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The Importance Of Unlearning In Theatre And Acting

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In theatre and acting, these three concepts are highly beneficial. An actor must have an ability to go to the new which may involve unlearning. The unity of mind and body allows an actor to avoid “getting too in their heads’ confused about how their body should “look”. Also, an actor should always be open to receive and grow with their art rather than think there is an ultimate end which to end-gain for. It is easy for an actor to perform in a way which pleases those around them but may be difficult for themselves.
Unlearning is valuable to an actor because it allows refreshing and new thinking to be used. Especially with unlearning, an actor understands that there is not a specific correct or incorrect way to play a scene or character but …show more content…

An actor could (and most likely will) be asked by a director some iteration of, “what do you want”? To which, searches compulsively for the right answer and believes that “right answer” is the largest verb they conjure in their minds. An actor can easily get stuck in the intellect of finding an objective and forget to express themselves in accordance through their bodies. The need to be right and prove intellect overpowers the need to physicalize and embrace given circumstances. A common ground can be met between the two if the actor allows a gesture to influence their mental state or marks a scene with the body first and allows the brain to follow suit. In these cases, the body is not taking control in place of the mind but working at the same capacity and awareness as the mind does.
Especially in today’s world, we have become obsessed with end-gaining our desires. As a society, we want results now and with little effort. This mentality can be especially detrimental to the young actor. He or she may believe his or her process is not developed fully and thus cannot be “any good”. Too many times, a young actor wants to have the best roles, be in the top companies, or receive the highest achievement by a predetermined time. They forget to relish in the process of learning and experience and just want the rewards. They wish to end-gain by any way possible in order to prove themselves as a worthy artist. However, the

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