Acting techniques Books
Globe Pequot Press I Dont Need an Acting Class
Book SynopsisI Don''t Need an Acting Class explores critical aspects of the technique of acting, utilizing conversations via email with countless actors. Some are aspiring students, others are seasoned professionals. The conversations document the challenges these diverse actors face as they digest what they have learned in a class or rehearsal while exploring in practical terms how to use their growing technique.Milton Justice first began receiving emails from actors in 2008. In this book, Justice brings together email conversations between teacher and student, along with observations and commentary about acting technique and craft. Not all of the emails in the book are overly thought-out or complete. Quite the contrary, they are meant to capture the feeling of a living, breathing process as it happens. When an actor sends a teacher or director an email with a problem, be it a simple comment or confusion, it is evidence of a creative artist
£13.49
BenBella Books The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide
Book SynopsisJenna Fischer's Hollywood journey began at the age of 22 when she moved to Los Angeles from her hometown of St. Louis. With a theater degree in hand, she was determined, she was confident, she was ready to work hard. So, what could go wrong? Uh, basically everything. The path to being a professional actor was so much more vast and competitive than she'd imagined. It would be eight long years before she landed her iconic role on The Office, nearly a decade of frustration, struggle, rejection and doubt. If only she'd had a handbook for the aspiring actor. Or, better yet, someone to show her the way—an established actor who could educate her about the business, manage her expectations, and reassure her in those moments of despair. Jenna wants to be that person for you. With amusing candor and wit, Fischer spells out the nuts and bolts of getting established in the profession, based on her own memorable and hilarious experiences. She tells you how to get the right headshot, what to look for in representation, and the importance of joining forces with other like-minded artists and creating your own work—invaluable advice personally acquired from her many years of struggle. She provides helpful hints on how to be gutsy and take risks, the tricks to good auditioning and callbacks, and how not to fall for certain scams (auditions in a guy's apartment are probably not legit—or at least not for the kind of part you're looking for!). Her inspiring, helpful guidance feels like a trusted friend who's made the journey, and has now returned to walk beside you, pointing out the pitfalls as you blaze your own path towards the life of a professional actor.Trade Review"I loved reading Jenna's honest and sincere appraisal of the actualities of breaking into, finding one's way, and then thriving in this business. I hope it is given out as a guidebook of sorts to any young actor when they land at LAX."—Jon Hamm "In The Actor's Life, Jenna Fischer lays out exactly what aspiring actors can expect from this crazy, unpredictable industry both practically and emotionally. Nothing is sugar-coated, nor is it cynical. It's just reality, plain and simple. At every level of success, we are all just artists trying to figure it out day by day. That's the truth."—Christina Applegate "If I had Jenna's book when I was a struggling actor it would have eased the pain and encouraged my journey. This is an insightful, funny, sweet story from one actor to another; we all need a leg up, a hand to hold, and the encouragement to keep going when we truly find our passion. Jenna manages to do that and more in this very helpful guide for an actor finding their way into the business."—Julianna Margulies "How lucky for those who dream that Jenna Fischer has written this book and candidly explained the hard work, persistence, and delusion required to become a working actor. This book is generous, practical, and in the right hands will be a talisman for the deserving few who refuse to give up."—Matthew Weiner, creator of Mad Men "Jenna Fischer's story is an excellent resource for anyone who is involved in the life of an actor. Much of this information was new to me; I have always respected the actor's journey, but now I am in awe of it. It's also entertaining from beginning to end."—Allison Jones, Casting DirectorTable of ContentsForeword by Steve Carell Introduction Chapter One: Getting Started Chapter Two: Headshots, Getting in the Union, and Building Your Resume Chapter Three: How to Find, Get, and Keep an Agent or Manager Chapter Four: Auditioning, Rejection, and How to Persevere Chapter Five: You Got a Job! How Things Work on a Television or Film Set Chapter Six: The Journey Actor Interviews: Sharing the Brushstrokes Acknowledgments About the Author
£12.34
Ermor Enterprises,U.S. beinganddoing
Book Synopsis
£16.36
Anthem Press Kunqu Masters on Chinese Theatrical Performance
Book SynopsisKunqu, recognized by UNESCO in 2001 as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, is among the oldest and most refined traditions of the family of genres known as xiqu (music-drama or “Chinese opera”). Today, the art form’s musical and performance traditions are being passed on by senior artists. This book consists of twelve explanatory narrations in English, selected and translated from among an expansive collective endeavour in Chinese. Each performer narration sheds light on the human processes that create and transmit celebrated pieces of theatre. Annotations place these narratives in historical, literary, discursive, and aesthetic contexts. Close critical attention reveals kunqu as a living and changing art form. Methodologically, this work breaks new ground by centering the performers’ perspective rather than the text, providing a complement and a challenge to performance analysis, and ideological, sociological, or plot-based perspectives on xiqu.Trade Review“These engaging lectures by twelve kunqu masters furnish inside views of their creative process as they discuss a foundational play that features their role type. The introduction, annotations, and supporting materials are as comprehensive an introduction to kunqu as can be found in English and provide leads to existing resources in both Chinese and English” —Catherine Swatek, University of British Columbia, Canada.“The book is unique and valuable and provides understanding about lectures of very influential people to even the ordinary, interested readers ”—David Rolston, University of Michigan, USA."These masters’ narratives of their lived experience offer readers a wealth of information on Kunqu’s stage art, creative process, history, behind-the-curtain secrets, and pedagogy. Accentuating the practitioner’s voice and body, this book constitutes a significant contribution not only to kunqu studies but also to general theatre studies and theatre history.” --Xing Fan, Associate Professor; Associate Director, Graduate, Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies, University of Toronto, Canada."This wonderful book captures vanishing expertise of kunqu performance for Anglophone readers through translations of lectures by master performers about their favourite scenes. The results are both worthy and highly entertaining. Lecturing about a scene called ‘The Stirring Zither’, Wang Shiyu proves an utterly engaging storyteller. Wang’s lively and precise descriptions of key performance conventions uncover subtle subtextual meanings and lift opaque literary references of the page. Teasing out the details of psychological motivation, he renders the budding romance between a failed feudal scholar and a recalcitrant Taoist nun in delightfully relatable terms. Belying Kunqu's reputation for the strict convention, Liu Yilong’s discussion of the famous scene ‘Little Monk Descending the Mountain’ offers a fascinating insight into how he transformed many ugly and lurid traditional performance elements into charming and beautiful ones. Rooted in detailed character analysis and clear-sighted assessment of contemporary audience expectations, he explains his development of a comically nuanced and sympathetic portrayal that has delighted audiences in China and abroad"—Megan Evans, Senior Lecturer, Theatre Programme, School of English, Film, Theatre & Media Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ. "This book is a pleasure to read, engaging and witty”— Cindy S.B. NGAI, Associate Professor cum Programme Leader of Master of Arts in Bilingual Corporate Communication, Department of Chinese & Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Lecture 1 “Enquiry of the Rat” (“Fangshu”) from Fifteen Strings of Cash; Lecture 2 “The Stirring Zither” (“Qintiao”) from The Jade Hairpin; Lecture 3 “The Mad Dream” (“Chimeng”) from Lanke Mountain; Lecture 4 “Descending the Mountain (“Xiashan”) from Ocean of Sin; Lecture 5 “The Tavern” (“Jiulou”) from The Palace of Lasting Life; Lecture 6 “Instating the Statue, Lamenting the Statue” (“Yingxiang Kuxiang”) from The Palace of Lasting Life; Lecture 7 “Playing the Ballad” (“Tanci”) from The Palace of Lasting Life; Lecture 8 “The Stroll in the Garden” (“Youyuan”) and “The Dream Interrupted” (“Jingmeng”) from The Peony Pavilion; Lecture 9 “Sword Meeting” (“Daohui”) from Single Sword Meeting; Lecture 10 “Writing the Accusation” (“Xie Zhuang”) from Tale of the Mermaid Silk Handkerchief; Lecture 11 “The Tryst” (“Jiaqi”) from The Western Chamber; Lecture 12 “The Inn on the Lake” (“Hu Lou”) from To Win a Peerless Beauty; Postface; Appendices; Index
£108.00
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Invisible Actor
Book SynopsisThe 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.Trade ReviewYoshi Oida shows how the mysteries and secrets of performance are inseparable from a precise, concrete and detailed science learned in the heat of experience. The vital lessons he passes on to us are told with such lightness and grace that typically the difficulties become invisible. -- Peter BrookTable of ContentsPreface to the 2020 Edition Foreword by Peter Brook Preface Introduction 1 Beginning 2 Moving 3 Performing 4 Speaking 5 Learning
