Bill Bryden's Cottesloe Company, which flourished at Peter Hall's National Theatre, was the English theatre's only true ensemble of the last thirty or so years. Impossible Plays tells the story of the company and the many actors and musicians connected to it.Co-written by Keith Dewhurst, author of eight plays for the group, and Jack Shepherd, a founder-actor, it explains the ideas behind the company's work and how the work was staged, and provides an idios...

The Viewpoints is a technique of improvisation that grew out of the postmodern dance world. It was first articulated by choreographer Mary Overlie, who broke down the two dominant issues performers deal with—space and time—into six categories. Since that time, directors Anne Bogart and Tina Landau have expanded her notions and adapted them for actors to function together spontaneously and intuitively and to generate bold, theatrical work.The Viewpoints are a set o...

Stanislavski’s ‘system’ has dominated actor-training in the West since his writings were first translated into English in the 1920s and 30s. His systematic attempt to outline a psycho-physical technique for acting single-handedly revolutionized standards of acting in the theatre.Until now, readers and students have had to contend with inaccurate, misleading and difficult-to-read English-language versions. Some of the mistranslations have resulted in profound distortions in the way ...

Successful acting must reflect a society’s current beliefs. The men and women who developed each new technique were convinced that previous methods were not equal to the full challenges of their time and place, and the techniques in this book have been adapted to current needs in order to continue to be successful methods for training actors. The actor’s journey is an individual one, and the actor seeks a form, or a variety of forms, of training that will assist in unlocking his own cr...

Actor Training expands on Alison Hodge’s highly-acclaimed and best-selling Twentieth Century Actor Training. This exciting second edition radically updates the original book making it even more valuable for any student of the history and practice of actor training. The bibliography is brought right up to date and many chapters are revised. In addition, eight more practitioners are included - and forty more photographs - to create a stunningly comprehensive study.T...

Creating a Roleis the culmination of Stanislavski's masterful trilogy on the art of acting. An Actor Preparesfocused on the inner training of an actor's imagination. Building a Characterdetailed how the actor's body and voice could be tuned for the great roles he might fill.This third volume examines the development of a character from the viewpoint of three widely contrasting plays: Griboyedov's Woe from Wit, Shakespeare's Othello, and Gogol's The Inspect...

Psychophysical Acting is a direct and vital address to the demands of contemporary theatre on today’s actor. Drawing on over thirty years of intercultural experience, Phillip Zarrilli aims to equip actors with practical and conceptual tools with which to approach their work. Areas of focus include:an historical overview of a psychophysical approach to acting from Stanislavski to the presentacting as an ‘energetics’ of performance, applied to a wide range of...

Chaikin, who directed the celebrated Open Theater in the '60s, kindled an emphasis on communal playmaking whose impact is still evident today. This conversational review of his efforts details his methods and reveals the struggles involved in the creation of some of the most exciting theatre of our time.

-Peter Brook is considered one of the giants in world theatre.

Stanislavsky in America explores the extraordinary legacy that Constantin Stanislavski’s system of actor-training has left on acting in the US.Mel Gordon outlines the journey of Stanislavski’s theories through twentieth century American history, from the early US tours of the Moscow Art Theatre to the ongoing impact of 'The System' on modern American acting.This fascinating study by a leading theatre critic and practitioner provides hundreds of original acting exer...

What is good acting? How does one create believable characters? How can an actor understand a character if they do not understand themselves?In The Science of Acting, Sam Kogan uses his theories on the relationship between neuroscience, psychology and acting to answer these questions. Practical exercises provide a step-by-step guide to developing an actor's ability, culminating in Ten Steps to Creating a Character.He presents the reader with a groundbreaking unders...

‘Scrupulously compiled and skillfully translated by Andrei Malaev-Babel, The Vakhtangov Sourcebook ... provides the most comprehensive addition to English readers’ knowledge of the philosophy, pedagogy, and legacy of Vakhtangov.’ – Modern Language Review'An exceptionally valuable book that promises to be the definitive reference for Vakhtangov's work for years to come.' – Theatre TopicsYevgeny Vakhtangov was the c...