ABSTRACT
David Garrick was universally recognized as the greatest actor of his time. Spectators who saw him bounding on the stage felt that a whole century had been swept away. His natural style of acting involved using his body and his facial expression with speed and agility; he could modulate his voice so that a whisper could be heard at the back of the theatre. Most important, he was able to get inside his characters, to understand and express their motivations and their strengths and weaknesses. He discussed the nature of acting and the unique problem of actors with the French philosopher Denis Diderot: did an actor have to feel the emotions that he or she was portraying on the stage? Garrick persuaded Diderot that the answer was “no,” but Garrick nevertheless believed that a great actor had to generate “an electrical fire that shoots through the veins.” It was something that Garrick, but few others, could do.
