Search

This book examines how the persistent and deepening casualization and precarity of acting work, coupled with market pressures, has affected the ways in which actors are trained in the US and UK. It reviews the existing state of training, looking at various theories of what the actor does, debates about casting, and the impact of reality television and social media. In the increasing effort to find ways to overcome the precarious labour market for actors and other performers, the traditional emphasis on theatrical character has been replaced by the celebration of the persona – a public image of the performer as a personal brand. As a result, a physiocratic elite, that literally incorporates the collective labour of cultural workers into the star or celebrity body, has formed. This book explores how the star or celebrity's appearance and comportment are positioned as the rule of nature, formed and abiding outside capitalism as a mode of production. This book will be of interest to those studying theatre studies and performance, contemporary stardom and celebrity and the impact of technology on the formation of identity.

Exploring Character Through Structural Metaphor will help performers discover new and valuable insights into the characters they play. Grounded in a contemporary approach to understanding and applying the power of metaphor, it offers a practical guide for both actors and directors. This book introduces the idea of metaphor as a way of thinking rather than simply as clever comparison or figurative language. It demonstrates limitations of ways metaphor has traditionally been used in character development and presents a method for applying structural metaphor to discover rich, in-depth character insights. For directors, the model can serve as an option for guiding character analysis that is less individualistic and actor-specific and more wholistic and cast-inclusive, promoting stronger overall performance unity and production cohesion. In addition to offering a clear, followable guide for character analysis, the authors draw on personal experience to vividly demonstrate how applying this method for character analysis could impact performance and production. This book will be a useful addition to an actor's or director's set of character development resources.

The classic book on acting, in an attractive updated edition Since its original publication in 1973, Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting has remained a durable classic and a must-read for all students of acting. As an acting instructor at the Herbert Berghof Studio, Hagen helped to develop the talents of world-class actors like Robert DeNiro, Matthew Broderick, Gene Wilder, Amanda Peet, Austin Pendleton, Whoopi Goldberg, and more. In this book, Hagen offers an indispensable account of the techniques that professionals use to elevate their acting to an art form. This updated edition illuminates Hagen's original text with a new foreword written by Katie Finneran, retaining the David Hyde Pierce foreword, along with added background on HB Studio—one of the original New York performing arts training and practice spaces—and an excerpt from Hagen's autobiography SOURCES. In working through this book, actors will learn physical, verbal, and emotional practice that empower them to connect their own self-concept to the characters they play. Specific, detailed exercises help actors learn to address a range of problems actors face, like maintaining immediacy and relevance, and developing the dimensions of a role over a long performance run. Respect for Acting is a book for actors and audiences who understand the need for truth in the creative process. Discover the acting book that has shaped professional theater performances for decades Learn the history and background of Herbert Berghof Studio, one of New York's foremost acting schools Practice the craft of acting with concrete exercises and instruction on technique Delve into the deep questions that arise when actors truly inhabit the lives of their characters Actors at all levels of their craft will love this stunning updated version of the essential Respect for Acting.

Ed Hooks'essential acting guidebook for animators has been fully revised and updated in this fifth edition, capturing some of the vast changes that have affected the animation industry in recent years. Written specifically for animation professionals instead of stage and movie actors, this book provides an essential primer for creating empathetic and dynamic character performance and, in the process, shows how the strongest storytelling structure works.Hooks applies classical acting theory – from Aristotle to Stanislavsky and beyond – to animation, as well as explaining scene structure, character development and the connections between thinking, emotion and physical action. Theory presented here applies to any and all character animation regardless of style or animation technique. Whether your project is stop-motion, 2D, 3D or a blend of techniques, audiences are audiences are audiences, and they have shown up at the theater or cinema so they can experience and enjoy your story.New to this fifth edition: Four new scene-by-scene acting analyses of animated feature films: Flee, Soul, Porco Rosso and The Triplets of Belleville A comprehensive and updated section titled'Classroom Notes'which includes a segment on experimental animation, a brief history of acting training for actors and guidance on Motion and Performance Capture technology Updated online database of Hooks'previous film analyses, all in one place Acting for Animators is essential reading for all students and teachers of animation courses.

In the 21st century, actors face radical changes in plays and performance styles, as they move from stage to screen and grapple with new technologies that present their art to ever-expanding audiences. Active Analysis offers the flexibility of mind, body, and spirit now urgently needed in acting. Dynamic Acting through Active Analysis brings to light this timely legacy, born during the worst era of Soviet repression and hidden for decades from public view. Part I unfolds like a mystery novel through letters, memoirs, and transcripts of Konstantin Stanislavsky's last classes. Far from the authoritarian director of his youth, he reveals himself as a generous mentor, who empowers actors with a brand new collaborative approach to rehearsals. His assistant, Maria Knebel, first bears witness to his forward-looking ideas and then builds the bridge to new plays in new styles through her directing and influential teaching. Part II follows a 21st century company of diverse actors as they experience the joy of applying Active Analysis to their own creative and professional work.

