Tutorial with Paula 13/03/2017

Yesterday I had an enlightening tutorial with Paula focusing specifically on the literature aspects of my inquiry. This is an aspect of Module 3 of which I have found challenging and time consuming particularly when sourcing academic writings.

Paula and I established that the literature I had sourced to date is 'informative'; for example, my first  review is on a piece of literature called 'Ambidextrous Acting'. It is an article reviewing interviews of professional performers balancing a career between Musical Theatre and acting. We discussed how although this type of literature is relevant to my inquiry and valuable in terms of perception and advice; I will be required to explore 'critique' based literature in order to theorize the craft of Acting in both mediums'.  I will focus on similarities and difference in character development.

I am finding that my research questions and topics are still evolving and becoming more specific through conversations with professionals, interviews with my participants and information I have discovered so for in my literature.
Listening, for example is a transdisiplinary skill vital for the craft performing in all mediums. In plays we listen to others on stage, however in Musical Theatre productions and on set, there are other variables to consider. I plan to use summon to investigate this further.
'Writing' is also an essential aspect of performance and perhaps where differences occur in regards to creating and developing character. Characters on TV are 'less defined'. An example of this would be, a character in a long running soap may not know the ins and outs of their characters back story leaving a window for later story lines to develop. This differs from characters on stage as there is a beginning and an end to the play/musical therefore actors/actresses often explore the character they are playing and the other characters involved in a lot more depth using techniques from practitioners such as 'Uta Hagen' and 'Stanislavski'.
I look forward to delving into these topics in more detail over the coming week.

Any comments would be appreciated.
 Laura Gregory



References:

"Ambidextrous Acting: Moving Between Musicals And Plays". Backstage.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

 Hagen, Uta and Haskel Frankel. Respect For Acting. 1st ed. New York: Macmillan, 1973. Print.