MUSIC AS A SUCCESSFUL ENGINE FOR CREATING AND SUSTAINING THE FLOW STATE FOR ACTING IN MUSICAL THEATRES

Abstract

          Theory of Flow State has been highly investigated and deeply researched in the field of sports, business, music, and performance. In the field of acting, several research revealed that Konstantin Stanislavsky’s modern acting theory shares similarities to the Flow State concept, especially on the actor’s subconscious approach in entering and being of the character he/she plays. Nevertheless, Stanislavsky’s acting practice exhibits divergence from the flow theory as well, specifically on the actor’s divided consciousness in the performance. This study, as a result, was an attempt to argue that in musical theaters once the divided consciousness of the actors occurred, it was the music that could bring the actors back to “being in the zone” or “being the characters” and merge the consciousness back into one. The research was conducted through the author’s own performance as “Magenta” in Richard O'Brien's musical show of “the Rocky Horror Show” performed in Bangkok. In this research, not only acting theory was studied in detail, but music and sound which drove actions and inner psychology of the characters in the musical theatres would also be investigated as the platform that created and sustained the successful Flow State for the actors. Musical theatre productions and the music compositions were analyzed together with blocking, directions, actions, and the play script.