The English Actor: From Medieval to Modern

What is the state of play and the state of playing? How will the future mould it? Overall, English actors are more persuasive, more accurate and more naturalistic than they were at the end of the last century. They are, to be blunt, ‘better’, although not necessarily greater. This is only partly owing to actors’ training. If anything, they are more influenced by working in a ‘post-Method’ period. It is possible, for example, to conflate styles – even in the same production – that would not normally blend, from the flamboyant to the intimate.

The perennial allure of the actor is now linked with the culture of the celebrity, although this is only a new variation on an ancient theme. For centuries the audience has yearned to resemble the players or to have what they have; they have also wished that the characters on stage might be real, and truly part of the human world. To the fascination of the shaman, or simply of the transformer, is now added the nimbus of fame. This carries with it certain new and perhaps uncovenanted responsibilities. The English actor, for example, seems to be a far more politicized creature than his or her forerunners.