THE ART OF THE THEATRE-THEATRE 100

“The Actors”

An “actor” implies someone who plays another character; a “performer” is more all-encompassing, covering people who perform in theatre pieces that defy convention” (Cucuzza, 2018). Acting is a complex and demanding task and to the audiences is a thrilling aspect of theatre. There are two different acting styles which include social and stage acting. Social acting is a little different from stage acting in that stage acting must have an audience for the performance to happen. Unlike social actors, the stage actors always play roles that of other people. One actor can represent many aspects of different people on stage. The stage is only required to know something little about other occupations. Unlike social actors, stage actors are aware that someone is watching them. There are many styles applied in acting, including gestures or body movements, use of music and presentational techniques, and use of costumes like masks. The ancient acting was similar in many ways, especially the use of costumes and presentation. A shift in acting styles occurred in the twentieth century where new acting styles were created. The actors’ process involves understanding the script and telling the story on stage (Cucuzza, 2018)

Kathakali dancers use a variety of performance styles. They use colorful and elaborate costumes as a symbol is status and character. The Kathakali performers use gestures incorporated with hand, facial and finger twitches along with dance. The dance seems very difficult to perform, and it requires many years of experience (Cucuzza, 2018). The performers must acquaint themselves with sign languages, as seen in the video. The performers move systematically while in the background, shirtless men beat some sticks on the hardwood. There is also the use of masks and facial paintings in Kathakali’s performance. Busta Rhymes, on the other hand, represent the modern way of acting. Some are borrowed from the past, but the stage and acting are a little different from the ancient performance. The faces of the actors are distorted. There is a lot of body movement and display of wealth in Busta Rhymes’s video. The use of costumes is incorporated in the video. The two performances are similar in many respects. The actors in both videos use gestures in their presentations. The two videos use facial expressions to deliver the message. The two performances are a work of many years of experience.

Works Cited

Cucuzza, Robert (2018). Introduction to Theatre 2nd edition. Great River Learning

“Grlcontent”. Grlcontent.Com, 2021, https://www.grlcontent.com/.

Kathakali Performance – Onam Video Greetings – Kerala, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl3UKV1z9lM

Busta Rhymes – Gimme Some More (Official Video) [Explicit]