“The definitive source book on acting.”—Los Angeles Times Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Hopper, Robert DeNiro, Marilyn Monroe, and Joanne Woodward—these are only a few of the many actors training in “Method” acting by the great and legendary Lee Strasberg. This revolutionary theory of acting—developed by Stanislavski and continued by Strasberg—has been a major influence on the art of acting in our time. During his last decade, Strasberg devoted himself to a work that would explain once and for all what The Method was and how it worked, as well as telling the story of its development and of the people involved with it. The result is a masterpiece of wisdom and guidance for anyone involved with the theater in any way. “A must for young actors—for old ones, too, for that matter.”—Paul Newman “An exploration of the creative process that will reward all who are interested in the nature of inspiration.”—Library Journal “An important cultural document.”—Booklist

New York magazine was born in 1968 after a run as an insert of the New York Herald Tribune and quickly made a place for itself as the trusted resource for readers across the country. With award-winning writing and photography covering everything from politics and food to theater and fashion, the magazine's consistent mission has been to reflect back to its audience the energy and excitement of the city itself, while celebrating New York as both a place and an idea.

"But in a fiction, in a dream of passion..." In an extended commentary on this passage this book offers a rationale for the excellence and primacy of this play among the tragedies. Throughout, emphasis is placed on Hamlet's fantasies and imaginations rather than on ethical criteria, and on the depiction of Hamlet as a revenge play through an exploration of its dark and mysterious aspects. The book stresses the importance of Passion and Its Fictions in the play and attempts to explore the very Pirandellian topic of Hamlet's passion and dream of passion. It goes on to examine the organization of dramatic energies in the play - the use Shakespeare makes of analogy and infinite regress and of scene rows, broken scenes and impacted scenes, and the significance of the exact middle of Hamlet. The final section is devoted to conventions of style, imagery, and genre in the play - what is the stage situation of asides, soliloguies, and offstage speech? How is the imagery of skin disease and sealing distinctive? In what sense is Hamlet a comedy, or does it use comedy significantly?

A collection of previously published works on performance and stardom, examining the relationship between genre and performance, the position of the star within ideology, the construction of a semiotics of performance and stardom, the function of the actor within experimental or independent cinema, and the distinction between performance and everyday behavior. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

“The author respectfully submits it as his firm and immovable conviction, that the United States of America, in the years to come, will govern the entire Western Hemisphere.” These words, written by Arthur Bird in 1899, were his premonition as to the direction of the US one hundred years in the future. Not only did Bird cover the financial status of our country, but the world as a whole. While many of his predictions were quite outlandish, several were remarkably visionary and accurate—including Bird’s early drawing of “Aerial Navigation” before the Wright brothers ever took flight. Included in this book are predictions that: Our lunches would consist of “nutritious pellets” Drunkenness would be “very rare” Cigarette smokers would be arrested on sight Every American home would include a robot “valet” And much more! Looking Forward is an incredible view of the world before the turn of the twentieth century. While we’ve come far as a country since 1899, there are many things Bird mentions to which we still aspire. He had high hopes for our civilization as a whole and as a superpower. While we have indeed accomplished a great deal, there’s always room for improvement, and Bird’s vision of his future remains relevant in shaping our own.

Cinema has been long associated with France, dating back to 1895, when Louis and Auguste Lumi_re screened their works, the first public viewing of films anywhere. Early silent pioneers Georges MZli_s, Alice Guy BlachZ and others followed in the footsteps of the Lumi_re brothers and the tradition of important filmmaking continued throughout the 20th century and beyond. In Encyclopedia of French Film Directors, Philippe Rège identifies every French director who has made at least one feature film since 1895. From undisputed masters to obscure one-timers, nearly 3,000 directors are cited here, including at least 200 filmmakers not mentioned in similar books published in France. Each director's entry contains a brief biographical summary, including dates and places of birth and death; information on the individual's education and professional training; and other pertinent details, such as real names (when the filmmaker uses a pseudonym). The entries also provide complete filmographies, including credits for feature films, shorts, documentaries, and television work. Some of the most important names in the history of film can be found in this encyclopedia, from masters of the Golden Age_Jean Renoir and RenZ Clair_to French New Wave artists such as Fran_ois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard.

