The Acting Blog

Hi Mark, thanks for sharing these resources. Reading the article on Backstage on script analysis I was struck by how different the starting point of Practical Aesthetics is for script analysis, from the other three approaches included in the article. Practical Aesthetics seems to approach script analysis from the top down, starting with the big questions: what is the character literally doing? what does s/he want from the other character? what is the essential action? By contrast, the other three approaches all seem to advise starting script analysis from the bottom up, looking at the detail of the text: ‘notice their relative lengths, rhythms, pauses, cadences, and punctuation’ (HB Studio); ‘go through every word and every bit of punctuation’ (Ellen Gerstein); ‘go through the script with a fine-tooth comb’ (Edgemar Center). Personally, I think starting with the big questions makes the process of script analysis more efficient, as you said in your previous blog post it makes actors less likely to miss the wood for the trees. Thanks again for sharing the link for the article and for the other resources, lots of food for thought.

read the link on script analysis.
i especially found Peter Arcese, HB Studio, New York, very useful. the others seem im-practical… or am i just lazy?

best
chris

Really useful commentary Alexa thanks.

Hey Chris, it’s a bit of a stacked deck, the first person is dealing with the tools that I teach, to me, the rest of anti-practical, or impracticable. The Peter Arcese one seems reasonable, until you question whether that concentration on the minutiae is the best way to approach acting. I’m all in favour of detail, but detail before you understand anything seems like looking for a needle in a haystack BEFORE you’ve worked out that you’re looking for a needle!

Thanks for sharing. I very much enjoy reading your blog