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"The Tip of the Nose"
Extracts from the forthcoming book from Christopher Jacobs…
from page 1………
With great generosity, our past masters have pointed our youthful noses, as did their masters before them, in particular directions, sure in the knowledge that the journey is far from over.
If we are to be truly sincere in our gratitude for this legacy, we must accept the responsibility of continuing their journey wherever it may lead us.
It is quite possible that we may reach a point where their original ideas are transformed into something else entirely and we must be prepared to accept this possibility, not deny it, so long as such developments can be justified in terms of a universal, and logical evolution of those original ideas.
Since the art of theatre, and of acting, is a living art we must not allow these legacies of thought and experience to be stored and studied in the manner of ancient artefacts in a museum. Such a legacy must not be allowed to become at best dormant and at worst fossilised. To keep it evolving as humankind continues to evolve is essential if it is to continue to exist as a living art. Not to do so would only commit the art to the custody of the ‘dead hand of academia’ and antiquity’.
This ‘living art’, the art of the actor, is a physical art, and it is the expression of this physical art that enables the skilled actor to transcend all cultural and spoken language barriers.
from page 2…
The actor that focuses all attention on text, voice, and facial expression, maintaining that movement and gesture will follow unconsciously and subserviently, forfeits physical clarity, depth and strength; replacing it with behaviour, action and gesture that is superficial or inappropriate, frequently distracting from the substance of the story. The observer begins to be drawn towards noticing the acting rather than following the story as it unfolds.
Any action, gesture, or movement, that fails to communicate something to the spectator within the context of the playing of the story is superfluous at best, and at worst, gratuitous.
To avoid this the actor must be capable of bringing all physical responses to a fully conscious level, allowing the actor to recognise and discard that which is gratuitous or superfluous, and thereby strengthen the physicality of the performance.
The ultimate aim in the training of the actor should be in bringing both the cerebral and the physical elements of the craft together, into a fully conscious and harmonious balance.
from page 3…
The great past masters of the art and craft of theatre and acting; Stanislavski, Meyerhold, Chekhov, Strasberg, et al., were all in accord with the idea that for the actor to successfully achieve “suspension of disbelief” the actor must be trained in the techniques necessary for the attainment of this objective.
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Subsequently, many have picked up the ‘baton’, as it were, from these masters and taken their ideas into new directions, ever-conscious of their historical connections, an in their explorations have made new discoveries, and reached deeper understandings of the actor’s art and craft.
Others have jumped over cliffs in their enthusiasm to reach uncharted territory and in doing so have broken all or some these vital connections, with the result that new forms have appeared which, whilst many have validity as Theatre in and of themselves, are based in an individual’s conceptual ideas rather than the historical accumulation of collective ideas and somehow lack a universal foundation.
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With this humble offering I hope to present the reader with an idea of my approach to this training of actors, both in workshop and in rehearsal. The directions I have taken in reaching this point have been influenced by many; some have been forced upon me by circumstance, and a great number have been accidental encounters, but most have been my own conscious decisions so I cannot cast blame.
I also doubt that the reader will find much that is new, there were no ‘Eureka!’ moments for me that I can lay claim to or offer up for posterity, but perhaps there may be one little spark discovered by a reader that in turn sparks an idea in his mind that leads eventually, somewhere, for someone, a ‘Eureka!’ moment all of their own. Now that would be a real bonus for me.
I like to believe that so far I have not broken the connections to my past masters, for whom I have nothing but the greatest gratitude and respect, and feel sure that they would forgive the manner in which I may have ‘packed’ and ‘stowed’ some of their philosophies, practices, and ideas.
"A Life In The Day Of..."
One Woman;
One Bed;
Three Pillows;
An existential exploration of Capital Crime and its ultimate resolution.
"Don't Know!"
'Truth' is something that has been going out of fashion for some time.
In many areas of life nowadays, 'Fact' and 'Fiction' are becoming so intertwined as to be, to all intents and purposes, indistinguishable from each other.
A carefully placed 'Lie', regardless of whether it is believed or not, never goes away, and will have far-reaching effects over a long period; eventually, and inevitably, the knowledge that it was originally a 'Lie' becomes lost and the 'Lie' becomes factual 'Truth'.
It doesn't take much research to find numerous examples of this unhappy mutation.
What is of serious concern is that the length of time required for this mutation to take effect appears to be getting shorter and shorter.
The inevitable conclusion being that the moment this mutation becomes 'instant' is the moment that 'Truth' finally ceases to exist.
"Agony of Angels"
The inevitable had become reality.
From the moment the first factory, sulphrously belching its flatulence into the air, started turning it?s wheels and belts and hammers to precipitate the once proudly termed ?Industrial Revolution?, the moment was written irrevocably into the future.
As coal and iron was wrenched and torn from the Earth?s skin and, from the deep stab wounds of countless knives, oil and gas was sucked from deep within her body, very few of her tormentors gave a second, or even a first, thought as to the eventual consequences of their violation of their world.
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