Hello Readers,
Actors Gymnasium. What a wonderful concept in the world of theatre. Matilda Corral created it as a result of a promise she made to Juan Bautista La Salle (patron saint teachers) while studying (with yours truly) at the Actors Studio Drama School. The Actors Studio provides a safe haven for actors, playwrights and directors to develop and practice their craft. The Method allows the actor to create a character using their own experiences thereby living truthfully under imaginary circumstances.
At the Gimnasio de Actores, Matilda marries her training in the Method to the work of Jerzy Grotowski (The Poor Theatre) with a focus on the physical movement as part of the building of a character. She wrote a great article which I translated below that describes this process.
The truth of Susan Batson
Sobre su libro “Truth, personas, needs and flaws in the art of building actors and creating characters”
by Matilda Corral
Susan Batson, actress, coach of actors, director and lifetime member of the Actors Studio in 2006 wrote a workbook for professional actor named “TRUTH”. There looking cool the method developed by Lee Strasberg Theater Group both during his term as moderator at the Actors Studio;and drop technique of creating characters in a more accessible space for the actor. Seeking the three-dimensionality of the character, Susan defines three key elements: mask, unmet need and tragic mistake .Terms near the ” Poetics ” of Aristotle and the work developed by Carl Jung. Then the first character has a mask or a public person that is defined within a space of vulnerability. Create a mask to hide something that is unresolved, who hurt in childhood, a hidden pain. The character is not born at the time we see it on the screen or appears on the scene. Be conscious or not, personal obstacles, wounds that children suffer accompany us throughout life. Great performances moving behind thatmask , revealing intimacy occur when covering the true need unmetcharacter.
So that we can build a character that has more than one dimension, the plaintiff must meet the unmet need that is behind the public persona and the way to find it is analyzing this public person . You should see what is the public persona of the character and consider the opposite. What unmet create this public person? If we go to Nora in “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen , we could say that the mask of Nora is ” I am a good wife “and then we can infer that the unmet need is “I am free, I make my own decisions “ . These two elements are opposed. Being a good wife in the nineteenth century has nothing to do with their desire for freedom. The unmet need constantly pushes the character through the story, when nocan continue to be denied striking the public person and the true tragic mistake. This mistake is something that makes the person consciously and that is where their three-dimensionality emerges. The circumstances of the story are limiting the possibilities of decision of character, its continuous unmet need and weight of tragic mistake pushing the collapse of the public person . In the case of Nora, she lies and know that this is a tragic error: “lying”. Nora hides almonds, falsified the signature of his father and asks for a loan without the knowledge or permission of her husband. Nora is a liar because he lives in a society that does not allow him to satisfy his need to be free and to make their own decisions. In these climactic moments of the tragic error means a great danger to the character but also a great possibility of redemption, if the blockage is released unmet need consciously. That is, if the character realizes the mistake made becomes, if it does not mean his death. The circumstances of history push the character of the conflict to the crisis and reveal who that person really . Nora is a free woman at the end of the story, her mask breaks good wife and lies just. Nora: “Sit we need to talk”.
Whether it’s theater, film, television, the actor must understand that as we grow cover this need with our public persona as if we were someonewithout any need . This relationship between unmet need and the public person defines our personality. By using these three tools an actor can create any character; regardless of the style, theme or the time these will give three-dimensionality and a bow or transformation throughout history.If you wish to go deeper I recommend reading this interesting book, which also has other tools of consideration for the actor.
Matilda Corral is from Caracas, Venezuela. She is an actress, director and acting coach. She received her MFA in Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School, Major Performance. She founded the Actors Gymnasium in Caracas in 2005. Every year she invites teachers and members of the Actors Studio to teach Actors Workshop Professional Specialization. Among her most significant teachers include; Lisa Formosa, Jack Gelbert, Veronica Artigas, Santiago Sanchez, Bob Lavelle, Diana Peñalver, Sam Schacht, Stuart Vaughan and Elinor Renfield.
Resources:
Central University of Venezuela
Live, Love, Learn,