ACTING AND ESSENCE Experiencing Essence, Presence and Archetype in the Acting Traditions of Stanislavski and Copeau ASHLEY WAIN DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2005 UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN SYDNEY ©Ashley Wai 2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to ack owledge my debt to the ma y people who ha,e co tributed this thesis a d the research o which it is based, particularly/ • Those pio eers who first formulated acti g as a serious artform a d spiritual e dea,our i moder Wester theatre. amely Sta isla,ski. 1ichael Chekho,. 1aria 2 ebel. Copeau. Grotowski a d Peter 3rook. a d those who keep this traditio ali,e. i cludi g Le, Dodi . Leco4 a d his artistic desce de ts a d ma y others. Also Sharo Car icke. 3ella 1erli . 6ea 3e edetti. Richard Tar as a d 6orge Ferrer. to whom my research owes a sig ifica t i tellectual debt. a d A.H. Almaas a d Sta isla, Grof. to whom I owe a i estimable i tellectual. spiritual a d perso al debt. To spe d time i the compa y of the writi gs a d practices of such fi e mi ds. a d such e7traordi ary souls. has bee o e of the true pleasures a d pri,ileges of u dertaki g this research. I hope that I here do 8ustice to the traditio s they represe t a d co tribute to the u foldi g life of those traditio s i positi,e ways. • The staff a d stude ts of the Victoria College of the Arts School of Drama. i cludi g Li dy Da,ies. Head of School. for gra ti g permissio for me to research at the school. a d especially Fio a 3attersby. 6oh 3olto a d the actors of Compa y 2005 for welcomi g my prese ce i their classes a d co tributi g to my research i a spirit of ope ess. frie dship a d ge erosity. Particular tha ks to 6oh 3olto . whose i ,itatio to me to obser,e his work was striki gly selfless. a d whose impeccability. i tegrity a d spirit ha,e deeply i flue ced my outlook. • The members of Theatre13. who accepted me i to their group to trai with Leo id Verzub a d offered ma y rich a d e 8oyable e7cha ges o the ature of our work with him. • Leo id Verzub. who was ,ery ge erous with his time. e ergy a d bou dless theatrical k owledge. Worki g with him has tra sformed my theatrical practice. The u dersta di g of the esse tial possibilities of the Sta isla,ski system I prese t i these pages would ot ha,e bee possible without e7perie ci g his passio ate tra smissio of the li,i g traditio of Sta isla,ski. • The staff a d stude ts of Social Ecology at the U i,ersity of Wester Sydney. who offered a e7traordi arily ope . challe gi g a d dy amic academic commu ity i which to work. 1y tha ks to Dr 6oh Camero . Professor Stuart Hill. Dr Catheri e Camde -Pratt for their e courageme t a d faith. a d for offeri g useful ad,ice a d feedback throughout this pro8ect. • The U i,ersity of Wester Sydney for awardi g me a scholarship for this research. • I especially ack owledge the co tributio of my super,isory pa el. Dr 1ary 1oo ey a d Dr 3re da Dobia offered detailed suggestio s o the thesis ma uscript. a d challe ged me to stre gthe my thi ki g a d argume t i a umber of areas. I am deeply grateful to my pri cipal super,isor. Dr Da,id Wright. for the four years of academic support a d guida ce he has gi,e . a d also for his ope ess to my u co ,e tio al ideas. his belief i the sig ifica ce of this work. his u sti ti g faith i my capacities a d his perso al support. • Rebecca 3ell. Adam Hy es. Sarah Nelso . Libby Sa dy. Cathy Sculli a d 2ate Shearma . who offered useful assista ce at ,arious stages of the practical work. • Elizabeth 3e ett. Prilla Guest. 3arry Lai g a d Gwe Thor to . who read early drafts of sectio s of the ma uscript a d offered useful comme ts. Adam Fi lay. 2ate Hairsi e. Carly Schre,er a d 6ulie Wai did likewise a d, alo g with 6ackso Castiglio e. A e Hairsi e. 1o ika 6a iak. Ros Lethbridge. 6a e Lo do . Hamish 1orga . Terry 1urray. Cecilia Reibl. A drea Rowe. Lara Tumak. ,arious i habita ts of the House o the Hill. the members of the Australia Diamo d Esse ce commu ity a d ma y other frie ds. offered much- eeded support a d e courageme t throughout this pro8ect. As did my belo,ed family. as always. • Da,id Latham. who first parted the ,eil to re,eal the possibilities this research e7plores. a d whose work a d frie dship ha,e had a immeasurable i flue ce o my perso al a d artistic life. • 6ea 3erwick. my teacher a d spiritual frie d, whose compassio . lo,e. clarity. patie ce a d se siti,e guida ce ha,e allowed me to e gage the research process at le,els that would ot otherwise ha,e bee possible. Fi ally. I wa t to offer a deep bow of gratitude. lo,e a d respect to the actors who were willi g to trai . create. perform a d e7perime t u der my guida ce as my co-researchers/ Sarah 6a e Chapma . Rebecca Howie. Guy 2able. 3ree Pickeri g. 6oel Sprake. Greg