A Practical Handbook for the Actor

Author: Melissa Bruder
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307499138
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 108

Book Description
For anyone who has ever wanted to take an acting class, "this is the best book on acting written in the last twenty years" (David Mamet, from the Introduction). This book describes a technique developed and refined by the authors, all of them young actors, in their work with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet, actor W. H. Macy, and director Gregory Mosher. A Practical Handbook for the Actor is written for any actor who has ever experienced the frustrations of acting classes that lacked clarity and objectivity, and that failed to provide a dependable set of tools. An actor's job, the authors state, is to "find a way to live truthfully under the imaginary circumstances of the play." The ways in which an actor can attain that truth form the substance of this eloquent book.

The Michael Chekhov Handbook

Author: Lenard Petit
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135277362
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 193

Book Description
'Petit's words go right to the heart of Chekhov's technique ... Anyone looking for a key to understanding more about Michael Chekhov's technique will devour it.' – Jessica Cerullo, Michael Chekhov Association, NYC The Michael Chekhov technique is today seen as one of the most influential and inspiring methods of actor training in existence. In The Michael Chekhov Handbook, Lenard Petit draws on twenty years of teaching experience to unlock and illuminate this often complex technique. Petit uses four sections to guide those studying, working with or encountering Chekhov's approach for the first time: the aims of the technique – outlining the real aims of the actor the principles – acting with energy, imagination and creative power the tools – the actor’s use of the body and sensation the application – bringing the technique into practice The Michael Chekhov Handbook’s explanations and exercises will provide readers with the essential tools they need to put the rewarding principles of this technique into use. Lenard Petit is the Artistic Director of The Michael Chekhov Acting Studio in New York City. He teaches Chekhov Technique in the MFA and BFA Acting programs at Rutgers University. He was a contributor and co-creator of the DVD, Master Classes in The Michael Chekhov Technique, published by Routledge.

True and False

Author: David Mamet
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307806499
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 139

Book Description
One of our most brilliantly iconoclastic playwrights takes on the art of profession of acting with these words: invent nothing, deny nothing, speak up, stand up, stay out of school. Acting schools, “interpretation,” “sense memory,” “The Method”—David Mamet takes a jackhammer to the idols of contemporary acting, while revealing the true heroism and nobility of the craft. He shows actors how to undertake auditions and rehearsals, deal with agents and directors, engage audiences, and stay faithful to the script, while rejecting the temptations that seduce so many of their colleagues. Bracing in its clarity, exhilarating in its common sense, True and False is as shocking as it is practical, as witty as it is instructive, and as irreverent as it is inspiring.

The Stage Actor's Handbook

Author: Michael Kostroff
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538160447
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 165

Book Description
An invaluable guide to the traditions and best practices of the professional stage actor, from first rehearsal to final curtain. Professional stage actors are expected to have ready knowledge of a multitude of unwritten yet well-established protocols. Traditionally, this knowledge was passed along from one generation of stage actors to the next via word of mouth, or were learned by having one’s missteps corrected—until now. In The Stage Actor’s Handbook, these protocols have finally been assembled into one volume, allowing theatre artists to know in advance what is expected of them. A definitive guide for professionals and aspiring professionals alike, this book details best practices on everything from rehearsal demeanor to backstage etiquette. It also shares the theatre’s unique vernacular and revered superstitions, as well as field-tested guidelines on touring, interactions with the public, and more. Written by established theatre pros Michael Kostroff (The Producers, Les Misérables)and Julie Garnyé (Cats, Come From Away), The Stage Actor’s Handbook features bits of wisdom contributed by legendary stage actors, including Bebe Neuwirth, John Lithgow, Chita Rivera, Alfred Molina, Billy Porter, Betty Buckley, Harvey Fierstein, Sam Waterston, Jason Alexander, Cynthia Nixon, and Sir Patrick Stewart.

On Acting

Author: Steven Breese
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 1585106852
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 269

Book Description
To support a new generation of actors/acting teachers by coupling fresh ideas and new approaches with the best proven methods and practices. On Acting is written primarily for the contemporary American actor. It strives to address the acting process with an eye toward the performance culture and requirements that exist today. It is a book for the new twenty-first century artist—the serious practical artist who seeks to pursue a career that is both fulfilling and viable. The text features a balance of philosophy, practical advice, anecdotal evidence/experiences and a wide variety of acting exercises/activities. Also included is the short Steven Breese play "Run. Run. Run Away" and an example of a scene score from that play.

The Intent to Live

Author: Larry Moss
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 0553381202
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 367

Book Description
“I call this book The Intent to Live because great actors don’t seem to be acting, they seem to be actually living.” –Larry Moss, from the Introduction When Oscar-winning actors Helen Hunt and Hilary Swank accepted their Academy Awards, each credited Larry Moss’s guidance as key to their career-making performances. There is a two-year waiting list for his advanced acting classes. But now everyone–professionals and amateurs alike–can discover Moss’s passionate, in-depth teaching. Inviting you to join him in the classroom and onstage, Moss shares the techniques he has developed over thirty years to help actors set their emotions, imagination, and behavior on fire, showing how the hard work of preparation pays off in performances that are spontaneous, fresh, and authentic. From the foundations of script analysis to the nuances of physicalization and sensory work, here are the case studies, exercises, and insights that enable you to connect personally with a script, develop your character from the inside out, overcome fear and inhibition, and master the technical skills required for success in the theater, television, and movies. Far more than a handbook, The Intent to Live is the personal credo of a master teacher. Moss’s respect for actors and love of the actor’s craft enliven every page, together with examples from a wealth of plays and films, both current and classic, and vivid appreciations of great performances. Whether you act for a living or simply want a deeper understanding of acting greatness, The Intent to Live will move, instruct, and inspire you.

