Professor David Peimer
Method Acting: Brando, James Dean, et al
Summary
Method acting, pioneered by Konstantin Stanislavsk (1863–1938), involves systematic analysis and exploration of acting techniques. Stanislavsky’s books like “An Actor Prepares” elevated acting to a trained and learned art. Focusing on Marlon Brando and James Dean, this lecture discusses method acting’s origins, key figures, and enduring relevance. In America, Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, and Uta Hagen played crucial roles in developing and spreading method acting. Through film clips, the aim is to illustrate method acting’s profound impact on acting.
Professor David Peimer
David Peimer is a professor of theatre and performance studies in the UK. He has taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and New York University (Global Division), and was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Born in South Africa, David has won numerous awards for playwriting and directing. He has written eleven plays and directed forty in places like South Africa, New York, Brussels, London, Berlin, Zulu Kingdom, Athens, and more. His writing has been published widely and he is the editor of Armed Response: Plays from South Africa (2009) and the interactive digital book Theatre in the Camps (2012). He is on the board of the Pinter Centre in London.
I don’t think they required them to go for psychoanalysis, but I think what Strasberg and the others incorporated was some aspects. of psychology and psychoanalysis in this because it’s all about inner life, the inner psychology of the character. When it’s pushed too far is when the technique of emotional memory brings up things.