Acting Is Believing has trained generations of actors and remains one of the most popular and influential classic Stanislavski-based acting books over the past sixty years. Now in its thirteenth edition, ithas been reimagined for the art of acting in the twenty-first century.Stanislavski expanded our understanding of the mysterious process that results in truthful acting, devising practical steps to pursue the most elusive element of the artform—inspiration. Acting Is Believing: Stanislavski in the 21st Century, 13th Edition,introduces students to all the major concepts of Stanislavski's System of Acting, providing them with a logical process through which they can master this complex art. It breaks down even the most complex elements defining human behavior in ways that are easy to digest. This new edition has been greatly updated, including:Reworked chapters throughout to bring Stanislavski's theories to life in a language that speaks to today's actorsA new approach to entering Stanislavski's Creative State, broken into an innovative five-part processUpdated discussions on anxiety, physical tension, social inhibitions, and intimacy onstageModified solo and group exercisesExpanded appendix on self-directed scene study Refined and updated glossary of acting, theatre, and film terminology Acting Is Believing remains grounded in Stanislavski-based technique training, yet this latest text has evolved as a vital resource for twenty-first century artists pursing acting careers in theatre, film, and television. With a foreword by two-time Tony Award winning actor, Norbert Leo Butz, Acting Is Believing continues to set the gold standard in the art of acting for a new generation.

Acting and Directing Shakespeare's Comedies: Key Lessons outlines a clear, effective process for acting Shakespeare's comedies.This book lays out core principles and useful exercises that help the reader better understand, expereince, and implement Shakespeare's comedic design. Building off of modern acting methods as well as contemporary Clown, classical Commedia, and verse-speaking techniques, the author guides the reader toward interpretive and performance choices that are original, justified, and entertaining. Included are clear examples and detailed case studies that illuminate and reenforce these key lessons.This accessible book is for actors, directors, students of Shakespeare, and those who want a fuller, richer awareness of the possibilities within Shakespeare's comedies and a clear, pragmatic process for creating those performances.

In Mythic Imagination and the Actor, Marissa Chibás draws on over three decades of experience as a Latinx actor, writer, filmmaker, and teacher to offer an approach to acting that embraces collective imagination, archetypal work, and the mythic. The book begins with a comparative analysis between method acting and mythic acting, encouraging actors to push past the limits of singular life experience and move to a realm where imagination and metaphor thrive. In the context of mythic acting, the book explores awareness work, solo performance creation, the power of archetypes, character building exercises, creating a body/text connection, and how to be the detective of your own process. Through this inclusive guide for a new age of diverse performers traversing gender, ability, culture, and race, readers are able to move beyond their limits to a deep engagement with the infinite possibilities of rich imagination. The final chapter empowers and motivates artists to live healthfully within the practice and create a personal artistic vision plan.Written for actors and students of acting, American Drama, and film and theatre studies, Mythic Imagination and the Actor provides practical exercises and prompts to unlock and interpret an actor's deepest creative sources.

Re-Purposing Suzuki: A Hybrid Approach to Actor Training introduces a system of text analysis that synthesizes physical, psychological, and vocal components in order to truthfully embody heightened texts and contexts.By understanding how the author has re-purposed Suzuki and other physical training methods, as well as Stanislavski, readers will gain an awareness of how to analyze a particular training method by extrapolating its key components and integrating it into a holistic, embodied approach to text analysis. The book explores a method of physical scoring via Rules of the Body and Rules of Composition, as well as a method of approaching heightened texts from Greek drama to post-modern playwrights that draws on the individual actor's imagination and experience and integrates voice, mind, and body. Readers will be able to either replicate this approach, or apply the logic of its building blocks to assemble their own personal creative process applicable to a variety of performance genres.This is a source book for actors, theatre students, practitioners, and educators interested in assembling tools derived from different sources to create alternative approaches to actor training. While the process outlined in the book evolves in a classroom setting, the components of the pedagogy can also be practiced by individuals who are interested in finding new ways to explore text and character and bring them into their own personal practice.

Por el Stella Adler Studio of Acting, fundado en 1949 y con sedes en Nueva York y Los Ángeles, han pasado actores y actrices de la talla de Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Melanie Griffith, Benicio del Toro y Mark Ruffalo. Su fundadora, Stella Adler, criada en la tradición del teatro yidis del Lower East Side de Manhattan, aplicaba un método propio, basado en los principios de Stanislavski pero con diferencias notables: en su versión del célebre «método», insistía sobre todo en el conocimiento y la conciencia de uno mismo; para ella, el talento, el esfuerzo, así como la autoestima –«un actor no triunfa si en su interior no siente, toda la vida, que es Dios»–, son los pilares de una buena interpretación. Sus clases fueron reproducidas y reunidas en el año 1988 por Howard Kissel con la ayuda de Glenn Young, ambos importantes críticos teatrales, basándose en grabaciones, en notas tomadas por sus alumnos y en conferencias y entrevistas. El arte de actuar, pues, constituye un valioso compendio de sus enseñanzas, basadas en la atención, el reconocimiento y una actitud abierta al mundo. Para Stella Adler, actuar es hacer, y para ello los actores y las actrices deben estar predispuestos a creer, como niños, que todo es verdad.

It is a book about dying, or, more accurately, about the representation of dying in the theatre. Its chief concern is how actors undertook to translate words and concepts into forms legible and significant to an audience. It deals with the ways in which playwrights wrote about death and attitudes towards death in their cultures. Nevertheless, the emphasis is on the practice of acting. This “death spectacle” runs the gamut. From the Greek tragic stage which was highly selective in determining which deaths it (re)enacted to the elaborately stylized murders and suicides in the Kabuki to the lavish blood-letting of the Elizabethans to the deathbed visitations of the modern era, what was acceptable and/or enjoyable fluctuates wildly.