Teaching Acting with Practical Aesthetics

Author: Troy Dobosiewicz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 100045861X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 136

Book Description
Teaching Acting with Practical Aesthetics uses constructivist pedagogy to teach acting via Practical Aesthetics, a system of actor training created in the mid-1980s by David Mamet. The book melds the history of Practical Aesthetics, Practical Aesthetics itself, educational theory, and compatible physical work into the educational approach called Praxis to create a comprehensive training guide for the modern actor and theatre instructor. It includes lesson plans, compatible voice and movement exercises, constructivist teaching materials, classroom handouts, and a suggested calendar for Acting courses. Written for Acting instructors at the college and secondary levels, Acting scholars, and professionals looking for a new way to perform, Teaching Acting with Practical Aesthetics offers detailed instructions to help students sharpen their performing skills and excel on stage.

The Great Acting Teachers and Their Methods

Author: Richard Brestoff
Publisher: Smith & Kraus
ISBN: 9781575257709
Category : Acting
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The Great Acting Teachers and Their Methods, Volume 2 features the innovative ideas and theories of: ¿ André Antoine ¿ Jacques Copeau ¿ Michel Saint-Denis ¿ Elia Kazan ¿ Uta Hagen ¿ David Mamet ¿ Anne Bogart ¿ Keith Johnstone BOOK SYNOPSIS In this follow-up to his first volume that has become an essential classroom text, Brestoff examines all new teachers and exposes the origin of today¿s ideas and exercises that acting students are practicing. What is the rationale behind the lesson? Why is it useful? Whether they can be called revolutionary or evolutionary, the conflicting theories of these teachers result from outrage and disgust. Andre Antoine, Jacques Copeau and Michel Saint-Denis represent a virtually unacknowledged yet powerful French influence on acting and actor training in the United States and abroad. American Realist teachers known as the passionate questioners, such as Elia Kazan, who is disgusted with Broadway¿s commercialism, Uta Hagen and David Mamet, and two influential ¿outside-the-box¿ teachers, Anne Bogart with her Viewpoints work and Keith Johnstone, creator of Theatre Sports, are also featured. While differences among the various acting theories and practices are noted and analyzed, so too are exciting and unexpected connections among them revealed. RICHARD BRESTOFF is Associate Professor of Drama and Associate Head of Acting University of California, Irvine. He is the author of four best-selling books for Smith and Kraus, including The Great Acting Teachers and Their Methods, The Camera Smart Actor, The Actor's Wheel of Connection and Acting Under the Circumstances. He has acted on Broadway and off, in Regional Theater and on camera, appearing on the 1991 Emmy Ballot for his Guest-Star performance on the CBS television series, thirtysomething. Richard holds an MFA in Acting form NYU where his teachers included Olympia Dukakis, Peter Kass, Joe Chaikin and Kristin Linklater.

Actions

Author: Marina Caldarone
Publisher: Nick Hern Books
ISBN: 9781854596741
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Book Description
An essential companion for actors in rehearsal - a thesaurus of action words to revitalise performance. Actors need actions. They cannot act moods. They need to be doing something with every line. They need verbs. They need an aim to achieve, and an action selected to help achieve that aim. 'Actions' are active verbs. 'I tempt you.' 'You taunt me.' In order to perform an action truthfully and therefore convincingly, an actor needs to find exactly the right action to suit that particular situation and that particular line. That is where this book comes in ... It is a thesaurus of active verbs, with which the actor can refine the action-word until s/he hits exactly the right one to help make the action come alive. It looks like this: taunt insult, tease, torment, provoke, ridicule, mock, poke, needle tempt influence, attract, entice, cajole, coax, seduce, lure, fascinate It is well known in the acting community that random lists of action-words circulate rehearsal rooms in dog-eared photocopies - as a sort of actor's crib. This book makes them available for the first time in an organised and comprehensive form.

The Actor's Art and Craft

Author: William Esper
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 030748114X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
William Esper, one of the leading acting teachers of our time, explains and extends Sanford Meisner's legendary technique, offering a clear, concrete, step-by-step approach to becoming a truly creative actor.Esper worked closely with Meisner for seventeen years and has spent decades developing his famous program for actor's training. The result is a rigorous system of exercises that builds a solid foundation of acting skills from the ground up, and that is flexible enough to be applied to any challenge an actor faces, from soap operas to Shakespeare. Co-writer Damon DiMarco, a former student of Esper's, spent over a year observing his mentor teaching first-year acting students. In this book he recreates that experience for us, allowing us to see how the progression of exercises works in practice. The Actor's Art and Craft vividly demonstrates that good training does not constrain actors' instincts—it frees them to create characters with truthful and compelling inner lives.