The Actor's Approach to the Dramatic Text in Stanislavski's Physical Actions Method

Abstract

In many cases, identifying the meaning of a dramatic text is an obstacle. Indeed, for many actors –particularly students– it is a challenge to analyze the characters’ dialogues. Performance methods tend to aggravate the situation, since, in general, they do not provide tools to analyze plays. In fact, in a previous work (Zucchi, 2017a), it was shown that the first version of Stanislavski's method doesn't provide a productive approach to dramatic pieces. In the same line of research, this article examines how the method of physical actions establishes the way the performer must interact with the text. Specifically, assumptions related to the notions of meaning, language and text comprehension are analyzed in El trabajo del actor sobre su papel (1980). The paper proves that this pedagogical proposal does not provide a scaffolding that enables an effective interpretation of theatrical plays. Regarding the theoretical perspective, this article uses as framework the dialogic approach to argumentation and polyphony (Caldiz, 2019; García Negroni, 2018; Pernuzzi, 2022).