University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2006 The Laramie Project: The Search For A Personal Acting Method Via The Principles Of Constantin Stanislavksi Matthew Hamner University of Central Florida Part of the Acting Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Hamner, Matthew, "The Laramie Project: The Search For A Personal Acting Method Via The Principles Of Constantin Stanislavksi" (2006). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 740. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/740 THELARAMIEPROJECT:THESEARCHFORAPERSONALACTINGMETHODVIA THEPRINCIPLESOFCONSTANTINSTANISLAVKSI by MATTHEWV.HAMNER B.F.A.AuburnUniversity,1993 Athesissubmittedinpartialfulfillmentoftherequirements forthedegreeofMasterofFineArts intheDepartmentofTheatre intheCollegeofArtsandSciences attheUniversityofCentralFlorida Orlando,Florida SpringTerm 2006 ©2006MatthewV.Hamner ii ABSTRACT ConstantinStanislavskidevelopedamethodforactorsinbringingtolife charactersforthestage.EventhoughStanislavskidevelopedhistheoriesinresponse tothestageclimateofthelatenineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturies,manyofhis ideasremainrelevanttoday.Inthisstudy,partsofhissystemwereappliedtotheroles performedinMoisésKaufman’sTheLaramieProject .ThoseroleswereMoisés Kaufman,JonasSlonaker,DougLaws,Anonymous,DetectiveRobDebree,Governor JimGeringer,ReverendFredPhelpsandDennisShepard.Thepurposeofthis explorationwastocreateunique,believablecharactersanddevelopsolutionsfor personalactingproblems.Throughthisstudy,itwasconcludedthatthismethod empoweredmeasIsoughtwaystopersonalizewiththerealityofthecharacters. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Iwouldliketothankthefollowingpeoplefortheirhelpwiththisproject:Belinda Boyd,MarkBrotherton,JimBrown,CharlotteV.Hamner,LetitiaVaughanandthecast andcrewofTheLaramieProject . iv TABLEOFCONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv TABLEOFCONTENTS ..................................................................................................v CHAPTERONE:INTRODUCTION ................................................................................1 CHAPTERTWO:CULTURALANALYSIS......................................................................3 CHAPTERTHREE:STRUCTURALANALYSIS.............................................................8 CHAPTERFOUR:CHARACTERANALYSIS...............................................................15 GivenCircumstances.................................................................................................16 PastPresentFuture...................................................................................................16 TheMagicIf ...............................................................................................................17 Actions .......................................................................................................................18 Objectives ..................................................................................................................19 TheCharacters ..........................................................................................................20 CHAPTERFIVE:REHEARSAL....................................................................................43 PlasticityofMotion.....................................................................................................43 Communion................................................................................................................44 Improvisation..............................................................................................................45 AppraisaloftheFacts ................................................................................................47 PhysicalCharacterization...........................................................................................48 Subtext.......................................................................................................................48 Adaptation..................................................................................................................49 v ActionsandObjectives ..............................................................................................50 Director’sConcept .....................................................................................................50 TheWarm-Up ............................................................................................................52 