Animales pancrónicos del teatro: Notas sobre la persistencia de técnicas actorales previas en el teatro universitario chileno (1910-1962)

Abstract

Abstract:Many theatre scholars and artists regard the birth of university theatres in Chile during the 1940s as the founding act of modern Chilean theatre and performance. University drama schools produced a new type of actor/actress, often described as "dramatic" or "cultured," as opposed to another kind of performer known as "national." Dramatic actors religiously followed their lines and subordinated their work to the author's ideas, mastered a foreign declamatory style, and performed for an educated middle class. National actors, more focused on improvisation, drew their inspiration from the circus and other physical acting traditions. In this essay, we suggest that the difference between these two types of actors is actually more subtle. Indeed, many acting techniques commonly associated with "national" performers still existed during the 1960s and onwards and had an impact on "cultured" performers. Moreover, our research challenges a wide-spread myth according to which the great stars and divas from the golden age of Chilean theatre were intuitive "stage animals" who lacked any organized acting technique.