Dramatism and Musical Theater: Experiments in Rhetorical Performance is an innovative workbook for both students and teachers in advanced communication performance. Meeting at the nexus of English composition, advanced rhetoric, theater, music, and drama, this book utilizes Kenneth Burke's method of dramatism to discover the motives inherent in performance practices, whether they be in the classroom or on the stage. In this book Kimberly Eckel Beasley and James P. Beasley take the five corners of the dramatistic pentad (act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose) and demonstrate their utilization in performance analysis. The authors then correlate those performance practices with the production of five contemporary musicals: Little Women, Aida, Street Scene, Into the Woods, and Children of Eden in order to emphasize the use of the dramatistic pentad in character, scene, and staging direction. By doing so, the book highlights dramatism as a performance practice necessary for effective participation in artistic communities. Dramatism and Musical Theater: Experiments in Rhetorical Performance is also an indispensable guide for teachers and directors to successfully navigate the challenges of collegiate theatrical production.

"This wonderful, eclectic book offers both theoretical and practical insights to actors, directors, and students, while providing fascinating insights to anyone who seeks a greater understanding of the process of creating theater.-Barbara MacKenzie-Wood, head of acting/music theater, Carnegie Mellon University In this updated rich resource for actors, renowned movement teachers and directors reveal the physical skills needed for the stage and the screen. Readers will gain remarkable insights into the physical skills and techniques used in a wide variety of performance styles through ready-to-use exercises and approaches. Included in this new edition are chapters covering: Stage combat Yoga for actors Martial arts Body-mind centering Authentic movement Bartenieff fundamentals Grotowski-based movement Those who want to pursue serious training will be able to consult the appendix for listings of the best teachers and schools in the country. This inspiring collection is a must-read for all actors, directors, and teachers of theater looking for stimulation and new approaches. Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

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.

Incapacity and Theatricality acknowledges the distinctive contribution to contemporary theatrical performance made by actors with intellectual disabilities. It presents a close examination of certain key theatrical performances across a variety of different media, including John Cassavetes' 1963 social issues film A Child Is Waiting; the performance art collaboration between Robert Wilson and Christopher Knowles; and the provocative pranksterism of Christoph Schlingensief's talent show mockumentary FreakStars 3000. Tracing a global path of performances, Incapacity and Theatricality offers an analysis of how actors with intellectual disabilities have emerged onto the main stage, and how their inclusion calls into question long-held assumptions about both theatre and intellectual disability. For postgraduate students, or anyone interested in the shifting dynamics of twenty-first century theatre, McCaffrey's work offers a vital consideration of the intersubjective relations between people with and without intellectual disabilities and ultimately addresses urgent questions about the situation and representation of the contemporary subject caught up somewhere between incapacity and theatricality.

The Intercultural Performance Handbook opens up a new world of technique for performers. The first ever full-length, fully illustrated manual for practitioners, it provides:
*a guide to the physical, vocal and improvisational dynamics drawn from world performance styles
*a new vocabulary with which to interpret plays from around the globe
*games to use for exploring rhythm, movement, balance, tension and gesture, breathwork, stylisation and the use of the voice
*a practical approach to creating vibrant theatrical work.
Studies on intercultural performance are usually written by scholars and reasearchers. John Martin explains the definition and development of intercultural performance studies from the perspective of an experienced practitioner. He provides exercises, practical advice and a clear training process for the inquiring actor or director.
This book is a process of discovery, carefully written so as to develop understanding and move towards empowerment for the adventurous theatre-maker.

Transformative acting remains the aspiration of many an emerging actor, and constitutes the achievement of some of the most acclaimed performances of our age: Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln, Meryl Streep as Mrs Thatcher, Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter - the list is extensive, and we all have our favourites. But what are the physical and psychological processes which enable actors to create characters so different from themselves? To understand this unique phenomenon, Vladimir Mirodan provides both a historical overview of the evolution of notions of 'character' in Western theatre and a stunning contemporary analysis of the theoretical implications of transformative acting. The Actor and the Character: Surveys the main debates surrounding the concept of dramatic character and - contrary to recent trends - explains why transformative actors conceive their characters as 'independent' of their own personalities. Describes some important techniques used by actors to construct their characters by physical means: work on objects, neutral and character masks, Laban movement analysis, Viewpoints, etc. Examines the psychology behind transformative acting from the perspectives of both psychoanalysis and scientific psychology and, based on recent developments in psychology, asks whether transformation is not just acting folklore but may actually entail temporary changes to the brain structures of the actors. The Actor and the Character speaks not only to academics and students studying actor training and acting theory, but contributes to current lively academic debates around character. This is a compelling and original exploration of the limits of acting theory and practice, psychology, and creative work, in which Mirodan boldly re-examines some of the fundamental assumptions of actor training and some basic tenets of theatre practice to ask: What happens when one of us 'becomes somebody else'?

The Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, director and teacher has written a blunt, unsparingly honest guide to acting. In True and False David Mamet overturns conventional opinion and tells aspiring actors what they really need to know. He leaves no aspect of acting untouched: how to judge the role, approach the part, work with the playwright; the right way to undertake auditions and the proper approach to agents and the business in general. True and False slaughters a wide range of sacred cows and yet offers an invaluable guide to the acting profession.

This dip-in, flick-through, quick-fire resource book, part of the bestselling Drama Games series, offers dozens of games to help bring Shakespeare's plays to life in the classroom or rehearsal room - making them fun and accessible to actors, students, directors and teachers. Inspired by the work of leading cultural education charity Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation, this book offers a wide range of activities to tackle every aspect of the plays, including: Warm-ups and General Games to establish an atmosphere of focus, connection, support and fun - all the conditions you need for a successful session Story and World-building to explore the events, environments and societies of Shakespeare's plays Introducing Shakespeare's Language to help break down the text and allow participants to uncover the meaning through play and creative discovery Activating Shakespeare's Language to liberate actors from the script through movement and voice-work Character to help develop compelling, believable performances by investigating motivations and relationships, circumstances and emotions Staging to help empower every member of the ensemble in moments that might be challenging to stage - such as big movement sequences, fights and battles and intimate love scenes Whatever your reason for exploring Shakespeare - whether you're directing a production, teaching a set text, or introducing his work to a drama club for the first time - this essential resource will give you the tools you need to demystify the language, take ownership of the plays, and find a connection to the words that resonates in our own time.

In "Come Closer," community activists, scholars, and theatre artists describe their Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) work and how they are transforming TO for new purposes, new audiences, and new settings. Each chapter features a first-person narrative on how the authors' work both honors and transforms the vision of Augusto Boal, whose imaginative response to human oppression offers the world an aesthetic intervention that has the power to move both the oppressors and the oppressed to the possibility of transformative dialogue. Contributors to this important volume center their ideas and their descriptions of their practice within theoretical frameworks, particularly Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. "Come Closer" will be useful to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as administrators and professors interested in the topic of democratic education.

Psychology for Actors is a study of modern psychology, specifically designed for the working actor and actor-in-training, that covers discrete areas of psychological theory that actors can apply to their creative process to form and connect with characters. The book investigates many post-Stanislavsky ideas about human psychology from some of the twentieth century's most brilliant minds - from Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung to Abraham Maslow and Ken Wilber - and offers step-by-step exercises to help actors understand their characters and effectively bring them to life on stage or in front of the camera. Psychology for Actors also offers advice on how to cope with the stresses and strains of a highly competitive field, and provides tools for deeper self-awareness and character exploration.

Acting & Auditioning for the 21st Century covers acting and auditioning in relation to new media, blue and green screen technology, motion capture, web series, audiobook work, evolving livestreamed web series, and international acting and audio work. Readers are given a methodology for changing artistic technology and the global acting market, with chapters covering auditions of all kinds, contracts, the impact of new technology and issues relating to disabled actors, actors of colour and actors that are part of the LGBTQIA community.

The Routledge Companion to Jacques Lecoq presents a thorough overview and analysis of Jacques Lecoq's life, work and philosophy of theatre. Through an exemplary collection of specially commissioned chapters from leading writers, specialists and practitioners, it draws together writings and reflections on his pedagogy, his practice, and his influence on the wider theatrical environment. It is a comprehensive guide to the work and legacy of one of the major figures of Western theatre in the second half of the twentieth century. In a four-part structure over fifty chapters, the book examines: The historical, artistic and social context out of which Lecoq's work and pedagogy arose, and its relation to such figures as Jacques Copeau, Antonin Artaud, Jean-Louis Barrault, and Dario Fo. Core themes of Lecoq's International School of Theatre, such as movement, play, improvisation, masks, language, comedy, and tragedy, investigated by former teachers and graduates of the School. The significance and value of his pedagogical approaches in the context of contemporary theatre practices. The diaspora of performance practice from the School, from the perspective of many of the most prominent artists themselves. This is an important and authoritative guide for anyone interested in Lecoq's work.

