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Method
Method, introspective approach to acting based on the system evolved by Stanislavsky for the actors at the Moscow Art Theatre. It first came into prominence in the USA during the 1930s, when it was adopted by the Group Theatre in its reaction against what were considered the externalizing, stereotyped techniques current on the contemporary New York and London stages. Its notoriety rested mainly on its adoption by the Actors' Studio, founded in 1947 by Elia Kazan and others, later including Lee Strasberg. The Method's aim was to create a character from within by imagination and intuition. The result could be a more lifelike portrayal, with improvised dialogue, hesitations, mumblings, scratchings, and other naturalistic features; but the system could lead to self-absorption, to the exclusion of the audience and even of other actors. It achieved its greatest success in modern American plays, particularly those of Tennessee Williams. The Method is now seen as only one of many valid methods of approaching a part. It is less suited to the classics and probably more appropriate to the cinema, where its supreme exponent was Marlon Brando.
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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Method." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Method." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-Method.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Method." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-Method.html |
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method
method † systematic treatment of a disease; special form of procedure; orderly arrangement. XVI. — F. méthode or L. methodus — Gr. méthodos pursuit of knowledge, mode of investigation, f. metá META- + hodós way.
So methodical (hist.) belonging to a school of physicians (between ‘dogmatists’ and ‘empirics’); pert. to method XVI. f. late L. methodicus — Gr. methodist physician of the methodical school; one who follows a certain method XVI; member of the Holy Club established at Oxford in 1729; member of religious bodies originating in this. — modL. methodista; hence methodism XVIII. |
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T. F. HOAD. "method." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "method." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-method.html T. F. HOAD. "method." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-method.html |
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method
meth·od / ˈme[unvoicedth]əd/ • n. (often method for/of) a particular form of procedure for accomplishing or approaching something, esp. a systematic or established one: a method for software maintenance labor-intensive production methods. ∎ orderliness of thought or behavior; systematic planning or action: historical study is the rigorous combination of knowledge and method. ∎ (often Method) short for method acting. PHRASES: there is method in one's madness there is a sensible foundation for what appears to be foolish or strange behavior. |
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"method." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "method." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-method.html "method." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-method.html |
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method
method method acting a technique of acting in which an actor aspires to complete emotional identification with a part, based on the system evolved by Stanislavsky and brought into prominence in the US in the 1930s.
method in one's madness sense or reason in what appears to be foolish or abnormal behaviour; from Shakespeare's Hamlet (1601) in the scene in which Hamlet feigns insanity, ‘Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.’ |
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "method." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "method." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-method.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "method." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-method.html |
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method
method •ballad, salad
•collard, Lollard, pollard
•bicoloured (US bicolored), dullard, multicoloured (US multicolored), particoloured (US particolored), self-coloured (US self-colored), uncoloured (US uncolored), varicoloured (US varicolored), versicoloured (US versicolored)
•enamored, Muhammad
•ill-humoured (US ill-humored)
•Seanad, unmannered
•Leonard • synod • unhonoured
•Bernard, gurnard
•unhampered
•leopard, shepherd
•untempered
•Angharad, Harrod
•Herod • hundred • unanswered
•uncensored • unsponsored
•Blanchard • dastard • unchartered
•bastard • unlettered • unsheltered
•self-centred (US self-centered) • it'd
•unfiltered • unregistered • unwatered
•unaltered • dotard • untutored
•uncluttered, unuttered
•bustard, custard, mustard
•method • unbothered • Harvard
•unflavoured (US unflavored)
•lily-livered, undelivered
•undiscovered
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"method." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "method." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-method.html "method." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-method.html |
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