£17.09
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Winters Tale Arden Performance Editions
Book SynopsisOne of Shakespeare's last plays, The Winter's Tale provides tragedy and comedy in equal measure. The King of Sicily, Leontes, accuses Queen Hermione, his wife, of adultery and sets off a series of events driven by royal betrayal, jealousy and the possibility of pastoral love that builds to a fantastical ending. 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. Each edition offers:- Short, clear definitions of words- Information about key textual variants- Notes on pronunciation of difficult names and unfamiliar words- An
£11.51
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Clowning Workbook
Book SynopsisUsing the techniques and insights of clowning, this book draws on original workshops and research to provide practical clowning exercises to develop wider acting practice in innovative ways. The book offers guidance and explanation to key concepts in clowning, including the dynamics of the clown-audience relationship; the relationship between script, text and improvisation; and movement and voice, offering fresh and inspiring angles from which to view actor training. The Clowning Workbook for Actors and Performers is part of the acclaimed Theatre Arts Workbooks series and features its characteristic blend of student-focused exercises with pedagogical tips for teachers.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Part One: ‘That Was Funny’ 1: Introductions and warm-ups 2: Name tag 3: Ball play 4: Doing things when it’s funny 5: On/Off 6: Step-Laugh 7: That was/n’t funny 8: Make others into clowns 9 Laughter as a pardon 10 Conclusions to Part One: Right and Wrong Thinking Part Two: ‘I Feel Funny’ 11: I (don’t) feel funny 12: Self-laughter 13: Reading others’ feelings 14: Guess the show 15: Feeling shit 16: Personal clown skills Part Three: ‘That Was Supposed to Be Funny’ 17: Funny Plans 18: Intruders 19: Clowns in plays Bibliography of works cited Index
£23.74
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Acting for the Camera
Book SynopsisCulled 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.
£13.38
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Seduction Sex Lies and Stardom in Howard Hughess
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Guaranteed to engross anyone with any interest at all in Hollywood, in movies, in #MeToo and in the never-ending story of men with power and women without.” — New York Times Book Review “The stories Longworth uncovers—about Katharine Hepburn and Jane Russell, yes, but also Ida Lupino and Faith Domergue and Anita Loos—are so rich, so compelling, that they urge you to question how much else in history has been lost within the swirling vortex of Great Men.” — Atlantic “A compelling and relevant must-read.” — Entertainment Weekly “A first-rate work of cultural curation, in which Longworth combs the countless stacks of Hollywood memoirs and biographies, with a focus on the pathological predations of Howard Hughes, Texas millionaire, starmaker and film producer.” — USA Today (four stars) “An astute and entertaining takedown of the movie industry, the press and the multimillionaire turned wannabe filmmaker Howard Hughes. Hardly anyone emerges from the pages of Seduction unblemished by selfishness and greed once they are touched by the movie business and its promise of wealth, power and fame.” — Associated Press “From the force behind the You Must Remember This podcast comes a book exploring the glamour of classic Hollywood cinema through the lens of Texas business magnate, filmmaker (Hell’s Angels, Scarface), and notorious womanizer Howard Hughes—think a Harvey Weinstein–esque character decades before #MeToo.” — Vanity Fair “Longworth blasts through the seductive narratives propagated by men in the film business to uncover the dark stories underneath.” — The Cut “Vibrant… A compulsive page-turner… Much of Seduction reads like a long overdue act of redress, repositioning women into the more central positions where they belong.” — Los Angeles Times “Longworth pulls back the curtain on Hollywood’s golden age to reveal, through the stories of some of the actresses pursued by legendary millionaire mogul Howard Hughes, its dark and lasting legacy of power inequity, harassment, and abuse.” — Bustle “Seduction reads like a scandal sheet tempered with primary and secondary research.” — Los Angeles Review of Books “A candid portrait of the multifaceted millionaire…As his romantic tastes shifts from known quantities — like Hepburn, Rogers and Gardner — to powerless unknowns, Seduction reveals the root of Hughes’s interest in women: a desire to exert total control, rather than true affection.” — Washington Post “Audacious and welcome.” — Sight and Sound “Jam-packed with Hollywood scandal and history.” — Refinery 29 “Karina Longworth loves Hollywood the way it ought to be loved — mercilessly. She is a skeptic without cynicism, a feminist without apology, and in Seduction she has found the great subject that her essential podcast has long promised” — James Kaplan, author of Sinatra “An entertaining and timely tour of early Hollywood mores and manipulation. No matter how much you think you know about golden age Hollywood, Longworth serves up fascinatingly fresh perspective on the ways male desire and power shaped movie mythology.” — Joy Press, author of Stealing the Show “Full of insight...illuminating and memorable.” — Booklist “A history that shows clearly how powerful men exploited actresses long before the #MeToo movement began. Hollywood historian Longworth has mined memoirs, biographies, magazines, newspapers, and archives to create an entertaining, gossip-filled portrait of the film capital’s golden age… A lively—and often sordid—Hollywood history.” — Kirkus Reviews “Throughout this densely researched and lively book the siren song of the new medium of film is heard.” — Cineaste
£12.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Stanislavski System The Professional Training
Book SynopsisThis clearly written guide to the Stanislavski method has long been a favorite among students and teachers of acting. Now, in light of books and articles recently published in the Soviet Union, Sonia Moore has made revisions that include a new section on the subtext of a role. She provides detailed explanations of all the methods that actors in training have found indispensable for more than twenty years. Designed to create better actors, this guide will put individuals in touch with themselves and increase personal sensitivity as well.Table of ContentsThe Stanislavski SystemAuthor's Note to the Second Revised EditionPreface by Sir John GielgudForeword by Joshua LoganStanislavski and his SystemThe Method of Physical ActionsElements of an ActionThe "Magic If"Given CircumstancesImaginationConcentration of AttentionTruth and BeliefCommunionAdaptationTempop-RhythmEmotional MemoryAnalysis through Events and ActionsThe Super-Objective and the Through Line of ActionsThe Actor's Physical ApparatusWork on the Role: Building a CharacterThe Subtext of BehaviorThe DirectorEugene Vakhtangov: The DiscipleBibliographyIndex
£15.20
OUP USA The Grove Book of Operas
Trade Review"The Grove Book of Operas, Second Edition offers more detail for the seasoned operaphile... A versatile tool for research."--Opera News "The Grove Book of Operas, Second Edition, should be on every opera-lover's short list of indispensable reference books. Highly recommended."--Gary Hoffman, Opera Today. PRAISE FOR FIRST EDITION: "Make no mistake: This will be the definitive reference work in opera for many, many years to come."--The Chicago Tribune. PRAISE FOR FIRST EDITION: "This work will significantly affect not only the way opera is enjoyed in the future, but the way it is made."--The Washington Post. PRAISE FOR FIRST EDITION: "All inquiries into Opera begin there from now on."--The San Francisco Examiner Chronicle. PRAISE FOR FIRST EDITION: "For once the hype is right on the money... This may well be the best English-language opera reference available."--Amazon.comTable of ContentsIntroductory essay from scholar and dramaturge David Levin surveys contemporary trends in opera performance and their intellectual and cultural contexts ; Each entry includes a full plot synopsis, cast list, information about the first production and a discussion of the opera's history ; Includes recent operas such as The Death of Klinghoffer , Handmaid's Tale, and Little Women, which have received considerable press attention and, in some instances, have generated controversy ; Each of the entries is written by a top expert on the opera or composer ; Clearly and engagingly written, with invaluable tools such as a glossary and several indices (role names; arias and ensembles; and operas by composer)
£20.82
The University of Chicago Press The Eloquent Shakespeare A Pronouncing Dictionary
Book SynopsisAn actor's deepest desire is to be understood. But when asked to pronounce such words as chanson, phantasime, or quaestor, many otherwise unflappable actors can be rendered speechless. This book aims to untie those tongues and help anyone speak Shakespeare's language with ease.Trade Review"Gary Logan has given us a pronouncing dictionary for Shakespeare which surpasses anything previously available in both scope and depth. Thoroughly researched and carefully documented, it clearly indicates pronunciations which are conjectural or matters of debate, as well as laying out in detail the standard of pronunciation adopted for the dictionary." (Ellen O'Brien, head of voice and text, Shakespeare Theatre Company)"
£25.65
The University of Chicago Press The Eloquent Shakespeare A Pronouncing
Book SynopsisAn actor's deepest desire is to be understood. But when asked to pronounce such words as 'chanson,' 'phantasime,' or 'quaestor,' many otherwise unflappable actors can be rendered speechless. This title aims to untie those tongues and help those who speak Shakespeare's language with ease.
