Daniel O. Nathan, Texas Tech University

Acting Interpretations

What is it that performers do? More specifically, when performers interpret a text, what kind of interpretation is going on? There have been remarkably diverse responses to this question—from denials that performers engage in interpretation at all, to assertions that what they do is fundamentally indistinguishable from critical interpretation. I will here focus on theatre performers and, after looking at reasons behind a couple of conflicting analyses of performance interpretation, will move toward a view that takes actors to be doing some things like critics and also some things quite unlike other performing artists.