This revolutionary book is more than just a dry theoretical study of acting techniques. Against a background of Apartheid South Africa it tells the story - both humorous and moving - of how teacher/director Brian Astbury - founder of South Africa's legendary Space Theatre - and hundreds of actors and acting students both in production and at Britain's top drama schools developed a set of exercises over two decades to help actors overcome problems not addressed in other methods. These teach how to be 'in the moment'; to gain access to the inexhaustible storehouse of the imagination; to access, integrate and properly use the emotions of the character; to overcome difficulties with learning lines; to recreate performance without conscious thought. "An idiosyncratic, challenging and practical guide to the craft of acting, crammed with anecdotes and humorous insights" Richard E. Grant Actor/director/writer (Withnail and I, The Player, Wah-Wah and many others) "A truly inspirational teacher" Julie Hesmondhalgh Actor (Hayley, Coronation Street) "A unique figure in British theatre. Provocative, controversial, doggedly inspiring. He has been the pivotal teacher, enabler and mentor for me and countless others. Rufus Norris Director (Festen, Cabaret, Market Boy, Tintin, Vernon God Little, Blood Wedding) "I cannot recommend it highly enough" Stephen Moyer Actor (True Blood, NY-LON, Prince Valiant, the RSC) "A conversational (almost chatty) love story, a tale of a theatre company's struggle against Apartheid, an irreverent look at life" Alexander Siddig Actor/director (Deep Space Nine, Syriana, Un Homme Perdu, 24, Primeval, Hannibal) "Brian Astbury was, without a doubt, the biggest influence on me. His teachings are still what I go to in trouble" Jason Flemyng Actor (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Quatermass Experiment, Drum, the RSC)

How do you actually set up a theatre game? And how do you actually play it? There are many books on the subject that describe theatre games, some even show illustrations. But the only way to really understand how a theatre game works is to see it in action. In a workshop setting, Adrea Gibbs directs students of all ages in a series of creative games for learning acting skills. Skills include: Imagination, Observation, Emotional Expressiveness, Listening, Teamwork, Trust, Improvisation, Scene Structure and Development, Focus, Confidence, and more. Over fifteen games and variations are demonstrated including: Name Game, Animal Farm, A Simple Piece of Fabric, Emotion Tag, Mime Alley, Improv Starters, The Bench, Concentration, The Orchestra, This Is A ...and more. This is an excellent resource for learning basic acting skills.

In this richly detailed study, James Naremore focuses on the work of film acting, showing what players contribute to movies. Ranging from the earliest short subjects of Charles Chaplin to the contemporary features of Robert DeNiro, he develops a useful means of analyzing performance in the age of mechanical reproduction; at the same time, he reveals the ideological implications behind various approaches to acting, and suggests ways that behavior on the screen can be linked to the presentation of self in society. Naremore's discussion of such figures as Lillian Gish, Marlene Dietrich, James Cagney, and Cary Grant will interest the specialist and the general reader alike, helping to establish standards and methods for future writing about performers and their craft.

William Esper, one of the most celebrated acting teachers of our time, takes us through his step-by-step approach to the central challenge of advanced acting work: creating and playing a character.

'Stimulating and intelligent' Yoshi Oida Seventy percent of everyday conversation is conveyed through body language, twenty percent is the voice and only ten percent is the meaning of the words. In The Body Speaks, expert RADA trainer Lorna Marshall, shows how to recognise and lose unwanted physical inhibitions that our background, education or family have taught us and presents a fundamental re-thinking of our relationship to the body and its role in performance. Good performers - be they trapeze artists, Shakespearean actors, Butoh dancers or film stars - are able to fully reach their audience and engage with them because they have learnt to use their bodies to its best effect. Through a series of practical exercises, Lorna Marshall encourages us to unleash our potential, discover new possibility for the body and express ourselves more clearly. This new edition has been fully revised to include the latest thinking on the subject and more exercises particularly for performers in TV and film.

