Kathryn Sandes

November 9th, 2023

Research article Reflection

In the climax of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull the Character Nina returns a ruined
woman. Only the shadow of her once joyous nature remains. Her romantic ideals have been
torn asunder by a series of traumatic events, leaving her homeless, malnourished, and
barely clinging to reality. Though her given circumstances vary slightly between translations
of the text, this was true of the version I was assigned in a third semester acting class of my
undergraduate program. I had a great deal in common with Nina, and I connected with the
text and my scene partner in a way I had never done before. The result was an excellent
grade for my presentation, an astounding sense of satisfaction, and a great amount of
difficulty in letting go of Nina which crept into my personal life. This always made me wonder,
what sort of practices can I do to detach from my character at the end of the day? Why had
no teacher provided me with these resources?

In Christophoros Panoutsos’ article The absence of the cool-down for actors following a
theatre performance; the discussion is on-going but the gap remains (2021) the author
explores the idea that knowledge, as well as development of cool-down techniques, are
noticeably lacking in actor’s practice and education. Though I agree that cool-down practices
are an undervalued tool, I have mixed feelings regarding the interpretation of the accounts
presented. It is an important distinction that in this article, a “Cool-down” refers to a practice
an actor engages in post-performance, and not what an actor does after a day of rehearsals,
nor how they detach from a role after finishing a run of a show. Cool-down techniques from
six different practitioners are briefly surmised, these include practices that can be self-led or
must be delivered by an instructor. They contain various cultural influences, and vary in
targeted demographics from professional to student actors. Panoutsos approached
hundreds of actors from Austria, Germany, Greece, the UK, as well as the USA, but
ultimately interviewed sixteen actors regarding the cool-down techniques they employ. The
actors in question were aged in their early twenties to mid eighties, eight female and eight
Male. Interviews were conducted by the author over the course of a three year period and
were conducted in person, via Skype, over the phone, or via email correspondence.

A significant portion of the essay is dedicated to the role of social outings after a
performance, or the “race to the pub” as one actor describes. The language of “perpetual
performance” is used to describe these social outings, as actors do not disengage from the
heightened state of performance, and carry that energy into their personal lives. Additionally,
it is implied by the author that socially drinking after a show is a continuation of performance
in itself. No account of engaging in social activities with one’s peers being a performative act
is provided. Networking is also mentioned, and though networking is inherently a somewhat
performative task, no accounts of actors networking after performances are provided. This
demonstrates a discrepancy, or lack of connection between the data and conclusions drawn
 Another topic discussed is the phenomenon of actors using alcohol as a cool-down
practice. The use of Alcohol consumption as a method of self-medication can take place in
any demographic of people, actors are naturally no exception. Alcohol dependence is not to
be treated lightly, and is far from an ideal method of detaching from one’s daily stresses.
Conversely, several of the actors provide accounts of going to the bar simply for social
interaction and abstain from drinking. This exemplifies how the tradition of a post show drink
can be a positive practice, however alcohol is far from the most practical and healthy
cool-down method.

I feel it important to mention some other discrepancies between the accounts presented
and the conclusions drawn by the author. One example is in regards to the “perpetual
performance” which I’ve previously described. is actually true for the majority of his sample .
Nine of the 16 participants identified as “thriving in perpetual performance.
. Additionally, half of the sixteen participants were based in the UK, no doubt this has some
effects on the social customs of actors.

Of the 16 actors interviewed, only one engaged in conscious cool-down regularly, and
none of the the techniques described in the beginning of the essay were discussed in the
actor’s training. Panoitous recommends that training environments should reconsider their
processes taught, and that the cool-down should be treated as equally important as the
warmup and performance itself. I tend to agree with this suggestion, but I am left with more
questions. Primarily, Why is there such a lack of widely taught cool-down techniques, when
the warm up is highly regarded as a crucial step in performance? I know for certain that I
need to explore this topic further. As somebody deeply fascinated with the extremities of
human emotion, I must develop my own methods of detachment in order to achieve a
sustainable practice.

Panoutsos, C. (2021) “The absence of the cool-down for actors following a theatre
performance; the discussion is on-going but the gap remains”. Theatre, Dance and
Performance Training, Vol. 12 (no.4), https://doi.org/10.1080/19443927.2021.1915860