ABSTRACT
Action is to theatre what a note is to music. From Western drama’s inception, action has been at the very center of the theatrical endeavor. Action is the will in motion. It is intention made visible. If we think of mood as a state, actions have the ability to move us from one state to the next. A mood is a starting point, or a destination; action is what transports us. In short, a unit of action is also a unit of time. Intentions are often best gleaned retroactively; after examining the full array of actions that a character exhibits. These actions, like breadcrumbs, will ultimately lead us back to the house of intentions. The how of an action is the action’s weight or emphasis. From the ancient Greeks to Stanislavsky and beyond, the action is the foundation upon which the entire edifice of drama is built.