Of all the subjects taught in the school system, dramatic arts probably has the greatest potential to help students prepare for life.

The study of acting helps students develop personal and social skills: increased poise and confidence, better awareness of their physical and vocal selves, and an improved ability to think and react quickly. These talents can help in dealing with sometimes difficult real life situations.

The intention of Acting Skills for Life is to integrate personal growth and the process of creative drama with the more formal skills required for stage production.

This is a very practical book, full of suggestions for drama exercises and improvisations, developed over Cameron's thirty years of teaching drama, and includes helpful information for teachers working with students on stage productions.

The Process of Drama provides an original and invaluable model of the elements of drama in context, and defines how these are negotiated to produce dramatic art.
John O'Toole takes the reader through a lively, fascinating account of the relationships between the playwright, the elements of dramatic art, and the other artists involved in this most interactive of creative processes. In doing so he demonstrates - with clarity and wit - how dramatic meaning emerges; how the dramatic event is constructed. Areas covered include:
roles and relationships
the drama space
language and movement
tension and the audience
gesture and movement
This is an essential book for every student of drama who wants to understand how the theatrical art form operates

eBook available with sample pages: 0203359615

Freeing the Actor is the seventh in a series of acting books by Eric Morris, which explain and describe his unique system of acting. In this book, which is totally aimed at the instrument, Eric has implemented a complete approach to eliminating the obstacles, dependencies, traps, and habits that plague and block actors from functioning from an authentic, organic place. By teaching actors how not to act, Eric leads them to understand that they must experience in reality what the character is experiencing in the material. In order to accomplish that, they must be instrumentally free to connect with and express their authentic emotional realities. Liberating the instrument allows them to access all of the colors of their emotional rainbow.

Norma Jeane Baker of Troy is a meditation on the destabilizing and destructive power of beauty, drawing together Helen of Troy and Marilyn Monroe, twin avatars of female fascination separated by millennia but united in mythopoeic force. Norma Jeane Baker was staged in the spring of 2019 at The Shed's Griffin Theater in New York, starring actor Ben Whishaw and soprano Renee Fleming and directed by Katie Mitchell.

Analyzing the relationship between dramatic action and the controversial art of acting, William Worthen demonstrates that what it means to act, to be an actor, and to communicate through acting embodies both an ethics of acting and a poetics of drama. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The Art of Raising an Artist guides parents in helping their children explore the world of acting and ultimately invest in their child's future. Actor and director, Lilia Sixtos has seen thousands of auditions and taught hundreds of artists. By raising her two creative children, she has learned every possible way a creative person's journey can be helped or hindered by their parents. In The Art of Raising an Artist, she shows parents how to: Identify the best training they can provide for their child within their means Develop a safe and loving space for the challenges of their child's journey Create the support team their child needs Find their child's niche Fit the needs of their child's career with the needs of the whole family

The first edition of The Actor's Audition Manual quickly became known as the 'red audition manual', denoting its status as the essential guide. Now revised and extended, it once more brings together a wealth of practical advice and a fresh, diverse range of speeches for both men and women that will help to make your audition powerful and effective.

Questo lavoro da uno sguardo minuzioso sulla ricezione teatrale dei maggiori episodi della Gerusalemme Liberata, studiata qui di riflesso attraverso il successo delle sue riscritture per il palco in Italia ed Europa. Frutto di un'indagine paziente sulla miriade di forme drammatiche musical-teatrali del secolo XVII, ripercorre la storia in gran parte inedita dei trascorsi barocchi di Rinaldo ed Armida, di Sofronia ed Olindo e di Tancredi, Clorinda ed Erminia. Ne risulta un'affascinante panoramica dei tentativi di drammatizzare il grande poema del Tasso che costituiscono un capitolo minore ma non certo trascurabile della storia del teatro e dello spettacolo barocchi. Tale storia e infatti ricca di sviluppi imprevedibili, di volgarizzamenti popolareggianti ma anche di riscritture originali da parte di autori noti (Chiabrera, Sempronio e Rospigliosi) come anche di epigoni oscuri. Il lavoro e corredato da un catalogo ragionato che include piu di 80 opere drammatiche del XVII secolo realmente derivate dalla Liberata o falsamente attribuite ad essa. Il catalogo costituisce uno strumento prezioso per qualsiasi indagine futura intorno alla ricezione teatrale del capolavoro epico di Torquato Tasso.

