Personal Imperatives

Abstract

A further investigation is profitable when attempting to read a text from an actor’s point of view. I have said that the outward elements of performance, such as gesture and movement, can be studied without any specialist knowledge. The same is true of the opposite extreme. By identifying in a very personal way with a single part and following it right through, a reader can discover at least the size of the actor’s task and something of its shape. By concentrating on what happens around the chosen role, a reader encounters the developing action as an actor does and so will begin to hear and see the play afresh.