Congratulations! You got the part! Now what? Many actors of all levels find it challenging to apply classroom and studio techniques to the rehearsal process. Rehearsing for a class is vastly different than a professional situation, and a consistent, practical, and constructive method is needed to truly bring to life vibrant and intricate characters. Building a Performance: An Actor's Guide to Rehearsal provides tools and techniques through different stages of the rehearsal process to enable actors to make more dynamic choices, craft complex characters, and find an engaging and powerful level of performance. John Basil and Dennis Schebetta bring decades of acting and teaching experience to help actors apply the skills they learned in the classroom directly to the professional rehearsal room or film/television set. They show how to glean distinct choices from early readings of the script, how to add dynamics to their physical and vocal decisions, how to explore interactions with other actors in rehearsal, and how to address specific challenges unique to each role. While students will benefit from the practical applications and advice, intermediate and advanced actors will find exciting and new ways to engage with the material and with other actors at rehearsal. Actors of all levels will gain tips and techniques so that they can continue to discover more about their character. With these tools, actors will be inspired to dig into the text and build a dynamic performance.

Acting for the Camera: Back to One is a'how to'book with practical steps to achieve a professional performance on camera. The book focuses on four distinct areas: how to prepare the character, how to execute the technical responsibilities that will assist the editor in creating the on-camera performance in post-production, tips from industry professionals, and how to create effective self-tape auditions. Part One: The Character's World is packed with tools to analyze the script and fully prepare the character before arriving on set. Part Two: The Actor's World focuses on developing technical acting skills for the camera that assist the pre- and post-production teams to create a dynamic on-screen performance. In Part Three: The Professional World, industry professionals provide tips from inside the film/TV audition room and how to navigate a career in the acting business. The final section, Part Four: Self-Tape Like a Pro, outlines how to build a self-tape studio in the privacy of your own home and submit high-quality self-tape auditions that will help you stand out from the competition. Written for students enrolled in Acting for the Camera courses, Acting for the Camera: Back to One explores techniques that can be practiced and mastered by actors of all levels, from the moment they audition for the part through to when they hear that director call'cut!'

Applied Meisner for the 21st-Century Actor develops Meisner's core principles for the contemporary actor and presents a Meisner-based acting technique that empowers practitioners to take ownership of their own creative process.In this book, the authors present the best, most applicable foundational components of Meisner's technique in a clear, pragmatic, and ethical manner, and advance Meisner's core principles with their own innovations. Drawing on the best practices of consent-based work, they outline a specific approach to creating clear boundaries for the actor and establishing an ethical acting studio. Filled with practical exercises, useful definitions and explanations of foundational principles, and helpful advice on how to recognize and overcome common acting traps and pitfalls, this book provides a replicable and flexible technique that puts the actor at the center of their training.Applied Meisner for the 21st-Century Actor offers actors and students of acting courses a workable technique that will foster growth and discovery throughout their career.The text also includes links to the companion website www.21CActor.com, where readers can engage with the material covered in the book and with Otos'and Shively's most up-to-date research, supplemental materials, and training opportunities.

Directing Actors: A Practical Aesthetics Approach is the first book to apply the Practical Aesthetics acting technique to the craft of directing.Lee Cohn lays out a step-by-step, no-nonsense methodology for the director that includes a deep dive into the mechanics of storytelling, the rehearsal process, working with writers, and the practical realities of the director's job. Featuring end-of-chapter exercises, this book provides a clear and effective means of breaking down a script in order to tell a story with clarity, simplicity, and dramatic force and gives directors a clear working vocabulary that will allow effective communication with actors. The techniques in this book are applicable to any theatrical style and any media platform in which a director might work. Written in an accessible, conversational style, this book strips the process of directing down to its most essential components to explain how to become an'actor's director.'A must-read for students in directing courses and professional directors working with actors who prescribe to the Practical Aesthetics technique, as well as anyone interested in the process of working with actors, Directing Actors will help directors to get the very best their actors are capable of while approaching the work with a joyful, open spirit.

Style for Actors is an award-winning handbook and the definitive guide to roles in historical drama. Anyone who has ever struggled with capes, fans, swords, doublets and crinolines should make this third edition their constant companion. The past is a foreign country, and this outstanding book is concerned with exploring it from the actor's point of view. Specific guides to each major period give readers a clear map to discover a range from Greek, Elizabethan, Restoration and Georgian theatre to more contemporary stylings, including Futurism, Surrealism and Postmodernism. New material in this edition covers Commedia dell'arte and non-Western forms of theatre, theatrical fusion and developments in musicals and Shakespeare. The book's references, images, resource lists and examples have all been updated to support today's diverse performers. Robert Barton takes great care to present the actor with the roles and genres that will most commonly confront them. Containing a huge resource of nearly 150 exercises, suggestions for scene study and applications not only for theatrical performance but also for stylistic challenges in the reader's own offstage life, this book is an invaluable resource for students and practitioners of acting and drama.

