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David Mamet
Harrison HammondsGerardo Hernandez
Mishi GonzalezBrad Oiler
"That is what acting is: doing the play for the audience. The rest is just practice ... the
Stanislavsky 'Method,' and the technique of school's derived from it, is nonsense...it is a cult."
BioBorn November 30, 1947 in Chicago Illinois
Attended Goddard College, Vermont
Helped found the Atlantic Theatre Company
Primarily Playwright/Screenwriter
Received the Pulitzer Prize for Glengarry Glen Ross, and has been nominated for many other awards
Theorist and a writer
Forms theories as though every script is perfect
Mamet speak-Profane and self explanatory (real)
By his own definition he is a "failed actor"
Mamet Speak Exercise A No. What do you mean? Have I talked to him about this [Pause]B Yes. I mean are you actually talking about this, or are we just --A No, we're just --B We're just "talking" about it.A We're just speaking about it. [Pause] As an idea.B As an idea.A Yes.B We're not actually talking about it.A No.B Talking about it as a --A No.B As a robbery.A As a "robbery?" No.
Ancestor Worship
The Actors Job: Communicate the play to the audience. 1. Show up 2. Learn lines 3. Use lines/common sense to achieve a goal similar to that of the protagonist. 4. Keep thoughts/emotions to YOURSELF
"The actor does not need to 'become' the character, there are only lines upon a page."
The emotions an actor should feel/convey while performing should be evoked from the beauty of the literature, not character work.
A Generation That Would Like to Stay In School
"Part of the requirement of a life in the theatre is to stay out of school...formal education is not only useless, but harmful."
"Truth in Acting" Exercise
Your trials as an actor vs. your character's trials -Don't undergo the trials of you character!
"Invent nothing, deny nothing, speak up, stand up, stay out of school."
Find Your MarkNever ask yourself "what would I do if I were in my character's situation?"
The great "I can't..." The script gives you everything you need
"Pick up your cue and speak out, even though frightened"
More things not to do while acting according to Mamet... "The arc of the character" Doesn't exist! Base your performance off of something else
Mamet is all about DOING...and by doing, he means reading the script and saying the words.
Hollywood is evil and school sucks too
Business is Business"Our truly noble desire to do good work...becomes warped into
an empty quest for something we call success."
The only characters on the stage are the actors.
"Invent nothing, deny nothing."
A play is interesting because of the talent of the playwright. The talent of the actor lies in his capacity for honesty.
"In the real theatre, one needs to be able to please the audience
and the audience only."
Your place to develop and learn is on the stage
Auditions
Like school, the audition process has a set of rules, which the stage does not.
A producer's job is the opposite of the audience's:The audience accepts what you give them.A casting agent picks what is known to work.
You want to do well in high school, so you can go to your choice college, so you can get a job, so you can retire, so you can..what?
Auditions (cont.)
Don't put yourself down, especially when complimented.
"Such remarks as 'I was terrible tonight' are the opposite of effective self improvement"
You notice little things that go on much more than the audience.
Why do you care about the opinion of terrible satanic Hollywood people?
If people continue to reject you you're better off accepting your fate as not-an-actor or making your own play, company, etc.
Paint by Numbers
School is a waste of your time (for an actor).
You go to school and rehearse for the same reason you gamble: So someone else can make money
The only real way to learn to act: observe
American acting schools treat acting like a hobby
"Work"All you should do with the script is read it with diction, and the intention should be brought out by the action.
Any meaning from those lines should come from the lines themselves.
Text interpretation is the job of an English teacher.
Working hard won't necessarily make you a better actor.
Acting is an art.
Without respect for the audience there is no respect for the stage, only self-absorption.
"Every scene should be able to answer three questions:
Who wants what from whom?
What happens if they don't get it?
Why now?"
Three Questions Exercise A No. What do you mean? Have I talked to him about this [Pause]B Yes. I mean are you actually talking about this, or are we just --A No, we're just --B We're just "talking" about it.A We're just speaking about it. [Pause] As an idea.B As an idea.A Yes.B We're not actually talking about it.A No.B Talking about it as a --A No.B As a robbery.A As a "robbery?" No.
