Acting One


Book Description

Useful for teaching beginning acting, this text contains twenty-eight lessons based on experiential exercises. It covers basic skills, such as talking, listening, tactical interplay, physicalizing, building scenes, and making good choices.




Acting One/Acting Two


Book Description

The new, fifth edition of Robert Cohen's Acting One, the text used to teach acting on more campuses than any other, has now been combined for the first time with his Acting Two, (the second edition of his previously-titled Advanced Acting). Together, Acting One/Acting Two provides a comprehensive and fully integrated system of all acting, from the most realistic to the most stylized. Part One (Acting One) covers basic skills such as talking, listening, tactical interplay, physicalizing, building scenes, and making powerful acting choices. Part Two (Acting Two) provides a series of exercises that encourage the student actor's self-extension into radically different styles (historical, literary, fantastical) and characterizations; then coaches the student through scenework in a variety of historical periods (Greek, Commedia, Elizabethan, Molière, Restoration, Belle Epoque), as well as modern hyper-realistic theatrical forms such as the theatres of alienation and the absurd, and exemplary recent dramas by Tony Kushner, Margaret Edson, August Wilson and Doug Wright.




Act One


Book Description

THE STORY: Growing up in an impoverished family in the Bronx, Moss Hart dreamed of being part of the glamorous world of the theatre. Forced to drop out of school at age thirteen, Hart’s famous memoir Act One is a classic Hortatio Alger story that plots Hart’s unlikely collaboration with the legendary playwright George S. Kaufman. Tony Award-winning writer and director James Lapine has adapted Act One for the stage, creating a funny, heartbreaking, and suspenseful play that celebrates the making of a playwright and his play Once in a Lifetime. ACT ONE offers great fun to a director to utilize over fifty roles, which can be played by a cast as few as twelve, and in a production that can be done as simply or elaborately as desired.




An Actor's Companion


Book Description

"I was totally unprepared for the transformation that Seth's technique created in me. . . . I realized that what I thought I knew about acting up to that point was largely misguided . . . but I now had a great, talented, dedicated teacher who generously wanted to share his tools with everyone. There is muscularity, not to mention wisdom and truth to Seth's techniques. He is a wonderful teacher, and I know that having him as my first guide is one of the luckiest things to have happened to me in my career and life. And when I can't get back to class with him, I am so grateful I have this book to turn to."—Anne Hathaway "This book is truly unlike anything else I know—these pieces are haikus on specific elements of performance and character building."—Philip Himberg, executive director, Sundance Theatre Institute A collection of practical acting tips, tools, and exercises, An Actor's Companion is ideal for both the seasoned professionals and actors-in-training. The tips—all simple, direct, and useful—are easy to understand and even easier to apply, in both rehearsal and in performance. Seth Barrish is an actor, teacher, and the co-artistic director of The Barrow Group in New York City. In his thirty-year career, he has directed the award-winning shows My Girlfriend's Boyfriend (Lucille Lortel Award for Best Solo Show, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Solo Show), Sleepwalk With Me (Nightlife Award for Outstanding Comedian in a Major Performance), The Tricky Part (Obie Award, Drama Desk nominations for Best Play and Best Solo Show), Pentecost (Drama Desk nomination for Best Play), Old Wicked Songs (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and Garland Award for Best Direction), and Good (Straw Hat Award for Best Direction), among dozens of others.




Acting for the Camera: Back to One


Book Description

Acting for the Camera: Back to One is a "how to" book with practical steps to achieve a professional performance on camera. The book focuses on four distinct areas: how to prepare the character, how to execute the technical responsibilities that will assist the editor in creating the on-camera performance in post-production, tips from industry professionals, and how to create effective self-tape auditions. Part One: The Character’s World is packed with tools to analyze the script and fully prepare the character before arriving on set. Part Two: The Actor’s World focuses on developing technical acting skills for the camera that assist the pre- and post-production teams to create a dynamic on-screen performance. In Part Three: The Professional World, industry professionals provide tips from inside the film/TV audition room and how to navigate a career in the acting business. The final section, Part Four: Self-Tape Like a Pro, outlines how to build a self-tape studio in the privacy of your own home and submit high-quality self-tape auditions that will help you stand out from the competition. Written for students enrolled in Acting for the Camera courses, Acting for the Camera: Back to One explores techniques that can be practiced and mastered by actors of all levels, from the moment they audition for the part through to when they hear that director call "cut!"




Acting and Stage Movement


Book Description

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.




Acting Right


Book Description

Acting Right is the leading work on using drama to teach behavior. This step-by-step approach integrates engaging aspects of drama with effective elements of classroom management to empower students to take ownership of and be responsible for their own behavior. Used in classrooms across the country, these strategies help create the behavioral literacy necessary for students to concentrate, cooperate, collaborate and establish a sense of calm, focus, and balance in the classroom. Sean Layne is the founder of Focus 5, Inc., an arts education consulting company providing professional learning opportunities to schools, school districts, performing arts centers, arts organizations, and museums around the country. Sean has worked in the field of arts integration for 30 years. He is a national teaching artist for The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, DC. He designs arts integration training seminars for teaching artists for The Kennedy Center and is also a course leader and arts coach for their Changing Education Through the Arts program. For over a decade Sean was a professional actor as well as a Master Artist for the Wolf Trap Institute Early Learning Through the Arts program.




One Less Bitter Actor


Book Description

An invaluable reference for anyone who is a working actor, or wants to be. Learn how to make it in the day-to-day business of acting and stay sane and focused while attempting to merge art and commerce. This book covers everything the author wishes someone had told him about how casting decisions are made, what rejection really means, how to behave on a set, the two factors the business is built on, and much more. Markus Flanagan offers encouraging, highly useful pointers on such vital matters as: How do you combat getting typed?, Understanding the people you are auditioning for, Bad habits to avoid in the audition waiting room, The two deadliest questions you may be asked before starting your reading, What are they looking for in the call back?. One Less Bitter Actor offers sage, pragmatic, anxiety-calming advice on how to succeed in acting from one who has.




Sanford Meisner on Acting


Book Description

Sanford Meisner was one of the best known and beloved teachers of acting in the country. This book follows one of his acting classes for fifteen months, beginning with the most rudimentary exercises and ending with affecting and polished scenes from contemporary American plays. Written in collaboration with Dennis Longwell, it is essential reading for beginning and professional actors alike. Throughout these pages Meisner is a delight—always empathizing with his students and urging them onward, provoking emotion, laughter, and growing technical mastery from his charges. With an introduction by Sydney Pollack, director of Out of Africa and Tootsie, who worked with Meisner for five years. "This book should be read by anyone who wants to act or even appreciate what acting involves. Like Meisner's way of teaching, it is the straight goods."—Arthur Miller "If there is a key to good acting, this one is it, above all others. Actors, young and not so young, will find inspiration and excitement in this book."—Gregory Peck




New One-act Plays for Acting Students


Book Description

This latest volume in a series of short play anthologies compiled by Deb and Norman Bert provides roles for almost any mix of students in an acting class. The plays range in mood from serious and heavy to dark or satiric comedy to farce. The heart of the book includes fifteen scripts for two actors. Also included are five monologues and five three-character plays. The playwrights are icons of the American avante garde, writers who have contributed much to regional theatre over recent years. An excellent resource for classrooms and festival competition use.