A minor distraction

Australia author Helen Garner, talking about watching a book of hers turned into a play:

In Belvoir’s adaptation, Helen is portrayed by stage and screen veteran Judy Davis – a performance that Garner said she found “shattering” to watch.

“I thought it was brilliant and superb, but it took me a moment to get used to it,” she said. “I don’t go to the theatre much any more. I used to go a lot – I even used to be a theatre critic in the 80s – but now I just look at movies and stuff on TV. And I’d forgotten how actory [theatre] actors are. There’s such a lot of big gestures, big movements, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, could you just stand still for a moment?’ … I kept saying ‘I would never do that. I would never run across the room like that’.”

“And then I thought, well, she’s not trying to be me … she is manifesting in her movements and words, the feelings and emotions and states that I [and] the character in the book had gone through.”

Yes, the actory-ness of theatre acting is something that usually bothers me, too.   It's probably why I mainly go to musical shows, where it doesn't matter as much.