The festive Elizabethan comedies constitute a unique and dazzling drama, yet they have seldom been studied as a genre, and, except for Shakespeare's plays, they are seldom interpreted. Although successive audiences have found these works delightful, critics at times regard them as rather trivial. Professor Weld's book, which is based upon a challenging new view of sixteenth-century dramaturgy, results in a new understanding of the plays, and reveals in them a surprising profundity. These interludes and moralities are seen, not as crude transitional dramas of simplistic didacticism and confused technique, but as theatrically vital plays which are both technically sophisticated and semantically complex. The author defines the dramatic meaning he seeks as the Renaissance audience's understanding of the play, and offers an operational definition of that audience in terms of its knowledge and training. He explores the late medieval use of dramatic metaphor as a device for conveying meaning and shows how during the sixteenth century this device gave rise to a complex linguistic tradition, one from which the late Elizabethan and Jacobean genres developed. Not the least of these genres is "romantic comedy," a concept that Professor Weld expands considerably. Using common ideas of the time as conceptual tools for interpretation, he demonstrates a generic grouping which includes plays as superficially diverse as Lyly's Mother Bombie, Greene's Friar Bacon, and The Taming of the Shrew. They are linked by certain dramatic metaphors, by philosophical assumptions, and by their common concern to find a modus vivendi with the "absurd flesh." Our understanding of these romantic comedies has been blurred by the accumulated scholarly traditions and changing acting styles of the last 350 years. In order to discover a clear view of this dramatic form as it was understood by the Elizabethan audience, Professor Weld (who himself has had acting and directing experience) takes factors into account such as the playwrights' actual directions for performance (when such can be found), in order to study the communication of meaning from the Elizabethan playwright to his contemporary and varied audience. While to us, for instance, Hamlet might exemplify the Oedipus Complex and The Comedy of Errors a search for identity and the failure of communication, such "meanings" are by no means those assumed by the intelligent and educated Elizabethan playgoer. In Part I Professor Weld examines the dramatic traditions with which the audiences of Lyly, Greene, and Shakespeare had been familiar, while in Part II he interprets the comedies themselves. Since all of the dramatic kinds used much the same techniques and were concerned with many of the same themes, the book is also an introduction to the understanding of tragedy, history, and—especially—dramatic satire.

This book is about all the things that I'm not, and in doing so, is really an inside look at all the things that I am. As a child, I hated poetry. I thought it was too girly for guys to read. Going through my divorce from my first marriage, and the legal fight I had just to see my children; I found out that poetry is very passionate and very therapeutic. I found the passion that I had been missing in my first marriage by writing it into my poems and even though I'm not talented enough to write my poetry in rhymes, I am hoping each one will strike a cord to the reader on a personal or maybe even a spiritual level. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be somebody or something else? This book lets you try it out. Ever wondered what it would be like to be black? To be God? To be gay? To be a sliding glass door? To be a used car salesman? This book gives you that chance to step into these different worlds without ever having to leave to comfort of you world. So buckle up and enjoy the ride.

The Iron Pentacle is a tool for reawakening to our essential humanity and our sovereign selves. Exploring the themes of sex, pride, self, power, and passion, this book invites you to develop magic of the body that sings to the spirit. Join authors Jane Meredith and Gede Parma on an intense journey into self-awareness through practices of the Reclaiming Tradition, where each step leads to self-actualization, authenticity, and potent magic. Through personal stories and rites you can perform, Magic of the Iron Pentacle opens the door to a revolutionary concept that combines personal empowerment with magical technique. The Iron Pentacle evokes qualities neglected and disparaged—yet these qualities, together and in balance, enliven our magic and our lives. Praise: "An illustrative, informative resource for understanding and applying the Iron Pentacle...A 'must-have' for any magic worker involved in unearthing the witch-flame within and becoming an iron-smith for integrity!"—Orion Foxwood, Traditional Witch and Faery Seer