The Shinning Self

Resulting from doctoral research conducted under the guidance of Professor Phillip B. Zarrilli, this book sets up, suggestively, the meaning and application of two of the performers creation tools, which are the "character" and "role". Starting from three practical assignments exercised as case-studies, we undertook a systematic empirical investigation of the craft of the performer, concluding the validity of considering, hypothetically, the "character" and "role" as complementary yet differentiated terms. Working in a artistic-scientific laboratorial research, theoretical discussions traveled through etymological, sociological, semiotic, philosophical and theatrical perspectives, also evaluating the situations emerging from the case-studies. Including into the research per se, we participated actively in the psychophysical performer training conducted by Phillip based on Indian martial art kalarippayattu, as well as Chinese taijiquan and Indian hatha yoga. This balance has provided us with a feasible discourse in performers tools of creation linked to performer psychophysical traininig.