Exorcise

What is acting? Merriam-Webster defines acting as: The art or practice of representing a character on a stage or before cameras. I, after months in a serious theater class, have come under the intention that acting is something much more mystical. Cliché, no? I will now attempt to break down my concept of acting for you all here and now.

When a person sets out to act, he or she has more than a character in mind. Obviously, from the outside, the person is merely emulating another figure for the audience. The actor, I believe, is more deeply relaying truth to the receptive audience. Each actor has a message that he or she wishes to deliver to the public, and in order to deliver this message each respective actor must become more than just a character: He or she must become an ideal. The point of acting, in my opinion, is to actively personify an idea in an effort to make this idea more accessible for the ignorant masses. A person can either become this idea solely by his- or herself, or this person can work with a whole cast of fellow actors who each contribute to the concept as a whole.

Obviously, not ever actor has personification in mind when he or she takes a job or chooses to take a particular role. Many actors, as is the case with any art form, are interested in acting solely for money or fame. These actors hunt for their jobs purely on the basis of these selfish aims, and submit any artistic ability that they might have had in the process. It is, in these cases, that the bland, uninspired actors which are the bane of every snooty theater reviewer come to surface and ruin any well-meaning performance. These actors have no interest in ideals or meaning, but simply an interest in themselves.

A good actor almost always has the uncanny ability to channel an idea and act as if he or she is a tangible representation of this idea. In my opinion, a good actor is not merely a person living out their vocation, but a medium who can channel in the underlying soul of the concept at hand. This mystic element is what makes an actor, in my opinion, and any good performance needs actors who do not lack this ability.