Experiencing Speech: A Skills-Based, Panlingual Approach to Actor Training is a beginner's guide to Knight-Thompson Speechwork®, a method that focuses on universal and inclusive speech training for actors from all language, racial, cultural, and gender backgrounds and identities. This book provides a progression of playful, practical exercises designed to build a truly universal set of speech skills that any actor can use, such as the ability to identify, discern, and execute every sound found in every language on the planet. By observing different types of flow through the vocal tract, vocal tract anatomy, articulator actions, and how these components can be combined, readers will understand and recreate the process by which language is learned. They will then be introduced to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and will practice using the IPA for narrow transcription of speech sounds. The book also offers both an intellectual and physical understanding of oral posture and how it contributes to vocal characterization and accent work. This approach to speech training is descriptive, giving students a wide and diverse set of speech sounds and skills to utilize for any character in any project, and it establishes a foundation for future accent study and acquisition.Experiencing Speech: A Skills-Based, Panlingual Approach to Actor Training is an excellent resource for teachers and students of speech and actor training, as well as aspiring actors looking to diversify their speech skills.

Somatic Voices in Performance Research and Beyond brings together a community of international practitioner-researchers who explore voice through soma or soma through voice. Somatic methodologies offer research processes within a new area of vocal, somatic and performance praxis. Voice work and theoretical ideas emerge from dance, acting and performance training while they also move beyond commonly recognized somatics and performance processes. From philosophies and pedagogies to ethnic-racial and queer studies, this collection advances embodied aspects of voices, the multidisciplinary potentialities of somatic studies, vocal diversity and inclusion, somatic modes of sounding, listening and writing voice.Methodologies that can be found in this collection draw on: eastern traditions body psychotherapy-somatic psychology Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method Authentic Movement, Body-Mind Centering, Continuum Movement, Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy Fitzmaurice Voicework, Linklater Technique, Roy Hart Method post-Stanislavski and post-Grotowski actor-training traditions somaesthetics The volume also includes contributions by the founders of: Shin Somatics, Body and Earth, Voice Movement Integration SOMart, Somatic Acting Process This book is a polyphonic and multimodal compilation of experiential invitations to each reader's own somatic voice. It culminates with the'voices'of contributing participants to a praxical symposium at East 15 Acting School in London (July 19–20, 2019). It fills a significant gap for scholars in the fields of voice studies, theatre studies, somatic studies, artistic research and pedagogy. It is also a vital read for graduate students, doctoral and postdoctoral researchers.

Active Analysis combines two of Maria Knebel's most important books, On Active Analysis of the Play and the Role and The Word in the Actor's Creative Work, in a single edition conceived and edited by one of Knebel's most famous students, the renowned theatre and film director, Anatoli Vassiliev. This is the first English translation of an important and authoritative fragment of the great Stanislavski jigsaw. A landmark publication.This book is an indispensable resource for professional directors, student directors, actors and researchers interested in Stanislavski, directing, rehearsal methods and theatre studies more generally.

Women, Method Acting, and the Hollywood Film is the first study dedicated to understanding the work of female Method actors on film.While Method acting on film has typically been associated with the explosive machismo of actors like Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, this book explores an alternate tradition within the Method—the work that women from the Actors Studio did in Hollywood. Covering the period from the end of the Second World War until the 1970s, this study shows how the women associated with the Actors Studio increasingly used Method acting in ways that were compatible with their burgeoning feminist political commitments and developed a style of feminist Method acting. The book examines the complex intersection of Method acting, sexuality, and gender by analyzing performances such as Kim Hunter's in A Streetcar Named Desire, Julie Harris's in The Member of the Wedding, Shelley Winters's in The Big Knife, Geraldine Page's in Sweet Bird of Youth, and Jane Fonda's in Coming Home. Challenging the longstanding assumption that Method acting's approaches were harmful to women and incompatible with feminism, this book argues that some of Hollywood's most interesting female actors, and leading feminists, emerged from the Actors Studio in the period between the 1950s and the 1970s.Written for students and scholars of Film Studies, Cultural Studies, Theatre and Performance Studies, and Gender Studies, Women, Method Acting, and the Hollywood Film reshapes the way we think of a central strain in American screen acting, and in doing so, allows women a new stake in that tradition.

Games for Actors and Non-Actors is the classic and bestselling book by the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, Augusto Boal.It sets out the principles and practice of Boal's revolutionary method, showing how theatre can be used to transform and liberate everyone – actors and non-actors alike! This new third English edition includes recently uncovered interviews and essays from the 1970s, some of which featured in the earliest Portuguese edition of this book, and a new essay by the theatre director Sergio de Carvalho, which looks at Boal's work in the context of Brazilian theatre and politics over the past fifty years.This is a vital handbook for theatre makers and activists of all kinds who want to deepen their understanding of the theory and practice of Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed. It is also an excellent introduction for those new to the system.

Owning Our Voices offers a unique, first-hand account of working within the Wolfsohn-Hart tradition of extended voice work by Margaret Pikes, an acclaimed voice teacher and founder member of the Roy Hart Theatre.This dynamic publication fuses Pikes'personal account of her own vocal journey as a woman within this, at times, male-dominated tradition, alongside an overview of her particular pedagogical approach to voice work, and is accompanied by digital footage of Pikes at work in the studio with artist-collaborators and written descriptions of scenarios for teaching. For the first time, Margaret Pikes'uniquely holistic approach to developing the expressive voice through sounding, speech, song and movement has been documented in text and on film, offering readers an introduction to both the philosophy and the practice of Wolfsohn-Hart voice work. Owning Our Voices is a vital book for scholars and students of voice studies and practitioners of vocal performance: it represents a synthesis of a life's work exploring the expressive potential of the human voice, illuminating an important lineage of vocal training, which remains influential to this day.

