By David Thomson

Does performing topic? David Thomson, considered one of our most precious and insightful writers on video clips and theater, solutions this query with intelligence and wit. during this clean and thought-provoking essay, Thomson tackles this so much elusive of topics, studying the attract of the acting arts for either the artist and the viewers member whereas addressing the paradoxes inherent in appearing itself. He displays at the casting approach, on degree as opposed to movie performing, and at the cult of megastar. The paintings and massive craft of such proficient artists as Meryl Streep, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Daniel Day-Lewis, and others are scrupulously appraised the following, as are notions of "good" and "bad" acting.

Thomson's exploration is right away a meditation on and a party of a distinct and lots more and plenty loved, frequently misunderstood, and infrequently derided artwork shape.

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Extra info for Why Acting Matters (Why X Matters)

Sample text

Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, said, “People in America, they’re getting dumber, they’re getting less and less able to analyze something and think critically, and pick apart the underlying elements. ” This same sentiment was paralleled by the great philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, who said that philosophical illnesses usually stem from dietary insufficiency. A diet of only one philosophy, religion, or way of looking at the world leads to philosophical illness and a limited view of the world.

You can watch a movie again and again and it is always the same. This is not so in the theatre, because no two performances are ever exactly the same. No two Hamlets ever ask the question “To be, or not to be . ” in precisely the same way. So, if you go to the theatre on Monday night and tell a friend that you loved the performance, and your friend goes to the same show on Tuesday night and says that he hated it, you both may be right because the two of you did not see the same exact performance or see it with the same audience.

Chapter 1 Theatre, Art, and Entertainment | 15 and an audience. Story, characters, spectacle, costumes, lights, script, and sets are all unnecessary. They may improve the theatrical experience, but they are optional. As such, many events can qualify as a kind of theatre: weddings, award banquets, football games, political rallies, church services, or even a supermodel walking down a runway. Any time people get together with the common purpose of throwing the focus on a particular person, we have a theatrical event.

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