Part One: An interview with Australian Theatre Director/Playwright, Margaret Davis
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Margaret: This was my second visit as Guest Lecturer at the Hanoi Academy of Theatre and Cinema working on plays by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov with third year acting students.
In 2018 we worked on The Seagull and in 2019 Three Sisters. These intensive classes form part of a semester on Western Theatre in which the students also explore texts by Moliere and Shakespeare. The Chekhov texts are difficult for acting students around the world because the style of naturalism requires detailed study of the text for clues about what motivates the characters. The Vietnamese style of acting is much more presentational - big on physicality and powerful gestures - with less emphasis on the tiny moment by moment shifts and inter-personal relationships that playing Chekhov requires. Also, Chekhov’s texts are a great way of introducing students to the system of acting developed by Stanislavski.
Like young acting students in Australia, the Vietnamese students really warmed to the introductory phase of the classes, and were particularly inventive in physical improvisation. However, they struggled when we moved on to rehearsing the scenes from the play. They wanted to rush to performing the big emotional moments, and needed a lot of coaching to actually turn from performing “out front” and building relationships with the other characters. As with any cohort, some got the hang of the style more quickly than others who still wanted to impress us with their emotional facility, rather than moving us as an audience!
Margaret: Essentially in the teaching/rehearsing process I discovered the students were not used to being asked questions to prompt their own discoveries of character and motivation. If I asked direct questions such as “would you really want to shake hands with that character?” Or “why are you being so rude to the poor maid?” I would be met with confused silence. It could be that their text analysis skills were not yet very developed (e.g., Masha takes out her frustration on the poor maid when her lover, Vershinin, has been summoned to return home as his wife has threatened to kill herself.)
Of course I was working through an interpreter, and this can colour one’s understanding sometimes as even with the most exact translations meanings can get confused!
And because I was on the floor teaching throughout my stay, I didn’t get a chance to see other rehearsals or classes in progress. I did however witness three professional performance during my stay this time that helped me understand differences in approach.
And from what I understood from student responses and explanations offered by my interpreter, the students are "taught by example".
Janice: Thanks Margaret for your insights. We will continue this dialogue soon. |
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