Toward a General Theory of Acting Cognitive Science and Performance

Toward a General Theory of Actingexplores the actor's art through the lens of Dynamic Systems Theory and recent findings in the Cognitive Sciences. An analysis of different theories of acting in the West from Stanislavski to Lecoq is followed by an in depth discussion of technique, improvisation, and creating a score. In the final chapter, the focus shifts to how these three are interwoven when the actor steps in front of an audience, whether performing realist, non-realist, or postdramatic theatre. Far from using the sciences to reduce acting to a formula, Lutterbie celebrates the mystery of the creative process.

John Lutterbie is a Professor at Stony Brook University where he teaches theories of theatre and performance theory in the Department of Theatre Arts and the history of performance art in the Department of Art. He is the author of Hearing Voices: Modern Drama and the Problem of Subjectivity. He has been published in Performance and Cognition: Theatre Studies and the Cognitive Turn, Theatre Journal, The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Performance Research, The Journal of Psychiatry and the Humanities, and Modern Drama.