Role Interpretation And The Actor’s Life: A Study Of Unwanaobong In The Production Of ‘Modu And
The Babarians’ In 2019
Chapter One
General Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
Role interpretation and the actor’s life dominate much of the studies in sociology, theatre study, anthropology, and psychology during the last half of the 20th century. Role interpretation is usually actualized by an actor. An actor according to Brestoff is “a person who pretends to be someone else while performing in film, television, stage or radio” (9). In relation to theatre studies, “role interpretation is said to denote the ability of an actor to be able to depict a certain character in the directive of the play director being guided by play script” (Prior, 12). Role interpretation is also concerned with an actor’s ability in concordance to the description and interpretation of the primary duty of an actor in relation to a performance script. It is the fulfillment of this task, by an actor, alongside with other performers that give life to a dead script. On the other hand, terms “the actor’s life” is said to mean interchangeably “the influence of the actor’s role (interpreted in any given play or film) as played out in the life of an actor in the outer world of not acting or interpreting script (Lindsey, 23). By definition, actor’s life according to Eagly means “societies and individuals ascribe to actor’s personal life” (10), and the term actor’s life prescribes behaviors that are deemed appropriate of an actor.
Role interpretation and the actor’s life is influenced by gendered sexuality and captures a person’s ability and right of actions on a large scale. From an online search, gendered sexuality is the way in which gender and sexuality are often viewed as likened constructs, whereby the role of gender in an individual’s life is informed by and impacts others’ perceptions of their sexuality. The concept of gender must be extended by accepting variations, forms and views that fit into norms of actor’s life. Butler defines the concept of gender as thus; “gender is the mechanism by which notions of masculine and feminine are produced and naturalized, but gender might very well be the apparatus by which such terms are deconstructed and denaturalized” (21). In other words, gender is a concept that reflects limitations, stability and reconstruction, supported by the notion of heteronormativity, which means the acceptance of heterosexuality as a natural and social norm which is capable of affecting role interpretation of an actor in either the radio medium, television, stage or film medium.
Plays have often been interpreted as more than merely entertainment. Playwrights, through the act of composing plays, write plays that mirrors culture by reflecting a given cultural values, norms, and lifestyles through a character in a play, in essence criticizing the society. Playwrights can also create plays that reflect how they interpret their own culture; having been raised in a given time period, by writing as a product of a given set of societal rules.
Plummer noted that “societies were comprised of multiple voices” (77). He concluded that “all voices need hearing, just that some are heard less than others” (Plummer, 82). By the views of Plummer, plays or films, when used as data sources, capture the dominate attributes of society and in certain instances provide clues to how the dominant voice affects the minority voice through role interpretation and character perception either for radio, stage, screen or film. Thus, role interpreted by an actor, with the ability to respond to situations, captures the tone of the larger society through personal life of an actor in relation to cultural perception of role an actor exhibit.
In role interpretation, an actor’s goal is to communicate a character to an audience. This is the only necessary and defining aspect of theatre. All other artists, including the playwright, serve primarily to aid the actor in this central goal. Also, in role interpretation, actor’s goals are to entertain an audience and to function as part of an ensemble. Audience judge an actor’s performance by several criteria, all of which are dependent on theatrical and other social conventions. Today, in most kinds of performances, we say that an actor whose performance we enjoyed was “believable.” This means that his or her actions, movements, and voice were appropriate to the character, plot, and performance style of the play which may in one way have personal effect on the life of the actor.
When considering virtuosity in role interpretation and actor’s life, scholars tend to think of actors’ abilities to transform themselves, so that they appear substantially different from role to role but, an actor’s performance should draw audience members into the theatrical illusion being presented on stage. The energy projected by the actor begins the cycle of feedback in relation to the actor’s life. The live audience responds to the actor’s performance and the actor in turn adjusts his or her life in response to the audience justification of his roles.
Burns analyzed the “double relationship between the theatre and social life by examining the varieties of theatrical conventions that can be observed in the development of drama in the theatre. Burns incorporated theatre dramaturgy of role interpretation and actor’s personal life to make connections between what is viewed on the stage or film and what occurs in social reality in an actor’s life. Her study included parallel analyses of dialogue, characters, themes, and acting from both theatrical and sociological perspectives. As evidenced by Burns’ work, “an exploration of the relationship between role interpretation, the actor and society uncovers situations, possibilities, and voices that may have been overlooked” (Burns,14), giving rise for other pertinent research as Role Interpretation and Actor’s Life: a case study of Unwanaobong in the Production of Modu and the Barbarians in 2019.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
This study appraises role interpretation and actor’s life in response to his social environment. The effect of role interpretation on actor’s life and behaviour is one assertion that has not been research on to attest if the assertion is true or not. The researcher identifies this problem and seeks redress, to justify this problem in the study of Unwanaobong’s character in the Production of Modu and the Barbarian production in 2019. Because it has become a thing of concern to theatre audience to know if the assertion that says thus “an actor’s role can affects or influence the natural or personal of an actor off the stage or screen is proven.
1.3 Research Questions
Based on this research topic, the researcher through this research work is therefore proposed to address the following research questions:
What is the influence of role interpretation and personality change in Uwanaobong’s character in the performance of Modu and Barbarians 2019?
What is the emotional effect of Uwanaobong’s character in the production of Modu and the Barbarians on Eve Esin personal emotion?
Using Uwanaobong’s character in the play production Modu and the Barbarians, appraise the concept of genuine acting and thinking in relations to role interpretation?
1.4 Objective of the Study
This study is aimed at;
To assert how role interpretation influences actor’s personality change
To assert if the assertion “an actor’s role can affects or influence the natural or personal of an actor off the stage or screen.
To identify and elucidate the relationship between role interpretation and behavioural perception of an actor.
To project the influence of role interpretation and actor’s life and emotional balance.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The primary significance of this study is to appraise the broad topic of role interpretation and actor’s life. The study of role interpretation and actor’s life is multidimensional in that it crosses the bounds of history, sociology, psychology, leadership, and organizational development. Because of the far-reaching impact of the research topic, “scholars from other disciplines can therefore benefit from this study, thus contributing to the limited existing literature.
Given that this study is a lens for understanding role interpretation and actor’s life, this study projects how role value is a part of actors personal life, building on the notion that role interpretation and actor’s life are “interwoven. The study also project the effect of actor’s role interpretation and creating a link between the study and the society at large, and contributing to the understanding of effect of role play in actor’s life.
From a broader perspective, how individuals relate to one another is necessary to understanding how people work together in any organization. The secondary significance of this study is derived from studying of inter personal relationship.
1.6 Delimitation of the Study
The research is constraint is the Production of Modu and the Barbarians in 2019 with reference to the character of Unwanaobong as a case study for appraising the concept of role interpretation and actor’s life. Though the researcher also utilized other related literature in line with role interpretation and actor’s life to buttress the research findings.
1.7 Definition of Term
Role Interpretation: Role interpretation is defined as the ability of an actor to be able to depict a certain character in the directive of the play director being guided by play script. It is the fulfillment of this task, by an actor, alongside with other performers that give life to the script.
Actor’s Life: An actor’s life is the personal or individual life of a dramatist especially when viewed as the sum of personal choices contributing to one’s personal identity.
Character: A character is a person, animal, being, creature, or thing in a story. Writers use characters to perform the actions and speak dialogue, moving the story along a plot line. A story can have only one character (protagonist) and still be a complete story.
Actor: An actor is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs “in the flesh” in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television.
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