£76.00
Penguin Books Ltd The Actor
Book SynopsisTO ACHIEVE GREATNESS, HE MUST SACRIFICE EVERYTHING . . .Discover 2024''s most original new thriller, a story of glamour, secrets and obsession . . .''GRABS YOU FROM THE OPENING LINE AND WON'T LET YOU GO' ALEX MICHAELIDES, AUTHOR OF THE SILENT PATIENT ''MASTERFULLY PLOTTED'' ERIN KELLY''A FIRST-CLASS THRILLER'' DAILY MAIL''A BARNSTORMING PERFORMANCE'' THE TIMES*****At long last, Adam Sealey has an Oscar within reach. Working with his controversial former mentor, Jonathan, he''s given the performance of a lifetime, and he almost believes it might be worth the cost.Because Adam subscribes to the method. It''s the secret that the world''s greatest actors swear by - digging into their darkest, most personal traumas to bring a role to life. And Adam''s greatest trauma is worse than most. Losing his mother when he was just a boy. A forced choice betweenTrade ReviewBrilliantly evoked, totally compelling. A first-class thriller * Daily Mail *This compelling psychological thriller set in the acting world is both uncompromising and unsettling, with deeply layered characters and a narrative voice that grabs you from the opening line and won’t let you go. Fascinating. -- Alex MichaelidesA barnstorming performance * The Times *Twisty, compulsive fun * i *The Actor is both a compulsive thriller and a fascinating insight into the world of method acting. Chris MacDonald's writing captures it all, and beautifully: from the glamour of Hollywood to the grunge of 90s Camden. It's also very, very moving, packed with characters both lovable and entirely detestable. I adored it. -- Abigail DeanEgo and ambition, guilt and redemption collide in this masterfully plotted and beautifully written psychological thriller. I couldn’t tear my eyes from the page. -- Erin KellyA darkly dazzling and glamorously wicked thriller. Take a bow, Chris MacDonald. -- Chris WhitakerWhat an incredibly tense, immersive debut. I was completely absorbed by this window into the world of method acting and the dark, twisted consequences of such intense commitment. A bravura performance from MacDonald - I didn’t want it to end. -- Amy McCullochAn intense, absorbing read about the danger of sacrificing everything for your art, with echoes - in its fascinating depiction of the relationship between student and mentor - of The Secret History and Black Swan. -- Mark EdwardsBrilliantly twisting (and twisted) tale of method acting, madness and Hollywood glamour. I loved it. -- Mat OsmanIf you are interested in the world of acting, this is one for you. If you like to be kept at the edge of your seat, this one is for you. If you like classy, unique thrillers with richly-drawn characters at their heart, then, you've guessed it - this one is for you. I loved it! -- Emily Koch, bestselling author of If I Die Before I WakeA blistering story of obsession and where it can lead; a crackling whiplash of a book -- Lou MorganAn unsettling, all-encompassing read that explores obsession and ambition. So sharp, so visceral, I just couldn't look away. -- Jo JakemanI was obsessed. Laughing one moment, absolutely speechless the next, I was completely swept away in Adam’s story. This book lives up to expectations – and then exceeds them -- Sam HollandBrilliant, dark, immersive, and ultimately hugely satisfying -- Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious ThingsEnthralling and unsettling, The Actor will get you wondering how far one would go for recognition and acceptance -- Laure Van RensbergA masterful thriller that keeps you guessing until the final twist. Exploring a group of drama students in thrall to a toxic tutor and methodology, it has echoes of The Secret History. MacDonald skilfully treads the line between taut, suspenseful thriller and a layered exploration of method acting, with a very moving ending -- Alice McIlroy, author of The Glass Woman
£15.29
University of Illinois Press The Elocutionists
Book SynopsisEmerging in the 1850s, elocutionists recited poetry or drama with music to create a new type of performance. The genre--dominated by women--achieved remarkable popularity. Yet the elocutionists and their art fell into total obscurity during the twentieth century. Marian Wilson Kimber restores elocution with music to its rightful place in performance history. Gazing through the lenses of gender and genre, Wilson Kimber argues that these female artists transgressed the previous boundaries between private and public domains. Their performances advocated for female agency while also contributing to a new social construction of gender. Elocutionists, proud purveyors of wholesome entertainment, pointedly contrasted their acceptable feminine attributes against those of morally suspect actresses. As Wilson Kimber shows, their influence far outlived their heyday. Women, the primary composers of melodramatic compositions, did nothing less than create a tradition that helped shape the history Trade Review"An extraordinarily detailed account....Through a great deal of archival research, excellent organization of the text, an incisive and fluent writing style, a clear understanding of the social and artistic scene during the Gilded Age and beyond, and careful documentation, the author has vividly described one important facet of 'women's aspirations to the world of high art.'" --Music Reference Services Quarterly"Beautifully designed. . . . Such a carefully researched and highly readable study of women's recitation is captivating and sorely needed."--American Music"Wilson Kimber's writing is as engaging as it is meticulous, her research rich and nuanced but clear as a bell."--Iowa Public Radio"An important resource for those interested in speech and drama, rhetoric, music, and women's studies. Highly recommended."--Choice"Ultimately, Wilson Kimber rewards the reader with the special care she took to illuminate not just the history she details, but many contexts and meanings for the women involved and the ones to come after them."--Nineteenth-Century Music Review"A fascinating book."--Santa Fe New Mexican"The Elocutionists adds an important counter narrative to our understanding of women's gendered and musical performances during this period." --Journal of Musicological Research"An extraordinarily detailed account....Through a great deal of archival research, excellent organization of the text, an incisive and fluent writing style, a clear understanding of the social and artistic scene during the Gilded Age and beyond, and careful documentation, the author has vividly described one important facet of 'women's aspirations to the world of high art.'" --Music Reference Services Quarterly "Her informative survey of this little-known terrain may be a stimulus to engage both more deeply and more broadly with the connections between signing, speech, music, rhetoric, and society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries." --Music & Letters "Kimber's analysis of women's dialect recitations offers valuable insight into women's place on the stage and in broader performing culture." --The Annals of Iowa "Seen as a whole, Marion Wilson Kimber's The Elocutionists is a meticulously documented, compensatory history of a forgotten women's musical performance genre. The author expertly situates her primary and secondary source research among that of others in copious endnotes accounting for one-sixth of the book's 330 pages." -- Nineteenth Century Music Review "In her fascinating and long-needed study, Wilson Kimber reconstitutes and interprets a set of pervasive but neglected practices that include not only elocution but also melodramatic performance, recitation in combination with music, and the activities of the verse speaking choir. In so doing, she helps to recover an elusive but crucial element of cultural history: the sound of women's lives."--Joan Shelley Rubin, author of Songs of Ourselves: The Uses of Poetry in America "A century ago, popular literature reached many Americans through the interpretive voices of women, women who--typically barred from the men's world of political oratory--cultivated a performance art in the home, the theater, on the traveling circuit. While revealing the huge variety of music used to accompany spoken narration, Wilson Kimber brings alive again the forgotten art of elocution through a close examination of the 'sentimental keepsakes' and pedagogical traditions it sought to preserve."--Michael V. Pisani, Vassar College
£87.55
Yale University Press Playing to the Camera
Book SynopsisAn anthology of film actors' views of the art and technique of playing to the camera. Its chronological and topical structure allows one actor to talk or argue with another as they offer astute - and often contradictory - opinions on a broad range of theoretical concerns.
