of theatre highlights and requires both a performer’s receptive and responsive to everything on stage. Also, the research findings show that those theatre practitioners’ and/or directors’ concepts and approaches including Rosenfeld, Zarrilli, Dennis, and Cohen discussed through this thesis indicate not only the significance of exploring and utilizing self-realization but also the performer’s inner rhythm, the invisible, as a way to be fully participated in the moment. In addition, the qualitative bodily transformation from the invisible to visible allows the performer’s body to open new possibilities towards a state of sincerity or liveness on stage. Here, this thesis argues that a specific mode of empathy between a doer and the spectator is dependent on maintaining connection with the nature of acting/performer training, a dialogue of response and change.