The Art of Acting: Part III. The Actor as Phenomenon

Abstract

We have now reached the difficult point and must turn to the unpleasant truths. I regret it, but there is no other way if we want to exhaust our subject. I shall do it as painlessly as possible—without anesthesia. In the preceding chapter we followed the development of several important points in the theory of acting and reviewed the theorists’ artistic demands upon the actor. Finally, we arrive at the actor himself as a type, as a person. The length and purpose of this book do not permit us to occupy ourselves with all the great names, the celebrities, the unforgettable enchanters from the past and the present, so notable and so different. There is only room to mention isolated, selected examples out of which one—as elsewhere in the book—must represent many. It is reassuring to know that certain fundamental traits are alike and common to the majority of the great, leading scenic artists.