Performing Arts · Theatre Practice
A topic within Theatre Practice, itself one of 11 topics in that field and part of Performing Arts.
No prior grounding assumed.
On Actors and the Art of Acting
George Henry Lewes · 1875
Surveys great actors of the century to argue that first-rate acting combines natural sensibility with deliberate, learnable technical control, not…
Assumes you know the vocabulary.
Masks or Faces? A Study in the Psychology of Acting
William Archer · 1888
Tests Diderot's paradox against testimony from working actors and argues most describe a controlled dual consciousness on stage rather than a total…
Primary sources and full treatments.
The Paradox of Acting
Denis Diderot · 1830
Argues that the greatest actors feel nothing while performing, because genuine emotion is inconsistent night to night and only cold, studied…
3 works
George Henry Lewes
Surveys great actors of the century to argue that first-rate acting combines natural sensibility with deliberate, learnable technical control, not one or the other alone.
link failing as of 17 Sept 2026William Archer
Tests Diderot's paradox against testimony from working actors and argues most describe a controlled dual consciousness on stage rather than a total absence of feeling.
link failing as of 17 Sept 2026Denis Diderot
Argues that the greatest actors feel nothing while performing, because genuine emotion is inconsistent night to night and only cold, studied technique reproduces the same effect reliably.
link failing as of 17 Sept 2026