Think back to your favorite performance on stage or screen, perhaps a time when particular actor or actress captured a moment with which you perfectly identified.
How did they do it? Is there a reason you felt the connection? Did it shape something inside of you? If you can identify even one moment like this, then you know that the fundamental question is not, "Does acting matter?" but "Why does acting matter?"
The answer comes in the form of a new book by renowned movie critic and writer David Thomson - "Why Acting Matters." Through a reflection on the differences in acting between American and British, film and stage, and "good" and "bad," Thomson explores the human condition and why people connect with performance. The humanity of acting is uniquely human, and in a way, people are constantly acting and improvising and shaping their lives. He explains in the book, “Acting and the space in which acting occurs matter because they are the material of a ritual to be beheld while we give up our ghost.”
What types of performances have the most impact on you? Do you have a favorite moment in film or stage? Why do you think acting matters?
Guest:
David Thomson, film and stage critic, as well as author of the new book, "Why Acting Matters" (Yale University Press, 2015)