Movement plays large role in performance
If I were asked to name the No. 1 problem that sabotages talented local actors, I’d say poor movement. Too often I’ll see, for example, a character knowing he’s about to be shot, and yet walking with the carefree attitude of a man heading off to a golf game.
Ah, but help is near. University of Nevada, Las Vegas theater professor Michael Lugering has just published an easy-to-follow book with an intimidating title: "The Expressive Actor: Integrated, Voice, Movement and Acting Training."
There are many valuable how-to exercises (I wish the edition came with a DVD), but what I found most absorbing was Lugering’s explanations of the role movement plays in performance. He points out that our body parts instinctively communicate attitudes when we speak, but on the stage the movements are not necessarily instinctive. They have to be mastered. And the actor must figure out expressions in movement that serve the character, rather than merely repeating the mannerisms that have become a part of his private life. This is important stuff because I’d say 80 percent of the actors I see (even the good ones) act from the neck up. I suspect some might want to avoid the book because movement doesn’t sound like fiery material. But Lugering writes with passion, and his love of the subject is infectious.
He concludes with a paragraph that crystallizes why I am hooked on theater: "When the actor’s expression finds pure form, its impact has a consistent and universal appeal. All in the audience observe with clarity and complete human understanding the same, unselfish, archetypal. We see feeling with a greater precision than ever possible in the context of daily living." …
And speaking of UNLV, there is a recent theater grad who is set to star in January in a big Broadway hit musical. But I’ve been asked to wait till the contracts are all signed before I mention her name. Hint: For the past three years, she’s been playing many major roles at UNLV and wowed us with her booming voice. …
Fans of the College of Southern Nevada’s recent production of "Gum" and "The Mother of Modern Censorship" — about the painfully subservient role of women in an unnamed Middle Eastern country — got to chat at a free seminar with Andrew McKinnon, an artistic director who has spent considerable time working in Egypt. He noted that most dramatic literature in Islamic countries consists of the classics. Few plays explore modern situations.
Anthony Del Valle can be reached at DelValle@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.