Szollosi a d Tamara Searle. Their courage. tale t. trust. tolera ce a d humour made this research e 8oyable. rewardi g a d mea i gful. I offer heartfelt gratitude especially to Tamara. who was more deeply i ,ol,ed i this pro8ect tha a yo e but myself. Her passio for my work. her steady faith i me a d her radia t e ergy were a precious support a d i spiratio throughout. STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICATION The work prese ted i this thesis is. to the best of my k owledge a d belief. origi al e7cept as ack owledged i the te7t. I hereby declare that I ha,e ot submitted this material. either i full or part. for a degree at this or a y other i stitutio . Sig ed _____________________________________ Date _____________ TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS ..........................................................................................IV ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................................................................V ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................VI A NOTE ON THE TEXT..................................................................................................................VII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: PRESENCE IN AND BEYOND THE THEATRE .................1 PERSONAL BACKGROUND.............................................................................................................. 1 PRESENCE AND ESSENCE ............................................................................................................. 12 THE RESEARCH QUESTION........................................................................................................... 15 OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS ........................................................................................................... 17 THE NATURE AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS THESIS........................................................................... 19 PART 1: BACKGROUND CHAPTER 2: PRESENCE, ESSENCE AND TRANSMISSION IN STANISLAVSKI’S SYSTEM ........................................................................................................................... 22 STANISLAVSKI AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIS SYSTEM ............................................................... 23 THE INSPIRATION OF SULER......................................................................................................... 29 “YOGI RAMACHARAKA”.............................................................................................................. 31 ‘I AM’, EXPERIENCING AND SUPERCONSCIOUS FEELING ................................................................ 36 MEDITATION AND HEART-TO-HEART TRANSMISSION IN THE SYSTEM ........................................... 39 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................. 42 CHAPTER 3: ACTING AND ESSENCE AFTER STANISLAVSKI .......................................... 45 THE STANISLAVSKI TRADITION ................................................................................................... 46 Michael Chekhov.................................................................................................................... 47 Maria Knebel, Lev Dodin and Active Analysis......................................................................... 50 Grotowski’s Journey from Theatre to Art as vehicle................................................................ 53 PETER BROOK AND THE SEARCH FOR QUALITY ............................................................................ 60 COPEAU, LECOQ, LATHAM AND THE NEUTRAL MASK................................................................... 64 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................. 71 PART 2: RESEARCHING ACTING AND ESSENCE CHAPTER 4: TRANSPERSONAL PARTICIPATORY EPISTEMOLOGY, ARCHETYPES AND ACTING AS A WAY OF KNOWING.................................................... 75 KNOWLEDGE AND RESEARCH IN ACTING ..................................................................................... 76 TRANSPERSONAL THEORY ........................................................................................................... 81 Transpersonal Psychology and the Epistemic Dilemmas of Modernity and Postmodernity....... 84 Self as Soul............................................................................................................................. 87 Neutrality and Vision-Logic.................................................................................................... 90 i Differentiating Basic and Ordinary Knowledge....................................................................... 94 THE ARCHETYPAL