Social Psychology Of Acting Research Paper

Theatre, Anthropology of Performance, Social Psychology, and Education

Since I was young I have always aspired to become one thing in life: an actress. Whenever I would admit this to an inquiring adult the question that always followed was: “what kind of actress?” to which I would respond rather confusedly that I just wanted to be any type of actress, really— one that acts on Broadway or in movies. As I have grown older and evolved I have realized that this aspiration of mine has naturally begun to shift. I no longer wanted to act just to act; in fact, I do not believe anyone wants to act only for the sake of acting— at least I hope that is not the case. Personally, I view the arts (both performing and visual) as highly effective in promoting …show more content…
However, the renowned Sanford Meisner offers, rather eloquently, a definition to which I agree with: “[acting] is living truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” Through my studies I have discovered that in order to be a good actor one must read, translate and further transform the text into actions driven by emotional states of being. Acting takes patience and vulnerability, that is, to turn inward and discover and accept the truth of one’s own human experience, emotions and psyche. The theatre provides the space and opportunity for actor’s to do this. The theatre allows audiences to gaze upon, and ensemble members to dive deep inside, the human psyche and the core of human self-expression (in an individual and collective sense) under the notion that it is a performance. I find that theatre is the perfect medium for playwrights, actors and audience members alike to exercise— a sometimes-covert fashion— one’s individual frustrations about their social, political or economic condition within …show more content…
the study social interactions and their effect upon the individual in relation to society). In order to fully understand what it means to act and to do so well one needs to truly understand the human brain, quite literally, as it relates to others within society. The two fields— acting and social psychology— go hand-in-hand as they both aid in a better understanding of each other. Having come to Bennington with this already in mind, I enrolled in acting courses and will continue to do so as it creatively challenges my own thoughts about human emotions, relations and actions. For instance, my first year I enrolled in History of Theatre (Kathleen Dimmick), The Actor’s Instrument (Jenny Rohn), and Five Approaches to Acting (Kirk Jackson). Currently, I am enrolled in Dina Janis’ course An Actor’s Technique: Nuts & Bolts and the second part of Kathleen’s History of Theatre course. I feel that enrolling in only performance-based acting courses only will limit me; thus as I continue on my academic career I hope to partake in courses such as Directing I & Directing II that will allow me to immerse myself in the behind-the-scenes work of the theatre. With that said, I want to reiterate that I aim to approach acting in a theoretical sense— I want to further study the anthropology of performance. The most effective way I am able to do so is through taking acting courses where I have