"Art is an expression of joy and awe. It is not an attempt to share
one's virtues and accomplishments."
Acceptance
Substitution, sense memory, and emotion memory are all harmful and useless.
Don't try to make the audience feel emotion, perform in the most truthful way you know.
Acceptance (cont.)
You can imagine that your best friend died, but you can't believe it.
Instead of trying to believe something, we need to learn acceptance.
The capacity to accept derives from the will and the will is the source of character.
"DENY NOTHING, INVENT NOTHING-- ACCEPT EVERYTHING,
AND GET ON WITH IT."
Acceptance Exercise
Visualize a situation in which your best friend is dead.
The Rehearsal Process
1. The play should be blocked.
2. The actors should become acquainted with the actions they are going to perform.
An action is an attempt to accomplish something.
All the phrases directors and teachers use are not only difficult; they are impossible.
"If the actor goes to rehearsal with a mind and spirit dedicated to discover and perform the actions simply and truthfully, she will take
this spirit onstage along with the discoveries."
The Play And The Scene
"The correct unit of study is not the play; it is the scene."
The general action of the play is too general to be useful.
The actions of the character serve only as guideposts.
Break down big tasks into smaller ones.
"Play the scene."
Energy is spent in achieving your objective with others in scene.
Emotions"The attempt to manipulate another's feelings is blackmail."
Be the waiter who anticipates the patrons' needs. Do not extort compliments.
Audience applauds emotional memory out of respect for the actor's supposed hard work.
Communicate the play to the audience; do not bother with character insights and epiphanies.
Acting is a physical art.
"Let the politicians have their fixed smiles and their crocodile tears, let them be the promoters of their capacity to feel."
Action
Acting is a joke.
Punchline is the objective, achieved through an action.
Belief, feeling, emotion, characterization and substitution are all irrelevant.
Avoid narration. Is it essential to the action?
Choose something that you want to do. Choose a fun action.
When you commit to achieving a single goal, you are at work.
Music and Intentions Exercise
Listen.
Dance
Answer questions.
Guilt
All systems built on belief (e.g. acting training) depend on the individual's knowledge of self-worthlessness.
No one is free of guilt and self doubt.
Nonsensical directions profess to cure the human condition.
"Nobody with a happy childhood ever went into show business."
Rejecting a situation based on guilt, beginning with a frank avowal and standing in the same state as the character allows the actor to bring truth to the stage.
Concentration ExerciseFind your own space.
Crumple up your paper.
Clear your mind of all distractions.
Focus only on the paper in your hands.
Discuss.
"Acting has nothing to do with concentration."
Concentration cannot be forced.
An actor is not responsible for becoming interesting; he is interesting.
If it's not physical it can't be done; if it's not fun, it won't be done.
Make a compelling choice and it's no trick to commit yourself to it.
Concentration
TalentConcerning oneself with talent is pointless.
An actor must get his job done.
Talent is to actors as luck is to gamblers.
Hard work will always pay off; talent is rewarded only until life takes it away.
HabitsDo things well
Arrive early
Work in rehearsal, reflect at home
Do your actions on stage
All are essential parts of acting.
Always aim to improve yourself and extend your knowledge to a variety of theatrical skills.
Strive to rise with the ranks, not from them.
Performance and Character
Be truthful and play the script how the author wrote it
Don't look inward
If you don’t understand a teacher/instructor, make them explain.
If they can't explain or demonstrate to your satisfaction,
“they do not know what they're doing.”
Good Guy, Bad Guy ExerciseGet into partners. Decide who is A and B.
A is the bad guy and B is the good guy.
Create a scenario where these two would interact.
Fool us into thinking who is really who.
The Villain and the Hero
The audience is suggestible. They will accept something until given a reason to disbelieve it.
Actors don’t need “characterizations.”
The author will have done enough suggesting for the audience to believe we are the hero or the villain.
Interview & Review
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