Acting comedy: In history, theory and practice [electronic resource]
說明
181 p
附註
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 64-03, Section: A, page: 0726
Chair: Sidney Homan
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Florida, 2002
The central project of this study is to develop a system of comedic acting that will specifically benefit the intermediate actor of contemporary comedy. It is an attempt to synthesize the subjective techniques of Lee Strasberg's Method approach to acting, with the objective conventions and technical requirements of comedy acting
Comedy presents special problems for the actor. Identifying those problems and offering solutions for overcoming them is the main purpose of this study. Central to my approach are what I have termed the five requirements for successful comedy acting: Reality, Intensity, Incongruity, Tension, and Technique. These requirements emerged out of research done mainly at the New York Library of the Performing Arts, on 2000 years of acting theory and criticism---from Aristotle to David Mamet, but also from the many productions that I have directed or performed in, in New York City over the last five years
In part-one of this study, I outline the history of comedic acting theory, citing the ideas and works of commentators and critics of comedic acting throughout the last two-thousand years. In part-two I synthesize the recurring themes and ideas about comedy acting that have been reiterated over the centuries with my own theories and practical techniques---developed out of twenty years of acting comedy. Part-three records the actual results of applying these five tenets: Reality, Intensity, Incongruity, Tension, and Technique, to actual productions of various comedies at the old Circle-in-the-Square (Downtown) in New York City
