Acting

Acting, the representation of a character on stage, in a motion picture, or in a television production. Acting is a formalization of play. Its symbol-making process predates writing and is thought to be a universal cultural phenomenon. Most societies have designated special times and places where make-believe activities are presented before spectators. The performers who entertain the audience by transforming themselves into human, animal, or divine characters are called actors.

The impulse to act appears to be instinctive in humans. It is related to the natural development of the imagination and of social skills in children. Mimicry, disguise, imitation, fantasy, and transformation are the sources of most play activity and complex games. Learning to pretend and mastering different roles allow children to find their place in the family and among their peers.
QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING
Each theatrical tradition has its own rules and conventions as to what constitutes good acting. Essentially, an actor’s talents are judged by his or her ability to effectively communicate dialogue and a sense of character to the spectator. This is normally accomplished through voice, movement, and the registration of emotion. But other artistic qualities-often difficult to describe or define-such as charm, depth of feeling, originality, plausibility, and physical attractiveness also affect the audience’s judgment.

Acting is a complex art. The professional actor’s mastery of voice projection, elocution (speaking style), diction (clarity of pronunciation), gesture, stage movement, and other abilities is only the first component of the craft. Other basic skills include the memorization of lines and cueing; manipulation of masks, costumes, and stage properties; and the embodiment of character through the expression of class status, gender, age, nationality, and temperament. Learning these skills generally takes several years. For traditional forms of Asian theater, training is often arduous. Most forms of Indian dance-drama, for example, require dedicated study beginning in early childhood to master a complex, stylized system of gestures, movements, and facial expressions.

In theater productions the actor speaks and moves in the imaginary environment of the stage, and so his or her powers of pretense must be sharply focused over an extended period of time or the entire dramatic atmosphere may collapse. Achieving a believable transformation into the character and entry into the play’s circumstances requires a constant stream of inspiration from the actor’s psyche. In many cultures, this ability to awaken the creative centers of the brain and achieve vibrant expression is the foundation of great acting. Only when the performer is properly stimulated internally can the spectator also be stirred deeply and propelled into the moment-by-moment reality of the play.
The controlled production of emotions is the actor’s special creative problem. Other artists-such as painters, sculptors, composers, or novelists-are not expected to complete a new masterpiece every night, or even every year; yet the working stage actor must perform creatively on command at an announced time and place before a live audience. Or put another way, the performing artist is forced to inhabit a character even when he or she may feel no special inspiration or artistic impulse. And since theater performances are normally repeated over several evenings or months, actors, even when successful one night, must constantly replenish, or reinspire, themselves artistically. The performer’s fear of losing certain psychic and physical energies-or growing stale in a role-has been articulated since the 1st century ad. The need to overcome this obstacle differentiates actor training from all other forms of artistic study.