Time and Performer Training addresses the importance and centrality of time and temporality to the practices, processes and conceptual thinking of performer training. Notions of time are embedded in almost every aspect of performer training, and so contributors to this book look at: age/aging and children in the training context how training impacts over a lifetime the duration of training and the impact of training regimes over time concepts of timing and the ‘right'time how time is viewed from a range of international training perspectives collectives, ensembles and fashions in training, their decay or endurance Through focusing on time and the temporal in performer training, this book offers innovative ways of integrating research into studio practices. It also steps out beyond the more traditional places of training to open up time in relation to contested training practices that take place online, in festival spaces and in folk or amateur practices.Ideal for both instructors and students, each section of this well-illustrated book follows a thematic structure and includes full-length chapters alongside shorter provocations. Featuring contributions from an international range of authors who draw on their backgrounds as artists, scholars and teachers, Time and Performer Training is a major step in our understanding of how time affects the preparation for performance.Chapter 16 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

Intercultural Acting and Performer Training is the first collection of essays from a diverse, international group of authors and practitioners focusing on intercultural acting and voice practices worldwide. This unique book invites performers and teachers of acting and performance to explore, describe, and interrogate the complexities of intercultural acting and actor/performer training taking place in our twenty-first century, globalized world. As global contexts become multi-, inter- and intra-cultural, assumptions about what acting'is'and what actor/performer training should be continue to be shaped by conventional modes, models, techniques and structures. This book examines how our understanding of interculturalism changes when we shift our focus from the obvious and highly visible aspects of production to the micro-level of training grounds, studios, and rehearsal rooms, where new forms of hybrid performance are emerging. Ideal for students, scholars and practitioners, Intercultural Acting and Performer Training offers a series of accessible and highly readable essays which reflect on acting and training processes through the lens offered by'new'forms of intercultural thought and practice.

Reframing Acting in the Digital Age: Nimbly Scaling Actor Training in the Academy refocuses how actors work in TV, film, and stage. In this refreshing text, Preeshl integrates original interviews with 25 theatre, film, TV, and digital media experts from leading international programs to create an essential contribution to actor training studies. These interviews cover diverse topics such as contemporary training methods, industry standards, and experiential learning, incorporating interdisciplinary recommendations from academics and professionals alike to navigate undergraduate actor training in the digital age.Digitally native undergraduates arrive at university being well versed in the digital and technological world, but as technologically savvy as these Millenials and Generation Z are, Preeshl and her interviewees show how acting and production degree programs can reframe these competencies to enable students to acquire and transfer digital skills. This phenomenological study bridges actor training methods across media to promote'scaling'to update undergraduate actor training for the digital age. By applying the recommendations of these experts to curricular practices, universities may increase market share, diversity, and graduate employability.This in-depth field study is a vital read for acting teachers, students, professional actors, and scholars within theatre and film programs.

In (toward) a phenomenology of acting, Phillip Zarrilli considers acting as a ‘question'to be explored in the studio and then reflected upon.This book is a vital response to Jerzy Grotowski's essential question:'How does the actor ‘touch that which is untouchable?''Phenomenology invites us to listen to'the things themselves', to be attentive to how we sensorially, kinesthetically, and affectively engage with acting as a phenomenon and process. Using detailed first-person accounts of acting across a variety of dramaturgies and performances from Beckett to newly co-created performances to realism, it provides an account of how we ‘do'or practice phenomenology when training, performing, directing, or teaching. Zarrilli brings a wealth of international and intercultural experience as a director, performer, and teacher to this major new contribution both to the practices of acting and to how we can reflect in depth on those practices.An advanced study for actors, directors, and teachers of acting that is ideal for both the training/rehearsal studio and research, (toward) a phenomenology of acting is an exciting move forward in the philosophical understanding of acting as an embodied practice.

The Michael Chekhov Handbook is a practical guide to Chekhov's supportive techniques for actors, fully updated with new exercises that examine the relationship between the sensations of the physical body and the imagination.Lenard Petit draws on 25 years of teaching experience to unlock and illuminate Michael Chekhov's philosophy, and offers guiding principles and effective tools that actors can apply in rehearsal and performance. The second edition focuses on the building blocks of drama and an exploration of the five senses as an expressive springboard, with a new section on the function of the Archetype in the Chekhov method. Theory and practice are treated here with clarity and simplicity.Dedicated to students and teachers of acting, The Michael Chekhov Handbook provides readers with the essential tools they need to put the rewarding principles of this technique into use.

Theatre in Practice is an accessible and wide-ranging exploration of the central practices and key practitioners covered on the various syllabi at A level, IB, BTEC and beyond. Exploring Stanislavski, Brecht, Artaud, Lecoq, Berkoff and Craig, as well as work from innovative theatre companies such as Complicite, Gecko and The Paper Birds, it combines an informal, unpretentious tone with a wealth of practical exercises. Revised and updated to meet the most recent post-16 and A level drama requirements and to include some of the latest practices in theatre, this new edition offers a step-by-step approach to developing key skills such as devising, improvising, rehearsing mono/duologues and directing plays. Written by specialists with extensive experience leading workshops for the post-16 age-group, Theatre in Practice is a thorough and imaginative resource that speaks directly to students.New for this edition: A new chapter exploring Artaud and how to use Artaud with text and when devising. A new chapter exploring the progression of practice from Lecoq to Complicite. A series of step-by-step exercises exploring the Gecko devising process. An exploration of the work of The Paper Birds and E G Craig when devising. New exercises on how to devise using Stanislavski and Brecht.