CharacterRehearsals ................................................................................................54 TechnicalRehearsals ................................................................................................70 CHAPTERSIX:PERFORMANCE................................................................................71 CHAPTERSEVEN:CONCLUSION .............................................................................74 LISTOFREFERENCES................................................................................................78 vi CHAPTERONE:INTRODUCTION TheideasofConstantinStanislavskihavelongbeenaresourcefortheactorin thecreationofacharacter.Histheorieshaveinfluencedactingtechniqueeversince theyappearedintheearlypartofthetwentiethcentury.Priortothisperiod,therewas nocomprehensiveformulaforthiscreativeeventexceptforthecharacterpositions popularizedbytheFrenchtheatretheorist,FrancoisDelsarte.Underhisscheme, specificemotionswereconveyedwithcalculatedgestures.Eventhoughthismethod wasdevelopedthroughtheobservationofpeoplegoingthroughdailyroutines,itdidnot allowtheactortofullyidentifywithhischaracter.Onthewhole,actinginthenineteenth centuryremainedanimitativepractice. Withtheadventofsocialscienceanditsartisticneighbor,realism,thesearchfor verisimilitudeonthestagecommenced.Influencedbythesemovements,Stanislavski beganhisstudyofhumannatureandthewaysofrecreatingitforthestage.Inthe beginningofhisstudies,C.S.imaginedhimselfintheworldoftheplay.Hebelieved thata“daydream”wouldstimulatehissensesandthisinturnwouldhelphimfeelthe lifeofthecharacters.Includedinthisvisualanalysiswerecharacterinteractions. However,hesoondiscoveredthatthebestwaytocreatewastobegintheprocedureon thestage.Thismethodrequiredhimtorelatewithotheractorsthroughpsychologically motivatedbehavior.Inotherwords,theactordidnotfullyknowthecharacteruntilhe feltitthroughapsychologicalandphysicalreality. Inorderforthiswayofcreationtofunctionatanideallevel,C.S.espoused severalconditions.Onedemandwasthattheactor’sbodyandvoicebeflexible.The 1 othernecessitywasthattheactor’simaginationbewell-developed.Anotherrequisite wasthattheactorappreciatethesocialconditionsoflife.Still,anotherstipulationwas thattheactorknowhowtoanalyzetheplayinordertouncoverthecharacter’smotives andcorrespondingactions.C.S.communicatedthosethoughtsthroughavarietyof books.TheprimaryoneswereAnActorPrepares ,BuildingaCharacter andCreatinga Role . UsingthesebooksasaguidealongwithAnActor’sHandbook ,Iparticipatedin theactingprocess.Throughthisartisticventure,Iwantedtoaccomplishtwogoals. Oneintentionwastocreateuniqueandbelievablecharacters.Theotherdesirewasto discoverwhataidedmybeliefinthe“actingmoment.”Theseobjectiveswillserveme wellasIpursuecareersinboththeprofessionalfieldsofactingandtheatreinstruction. Stanislavski’sideaswereappliedthroughtheanalyses,rehearsalsand performancesofMoisésKaufman’sTheLaramieProject .Thedetailsofthose experiencesarereportedinthispaper.InChapterOne,Ianalyzethecultural influencesoftheplay.InChapterTwo,Iexaminethestructuralelementsoftheplay.In ChapterThree,Idefineeachcharacter.ThecharactersareMoisésKaufman,Jonas Slonaker,DougLaws,Anonymous,GovernorJimGeringer,RobDebree,Reverend FredPhelpsandDennisShepard.InChapterFour,Idescribetherehearsalprocess. InChapterFive,Irecountwhatoccurredduringtheperformances.InChapterSix,I explainwhatIlearnedaboutacting. 2 CHAPTERTWO:CULTURALANALYSIS Culturegivespeoplestrength;itprovidesaplatformforcollectiveexperiences.It playsanundeniableroleinshapinganindividual’sattitudes,actionsandfeelings. Stanislavskiaffirmedtheimportanceofculturalanalysiswhenhesaid,“The circumstanceswhichmakeupawayoflife[foracharacter]mustbestudiednotonlyin theactualtextbutalsoinavarietyofcommentaries,piecesofliterature,historical writingsconcerningtheperiod,andsoforth”(CreatingaRole 17).Forcertain,his methodrequiresthattheactorstudythesocietyinwhichthecharacterresides. TheLaramieProject issetinWyoming.Accordingtothebook,Wyoming ,this stateremainedunsettledformanyyearsduetotheweather,themountainsandthe NativeAmericans.However,theabundanceoffleeceanimalsbroughtfurtraderstothe area.Theseearlysettlerswerecalledmountainmennotonlybecauseoftheterrainin whichtheylivedbutalsobecauseoftheirabilitytosurvivehazardousconditions.These ruggedindividualsdidwithoutdecentfoodwhentheweatherturnedbad.Atypical menuduringtheseclimaticchangesconsistedofdog,horsebloodandinsects.Onlyan individualwithastrongmindandastrongdispositioncouldsubsistinthesehazardous circumstances(Larson9-11).