Acting Near and Far
Darren Tunstall
d.tunstall@gsa.surrey.ac.ukUniversity of Surrey (United Kingdom)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8508-3321
Abstract
A key question for the success of a dramatic scene is where the actor’s attention is directed because this influences in turn the audience’s point of attention. The actor’s movement in space in a play is discussed in terms of the Construal Level Theory of Yacov and Liberman, in which events, including mental events like dreams and recollections, are construed by the mind in terms of near and far. An example is given of how near/far mode construal affected my rehearsal of a scene from a recent British play. It is further suggested that near/far mode construal applies not only to non-verbal behaviour such as proxemics but to speech itself. A core function of speech is referential displacement to enable prediction for action beyond the immediate present, an idea that may be linked to the Regret Prediction Theory of Frith and Metzinger. I suggest that near/far mode is exemplified in Stanislavski’s productions of the plays of Chekhov. To be a good psychologist is to be socially valued, it is proposed, and a skilful use of near/far mode distinctions in both movement and speech thus is seen as a reliable indicator of (an actor’s) intelligence.
Keywords:
attention, near/far mode, Construal Level Theory, referential displacement, Regret Prediction TheoryReferences
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Authors
Darren Tunstalld.tunstall@gsa.surrey.ac.uk
University of Surrey United Kingdom
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8508-3321
Darren Tunstall - PhD read English literature at Cambridge University and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and later with Philippe Gaulier, David Glass and Theatre de Complicite. He worked as an actor, director, movement director and scriptwriter for over twenty years, and he was heavily involved in the “physical theatre” movement of the 1990s. He turned to full-time teaching in 2007 and is now an Associate Professor and Programme Leader for MA Acting at Guildford School of Acting, University of Surrey, England.
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