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Actors & Acting
A to C by author
Acting as an art, and as a profession, has long since fascinated many.
Over the years, techniques, methods and styles have been formulated
by the likes of Stanislavski, Strasberg, and Mamet, each with their
own particular view on acting. Many of these legendary theatre artists
have created accessible, helpful books that not only help demystify
the craft, but also offer insight into their particular process.
This section has a wealth of titles, ranging from technical handbooks,
to intimate memoirs. An enthralling subject, these titles are sure
to enlighten.
 Improvisation in Rehearsal
John Abbott
Packed with useful exercises and improvisation scenarios, and examples from a wide variety of plays, Improvisation in Rehearsal reveals how improvisation enriches and enlivens the creation of characters, back-stories, relationships, shared histories and emotional lives. The book also demonstrates how improvisation can be used as a powerful tool in the foundation of a strong company, and when searching for the hidden depths and dynamics in a scene. Softcover,204 pp. $27.95.
 Different Every Night: Freeing the Actor
Mike Alfreds
This book is a culmination of a lifetime's work in the theatre. In
it, Mike Alfreds dares to do what very few directors other than Stanislavsky
have done: he takes us into the rehearsal room and describes an immensely
detailed methodology for the actor to bring the text to life, and,
crucially, to keep it alive right up to the final performance. Indeed,
he demonstrates that by investing in the truth of every moment, the
actor can ensure that a performance will be 'different every night.'
Softcover, 362 pp. $37.95
 Promoting
Your Acting Career: A Step-by-Step Guide to Opening the Right Doors
Glenn Altermann
This is the definitive insider's guide to opening doors in the
world of theatre, film, and television. Newly revised and expanded, Promoting
Your Acting Career is filled with invaluable advise for both beginning
actors and seasoned professionals. Softcover, 245 pp. $24.95.
 Acting and Singing with Archetypes
Janet B. Rodgers & Frankie Armstrong
The Mother, the Lover, the Trickster, the Spiritual and Temporal Leader, the Devil -- these are just some of the universal essences, known as archetypes, that lie deep within the human spirit; these are forces that we all recognize and embody in some capacity. This groundbreaking book uses archetypes as the basis of an unprecedented method of study for actors and singers. Includes a full-length audio CD. Softcover, 182 pp. $18.99.
 Exit Pursued by a Badger
Nick Ashbury
Nick Ashbury was in the ensemble from the Royal Shakespeare Company who, over the course of two and a half years, performed eight history plays by Shakespeare in repertory: a sequence of productions both critically acclaimed and watched by over 250,000 people. This book is Ashbury's engaging account of the camaraderie of actors, the terror of forgetting lines, technical difficulties, money problems, finding strange things in the bath, thirty-three broadsword fights and, of course, the ever-present threat of being assaulted by demented badgers after a performance. Softover, 192 pp. $25.50.
 Training of the American Actor
Arthur Bartow
Training of the American Actor offers a detailed technical overview
of such theatre artists and educators as Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler,
Sanford Meisner, Michael Chekhov, Uta Hagen, and Jerzy Grotowski. Also
discussed are a variety of theatre theories and practices, such as
The Viewpoints, Practical Aesthetics, Interdisciplinary Training, and Neo-Classical
Training. Softcover, 281 pp. $24.95
 The Art of the Actor
Jean Benedetti
The Art of the Actor is a groundbreaking text
in the history of acting, comprising extensive writings by the
principal theorists and practitioners, introduced and placed
into context by Jean Benedetti. Designed as a working manual
for students at all levels, The Art of the Actor reveals
with unprecedented clarity the key ideas that shaped performance
from the Greeks to the present day. This book will be an indispensable
tool for all students of the theatre. Softcover, 245 pp. $33.95.
 Stage Fright
Mick Berry & Michael $. Edelstein
Interviews with forty highly accomplished public figures shed light on America's #1 fear. Jason Alexander, Mose Allison, Maya Angelou, David Brenner, Peter Coyote, Olympia Dukakis, Melissa Etheridge, Richard Lewis, and many more, speak candidly about their trials with stage fright and reveal the various paths they followed in overcoming it. Softcover, $16.95.
 The Actor, Image and Action: Acting and cognitive neuroscience
Rhonda Blair
In The Actor, Image and Action, Rhonda Blair combines recent devlopments in scientic thinking with a brilliant reassessment of both the practice and theory of acting to look at how imagination, emotion, memory, physicality and reason are inseparable in the brain's structure and function, and their importance to an actor's engagement with a role. In doing so she provides the latest step in Stanislavski's attempts to 'reach the unconscious by conscious means.' Softcover, 138 pp. $49.95.
 Blumenfeld's Dictionary of Acting and Show Business
Robert Blumenfeld
Countless terms and technical jargon are defined in this remarkable book. Author Robert Blumenfeld combines his expertise from years of experience in show business with meticulous research to present a work that is comprehensive and user-friendly. This complete reference book on the art, craft, and business of entertaining is a must-have for every fan, teacher, student, amateur, and professional. Softcover, 377 pp. $19.95.
 Tools and Techniques for Character Interpretation
Robert Blumenfeld
A must for theatre and film artists, this guide to creating and analyzing
fictional characters lays out in clear, concise language the practical
uses of the major schools of psychology for actors, directors, and
writers. Blumenfeld details the theories and character typologies
of the major psychological
thinkers, such as Freud, Klein, and Jung, providing acting exercises
based on these theories and illustrating their practical applications
to the
creative process by means of numerous examples drawn from theatrical
and cinematic literature.
Softcover, 325 pp. $24.95.
 Acting: The First Six Lessons
Richard Boleslavsky
First published in 1933, Acting: The First Six Lessons remains a key text for anyone studying acting today. These dramatic dialogues between teacher and idealistic student explore the field of acting according to one of the original teachers of Stanislavsky's System in America. This new edition of an essential text is edited by Rhonda Blair and supplemented for the very first time with documents from the American Laboratory Theatre. Softcover, 206 pp. $28.95.
 Book on Acting - Improvisation Technique
Stephen Book
Book on Acting begins with immediate training in how to improvise. Book's
fundamental principle of improvisation is "acting is doing, and there's
always more to do." The actor learns what to do to keep himself in a spontaneous
improvisational state. Also included is a unique process for breaking down
scripted scenes into improvisational choices. Softcover, 629 pp. $29.95.
 Actors Talk: Profiles and Stories from the Acting Trade
Dennis Brown
In Actors Talk, Dennis Brown profiles 11 remarkable
actors whose careers on stage and screen span nearly a century. Regardless
of whether
Brown is travelling about America with film legend Peck, sharing
a Chicago hotel
suite with difficult Danny Kaye or visiting iconoclastic Sterling
Hayden at his Sausalito loft during a "near fast," the results
are never anything less than revealing. Hardcover, 278 pp. $25.00.
 You Can Act! A Complete Guide for Actors
D.W. Brown
This is a humorous and inspiring manual for professional actors -- a guide to every detail necessary to act in any role. For the first time, you can find a wealth of practical tips, diagnostics and reference material an actor needs, whether it's playing comedy, exploiting the nuances of film or performing a specialized character with insanity or a gunshot wound. Softcover, 338 pp. $29.95.
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