Physicality and Psychology

Well these two components of acting really are like two peas in a pod. The psycho-physical continuum really is a powerful level of understanding. I had read about their connectivity last semester while I was studying Stanislavsky and believed it as truth, but it was not nearly so clear as it is at the present. This class has stressed the paring in each assignment we've been given. The fist assignment of comedia really forced us to understand the psyche of the character. If we didn't, the incredibly difficult and unique physical component of each character looked either half-assed or, in the very least, forced. This was nice because it was a beginner's insight into the necessary connection. It was also good to have it understood that early so that the more subtle realism could utilize the idea. Within realism, the drive to understand the psyche of the character led to breakthroughs in the motivations for the character. Any physical action in realism without a motivation looks, well, unreal. Which is the opposite of what we wanted. The next assignment, clowning, was wonderful blending of the previous two. It was still a comedic physical piece but not so cartoony and haphazard as comedia becasue of its incredibly detailed set of actions which pulls in the importance of motivations we encountered in realism. In the end, the hammering in of the connection has produced a reliable and stable method for characterization. To understand the physical side of your character you must know where thier head is at and in order to discover the psyche of the character one must pulls clues from the physical actions of the character throughout the piece. One feeds the other in a escelating spiral of creativity. It's pretty neat. When understanding this principle, the task of characterization does not seem so monumental. I have learned and enjoyed.