Students to demonstrate techniques in inspired acting

“Fantastic realism,” a style of acting championed by Yevgeny Vakhtangov in early 20th Century Russia, was lost when Josef Stalin’s Soviet regime imposed Socialist Realism as the only permitted acting style.

Students in the Inspired Acting Lab under the direction of drama professor Lionel Walsh have revived the technique, and will demonstrate exercises they have developed on Sunday, October 5, in the Jackman Dramatic Art Centre.

Vakhtangov was searching for a “subconscious route to the actor’s subconscious” in the rehearsal and performance process, says Walsh, “and wanted the actor to create in what he called a state of festivity.”

The student demonstrations use scenes from The Madonna Painter by Michel Marc Bouchard; a discussion and an opportunity for the audience to participate will follow.

The event begins at 7 p.m. in room 100, the Acting Studio. Part of the Humanities Research Group’s Humanities Week, it is free and open to the public.

Callum Gunn and Robin Luckwaldt-RossCallum Gunn and Robin Luckwaldt-Ross explore a new exercise in Fantastic Realism in the Inspired Acting Lab.