En 1948 Uta Hagen sustituyó temporalmente a la actriz Jessica Tandy en el papel de Blanche en Un tranvía llamado Deseo en Broadway. Ante las reticencias de Marlon Brando, propuso que ensayaran los cinco primeros minutos para ver si sus interpretaciones encajaban: «¿Por qué funcionó? Los dos estábamos totalmente familiarizados con el lugar, los objetos y las circunstancias. Ninguno fue caprichoso ni egoísta. Ninguno violó las intenciones de nuestros personajes. Las cuatro semanas que siguieron nunca dejaron de ser una aventura». En Respeto por la interpretación, un clásico de la pedagogía teatral desde su publicación en 1973, la actriz se sirve de las obras que interpretó -de El huerto de los cerezos y Tío Vania a Casa de muñecas y ¿Quién teme a Virginia Woolf?— para ilustrar sus principios sobre el arte y el oficio de la interpretación. Se dirige en todo momento al potencial actor de tú a tú, descifrando con él, a través de ejercicios y trabajos preparatorios, las claves de su técnica de la «sustitución», es decir, la identificación con experiencias emocionales y sensoriales que guíen al intérprete hasta conseguir una actuación interiorizada. Este encuentro con uno mismo, «a través de una serie continua y solapada de sustituciones de nuestras propias experiencias y recuerdos mediante el uso de una imaginativa extensión de las realidades», es una de las claves del libro.

This innovative and timely collection offers a wide-reaching critical evaluation of performance in television, mapping out key conventions, practices and concerns while introducing performance theory and criticism to the established field of television studies. Chapters from leading scholars move through a range of examples from different styles and genres, from Game of Thrones to America's Next Top Model. Individual performances are analysed in close detail as the authors debate central questions of meaning, value and achievement. Opening out new pathways for inquiry and investigation, this book is an important touchstone for undergraduate and postgraduate students of television, media and theatre studies with an interest in the work of actors and non-actors on screen.

Few actors have had a career as dynamic as that Kathleen Turner's; success has followed her from the television screen to major blockbusters, from indie films to the theater stage. Over her forty-year career, Turner has developed an instinctual knowledge of what it takes to be a successful actor, and, in her conversations with esteemed film professor Dustin Morrow, she shares these lessons with the world. With her iconic wit on full display, Turner dazzles readers with her shrewd insights on the craft of acting and charming anecdotes from her own storied career. Touching on each of her roles, she expounds on the lessons she's learned and describes her journey of discovery in the world of acting. An epic and intense one-on-one master class in acting from the best teacher imaginable, Kathleen Turner on Acting is a must for acting and directing students of every age, established actors and directors, filmmakers, theater pros, and artists of every stripe.

“A workhorse of a book! Beautifully conceived and executed. Clues to Acting Shakespeare is a no-brainer purchase for acting collections in all libraries.” —Library JournalClues to Acting Shakespeare has become a popular guide for actors, directors, teachers and Shakespeare enthusiasts, selling over 15,000 copies of previous editions. This third edition retains the second edition's unique solutions to challenges that face directors and actors at advanced levels and is expanded to include an entirely new section for amateur and community theatre groups. In this new edition, readers will be delighted to find: New section to aid community theatres to perform Shakespeare's plays, including five recorded workshops of community theatre actors coached and trained by the authorUpdates to the successful sections on training student actors (MFA and BFA programs), and professional actors (including audition tips)—highlighted by twenty author-coached workshops with professional and advanced student actorsImproved section for teachers of high school and child actors with worksheets and sample lesson plansNew exercises and resources for all levels of acting and production To aid professionals, Clues to Acting Shakespeare offers a one-day brush-up for auditions and preparation to play Shakespeare immediately. Text analysis, character studies, and both classical British training and American methods are explored. The exercises and recorded workshops provide inspiring advice to all actors and demonstrate concepts discussed throughout the book. The critical skills required for acting Shakespeare, including scansion, phrasing, caesura, breathing, speech structure, antithesis, and more are covered in detail. The comprehensive exercises using the Bard's plays and sonnets teach actors to break down the verse, support the words, understand the imagery, and use the text to create vibrant performances.

Following in the footsteps of his renowned teacher Konstantin Stanislavsky, Michael Chekhov's work as an actor, author and theatre practitioner gave great insight into how to access the creative self. This revised and updated edition of Michael Chekhov includes: • A biographical introduction to Chekhov's life • A clear explanation of his key writings • An analysis of his work as a director • A practical guide to Chekhov's unique actor-training exercises. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today's student.

¿Por qué se pretende que la actuación sea una mera copia de lo real? ¿Podemos concebir la técnica como construcción de algo que no es ni calco, ni forma preconcebida, ni algo existente antes de que el actor lo construya? Los encuadres teóricos que se proponen en este libro sirven para comprender los principios técnicos de una pedagogía que mira a la recuperación de la esencia. El actor no debe aprender una técnica interpretativa para tener razón, sino para poder crear sin traicionarse.'La técnica en el actor es lo que el paracaídas al aventurero … le da certeza de llegar a su destino viviendo la experiencia como la primera vez…'–Luz María Meza, actriz mexicana.'Toda técnica entraña una metafísica. La astucia de la técnica es hacer que florezca la imaginación al servicio de la construcción de un personaje.'–Jesús Noguero, actor español.'A mayor dominio de la técnica en cada ensayo, mayor será la calidad y coherencia del hallazgo...'–Benjamin Cortés, actor chileno.'La técnica es un viaje hacia la libertad creativa y desde ahí, cerquita, queda otro viaje hacia el talento.'– Octavio Basso, actor argentino.'La técnica interpretativa de Jorge Eines, es una herramienta actoral que me ha dado libertad...'–Walter Ramírez, actor peruano.'Es la manera de encontrar nuestra fluidez en la expresión por medio del reconocimiento de nuestros impedimentos. Tiene que ver con la unidad: mente como memoria; cuerpo como recipiente de emociones.'–Jorge Grisales, actor y profesor colombiano.

