Tom Stone wrote:DennisLisi wrote:I think the problem in this discussion derives from a lot of people's idea that "acting" is a mysterious thing that they can't personally comprehend (or master).
I would say the opposite.
Acting isn't very mysterious at all. It is craft for which there are training and educations. It is a known and established profession that make use of certain skills. That's all.
The problem, as I see it, is that a lot of people here doesn't want to recognize acting as a legitimate profession, and think of it as merely pretending on the same level as a child.
Then there are others who for unknown reasons have elevated acting to something more than what it is, while having weird feelings of inferiority regarding our own field, and who desperately want to aspire to this imaginary 'greatness' they think acting have, by pretending there's no differences at all between our fields.
My problem with that argument (and your Venn diagram) is that Acting is inclusive of all types of theatrical performance (including mime, and even song). It is a basic concept. It is not defined as a certain skill, but simply the art of behaving before an audience for the purpose of entertainment.
You may define Magic as "the skillful demonstration of illusions" but I don't think you can (or should) exclude the development of The Persona. And that is what makes it "acting".