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Looking upstage....
So I saw hairspray last night. Finally. And I noticed that a lot of the action was blocked with the actors looking upsatge. Most of the time they were looking at each other, talking directly face to face, and this didn't strike me as odd. It sparked a brief discussion in the fellowship that I had seen the show with, opinions being expectedly mixed.
I have never seen a problem with it myself. With only a handful of people on stage at these times, it was not at all difficult to figure out who was talking, and hear what was being said. It also looked a lot more natural for the actors not having to stand and deliver lines to someone either in profile, or square on to the audience.
Thoughts?
...
Back Acting! Yes!
Amen to that brother. This kind of direction is a big step forward from the vaudevillian style that we've been subjected to in the past. I was really impressed by a recent production of a little night music when they staged a dinner table scene on a revolve with a lot of "back acting" as a result... A refreshing change. But... there will always be a few people in the crowd who just can't get their heads around it. Directors... Ignore these people!!! They know not what they do! Viva La "back acting"!!
Des Macanuff used the upstage
Des Macanuff used the upstage drama model very well during Jersey Boys. I'm all for it and have been for a very long time. Des said to me that he feels the modern audience are a very cinematic people, and most stage directions nowadays are taking ideas from camera angles that you would see in hollywood movies as that tends to feel more familiar now with contemporary audiences. That is how most of us see story told these days. So Directors are using backs so you can get that over the shoulder p.o.v of the protagonist, hero, villain, whatever.
He also stated that live theatre can be unforgiving and sometimes hiding an actors emmotions for a moment can engage a subliminal mind of the audience and they can fill in the rest probably better than any writer, actor, director.... can. Remember it is make believe!
Re: Des
Great info, Paul.
Cheers,
Ian Nisbet
I think you'll find...
that it's commonly referred to as 'BACTING'... commonly referred to by me anyhow, but I'll let you use it Des.
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