The latest issue of BackStage Spotlight on Acting Schools and Teachers has a nice article written by Jean Schiffman about acting schools and classes who are re-inventing Stanislavsky with new and modern techniques that are clicking with their students. We were lucky enough to be interviewed by Jean for this article – and are featured under the section on “Archetypes“. Check out the excerpt of that section of the article:
“How can you expect to be discovered if you haven’t even discovered yourself?” is the provocative teaser on the website for Studio C in Los Angeles. Founder John Coppola explains his philosophy this way: “It’s about ‘What happens to a role when I play it?,’ not ‘How do I go to the role?’” His aim is for each student to discover, through improvisation and traditional acting exercises, his or her seven or so basic archetypes, including the primary archetype.
Archetypes — recognizable in folk tales, myths, and literature — are the embodiment of personality types. The belief is that we all have elements of many archetypes within us, but your primary archetype is your dominant one, probably established in childhood. Coppola mentions king, magician, witch, and fairy as some of the basic archetypes. “Archetypes are in every story, and acting is about storytelling,” he says. When you get in touch with your archetypes, “it gets your ego out of the way so your soul can show up and act.” Actors practice by doing scenes and monologues several different ways, using the energies of their various archetypes. “Getting in touch with your archetype empowers you,” Coppola says.
One of his students, Isabel Shaw, hasn’t found her personal archetypes yet. “You do a lot of improv to get to know yourself,” she says. “Once you understand a scene, you bring your archetypes to the scene, and it really comes from you.” Actors at Studio C, she adds, are challenged to dig deep.
We’re thrilled to be included in this interesting piece on different acting methods. If you’d like to read more of this article, click the link below.
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