This book throws new light on the complexity and variety of practices which may be defined as 'theatrical' in a broad sense in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English drama. The volume deals first with the mainstream of dramatic production, starting from the anti-theatrical debate which characterized the whole period and increased in intensity as it went on. Here Shakespeare and Ben Jonson come on stage with their rejoinders to this issue. At the same time, while the universities were offering a kind of theatre workshop importing Latin and Italian models, popular performances were being staged in non-theatrical spaces. Tournaments, and their aristocratic codes, are explored as well as more popular and 'marginal' spectacles -- such as those of conny-catching improvisers, jugglers, gypsy dancers and fortune-tellers, clowns and prophetesses.

Theatre Masks Out Side In examines masks from different angles and perspectives, combining the history, design, construction, and use of masks into one beautifully illustrated resource. Each chapter includes key information about an element of mask study: history and uses, theatre traditions, practical principles for directing, performing exercises, design considerations, mask making techniques, and considering makeup as mask. Artist interviews, theatre company profiles, and hundreds of images provide insight into the variety of mask styles and performance applications. Project suggestions, discussion questions, useful worksheets, creative prompts, and resources for sourcing masks are included to inspire further exploration. Theatre Masks Out Side In is designed with the beginning theatre maker in mind, as well as prop makers, costume designers and technicians, and actors learning to use masks in performance.

What is artistic resonance and how can it be linked to one's life and one's art? This latest book of essays from legendary theatre director Anne Bogart, considers the creation of resonance in the artistic endeavour, with a focus on the performing arts. The word 'resonance' comes from the Latin meaning to 're-sound' or 'sound together'. From music to physics, resonance is a common thread that evokes a response and, in general, is understood as a quality that makes something personally meaningful and valuable. For Bogart, curiosity is a key personal quality to be nurtured throughout life and that very same curiosity, as an artist, thinker and human being. Creating pathways between performance theory, art history, neuroscience, music, architecture and the visual arts, and consistently forging new thought-paths, the writing draws upon Anne Bogart's own life and artistic journeys to illuminate potent philosophical ideas. Woven with personal anecdotes, stories and reflections, this is a book that will be of interest to any theatre artist and anyone who reflects on the power of the arts, of theatre-making and what it means to be engaged in the artistic process.

THE GOOD AUDITION GUIDES: Helping you select and perform the audition piece that is best suited to your performing skills In this volume of the Good Audition Guides, you'll find fifty fantastic speeches for women, all written since the year 2000, by some of our most exciting dramatic voices. Playwrights featured in Contemporary Monologues for Women include Mike Bartlett, Alexi Kaye Campbell, Caryl Churchill, Helen Edmundson, debbie tucker green, Ella Hickson, Lucy Kirkwood, Rona Munro, Joanna Murray-Smith and Enda Walsh, and the plays themselves were premiered at the very best theatres across the UK including the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Bush, Soho and Hampstead Theatres, Manchester Royal Exchange, the Traverse in Edinburgh, the Abbey in Dublin, and many on the stages of the Royal Court. Drawing on her experience as an actor, director and teacher at several leading drama schools, Trilby James prefaces each speech with a thorough introduction including the vital information you need to place the piece in context (the who, what, when, where and why) and suggestions about how to perform the scene to its maximum effect (including the character's objectives and keywords). Contemporary Monologues for Women also features an introduction on the whole process of selecting and preparing your speech, and approaching the audition itself. The result is the most comprehensive and useful contemporary monologue book now available. 'Sound practical advice for anyone attending an audition... a source of inspiration for teachers and students alike' Teaching Drama Magazine on The Good Audition Guides

"What is it that we're doing, when we're acting well? What is it that great actors are actually doing when they're practicing their craft at the highest level?" This is the question famously posed by Earle Gister, the legendary head of the acting department at Yale School of Drama from 1979 to 1999. In Acting Action, actor, director, and teaching artist Hugh O'Gorman invites readers to explore the question in detail. Focusing on playing action-one of the essential components of acting passed on to Earle Gister and Lloyd Richards by Paul Mann-Acting Action is divided into two parts: Context and Practice. The Context section provides a thorough examination of the theory behind the core elements of playing action. The Practice section provides a step-by-step rehearsal guide for actors to integrate playing action into their preparation process. Acting Action is a place to begin for actors: a foundation, a ground plan for how to get started and how to build the core of a performance. More precisely, it provides a practical guide for actors, directors, and teachers in the technique of playing action, addressing a void in the world of actor training by illuminating what exactly to do in the moment-to-moment act of acting. It also serves as an artistic instructional manual for either the stage or camera.

Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play's possibilities and meanings to actors and students. Designed to be used and to be useful, each edition has plenty of space for personal annotations and the well-spaced text is easy to read and to navigate.

A Korean Approach to Actor Training develops a vital, intercultural method of performer training, introducing Korean and more broadly East Asian discourses into contemporary training and acting practice. This volume examines the psychophysical nature of a performer's creative process, applying Dahnhak, a form of Korean meditation, and its central principle of ki-energy, to the processes and dramaturgies of acting. A practitioner as well as a scholar, Jeungsook Yoo draws upon her own experiences of training and performing, addressing productions including Bald Soprano (2004), Water Station (2004) and Playing 'The Maids' (2013-2015). A significant contribution to contemporary acting theory, A Korean Approach to Actor Training provides a fresh outlook on performer training which will be invaluable to scholars and practitioners alike.

A Korean Approach to Actor Training develops a vital, intercultural method of performer training, introducing Korean and more broadly East Asian discourses into contemporary training and acting practice. This volume examines the psychophysical nature of a performer's creative process, applying Dahnhak, a form of Korean meditation, and its central principle of ki-energy, to the processes and dramaturgies of acting. A practitioner as well as a scholar, Jeungsook Yoo draws upon her own experiences of training and performing, addressing productions including Bald Soprano (2004), Water Station (2004) and Playing 'The Maids' (2013-2015). A significant contribution to contemporary acting theory, A Korean Approach to Actor Training provides a fresh outlook on performer training which will be invaluable to scholars and practitioners alike.

Written by an experienced teacher, and illustrated by line drawings and photographs, this book takes the actor step by step through the crucial process of choosing and performing an audition piece.

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 book situates the work of the renowned voice and movement trainer Arthur Lessac in the context of contemporary actor training as a whole. Melissa Hurt uses Maurice Merleau-Ponty's theories of embodiment to frame Lessac's approach in terms of Embodied Acting, a key subject in contemporary performance. In doing so, she explains how the actor can come to experience both technique and expression as a subjective whole, through meditation and spatial attunement. As well as feeding this somatic approach into a wider discussion of embodiment, the author provides concrete examples of how the practice can be put into effect, and studied at university level.

Originally published in 1978. Between 1830 and 1890 the English theatre became recognisably modern. Standards of acting and presentation improved immeasurably, new playwrights emerged, theatres became more comfortable and more intimate and playgoing became a national pastime with all classes. The actor's status rose accordingly. In 1830 he had been little better than a social outcast; by 1880 he had become a member of a skilled, relatively well-paid and respected profession which was attracting new recruits in unprecedented numbers. This is a social history of Victorian actors which seeks to show how wider social attitudes and developments affected the changing status of acting as a profession. Thus the stage's relationship with the professional world and the other arts is dealt with and is followed by an assessment of the moral and religious background which played so decisive a part in contemporary attitudes to actors. The position of actresses in particular is given special consideration. Many non-theatrical sources are used here and there is a survey of salaries and working conditions in the theatre to show how the rising social status of the actor was matched by changes in his theatrical standing. A novel area of study is covered in tracing the changing social composition of the acting profession over the period and in exploring the case-histories of three generations of performers.

Acting for the Stage is a highly accessible guide to the business of theater acting, written for those interested in pursuing acting as a profession. This book is a collection of essays by and interviews with talented artists and businesspeople who have built successful careers in the theater; it's a goldmine of career advice that might take years to find on your own. Herein, the myths around professional acting are dispelled, and the mysteries revealed. Acting for the Stage illuminates practical strategies to help you build a life as a theater professional and find financial rewards and creative fulfillment in the process. Contains essays by and interviews with working stage actors, acting coaches, directors, writers, and agents. Features discussions on selecting a graduate school program, choosing acting classes and workshops, making the most out of your showcase, landing an agent, networking and promoting yourself, and the business of casting. Covers issues of money management, balancing the highs and lows of the profession, finding work to nourish your acting career, and building your creative team and support network.