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Obviously, acting in Athens and Rome, 2000 years ago, contained elements of Baroque Acting, since Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian were stylistic sources for the baroque era.
Medieval drawings by Matthew Paris (c.1240) demonstrate attitudes closely akin to those brought to life through Quintilian's instructions. |
| Terence - 'Self-Tormentor' |
I have long thought that Wagner's 'Ring Cycle', performed in the 1870s, is prime material for incorporating modified baroque acting and staging techniques. Robert Donington (in 'The Rise of Opera') says that"Not until Wagner, however, did opera evolve full cycle round ... And with Wagner, symbolical interpretation is not only a possibility but a necessity."
With reference to Torelli's baroque stage-machinery of 1650, Donington remarks:"our productions of Wagner might benefit from a study of baroque techniques."
More than one hundred years after Wagner, the rules of Baroque Acting and Gesture, in modification, were incorporated by Ian Caddy into performances of the surrealist operas: Milhaud: 'Trois opéras minutes' (1927), and Poulenc: 'Les Mamelles de Tirésias' (1947).