£37.02
Random House USA Inc Acting in Television Commercials for Fun and
Book SynopsisThe Ultimate Guide to Commercial SuccessActing in television commercials is a highly competitive business, but it can also be very lucrative. Whether you’re looking for your first break or want to take your acting career to the next level, Squire Fridell will give you the insider’s edge. Arguably the king of TV commercials, Fridell distills four decades of experience in this comprehensive, humorously written guide that has been indispensable to aspiring TV commercial actors since the first edition hit the shelves in 1980. This fully updated fourth edition gives the lowdown on how online and digital technologies have changed the industry and tells you everything you need to know about:• Getting a terrific headshot• Writing a winning résumé• Finding (and keeping) the perfect agent• Honing the skills that every serious commercial actor should have• Auditioning well and getting the job• Using the best
£12.59
Palgrave MacMillan The Actor Speaks
Book Synopsis
£24.74
Hachette Books Blowing the Bloody Doors Off
Book Synopsis
£16.14
Heinemann USA Black Heroes in Monologues
Book Synopsis
£21.70
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group The Actors Guide to Creating a Character
Book SynopsisWilliam 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. Esper’s first book, The Actor’s Art and Craft, earned praise for describing the basics taught in his famous first-year acting class. The Actor’s Guide to Creating a Character continues the journey. In these pages, co-author Damon DiMarco vividly re-creates Esper’s second-year course, again through the experiences of a fictional class. Esper’s training builds on Sanford Meisner’s legendary exercises, a world-renowned technique that Esper further developed through his long association with Meisner and the decades he has spent training a host of distinguished actors. His approach is flexible enough to apply to any role, helping actors to create characters with truthful and compelling inner lives.
£12.59
Random House USA Inc Acting as a Business Fifth Edition
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Taylor & Francis Ltd (Sales) Frantic Assembly Routledge Performance
Book SynopsisFrantic Assembly have had a powerful and continuing influence on the popularisation of devising practices in contemporary theatre-making. Their work blends brave and bold physical theatre with exciting new writing, and they have collaborated with some of the leading theatre-makers in the UK. The companyâs impact reaches throughout the world, particularly through their extensive workshop and education programmes, as well as their individual and collective impact as movement directors on landmark, internationally successful productions such as Black Watch and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. This volume reveals the background to, and work of, a major influence on twentieth and twenty-first century performance. Frantic Assembly is the first book to combine: an overview of the history of the company since its foundation in 1994 an analysis of the key ideas underpinning the companyâs work a critical commentary on two key productions â Hymns by Chris OâConnell (1999) and Stockholm by Bryony Lavery (2007) a detailed description of a Frantic Assembly workshop, offering an introduction to how the company works. 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 todayâs student.Table of Contents1. Biographical and Artistic Content: A ‘Frantic Method’?; 2. Key Writings, Principles, and Ideas: ‘Always Forward, Never Back'; 3. Ideas in Production: Hymns and Stockholm; 4. Practical Work: A Frantic Assembly Workshop; Conclusion
£34.19
Taylor & Francis Ltd (Sales) Owning Our Voices
Book SynopsisOwning 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 studiesTrade Review"An original member of the Roy Hart Theatre Company, Margaret Pikes’s autobiographical experience as a woman emerging from this historical, cultural and artistic context exposes the development of Wolfsohn’s seminal praxis through her work. Her reflective writing opens up and questions the dominant ideologies that she suggests ‘pervaded and steered the philosophy underpinning the Roy Hart Theatre’s approach to voice training. [...] A cultural craft, Owning Our Voices: Vocal Discovery in the Wolfsohn-Hart Tradition (2021) from Pikes and Campbell opens important questions about western approaches to contemporary voice and speech training. [...] Pikes’s methodology and approach to voice training and performance furthers the possibility of not only discovering the practice of ‘freeing the voice’ but rather, a way of training that perhaps allows the individual to discover and ‘own’ their individual voice and give it expression." — Amy Rome, Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice StudiesTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part 1: Why ‘Owning Our Voices?’; Feminist Approaches to Autobiography – A Preface to Part 1; Chapter 1: Early Life; Chapter 2: A Conscious Family: Voice Work at The Studio and Abraxas Club with Roy Hart; Chapter 3: The Private Becomes Public; Chapter 4: Life after Death: Malérargues; Chapter 5: Leaving Malérargues and Growing Independence; Chapter 6: Some Reflections; Part 2: Methodology; Preface to Methodology; The Pre-Verbal Voice – A Preface; Chapter 7: The Pre-Verbal Voice; Freeing the Voice – A Preface; Chapter 8: Freeing the Voice; The Role of the Teacher – A Preface; Chapter 9: The Role of the Teacher; Connecting Head to Body – A Preface; Chapter 10: Connecting Head to Body – the Importance of Movement; Group Work – A Preface; Chapter 11: Group Work; Working with Song – A Preface; Chapter 12: Working with Song; Conclusion: Owning Our Voices – A Pluriphony
£34.19
Taylor & Francis Ltd (Sales) The Michael Chekhov Handbook
Book SynopsisThe 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.Table of Contents1. The Aims of the Chekhov Technique 2. The Five Guiding Principles 3. The Dynamic Principles 4. The Tools 5. Application 6. Mastery of the Chekhov Technique
£33.24
Taylor & Francis Ltd The Routledge Comedy Studies Reader
Book SynopsisThe Routledge Comedy Studies Reader is a selection of the most outstanding critical analysis featured in the journal Comedy Studies in the decade since its inception in 2010.The Reader illustrates the multiple perspectives that are available when analysing comedy. Wilkie's selections present an array of critical approaches from interdisciplinary scholars, all of whom evaluate comedy from different angles and adopt a range of writing styles to explore the phenomenon. Divided into eight unique parts, the Reader offers both breadth and depth with its wide range of interdisciplinary articles and international perspectives.Of interest to students, scholars, and lovers of comedy alike, The Routledge Comedy Studies Reader offers a contemporary sample of general analyses of comedy as a mode, form, and genre.Trade ReviewPraise for A Comedy Studies Reader, ed. Ian WilkieAn important resource for those bent on taking comedy seriously, this collection gathers disparate studies from the innovative Journal of Comedy Studies and elsewhere to illuminate contemporary performative comedy. It should prove invaluable for students in Comedy Studies and also remind many in Humour Studies about the importance of the relationship between a piece of humour and its mediator, whether professional or or amateur, as a creator of amusement and laughter.Jessica Milner Davis FRSN, University of SydneyTable of ContentsForeword by Ian WilkieAcknowledgementsPart I: Back to Basics: What is Comedy and Where Does It Come From?1. Against Comedy Chris Ritchie2. Thoughts on the current state of humour theory Peter Marteinson3. The origins of comic performance in adult–child interaction Ian Wilkie and Matthew Saxton 4. The science of baby laughter Caspar Addyman and Ishbel Addyman Part II: Old Comedy: Taproots and Tropes 5. The time-travelling miser: Translation and transformation in European comedy Rachel Kirk6. Conflict and slapstick in Commedia dell’Arte – The double act of Pantalone and Arlecchino Louise Peacock7. Clowns do ethnography: an experiment in long-distance comic failure Barnaby King and Richard TalbotPart III: Class, Gender, Race: Reading Comedy’s Issues 8. ‘To what base uses we may return, Horatio!’ – Hamlet, Comedy and Class Struggle Isaac Hui9. No other excuse: Race, class and gender in British Music Hall comedic performance 1914–1949 David Huxley and David James10. 'Women Like Us?' Gilli Bush-BaileyPart IV: Doing Comedy: Giving, Receiving, Causes and Effects11. Pretty funny: Manifesting a normatively sexy female comic body Hannah Ballou12. No greater foe? Rethinking emotion and humour, with particular attention to the relationship between audience members and stand-up comedians Tim Miles13. The roots of alternative comedy? – The alternative story of 20th Century Coyote and Eighties Comedy Lloyd Peters14. Life memory archive translation performance memory archive life: textual self-documentation in stand-up comedy Christopher MolineuxPart V: New Comedy? Interviews with Practitioners15. Not the definitive version: an interview with Ross Noble Oliver Double16. Scenes in the House of Comedy: Interview with Stewart Lee Tony Moon17. Up and down with Barry Cryer: From an interview conducted on 22 July 2011 Tony Moon18. Interview with Charlie Hanson Gary Turk19. ‘Words are my weapons’: Tiffany Stevenson interview Tony Moon20. Russell Kane: Comic chameleon Sam Friedman21. Les Dennis: Man out of time Sam Friedman22. ‘Not a funny place to live’: An interview with Chris Rock Kara Hunt23. A series of ghastly mistakes that turned out right in the end Tony Moon interview with John Lloyd (comedy producer)24. Interview with Kate Fox - stand-up poet Ian Wilkie Part VI: Critical Angles: Essays on a Joan Rivers’ Routine25. From toothpick legs to dropping vaginas: Gender and sexuality in Joan Rivers’ stand-up comedy performance Sharon Lockyer26. Joan Rivers – Reading the meaning Louise Peacock27. ‘A pleasure working with you’: Humour theory and Joan Rivers Brett MillsPart VII: The World of Comedy: Culture and Satire28. Obscenity, dirtiness and licence in Jewish comedy Debra Aarons and Marc Mierowsky29. Satire in a multi-cultural world: a Bakhtinian analysis Grant Julin30. Silly meets serious: discursive integration and the Stewart/Colbert era Amanda Martin, Brbara K. Kaye and Mark D. Harmon31. The comedian, the cat, and the activist: the politics of light seriousness and the (un)serious work of contemporary laughter Ian Reilly32. Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen, and the seriousness of (mock) documentary Cate BloukePart VIII: New Comedy? Emerging Platforms and Forms of Expression 33. A book and a movie walk into a bar Kyle Meikle34. Kidding around: children, comedy, and social media Peter Kunze35. A new economy of jokes?: #Socialmedia #Comedy Rebecca Krefting and Rebecca Baruc36. Comedy meets media: how three new media features have influenced changes in the production of stand-up comedy Jillian M. Belanger37. The animated moving image as political cartoon Lucien Leon38. Is vlogging the new stand-up? A compare/contrast of traditional and online models of comedic content distribution Matthew McKeagueIndex
£128.25
Taylor & Francis The Routledge Comedy Studies Reader
Book SynopsisThe Routledge Comedy Studies Reader is a selection of the most outstanding critical analysis featured in the journal Comedy Studies in the decade since its inception in 2010.The Reader illustrates the multiple perspectives that are available when analysing comedy. Wilkieâs selections present an array of critical approaches from interdisciplinary scholars, all of whom evaluate comedy from different angles and adopt a range of writing styles to explore the phenomenon. Divided into eight unique parts, the Reader offers both breadth and depth with its wide range of interdisciplinary articles and international perspectives.Of interest to students, scholars, and lovers of comedy alike, The Routledge Comedy Studies Reader offers a contemporary sample of general analyses of comedy as a mode, form, and genre.Trade ReviewPraise for A Comedy Studies Reader, ed. Ian WilkieAn important resource for those bent on taking comedy seriously, this collection gathers disparate studies from the innovative Journal of Comedy Studies and elsewhere to illuminate contemporary performative comedy. It should prove invaluable for students in Comedy Studies and also remind many in Humour Studies about the importance of the relationship between a piece of humour and its mediator, whether professional or or amateur, as a creator of amusement and laughter.Jessica Milner Davis FRSN, University of SydneyTable of ContentsForeword by Ian WilkieAcknowledgementsPart I: Back to Basics: What is Comedy and Where Does It Come From?1. Against Comedy Chris Ritchie2. Thoughts on the current state of humour theory Peter Marteinson3. The origins of comic performance in adult–child interaction Ian Wilkie and Matthew Saxton 4. The science of baby laughter Caspar Addyman and Ishbel Addyman Part II: Old Comedy: Taproots and Tropes 5. The time-travelling miser: Translation and transformation in European comedy Rachel Kirk6. Conflict and slapstick in Commedia dell’Arte – The double act of Pantalone and Arlecchino Louise Peacock7. Clowns do ethnography: an experiment in long-distance comic failure Barnaby King and Richard TalbotPart III: Class, Gender, Race: Reading Comedy’s Issues 8. ‘To what base uses we may return, Horatio!’ – Hamlet, Comedy and Class Struggle Isaac Hui9. No other excuse: Race, class and gender in British Music Hall comedic performance 1914–1949 David Huxley and David James10. 'Women Like Us?' Gilli Bush-BaileyPart IV: Doing Comedy: Giving, Receiving, Causes and Effects11. Pretty funny: Manifesting a normatively sexy female comic body Hannah Ballou12. No greater foe? Rethinking emotion and humour, with particular attention to the relationship between audience members and stand-up comedians Tim Miles13. The roots of alternative comedy? – The alternative story of 20th Century Coyote and Eighties Comedy Lloyd Peters14. Life memory archive translation performance memory archive life: textual self-documentation in stand-up comedy Christopher MolineuxPart V: New Comedy? Interviews with Practitioners15. Not the definitive version: an interview with Ross Noble Oliver Double16. Scenes in the House of Comedy: Interview with Stewart Lee Tony Moon17. Up and down with Barry Cryer: From an interview conducted on 22 July 2011 Tony Moon18. Interview with Charlie Hanson Gary Turk19. ‘Words are my weapons’: Tiffany Stevenson interview Tony Moon20. Russell Kane: Comic chameleon Sam Friedman21. Les Dennis: Man out of time Sam Friedman22. ‘Not a funny place to live’: An interview with Chris Rock Kara Hunt23. A series of ghastly mistakes that turned out right in the end Tony Moon interview with John Lloyd (comedy producer)24. Interview with Kate Fox - stand-up poet Ian Wilkie Part VI: Critical Angles: Essays on a Joan Rivers’ Routine25. From toothpick legs to dropping vaginas: Gender and sexuality in Joan Rivers’ stand-up comedy performance Sharon Lockyer26. Joan Rivers – Reading the meaning Louise Peacock27. ‘A pleasure working with you’: Humour theory and Joan Rivers Brett MillsPart VII: The World of Comedy: Culture and Satire28. Obscenity, dirtiness and licence in Jewish comedy Debra Aarons and Marc Mierowsky29. Satire in a multi-cultural world: a Bakhtinian analysis Grant Julin30. Silly meets serious: discursive integration and the Stewart/Colbert era Amanda Martin, Brbara K. Kaye and Mark D. Harmon31. The comedian, the cat, and the activist: the politics of light seriousness and the (un)serious work of contemporary laughter Ian Reilly32. Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen, and the seriousness of (mock) documentary Cate BloukePart VIII: New Comedy? Emerging Platforms and Forms of Expression 33. A book and a movie walk into a bar Kyle Meikle34. Kidding around: children, comedy, and social media Peter Kunze35. A new economy of jokes?: #Socialmedia #Comedy Rebecca Krefting and Rebecca Baruc36. Comedy meets media: how three new media features have influenced changes in the production of stand-up comedy Jillian M. Belanger37. The animated moving image as political cartoon Lucien Leon38. Is vlogging the new stand-up? A compare/contrast of traditional and online models of comedic content distribution Matthew McKeagueIndex
£35.14
Taylor & Francis Ltd Games for Actors and NonActors
