Acting Emotion: Perspectives from the Masters

Acting Emotion: Perspectives from the Masters.

A comparison of different approaches to emotional expression from well-known acting practitioners (2-Part Course).

Stanislavski said, “our artistic emotions are, at first, as shy as wild animals and they hide in the depths of our souls.” Michael Chekhov said, our bodies should be like a “sensitive membrane, a kind of receiver and conveyor of the subtlest images, feelings, emotions and will impulses.” And Meisner said we should be “living truthfully under imaginary circumstances.”

The approach to emotion by acting practitioners has been a source of division, unification, and even outrage.  Diderot claimed that “extreme sensitivity makes actors mediocre.” He believed actors should be completely devoid of emotion to be successful, moving the audience rather than experiencing the emotion themselves. Diderot’s paradox is still discussed today. Should we become a vessel for the emotion to pass through us? Do we need to feel the emotion to be truthful actors?

This 2-part course will explore a range of well-known acting practitioners to investigate what they believed (or believe) about emotion and how they approached it in their work. We will compare their work to see where they align and where they diverge.

Finally, we will discuss how this relates to your own practice, how you feel about these age-old questions, and consider how different approaches might be useful for different types of performer and performance.

Who is it for?

Any voice practitioner interested in acting approaches and how emotion connects to their work.

🏷️ Price £50 (UK VAT inclusive)
🎥 Recording automatically sent to all who book (even if you cannot attend live)
▶️ Rewatch as many times as you like
📜 Certificate of attendance available