As one of the most well-known names in theatre history, Konstantin Stanislavsky's teachings on actor training have endured throughout the decades, influencing scholars and practitioners even in the present day. This second edition of Konstantin Stanislavsky combines: an overview of Stanislavsky's life and work, including recent discoveries an assessment of his widely read text, An Actor Prepares (1936) with comparisons to Benedetti's 2008 translation, An Actor's Work detailed commentary of the key 1898 production of The Seagull an indispensable set of practical exercises for actors, teachers and directors. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial ex- ploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners are unbeatable value for today's student.

Performed Ethnography and Communication explores the relationships between these three key terms, addressing the impact of ethnography and communication on the cutting edge of performance studies. Ranging from digital performance, improvisation and the body, to fieldwork and staged collaboration, this volume is divided into two main sections:'Embodied technique and practice,'which addresses improvisation, devised theatre-making, and body work to consider what makes bodies move, sound, behave, mean, or appear differently, and the effects of these differences on performance;'Oral history and personal narrative performance,'which is concerned with the ways personal stories and histories might be transformed into public events, looking at questions of perspective, ownership, and reception. Including specific historical and theoretical case studies, exercises and activities, and practical applications for improvisation, ethnography, and devised and digital performance, Performed Ethnography and Communication represents an invaluable resource for today's student of performance studies, communication studies or cultural studies.

Stanislavski in Practice is an unparalleled step-by-step guide to Stanislavski's system. Author Nick O'Brien makes this cornerstone of acting accessible to teachers and students alike through the use of practical exercises that allow students to develop their skills. This second edition offers more exercises for the actor, and also new sections on directing and devising productions. Each element of the system is covered practically through studio exercises and jargon-free discussion. Exercises are designed to support syllabi from Edexcel, Eduqas, OCR and AQA to the practice-based requirements of BTEC and IB Theatre. This is the perfect exercise book for students and a lesson planner for teachers at post-16 and first year undergraduate level. New to this edition: Thoroughly reorganized sections, including'Work on the Actor','Work on a Role'and'Developing your Practice'; A new chapter on using Stanislavski when devising with a series of exercises that will allow students to structure and create characters within the devising process; A new chapter, Directing Exercise Programme, which will be a series of exercises that allows the student to develop their skills as a director; New glossary with US and UK terms; New exercises developed since the publication of the first edition; A new chapter going beyond Stanislavski, exploring exercises from Michael Chekhov, Maria Knebel and Katie Mitchell.

Now in a vibrantly revised second editon, Acting: The Basics remains a practical and theoretical guide to the world of the professional actor, which skilfully combines ideas from a range of practitioners and linking the academy to the industry. Retaining a balance between acting history, a discussion of pioneers and a consideration of the practicalities of acting techniques, the new edition includes a discussion of acting for the screen as well as the practicalities of stage acting, including training, auditioning and rehearsing. With a glossary of terms and useful website suggestions, this is the ideal introduction for anyone wanting to learn more about the practice and history of acting.

Performing Shakespeare Unrehearsed: A Practical Guide to Acting and Producing Spontaneous Shakespeare outlines how Shakespeare's plays can be performed effectively without rehearsal, if all the actors understand a set of performance guidelines and put them into practice.Each chapter is devoted to a specific guideline, demonstrating through examples how it can be applied to pieces of text from Shakespeare's First Folio, how it creates blocking and stage business, and how it enhances story clarity. Once the guidelines have been established, practical means of production are discussed, providing the reader with sufficient step-by-step instruction to prepare for Unrehearsed performances. This book is written for the actor and performer.

Performing the work of William Shakespeare can be daunting to new actors. Author Herb Parker posits that his work is played easier if actors think of the plays as happening out of outrageous situations, and remember just how non-realistic and presentational Shakespeare's plays were meant to be performed. The plays are driven by language and the spoken word, and the themes and plots are absolutely out of the ordinary and fantastic - the very definition of outrageous. With exercises, improvisations, and coaching points, Acting Shakespeare is Outrageous! helps actors use the words Shakespeare wrote as a tool to perform him, and to create exciting and moving performances.

This fascinating text offers the first in-depth exploration of acting processes in British television. Focused around 16 new interviews with celebrated British actors, including Rebecca Front, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Ken Stott, Penelope Wilton and John Hannah, this rich resource delves behind the scenes of a range of British television programmes in order to find out how actors build their characters for television, how they work on set and location, and how they create their critically acclaimed portrayals. The book looks at actors'work across four diverse but popular genres: soap opera; police and medical drama; comedy; and period drama. Its insightful discussion of hit programmes and its critical and contextual post-interview analysis, makes the text an essential read for students across television and film studies, theatre, performance and acting, and cultural and media studies, as well as academics and anyone interested in acting and British television.