Book SynopsisGames 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.Trade Review'This is an inspiring and powerful book, a lucid account that will be of substantial use to people already using Theatre of the Oppressed. It should also act as an excellent introduction for those new to the system.' —Artscene'This is a useful handbook for those who want to explore Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed and, as such, is greatly to be welcomed. Boal's work deserves and demands emulation.' —Theatre Research International'You have achieved what Brecht only dreamt of and wrote about: making a useful theatre that is entertaining, fun and instructive. It is a different kind of theatre – a kind of social therapy. It focuses the mind, relaxes the spirit and gives people a new handle on their situations.' —Richard SchechnerTable of Contents1 Theatre of the Oppressed in Europe 2 The Structure of the Actor’s Work 3 The Arsenal of Theatre of the Oppressed 4 The Early Forms of Forum Theatre 5 Forum Theatre: Doubts and Certainties: Incoprporating a New Method of Rehearsing and Devising a Forum Theatre Model 6 First Experiences with Invisible Theatre 7 Artistic Creation and Divine Madness: A Meditation on Art and the Miraculous 8 Interview for the Portuguese Edition (1977) 9 To the People, the means of Theatrical Production: Interview with Émile Copferman 10 Specialisation and Profession, Vocation and Language
£128.25
Taylor & Francis Games for Actors and NonActors
Book SynopsisGames 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.Trade Review'This is an inspiring and powerful book, a lucid account that will be of substantial use to people already using Theatre of the Oppressed. It should also act as an excellent introduction for those new to the system.' —Artscene'This is a useful handbook for those who want to explore Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed and, as such, is greatly to be welcomed. Boal's work deserves and demands emulation.' —Theatre Research International'You have achieved what Brecht only dreamt of and wrote about: making a useful theatre that is entertaining, fun and instructive. It is a different kind of theatre – a kind of social therapy. It focuses the mind, relaxes the spirit and gives people a new handle on their situations.' —Richard SchechnerTable of Contents1 Theatre of the Oppressed in Europe 2 The Structure of the Actor’s Work 3 The Arsenal of Theatre of the Oppressed 4 The Early Forms of Forum Theatre 5 Forum Theatre: Doubts and Certainties: Incoprporating a New Method of Rehearsing and Devising a Forum Theatre Model 6 First Experiences with Invisible Theatre 7 Artistic Creation and Divine Madness: A Meditation on Art and the Miraculous 8 Interview for the Portuguese Edition (1977) 9 To the People, the means of Theatrical Production: Interview with Émile Copferman 10 Specialisation and Profession, Vocation and Language
£34.19
Taylor & Francis Ltd Experiencing Speech A SkillsBased Panlingual
Book SynopsisExperiencing 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 Table of ContentsPart 1: The Physical Actions of Speech 1. Experiencing Flow 2. Experiencing Articulators 3. Experiencing Shaped Flow 4. Experiencing Obstructed Flow Part 2: The Possibilities in Language 5. Experiencing Obstruents in Language 6. Experiencing the Empty Charts – Consonants 7. Experiencing Language 8. Experiencing the Empty Chart – Vowels Part 3: The Transcription of Speech 9. Experiencing Phones, Phonemes, and Phonetic Symbols (oh my!) 10. Experiencing the Consonant Symbols 11. Experiencing the Vowel Symbols 12. Experiencing Narrow Phonetic Transcription Part 4: Speechwork is Acting Work 13. Experiencing Oral Posture 14. Experiencing Linguistic Detail 15. Experiencing Strategy 16. Experiencing Your Acting Choices
£30.39
Taylor & Francis Ltd (Sales) A World Elsewhere
Book SynopsisA World Elsewhere is Steven Berkoffâs bold attempt to describe his multifarious theatrical works.Berkoff outlines the methods that he uses, first of all as an actor, secondly as a playwright and thirdly as theatre director, as well as those subtle connections in between, when one discipline melds effortlessly into another. He examines the early impulses that generated his works and what drove him to give them form, as well as the challenges he faced when adapting the work of other authors. Berkoff discusses some of his most difficult, successful and unique creations, journeying through his long and varied career to examine how they were shaped by him, and how he was shaped by them. The sheer scale of this book offers a rare experience of an accomplished artist, combined with the honesty and insight of an autobiography, making this text a singular tool for teaching, inspiration and personal exploration.Suitable for anyone with an interest in Steven Berkoff and his illustrious career, A World Elsewhere is the part analysis and part confession of an artist whose work has been performed all over the world. Table of ContentsBiography Preface 1. In the Penal Colony - The Arts Lab, Drury Lane 1967 2. Metamorphosis - The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm 1969 3. Macbeth - The Place Theatre 1970 4. Miss Julie Versus Expressionism – National Tour and The ICA 1971 5. Agamemnon - National Tour - The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm 1973 6. The Trial, by Franz Kafka - The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm 1973 7. The Fall of The House of Usher - Hampstead Theatre Club 1974 8. Random thought: the dressing room 9. East - Kings Head Theatre, Islington - 1975 Regent Street Poly - Cottesloe Theatre 1977 10. Hamlet, Shakespeare - The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm 1980 11. Decadence - Arts Theatre 1981 12. Random thought: Vsevolod Meyerhold 13. West - Donmar Warehouse 1983 14. Harry’s Xmas - Donmar Warehouse 1985 15. Acapulco - The King’s Head Theatre, Islington 1986 16. Coriolanus - Public Theatre, New York 1988 17. Random thought – directors and indendants 18. Greek - Wyndham’s Theatre 1988 19. Salome - National Theatre 1989 20. One Man - The Garrick Theatre 1991 21. Kvetch - The Garrick Theatre 1991 22. Random thought: a lunch in Brooklyn with the Salome cast 23. Brighton Beach Scumbags - The Riverside Theatre, Hammersmith 1995 24. Random thought - mechanicals 25. Massage - Odyssey Theatre, Edinburgh Festival 1997 26. Decadence - Wyndhams Theatre 1997 27. Shakespeare’s Villains - Theatre Royal, Haymarket 1998 28. Random thought: one-man show 29. The Secret Love Life of Ophelia - The King’s Head Theatre 2001 30. Messiah - Edinburgh Festival 2002 - Old Vic 2003 31. Sit and Shiver - Hackney Empire 2007 32. Random thought: Salome at The Gate Theatre, Dublin 33. On The Waterfront - Theatre Royal, Haymarket 2010 34. Oedipus - Edinburgh Festival 2013 35. The Hairy Ape -The Odyssey Theatre, Los Angeles 2015 36. Actors I have admired, loved and even cried over 37. Final chapter Index
£20.89
Taylor & Francis Commedia dellArte its Structure and Tradition
Book SynopsisCommedia dell'Arte, its Structure and Tradition chronicles a series of discussions between two renowned experts in commedia dell'arte â master practitioners Antonio Fava and John Rudlin. These discussions were recorded during three recent visits by Fava to Rudlinâs rural retreat in south west France. They take in all of commedia dell'arte's most striking and enduring elements â its masks, its scripts and scenarios, and most outstandingly, its cast of characters. Fava explores the role of each stock Commedia character and their subsequent incarnations in popular culture, as well as their roots in prominent figures of their time. The lively and wide-ranging conversations also take in methods of staging commedia dell'arte for contemporary audiences, the evolution of its gestures, and the collective nature of its theatre-making. This is an essential book for any student or practitioner of commedia dell'arte â provocativTable of ContentsChapter 1 The Mask; Chapter 2 The personnages; Chapter 3 Performance location; Chapter 4 The scenarios; Chapter 5 Collective creation; Chapter 6 Gestural evolution; Chapter 7 Closed forms; Chapter 8 Multilingualism; Chapter 9 Anachronism; Appendices
£22.56
Taylor & Francis Ltd Creating Improvised Theatre
