Jurij Alschitz
7 Keys to the Role
Methods for the Actor's Self-Preparation
For over 20 years, Jurij Alschitz has been developing various techniques and approaches on how actors can prepare for a role / play / project in a meaningful and independent way in order to be able to meet the director at eye level on the first day at rehearsal or on set. In times of collective and less hierarchical forms of work, the actor as creative artist and author of the role is increasingly coming to the fore. In times of short production periods, effective self-preparation is a question of artistic survival.
This course is based on the best-seller 40 Question of one Role, which have expanded to 45 Questions in later editions, and which are expanding with each year. However the method to ask Questions is only one. Generations of Jurij Alschitz’s students practice and teach The Vertical of the Role, which is another key to open the role. Beyond these prominent and already published methods you will discover more keys to open each door which today might be closed in front of you.
This course is a starting point to become acquainted with the different methodological paths, to apply them and to understand their endless possibilities. The self-directed preparation for a role implies that you have decided to take your artistic future into your own hands. After this course, you will be able to discover and explore new rooms behind supposedly closed doors, because 7 keys will help to open them.
As a basis for all examples and practical tasks, Jurij Alschitz will use the play “The Cherry Orchard” by Anton Chekhov.
Jurij Alschitz
The actor prepares the role and what does he need? No, not knowledge, for knowledge reduces the actor’s mobility, fixes the reflections of the role, which must be constantly in motion.
The actor prepares the role, but the role that he has read, that he has before his eyes, that someone has shown him, told him, taught him, does not exist. The analysis demonstrates that explaining and laying everything out is a dead end. What is there? There is only the role that the actor himself discovered, created. If analysis is needed, it is only for one thing – to understand where the role takes the energy of life. A role is not born with the first and does not end with the last line of the text. It comes somewhere, sometime, from somewhere and goes somewhere, and no one can know from which station to which one its train rushes. That is the actor’s question. There is an invisible and unheard part of the role – a special flow of energy that permeates the whole role. It is neither seen nor heard, but it is the basis of the life of the role. You can of course work on the role by following how she articulates herself, but it makes sense to work with her when she is in silence – she will tell you more. Thanks to the invisible and inaudible, the secret life of the role will be formed. How to recognise it?
The actor prepares the role of a person, but the role is not a person and lives according to other laws, in other times, spaces, dimensions. It is wrong to analyse the role as a human life. A person has boundaries, but a role does not. The role is immortal, and this drives her to the irresistible desire to approach the edge of mystery, to escape into oblivion, to gain distance from life in order to experience the miracle of resurrection/rebirth.
The actor prepares the role – but the Role has already played and lived it all, she has already had it all. She is in a time loop, for her all the mysteries are repeated anew.
The 7 Keys to the Role course is based on the book 40 Questions of one Role by Jurij Alschitz. You can get it directly from our bookshop as print or e-pub version.
If you register for this course, the e-pub version is included in the course fee.
Teacher
Number of participants
Minimum number of participants 10
Teaching Language
English
Format
If you cannot attend one of the sessions, you can watch it online until the next one.
Mode of operation
2 x 3 sessions | 3 hours each
Certification
A Certificate will be issued by the World Theatre Training Institute AKT-ZENT | Research Centre of the International Theatre Institute.
Conditions: active participation with at least 50% attendance in the online sessions (up to 50% can also be made up via recording if attendance is not possible).
Cost
360 € incl. e-book 40 Question of one Role
Course dates and Registration
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