Black Acting Methods seeks to offer alternatives to the Euro-American performance styles that many actors find themselves working with. A wealth of contributions from directors, scholars and actor trainers address afrocentric processes and aesthetics, and interviews with key figures in Black American theatre illuminate their methods. This ground-breaking collection is an essential resource for teachers, students, actors and directors seeking to reclaim, reaffirm or even redefine the role and contributions of Black culture in theatre arts. Chapter 7 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Ed Hooks'essential acting guidebook for animators has been fully revised and updated in this 4th edition. Hooks uses classical acting theory – from Aristotle to Stanislavsky and beyond – to explain everything from character analysis and physical movement to facial expression and scene structure. He speaks directly to animators, instead of stage or screen actors. Acting for Animators is an invaluable primer for beginner animators and a useful reference for experienced pros. New to this fourth edition: - 6 new scene-by-scene acting analyses of animated feature films, including Zootopia and The Little Prince - an annotated analysis of Walt Disney's famous 1935 memo to Don Graham, regarding how best to train animators - advice to the animator about how best to perform visual references - a chapter on Virtual Reality - an online database of Ed's previous film analyses, all in one place.

Stanislavski's ‘system'has dominated actor-training in the West since his writings were first translated into English in the 1920s and 30s. His systematic attempt to outline a psycho-physical technique for acting single-handedly revolutionized standards of acting in the theatre.Until now, readers and students have had to contend with inaccurate, misleading and difficult-to-read English-language versions. Some of the mistranslations have resulted in profound distortions in the way his system has been interpreted and taught. At last, Jean Benedetti has succeeded in translating Stanislavski's huge manual into a lively, fascinating and accurate text in English. He has remained faithful to the author's original intentions, putting the two books previously known as An Actor Prepares and Building A Character back together into one volume, and in a colloquial and readable style for today's actors.The result is a major contribution to the theatre, and a service to one of the great innovators of the twentieth century.This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by the director Richard Eyre.

The Method Acting Exercises Handbook is a concise and practical guide to the acting exercises originally devised by Lee Strasberg, one of the Method's foremost practitioners. The Method trains the imagination, concentration, senses and emotions to ‘re-create'– not ‘imitate'– logical, believable and truthful behavior on stage and in film.Building on nearly 30 years of teaching internationally and at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York and Los Angeles, Lola Cohen details a series of specific exercises in order to provide clear instruction and guidance to this preeminent form of actor training. By integrating Strasberg's voice with her own tried and tested style of teaching, Cohen demonstrates what can be gained from the exercises, how they can inform and inspire your learning, and how they might be applied to your acting and directing practice. As a companion to The Lee Strasberg Notes (Routledge 2010), a transcription of Strasberg's own teaching, The Method Acting Exercises Handbook offers an unparalleled and updated guide to this world renowned technique.

Ian Wilkie contends that comic acting is a distinct art form, and as such demands a unique skillset. By exploring the ways in which performance choices and improvised moments can work in conjunction with texts themselves, Performing in Comedy offers an indispensable practical tool for enhancing comic performance.This volume is a must-read for any actors, directors or students who work with comic texts. Wilkie synthesises theories and principles of comedy with practical tips, and re-evaluates the ways in which these ideas can be used by the performer. Most importantly, these skills – timing, focus, awareness – are teachable rather than being innate talents. Exercises, interviews and guides to further resources enhance this comprehensive exploration of comic acting.

Julia Varley, attrice storica dell'Odin Teatret dove è entrata nel 1976, si racconta e ci racconta la sua esperienza, mostrandoci il suo modo integrale di vivere il teatro.

At the time of his death, Stanislavsky considered Nikolai Demidov to be ‘his only student, who understands the System'. Demidov's incredibly forward-thinking processes not only continued his teacher's pioneering work, but also solved the problems of an actor's creativity that Stanislavsky never conquered. This book brings together Demidov's five volumes on actor training. Supplementary materials, including transcriptions of Demidov's classes, and notes and correspondence from the author make this the definitive collection on one of Russian theatre's most important figures.

Film and Television Acting offers solid techniques for creating a natural, believable performance for film and television. The reader will discover techniques for listening and reacting, blocking and business, character, focus, the closeup, and comedy as they pertain to acting in front of a camera. The book analyzes the differences between theatre, film, and television acting, providing the theatre trained actor with specific approaches for making the transition to on-camera work. This second edition is thoroughly revised and updated. The book contains numerous scenes and exercises, including sample scenes from Cheers and Seinfeld, which provide the reader with ways to practice the specific techniques outlined by the author. Included are interviews with well-know actors and directors: Don Murray, Norman Jewison, and Emmy award winner, Glenn Jordan, to name a few. These interviews illustrate how the professionals apply their training and technique to filmed performances. There is also a chapter-length interview with John Lithgow, in which the actor provides a first-hand account of the differences of acting for the theatre and for the camera.

Play Readings: A Complete Guide for Theatre Practitioners demystifies the standards and protocols of a play reading, demonstrating how to create effective and evocative readings for those new to or inexperienced with the genre. It examines all of the essential considerations involved in readings, including the use of the venue, pre-reading preparations, playwright/director communication, editing/adapting stage directions, casting, using the limited rehearsal time effectively, simple'staging'suggestions, working with actors, handling complex stage directions, talkbacks, and limiting the use of props, costumes, and music. A variety of readings are covered, including readings of musicals, operas, and period plays, for comprehensive coverage of this increasingly prevalent production form.