In this seminal work on a new art of speech, Rudolf and Marie Steiner demonstrate how the Word can truly be brought to life. From the authors' perspective, the audible sound of speech is only the end result of a much greater process that begins inwardly. In contrast to the belief that speaking is entirely a matter of correct placement in the mouth, Rudolf Steiner advises speakers to concentrate on what takes place before the mechanical production of sound is made in the physical organism. Relevant to actors, teachers, therapists and anybody seeking to reinvigorate the art of the Word, this book will be an invaluable friend and guide to improving clarity and restoring beauty to communication.

Culled from Tony Barr's 40 years' experience as a performer, director and acting teacher in Hollywood, this highly praised handbook provides readers with the practical knowledge they need when performing in front of the camera. This updated edition includes plenty of new exercises for honing on-camera skills; additional chapters on imagination and movement; and fresh material on character development, monologues, visual focus, playing comedy and working with directors. Inside tips on the studio system and acting guilds make it particularly helpful for people new to the business, and numerous anecdotes from actors such as Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins and examples from current movies illustrate its many lessons. It is perfect for acting classes, workshops, all actors who work in front of the camera -- and all those who want to.

'Absolutely delicious . . . Janelle Brown is a surgeon of the complex relationships between women. I gobbled this up' Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of All Adults Here 'You won't be able to put this novel down and you won't want to' Laura Dave, no. 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me 'One of those books you'll devour' Chris Bohjalian, New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant 'Janelle Brown has done it again. She has created a deliciously twisty page-turner you won't be able to put down' Angie Kim, Edgar Award-winning author of Miracle Creek 'You be me, and I'll be you' I whispered. As children, Sam and Elli were two halves of a perfect whole: gorgeous identical twins whose parents sometimes couldn't even tell them apart. And once Hollywood discovered them, they became B-list child TV stars, often inhabiting the same role. But as adults, their lives have splintered. After leaving acting, Elli reinvented herself as the perfect homemaker: married to a real estate lawyer, living in a house just blocks from the beach. Meanwhile, Sam has never recovered from her failed Hollywood career, or from her addiction to the pills and booze that have propped her up for the last fifteen years. Sam hasn't spoken to her sister since her destructive behavior finally drove a wedge between them. So when her father calls out of the blue, Sam is shocked to learn that Elli's life has been in turmoil: her husband moved out, and Elli just adopted a two-year-old girl. Now she's stopped answering her phone and checked in to a mysterious spa in Ojai. Is her sister just decompressing, or is she in trouble? Could she have possibly joined a cult? As Sam works to connect the dots left by Elli's baffling disappearance, she realizes that the bond between her and her sister is more complicated than she ever knew.

A Practical Guide to Music Theatre Auditions bk & cd.

The Singer Acts, The Actor Sings is a practical workbook for singers and actors of all disciplines, from musical theater through classical repertory to popular performance styles. This book addresses the needs of both students and professionals, helping them to face the challenges of musical performance undaunted and to achieve the exhilarating feeling of living through song. Paired with online video exercises and demonstrations, The Singer Acts, The Actor Sings is an essential resource for actors and singers alike, helping them master both art forms and gain deeper insight into their own strengths. Whether you're a singer seeking a straightforward approach to acting, an actor who wants to sing, or a singing actor desiring to take your performances to the next level, this book will prove invaluable in achieving your goal.

Beginning with exercises designed to break long-held habits and allow an emotional rather than intellectual relationship to Elizabethan language, Kristin Linklater analyses Shakespeare's strategies for creating character, story and meaning through figures of speech, iambic pentameter, rhyme and the alternation of verse and prose.