The Charismatic Chameleon

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The Charismatic Chameleon
The Actor as Creative Artist

Leslie O’Dell

Leslie O’Dell is a professor of Theatre and Film at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada. Her publications include Shakespearean Scholarship, Shakespearean Language, and Shakespearean Characterization. Her current research focuses on the psychology of acting and the phenomenology of creativity. She has worked in theatre and film as a director, actor, and script writer as well as a coach and dramaturge.

A working actor needs chameleon-like skills to transform into fictional characters shaped by the conventions of any of a wide variety of genres. Equally important is charisma, that unique personal energy that transforms a skilled mimic into a star. What is the secret of the charismatic chameleon? Beginning with the premise that actors are creative artists, and tracing individual creativity to six distinct temperaments (personality types), Leslie O–Dell demonstrates how actors can tap the profound resources of the psyche in even the most stress-filled situations. After introducing the nuances of the theory behind the practice, readers encounter a “Virtual Workshop” – A dialogue among acting students, each representing one of the six Creative Personality types, as they diagnose their individual temperaments and then explore how the charismatic chameleon insight might assist each of them in mastering their craft, confronting barriers to personal excellence, and in preparing themselves for a successful acting career. The volume concludes with an annotated bibliography that positions the concepts of charisma, creative temperament, and the dangers and challenges of acting training within the context of writings by leading scholars and theatre practitioners.
… At the heart of the book is one simple truth: that an effortless flow of charismatic energy is available at any time and that the process for tapping into that source of authenticity and creativity is straightforward, flexible, and easily blended with other acting strategies and styles. The Charismatic Chameleon is essential reading for working actors, for students of acting, and for teachers and directors who seek a more finely-nuanced understanding of the source of acting excellence and how best to optimize creativity through collaborative and individual praxis.


Preface Part One An Introduction to Creative Temperament Charisma Flow Chameleon Work Considerations Disciplined Creativity An Actor’s Individuality Temperament and the Actor Categorization and Creative Flow Self-Diagnosis The Four Conduits Yin and Yang Part Two The Virtual Workshop The Charismatic Chameleon In Search of a Well-tuned Engine The Creative Temperament The Four Conduits Yin and Yang Relationship Action Perception Power An Actor’s Creativity Creative Considerations Temperament, Conduit, Consideration Diagnostics Subcategories of the Six Creative Personality Types Crimping and Noise Authenticity Danger, Safely Virtual Workshop Session One: Exploring Conduits Self Diagnosis through Reflection and Comparison Perception Relationship Power Individual or Universal Action Narrowing the Field Exploration with Improvisation Mismatched Creative Temperaments Diagnosis through Self-Reflection Conduit or Trained Consideration Learned Suppression Avoiding Assumptions and Hierarchies Courage Labels Exploration with Neutral Scene Test Driving Discoveries External Shape, Internal Energy Creative Problem Solving Digression: How do you know you are you? Virtual Workshop Session Two: Exercises for Self-Diagnosis Similar but Significantly Different Dance of the Yin/Yang The Yin/Yang Dance of Action/Relationship/Power The Magnetic Yin/Yang Dance Magnetic Pairs Certainty and Uncertainty Perception Pairs Rethinking First Impressions Reality Check Stanislavsky and Conduits Emotion Words via Stanislavsky Playing Emotions Digression: Love/Hate Chameleons Virtual Workshop Session Three: Conduits and Considerations Gifts and Pitfalls Power/Relationship/Action/Perception Actors Character Shape and Chameleon Energy How Translation Works Receptive Mode Dominance Personalized Warm Ups Ideal Learning Environments Conduits and Considerations Digression: Socialization Virtual Workshop Session Four: Safely Dangerous Perfectionism Present Tense Disciplining the Flow Craft and Creativity Directing from Within Cooling Down De-briefing with Considerations Negotiating Socialization Emotional Blow Out In Harm’s Way Power Pitfall Safety Net Relationship Pitfall Bungee Jumping Resistance Digression: Temperament and Aptitude Virtual Workshop Session Five: Mismatches and Simultaneous Translation Type Casting Avoiding Mismatch Channel the Energy Encrustation Flow versus Effort Fake versus Authentic Conduits and Teaching Acting Credibility and Dishonesty Artistic Living Real Emotions Digression: The Authentic Chameleon Virtual Workshop Session Six: Questions and Concerns Monologues and Impulses Auditions and Using the Real Everything Counts Stage Fright Memorizing and Knowing Camera Acting Charismatic Chameleons Summation Works Cited Development of the Theory: An Annotated Bibliography Stanislavsky, the Method, and a Shelf-full of Acting Textbooks Psychological Gold and Dross Pragmatic Research Laban for Actors Great Minds Thinking Alike? The Actor as Chameleon Creating a Character The Limits of Empathy Believable Acting and the Audience’s Experience of Meaning Charisma Courage Destructive Mismatches Toolbox or Legacy? Master Teachers, Legacies, and the Development of Systems of Acting Hegemony and the Ascendancy of Method Acting Ethical Standards for the Classroom and Rehearsal Hall Honouring Diversity Bibliography Index
“A definitive survey of acting-techniques that lucidly describes the processes by which theatre is created. Invaluable insights that no one entering the acting profession should be without.” Charles Marowitz, a leading critic, playwright, director and author whose recent books include The Other Chekhov and Roar of the Canon “O’Dell provides tools for actors and acting teachers to understand and master the processes through which outstanding acting is achieved … An insightful resource for those interested in furthering their acting skills.” Platform, Department of Drama and Theatre, Royal Holloway, University of London

Publication Details

	Paperback ISBN:		978-1-84519-412-3

	Page Extent / Format:		260 pp. / 229 x 152 mm
	Release Date:		June 2010
	Illustrated:		No
	Paperback Price:		£19.95 / $29.95


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