SPECTATOR MEMORIES AND THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ACTING

New and newer naturalism

Abstract

The paper examines the question of creative naturalism in the context of historically changing modes of acting. Next to the centrality of representation, the notion of naturalness was a leading feature in the nineteenth century Hungarian theatre. The analysis captures changes in the modes and styles of acting not only due to the desire to innovate gestures and diction having turned rigidly conventional with the succession of actor generations but also by considering the changing of the notion of naturalness. The basic question of the study concerns the way how this so-called new naturalness is achieved, how it is perceived, then how it becomes natural again; then again, once it has turned rigidly conventional how it is challenged and replaced by an even newer naturalness. The analysis follows the early days of Hungarian professional theatre until the end of the nineteenth century. By examining the naturalness of the acting style through specific acting performances, the analysis argues that naturalness serves as an important relational concept in the descriptions of acting styles. Furthermore, although it is by no means identifiable with the acting style of a particular period, it can facilitate grasping the ever-changing ways of acting styles of different historical periods.