The Method of Physical Action as a Way to Overcome the Syrian Actor’s Epic Thinking

The purpose of the article is to argue for the need to develop Syrian acting education (and theatrical art in general), enabling them to reach a new level and achieve a qualitative leap based on a scientific approach. The fundamental training principle proposed is the method of physical action, developed by classical Russian psychological theater and substantiated by its theorists.

From the emergence of theater in Syria (1865) to the present day, it has reflected all significant events in the country. Political news, coups, wars, occupations, and revolutions have not gone unnoticed by the theater, all of which have been embodied on the stage. This is why Syrian theater is usually characterized as political (influencing audiences through public opinion) and largely epic (the main principle of epic theater is the combination of drama and epic).

In Syrian drama, the influence of Brecht’s theory of epic theater was most noticeable between the 1960s and 1980s. Graduates of Soviet theater schools who returned to Syria initially attempted to work within the system of K.S. Stanislavski, but soon, confronted with reality, they abandoned this idea and continued working in the style of epic theater.

Russian psychological theater is a significant phenomenon in the global theater scene: just mentioning “psychological theater actor” makes it clear to those around them that this actor can seamlessly perform across any genre, any style. Moreover, the school of psychological theater (the school of experience) is integrated into the creative process of other arts: it extends beyond theater or film, with their various styles and genres, and is reflected in art in general. The author emphasizes that the skill of a professional theater practitioner is built on both school and methodology.

This article summarizes the practical results of the author’s theatrical and pedagogical work, in which the ancient art of Arab storytelling is adapted to the needs of modern pedagogy using the “circles of attention” method. It is concluded that the physical action method should become a fundamental principle of training an actor in Syria.

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