Acting is the act or art of performing an assumed or a dramatic part in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium where an enactment is undertaken.
Animal impersonation is possibly the earliest form of acting, as primitive tribesmen or their shamans disguised themselves as animal divinities to ensure successful hunts, evoke fertility demons or propitiate malign influences.
The great period of Roman playwriting began in the second century BC and was dominated by the comedies of Plautus and Terence, which were adapted from Greek New Comedy. The plays generally involve domestic intrigue. Although the plays read much like contemporary comedies, in production one-third to two-thirds of the lines may have been sung.
The Emperor Nero won seven Olympic titles in total, including one for acting, probably by bribing the judges.
By the second century AD Roman literary theater had declined in popularity and was replaced by spectacle and popular entertainment. In Rome acting was felt to be the work of slaves and aliens.
With the fall of the Roman Empire in AD 476, classical theater came to an end. It had virtually ended by the 6th century.
Theater in the form of liturgical drama was reborn in Europe in the Roman Catholic church. As the church sought to extend its influence, it often adopted pagan and folk festivals, many of which had theatrical elements. By the 10th century the various church services provided possibilities for dramatic presentation; indeed, the Mass itself is not unlike a drama.
Queen Elizabeth I of England delighted in watching plays and masques and protected the acting profession. During playwrights like William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe flourished.
Men and boys originally acted all of the roles in Shakespeare's plays. In England at that time, it wasn't proper for females to appear on stage.
In 1642 civil war erupted, and Parliament, under the influence of the Puritans, closed the theaters until 1660.
When production resumed after the Restoration women were allowed on the English stage for the first time since the Middle Ages. The first actress that appeared on a public stage in Britain is thought to be either Anne Marshall or Margaret Hughes appeared as Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello at the Vere Street Theatre, London in December 1660.
When Henry Irving was knighted on May 24, 1895, it was the first time an actor has received such an honor. The act marked the beginning of the social assimilation of the acting profession in the United Kingdom. Before Irving's knighthood, actors were often seen as being of lower social status. They were often paid poorly and were not given the same respect as other professionals. Irving's knighthood helped to change this perception and to raise the status of the acting profession.
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| Pixiebay |
Animal impersonation is possibly the earliest form of acting, as primitive tribesmen or their shamans disguised themselves as animal divinities to ensure successful hunts, evoke fertility demons or propitiate malign influences.
The great period of Roman playwriting began in the second century BC and was dominated by the comedies of Plautus and Terence, which were adapted from Greek New Comedy. The plays generally involve domestic intrigue. Although the plays read much like contemporary comedies, in production one-third to two-thirds of the lines may have been sung.
The Emperor Nero won seven Olympic titles in total, including one for acting, probably by bribing the judges.
By the second century AD Roman literary theater had declined in popularity and was replaced by spectacle and popular entertainment. In Rome acting was felt to be the work of slaves and aliens.
With the fall of the Roman Empire in AD 476, classical theater came to an end. It had virtually ended by the 6th century.
Theater in the form of liturgical drama was reborn in Europe in the Roman Catholic church. As the church sought to extend its influence, it often adopted pagan and folk festivals, many of which had theatrical elements. By the 10th century the various church services provided possibilities for dramatic presentation; indeed, the Mass itself is not unlike a drama.
Queen Elizabeth I of England delighted in watching plays and masques and protected the acting profession. During playwrights like William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe flourished.
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| imagined reconstruction of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, being performed in an Elizabethan theatre |
Men and boys originally acted all of the roles in Shakespeare's plays. In England at that time, it wasn't proper for females to appear on stage.
In 1642 civil war erupted, and Parliament, under the influence of the Puritans, closed the theaters until 1660.
When production resumed after the Restoration women were allowed on the English stage for the first time since the Middle Ages. The first actress that appeared on a public stage in Britain is thought to be either Anne Marshall or Margaret Hughes appeared as Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello at the Vere Street Theatre, London in December 1660.
When Henry Irving was knighted on May 24, 1895, it was the first time an actor has received such an honor. The act marked the beginning of the social assimilation of the acting profession in the United Kingdom. Before Irving's knighthood, actors were often seen as being of lower social status. They were often paid poorly and were not given the same respect as other professionals. Irving's knighthood helped to change this perception and to raise the status of the acting profession.
In 1898 Russian actor, director, and teacher of acting Konstantin Stanislavsky co-founded the Moscow Art Theatre. He introduced there a new style of acting based on 'inner truth' and naturalism, which was complemented by realistic scenery and costumes.
When Stanislavski brought his Moscow Art Theatre to the United States in 1923 it was to be a life changing experience for a Polish-American called Lee Strasberg. He built on Stanislavski's system to develop The Method, a range of training and rehearsal techniques that seeks to encourage sincere and emotionally expressive performances known as method acting.
Stanislavsky's system inspired numerous acting teachers in America. In 1944 Marlon Brando enrolled in Erwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop at New York's New School, and was mentored by Stella Adler, a member of a famous Yiddish Theatre acting family. Adler helped introduce to the New York stage the "emotional memory" technique of Stanislavsky.
In 1951 Lee Strasberg becomes the artistic director of the Actors Studio in New York and it becomes the leading exponent of the Method. It was this period of 1951-54 that revolutionised American acting, spawning such imitators as James Dean, who modelled his acting and even his lifestyle on his hero Brando, the young Paul Newman, and Steve McQueen.
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| James Dean in East of Eden |
George W Bush is the first U.S. President to receive an acting nomination and then subsequently the win, from the Razzie Awards. He was nominated for and won Worst Actor in the 2004 movie Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004). Though technically he was not acting in the film, merely playing himself via archive footage.
Macbeth is referred to as the "Scottish play" by those in the acting profession as to mention it by name traditionally brings misfortune upon any production of it.
Source Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia
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