From Richard Hornby's preface: This book is written for those who act, those who teach acting, and those who are interested in seeing it. It is both a theoretical work and a call for action. This book is an unashamed attack on the American acting establishment ... The concepts derive from my graduate seminars in acting theory and history in the School of Theatre at Florida State University ... Much of the feistiness of those classes carries over into this book ... If my arguments serve only to stimulate new dialogue, they will have been valuable.
The Invisible Actor presents the captivating and unique methods of the distinguished Japanese actor and director, Yoshi Oida. While a member of Peter Brook's theatre company in Paris, Yoshi Oida developed a masterful approach to acting that combined the oriental tradition of supreme and studied control with the Western performer's need to characterise and expose depths of emotion. Written with Lorna Marshall, Yoshi Oida explains that once the audience becomes openly aware of the actor's method and becomes too conscious of the actor's artistry, the wonder of performance dies. The audience must never see the actor but only his or her performance. Throughout Lorna Marshall provides contextual commentary on Yoshi Oida's work and methods. In a new foreword to accompany the Bloomsbury Revelations edition, Yoshi Oida revisits the questions that have informed his career as an actor and explores how his skilful approach to acting has shaped the wider contours of his life.
The Book of Scenes for Acting Practice provides a variety of styles, characters, and types of drama to sharpen students' acting skills. The scenes range from Sophocles and Shakespeare to O'Neill and Ionesco, and were selected for variety and ease of presentation.
True Acting Tips leads stage and screen actors on a journey of passion, intimacy, and personal investment. This isn't to say that there will not be heavy demands and a high cost, but ultimately, this book is designed to offer the clarity and encouragement to become an actor who makes a difference in the lives of the audience members. “True Acting” is not a reproduction of anything that has come before and True Acting Tips is not a book concerned primarily with the technical demands of acting. Instead, it is an in-depth examination and invitation to see and experience acting as a momentous burst of creation – new, surprising, and deeply human. It includes inspirational quotes, more than 200 acting tips, and images that reveal a powerful philosophy to assist in the most difficult moments. Reading this book, actors will find the joy of true communion with their acting partners and, through this encounter, give the audience an uplifting experience by reminding them that we are all, in fact, human beings.
Aspiring film and television actors will discover exercises for relaxing the face to achieve maximum expressiveness; maintaining proper eye focus in front of the camera and conveying the "beats" of a scene, even in the shortest takes. They'll also learn tested techniques for adapting to the styles of different directors; modulating voice and breath for maximum effect; preparing for the first day on the set; enduring multiple takes and on-the-set waiting; and much, much more. For any performer who intends to make a living in front of the camera, Acting for Film is the most authoritative resource!
Honed by the author's 35 years of teaching, this advanced book offers different warm-up exercises concentrating on the actor's sense of smell, sound, sight, and touch; sensory tools for conveying the climate and environment of the text; tips for suggesting a character's physical conditions; and much more. Individual exercises will help actors to free the voice and body, create a character, find the action and condition of scenes, and explore the subconscious for effective emotional recall. Readers will also find meticulous guidelines for best using rehearsal time and preparing for in-class scene work. The foreword is written by two-time Academy Award nominee Edward Norton. Those who act, direct, or teach will not want to miss the acting lessons that have made T. Schreiber Studio a premier actor training program.
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.
What is good acting? How does one create believable characters?. In The Science of Acting, Sam Kogan applies his theories and teaching to answering these questions. It represents a comprehensive and complete technique applying neuroscience and psychology to the role of acting. At its heart lies a unique and groundbreaking understanding of the subconscious, as well as an unparalleled insight into, and expansion of, Stanislavski's original Russian teaching. The book includes chapters on Awareness, Purposes, Events, Actions, Imagination, Free Body, Tempo-Rhythm, and Laws of Thinking, culminating.
Arthur Miller decided to become a playwright after seeing her perform with the Group Theater. Marlon Brando attributed his acting to her genius as a teacher. Theater critic Robert Brustein calls her the greatest acting teacher in America. At the turn of the 20th century – by which time acting had hardly evolved since classical Greece – Stella Adler became a child star of the Yiddish stage in New York, where she was being groomed to refine acting craft and eventually help pioneer its modern gold standard: method acting. Stella's emphasis on experiencing a role through the actions in the given circumstances of the work directs actors toward a deep sociological understanding of the imagined characters: their social class, geographic upbringing, biography, which enlarges the actor's creative choices. Always “onstage ” Stella's flamboyant personality disguised a deep sense of not belonging. Her unrealized dream of becoming a movie star chafed against an unflagging commitment to the transformative power of art. From her Depression-era plays with the Group Theatre to freedom fighting during WWII, Stella used her notoriety as a tool for change. For this book, Sheana Ochoa worked alongside Irene Gilbert, Stella's friend of 30 years, who provided Ochoa with a trove of Stella's personal and pedagogical materials, and Ochoa interviewed Stella's entire living family, including her daughter Ellen; her colleagues and friends, from Arthur Miller to Karl Malden; and her students from Robert De Niro to Mark Ruffalo. Unearthing countless unpublished letters and interviews, private audio recordings, Stella's extensive FBI file, class videos and private audio recordings, Ochoa's biography introduces one of the most under recognized, yet most influential luminaries of the 20th century.