Book SynopsisCreating Improvised Theatre: Tools, Techniques, and Theories for Short Form and Narrative Improvisation is a complete guide to improvised theatre for performers and instructors.This book provides a modern view of improvised theatre based on the rapid evolution of this art form, shedding new light on classic theories as well as developing lesser known and emerging techniques, such as the Trance Mask. Instead of simply referencing classic theories, the book revisits them and places them in the context of contemporary improvisation techniques. Designed as a practical support, this guide contains over 130 exercises that allow its theories to come alive in workshops, rehearsals, and performance. The book is divided into four sections: Nuts and bolts: The fundamental tools of improvisation to explore how to be spontaneously creative, build with your partner, and learn from masks to discover your scene instant by instant. Short Table of Contents1. Introduction Part 1: Nuts and Bolts 2. The basics 3. Spontaneous creativity 4. Creating with others 5. Masks and the art of being in the present Part 2: Short Form 6. Introducing short form 7. What’s the story? 8. Playing the platform and detecting tilts 9. Riding the rollercoaster to the end 10. The three change tools and Status 11. Physical change 12. Emotional change 13. Mischief and provoking change Part 3: Narrative Improvisation 14. What is narrative improvisation? 15. Narrative theories 16. The Initial world – locations and relations 17. The Initial world – calls and protagonists 18. Making choices to Get in trouble 19. The Crisis – ordeal and understanding 20. The Climax and the End world 21. Transitions 22. Narrative archetypes 23. Final tips for narrative improvisation Part 4: The Bits Box 24. Useful "bits" 25. Warm-ups 26. Over to you
£30.39
Taylor & Francis Ltd Nikolai Demidov
Book SynopsisAt the time of his death, Stanislavsky considered Nikolai Demidov to be âhis only student, who understands the Systemâ. Demidovâs incredibly forward-thinking processes not only continued his teacherâs pioneering work, but also solved the problems of an actorâs creativity that Stanislavsky never conquered.Despite being one of the original teachers of the Stanislavski system, Demidovâs name was little known either in his native Russia or the wider world until the turn of the 21st Century. Since then, his extensive works have been published in Russian but are yet to find their way to the English-speaking world. His sophisticated psychological techniques, stimulation of creativity, and methods of developing the actors themselves are now gaining increasing recognition.This book brings together Demidovâs five volumes on actor training. Supplementary materials, including transcriptions of Demidovâs classes, and notes and correspondence from the author make this the definitive collection on one of Russian theatreâs most important figures. Trade Review"Deserves to become the backbone of every actor’s library."- Stanislavsky Studies"Andrei Malaev-Babel and Margarita Laskina have taken on the formidable but necessary task of introducing Nikolai Demidov to the English-speaking world; and it is a major achievement. These pages are fresh, conversational, and, at times, provocatively categorical. Stimulating reading, they are illuminated by Malaev-Babel’s impeccable research."- Professor Maria Shevtsova, Goldsmith, University of London"Long repressed, Demidov’s radical ideas about acting are now being re-discovered and implemented in Russia. Now, through this extraordinary volume, we who read English over Russian can begin the exploration of these critical insights and lessons, and add a new name to the roster of Stanislavsky’s rebellious sons: Nikolai Demidov. I believe this book may ultimately alter the course of actor training in the west."- Professor David Chambers, Harvard University and Yale School of Drama"Demidov, and in turn Malaev-Babel, invite us to enter into a larger system, one that purports to articulate a pathway to creative psychology that complements and enlarges Stanislavski’s System. Given the years Demidov spent challenging and expanding Stanislavski’s System, the subsequent decades of suppression by the Soviet regime, and the increasing globalization of Stanislavski as the actor’s foundation, such an invitation is more than welcome."- Dr. Bryan Brown, University of ExeterTable of ContentsNIKOLAI DEMIDOV - A CREATIVE BIOGRAPHY (From the Editors) BOOK ONE: THE ART OF THE ACTOR - ITS PRESENT AND FUTURE, BOOK TWO: ACTOR TYPES, BOOK THREE: THE ART OF LIVING ONSTAGE, Part One: The Significance Of The Actor's Creative Experiencing. Part Two: The Path Of Spontaneous Reaction, Part Three: Some Basic Principles And Techniques, Part Four: Guiding Freedom And Involuntariness, Part Five: Conclusion, BOOK FOUR: THE ARTIST'S CREATIVE PROCESS ONSTAGE, BOOK FIVE: PSYCHO-TECHNIQUE OF THE AFFECTIVE ACTOR
£40.84
Taylor & Francis Ltd Dramaturgy of Sex on Stage in Contemporary
Book SynopsisDramaturgy of Sex on Stage in Contemporary Theatre explores the dramaturgy of sex in contemporary works for the stage in the social, cultural and historical context of the time and place during which they were written and performed.Comprising chapters by writers from across North America and Europe, the book covers an expansive range of plays, musicals and dance performances, from Broadway to the Fringe, from post-AIDS epidemic to post-COVID-19 pandemic. Analysing these intimate momentsboth textually and as stagedthrough an intersectional and critical lens illuminates the way power structures are maintained and codified, and how they can be queered and dismantled onstage and off. This examination of depictions of sex on stage attempts to understand from a dramaturgical and sociological perspective how these depictions have developed over time, and how the rise of intimacy directors has responded to the changes within the contemporary theatrical landscape and in the worTable of ContentsIntroductionKate MulleyPart I: Depicting Sexual Discovery and Identity1. (Still) Shopping and (Still) Fucking: The Stylistics of Queer Desire on StageGeorge Sampatakakis2. Respectable Queer Sex: Criteria for Permissible Representations in Contemporary Mainstream TheatreJoey Baseil Massa3. Depicting Queer Sexual Discovery in Contemporary British Fringe TheatreAlexander Millington4. All Tomorrow’s Parties: Structures of Feeling in Verbatim TheatreShane KinghornPart II: Depicting Stylized Sex5. Disability and Desire: Multimodal Exploration in Deaf West’s Spring AwakeningLindsey R. Barr6. Dancing on a Knife’s Edge: Performing Violent Co-Dependency in Bryony Lavery and Frantic Assembly’s StockholmKaren Morash7. A Dramaturgy of Precariousness: The Real, Realness, and Spectatorship of Sex in Dead Centre’s Good SexHuayu Yang8. Mette Ingvartsen’s “The Red Pieces” Series: Sex, Dance, Erasing Power Structures and Ungendered BodiesAnne LempickiPart III: Depicting Transactional Sex9. Commodification of Women’s Bodies: Staging the ConsequencesSophie Bastien10. Masculinity and Commercial Sex from the Perspective of Giuliana Musso’s SexmachineStefania Lodi RizziniPart IV: Depicting Female Desire11. Context, Cliche, and Other Considerations for Staging Female DesireCristina (Cha) Ramos and Claire Warden12. Monstrous Desires: Writings of Sexuality in Contemporary Feminist Dramatic Writings in FranceLeïla CassarPart V: Depicting Sexual Violence13. Patriarchy Structures and Depictions of Patriarchal Sex in Contemporary TheatreKate Mulley14. Interrogating Racialized Sexual Violence in Slave PlayJessica Ellison15. Sexual Assault and the Criminal Justice System: The Naked Female Body in Breach Theatre’s It’s True, It’s True, It’s TrueHannah Simpson16. Sex Between Macabre Lust and Clinical Dissection in Dea Loher’s DramaturgyYoun Le Guern-Herry17. Applications of Dramaturgy in the Physical Creation of Sexual Violence on StageMeron Langsner and Cristina (Cha) Ramos
£47.49
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group An Acrobat of the Heart A Physical Approach to
Book SynopsisCourageous and compelling, an invaluable resource for actors, directors, and teachers that can open a pathway to inner creativity. The actor will do, in public, what is considered impossible. When the renowned Polish director Jerzy Grotowski began his 1967 American workshop with these words, his students were stunned. But within four weeks they themselves had experienced the impossible. In An Acrobat of the Heart, teacher-director-playwright Stephen Wangh draws on Grotowski's insights and on the work of Stanislavski, Uta Hagen, and others to bridge the gap between rigorous physical training and practical scene and character technique. Wangh's students give candid descriptions of their struggles and breakthroughs, demonstrating how to transform these remarkable lessons into a personal journey of artistic growth.
