Line of Psycho/Physical Action - WASP pt1

Directed by H Lawrence Sumner

A LOPPA read is not a word for word performance of the text. It is an expression of the internal drive of the character / figure. The notion of external ACTION as foundational to an internal desire or objective can be traced back to Stanislavski who believed that “...Every physical action must be dynamic and lead to the accomplishment of some goal...”, (Toporkov,1950).

In her discussion of using ACTION to build psycho-physical coordination, Bella Merlin places stronger emphasis on two key elements to map. These two elements are Logic and Coherence. Her concern is on action that is genuine and organic, (Merlin, 2007).

By examining the above references in consideration that a detailed understanding of the physical and psychological life of the figure must be created, the question arises ‘for what purpose?’ In Merlin’s text the Psycho Physical is discussed in relation to the figure. It is the use of Inner Monologue through the action of the scene. Interestingly, Jean Benedetti also uses the term organic when referring to the Method of Physical Actions described in his text(Benedetti, 1998). If something is organic I would dare to suggest that the growth and development of it has a Logic. The growth of the organic is easily accounted for, with every stage of growth in place.

​I would offer, then, that a LOPPA reading facilitates the internal and external logic of a character within a scene, bringing the scene to its most human and organic state. In other words, there is an ORGANIC LOGIC to the scene which can be PLAYED by actors and READ by an audience.