Method Acting
Performing arts has been enjoyed for centuries. There have been several theories, brought up, since the first appearance of this type of art. One of these theories involves acting and is referred to as simply "The Method."
The "Method Acting" is when an actor or actress uses personal experiences and emotions from these experiences to help them recreate the emotions that their character would have felt. You may ask, "Well, isn't that what most actors are trying to do? Or what you would imagine them trying to do, in order to portray their characters?" But Geraldine Page, who was a student and teacher of the Actors Studio, made a good point about this fact. She said that, "Method is what all actors do anyway, but people who study Method do it more consciously and deliberately." (Baisch) This is perhaps the aspect that differentiates the two types of actors.
This description, however, is only the real basis of the Method. This theory was based on the Stanislavski's principles. The Group Theatre and the Actors Studio developed the principles and turned it into the Method.
There are several names attached to the development of the Method, but the main person attached to it is Lee Strasberg, who was a teacher at the Actors Studio and a founder of the Group Theatre. In 1951, Lee Strasberg joined the Studio and was able to develop the Method more precisely, based on Stanislavsk's thoughts, which was to replace the European style into a more Russian style.
Strasberg's Method and Stanislavski's principles are similar, as the first is based on the second, but there are differences. Strasberg wanted to improve Stanislavski's thoughts and principles.
For Strasberg, there was four important points to emphasize. First, the actor should use his or her own personal experience and psychology. At times, this is referred to as personalization. Though Strasberg calls it substitution. Secondly, emphasize conscious control. The actors should be constantly aware and conscious of what he or she is doing on stage or in front of the camera.
Thirdly, simplicity of expression; the actor should keep his or her expression as simple as possible. At times, it is thought that, "as an actor becomes more poised and involved in performance, he [the actor] becomes less dependent on business and propsto help him express himself." (Baisch) And fourthly, there is the intensity of performance experience. The intensity of a performance demands a lot of preparation on the actors' part.
Those who have studied the Method have several things to keep in mind everytime he or she performs. There are quite a few, but here are a few: (1) Prepare for each performance; (2) Think onstage; (3) Be truly alive; and (4) Concentrate on objects.
1. Baisch, Jon Elwood. "The Method" in Creating Presence: A Theory of Performance in Acting, Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International, 1985 (1979), 96-129.
2. Blum, Richard A. "The Method and the Actors Studio: Experiments and Impact, 1940-1970's," in American Film Acting: The Stanislavski Heritage. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1984, 51-77.