£14.39
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Auditioning
Book SynopsisTheater veteran and acting teacher Joanna Merlin has written the definitive guide to auditioning for stage and screen, bringing to it a valuable dual perspective. She has spent her career on both sides of the auditioning process, both as an award-winning casting director who has worked with Harold Prince, Bernard Bertolucci, and James Ivory, and as an accomplished actor herself. In this highly informative and accessible book, Merlin provides everything the actor needs to achieve self-confidence and artistic honesty–from the most basic practical tips to an in-depth framework for preparing a part. Filled with advice from the most esteemed people in the business, such as James Lapine, Nora Ephron, and Stephen Sondheim, and charged with tremendous wisdom and compassion, this indispensable resource will arm the reader to face an actor's greatest challenge: getting the part.
£14.24
Random House USA Inc Sanford Meisner on Acting
Book SynopsisTaking readers step-by-step through the most basic acting exercises to critiques of performances in scenes from contemporary American plays, this volume follows a class of eight at the Neighborhood Playhouse, where Meisner has taught for fifty years
£14.40
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) An Actors Handbook An Alphabetical Arrangement of
Book SynopsisStanislavski was the foremost influence on the "Method" school of acting, as developed by Lee Strasberg. Here in concise form is what Stanislavski himself said about acting, aimed at students, experienced theatre people and laymen interested in stage craft.
£17.99
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) An Actor Adrift Performance Books
Book SynopsisNot only a personal story but also a workbook for actors and directors wishing to understand and employ Peter Brook's techniques. The author became a leading member of Peter Brook's theatre company and his account includes an explanation of the genesis of the techniques and exercises.
£18.99
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) The Tricks of the Trade
Book SynopsisThroughout the 1980s, Dario Fo, Italy's best known and most provocative satirical playwright, and his wife Franca Rame, conducted a series of performance-seminars around the world on the subject of acting. This book traces the life of the comic performer back to the itinerant jongleur and the skillful improvisations of commedia dell'arte troupes.Trade Review"'A scintillating compendium, erudite and refreshing...' Observer * '...an angular, uncomfortable, disquieting aid inspirational account of an art in which there are no more universal performers and recorders than Dario Fo and Franca Rame' Independent * 'Fo's work is brimful with dialect, with harsh humour, with the wit of the bar-room racounteur...' Guardian"
£19.99
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) The Modern Monologues v2 Audition Speeches
Book SynopsisOffers over 50 audition speeches celebrating the outstanding English, American and Continental dramatists of this century. The work of Amouilh, Arden, Baldwin, Barnes, Beckett, Behan, De Filippo, Gorky, Lorca, Mamet, Miller, Pirandello, Sartre and Wedekind is represented in monologues for women.
£17.99
Bloomsbury USA 3pl The Methuen Book of Duologues for Young Actors
Book SynopsisRanging from Renaissance to contemporary plays, this text brings together a range of pieces varied in subject, tone and style for young actor It provides a resource book for teachers and performers alike, for auditions, acting classes, festivals, examinations or performance.Table of ContentsDuologues: "Anne Boleyn", Peter Albery; "The Cuckoo Sister", Vivien Alcock; "It's Not the End of the World", Judy Blume; "The Sea", Edward Bond; "Skungpoomery", Ken Campbell; "Split Down the Middle", David Campton; "Top Girls", Caryl Churchill; "Easy Virtue", Noel Coward; "Kate and Emma", Monica Dickens; "Middlemarch", George Eliot; "Stamping, Shouting and Singing Home", Lisa Evans; "Walking Through Seaweed", Ian Hamilton Finlay; "The Virtuous Burgler", Dario Fo; "'Tis Pity She's a Whore", John Ford; "Alphabetical Order", Michael Frayn; "My Children, My Africa", Athol Fugard; "Warrior", Shirley Gee; "A Proper Little Nooryeff", Leonard Gregory (from the novel by Jean Ure); "Murmuring Judges", David Hare; "The Day After the Fair", Frank Harvey (from a short story by Thomas Hardy); "Beautiful Thing", Jonathan Harvey; "The Children's Hour", Lillian Hellman; "The Wakefield Mysteries", Adrian Henri; "The Silver Sword", Stuart Henson (from the novel by Ian Serraillier); "Across Oka", Robert Holman; "The Constant Nymph", Margaret Kennedy and Basil Dean; "My Sister in this House", Wendy Kesselman; "Wait Until Dark", Frederick Knott; "Tartuffe", Moliere; "Two Weeks with the Queen", Mary Morris (from the novel by Morris Gleitzman); "A Game of Soldiers", Jan Needle; "The Goalkeeper's Revenge", Derek Nicholls and Ray Speakman (from the writings of Bill Naughton); "P'tang Yang, Kipperbang", Jack Rosenthal; "Blood Brothers", Willy Russell; "Kindertransport", Diane Samuels; "St Joan", George Bernard Shaw; "A Trip to Scarborough", Richard Brinsley Sheridan; "Journey's End", R.C. Sherriff; "Rutherford and Son", Githa Sowerby; "Home", David Storey; "Spring Awakening", Frank Wedekind; "Frost in May", Antonia White; "Effie's Burning", Valerie Windsor.
£17.99
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) The Alexander Technique For Actors Performance Books
Book SynopsisKelly McEvenue teaches the Alexander Technique, a method of physical relaxation that reduces tension throughout the body. This guide to the technique is specially adapted for actors to promote efficient use of the body. The book includes a series of step-by-step warm-ups and exercises.
£23.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Methuen Drama Book of Monologues for Young
Book SynopsisThis volume contains speeches suitable for performance at auditions, individual acting classes, competitions, festivals and examination The pieces are varied in content, tone and style and are equipped with an introduction which sets the context for each piece.
£16.14
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Methuen Drama Book of Contemporary Monologues
Book SynopsisA collection of both serious and comic monologues from the last three decades of contemporary playwriting, this title features pieces from Caryl Churchill, Michael Frayn, Martin McDonagh and Sarah Kane. It should be a useful resource for auditions, acting class and rehearsal
£17.09
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Play Acting A Handbook of Theatre Workshops for Actors Teachers and Directors Performance Books
Book SynopsisA collection of acting exercises from around the world. There are voice warm-ups and bodywork through to interacting with space and creating characters all drawing on influences from Japanese Butoh to African dance, Shakespearean verse and children's games.
£26.99
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) The Methuen Drama Book of Modern Monologues for Women Audition Speeches
Book SynopsisChrys Salt began her career as a performer in Rep, touring theatre, West End, TV and radio dramas wi th regular stints in various soap and series. She now directs extensively in theatre and sound, and has written several books, theatre and radio plays, features and documentaries. She runs her own the atre company and teaches regularly at the London Actors Centre.Trade ReviewThe range is wide and there is something to suit most aspiring actresses. It is not only valuable for the performers for whom it is designed but for teachers whose endless search for something right for a particular student often ends in frustration or repetition. * Word Matters (STSD) *
£17.99
