Black Acting Methods seeks to offer alternatives to the Euro-American performance styles that many actors find themselves working with. A wealth of contributions from directors, scholars and actor trainers address afrocentric processes and aesthetics, and interviews with key figures in Black American theatre illuminate their methods. This ground-breaking collection is an essential resource for teachers, students, actors and directors seeking to reclaim, reaffirm or even redefine the role and contributions of Black culture in theatre arts. Chapter 7 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Practiced by such actors of stature as Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Julie Harris, Dustin Hoffman, and Ellen Burstyn (not to mention the late James Dean) the Method offers a practical application of the renowned Stanislavsky technique. On Method Acting demystifies the "mysteries" of Method acting -- breaking down the various steps into clear and simple terms, including chapters on: Sense Memory -- the most vital component of Method acting Improvisation -- without it, the most integral part of the Method is lost Animal Exercises -- just one way to combat the mental blocks that prevent actors from grasping a character Creating The Outer Character -- so actors can give the freshness of originality to a role while at the same time living the life of the character On Method Acting is also an indispensable volume for directors, designers, lighting technicians, and anyone in the dramatic arts interested in creating a believable and realistic effect in their productions.

In this practical guide, renowned actor and director Michael Chekhov shares his innovative approach to the craft of acting. Drawing on his extensive experience in the theater and his unique understanding of the actor's creative process, Chekhov presents a comprehensive system of techniques designed to help actors develop their physical, mental, and emotional abilities. Through a series of exercises and principles, actors can learn to create compelling, truthful performances that captivate audiences and bring characters to life on stage and screen.

Women, Method Acting, and the Hollywood Film is the first study dedicated to understanding the work of female Method actors on film. While Method acting on film has typically been associated with the explosive machismo of actors like Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, this book explores an alternate tradition within the Method—the work that women from the Actors Studio did in Hollywood. Covering the period from the end of the Second World War until the 1970s, this study shows how the women associated with the Actors Studio increasingly used Method acting in ways that were compatible with their burgeoning feminist political commitments and developed a style of feminist Method acting. The book examines the complex intersection of Method acting, sexuality, and gender by analyzing performances such as Kim Hunter’s in A Streetcar Named Desire, Julie Harris’s in The Member of the Wedding, Shelley Winters’s in The Big Knife, Geraldine Page’s in Sweet Bird of Youth, and Jane Fonda’s in Coming Home. Challenging the longstanding assumption that Method acting’s approaches were harmful to women and incompatible with feminism, this book argues that some of Hollywood’s most interesting female actors, and leading feminists, emerged from the Actors Studio in the period between the 1950s and the 1970s. Written for students and scholars of Film Studies, Cultural Studies, Theatre and Performance Studies, and Gender Studies, Women, Method Acting, and the Hollywood Film reshapes the way we think of a central strain in American screen acting, and in doing so, allows women a new stake in that tradition.

Honed by the author's 35 years of teaching, this advanced book offers different warm-up exercises concentrating on the actor's sense of smell, sound, sight, and touch; sensory tools for conveying the climate and environment of the text; tips for suggesting a character's physical conditions; and much more. Individual exercises will help actors to free the voice and body, create a character, find the action and condition of scenes, and explore the subconscious for effective emotional recall. Readers will also find meticulous guidelines for best using rehearsal time and preparing for in-class scene work. The foreword is written by two-time Academy Award nominee Edward Norton. Those who act, direct, or teach will not want to miss the acting lessons that have made T. Schreiber Studio a premier actor training program.

"A manual full of enabling, easing exercises - it will enable you to analyse any scene. The cry of the actor at sea `I don't know what I'm doing' should, with this book, become a thing of the past' Sam West "I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting an introduction to Stanislavksi or Michael Chekhov or acting in general." Matt Peover, LAMDA trainer and theatre director. "Contains all the important things that need to be said about learning to act...in an extremely logical and sensible manner." Simon Dunmore, Editor Actor's Yearbook An inspiring and technically thorough practical book for actors that sets down a systematic and coherent process for organic, experienced acting. The author offers a step-by-step and demystifying Stanislavski-based approach to text, role, rehearsal and performance to be used in everyday work, and gathers together in one volume the essential tools for recreating human experience. A nuts-and-bolts practical guide with exercises for the actor to work through sequentially. Contains a Foreword by Sam West. John Gillett builds on his experience of teaching at drama school level as well as many decades of acting. This book, by an actor for actors, is a comprehensive, clear and inspirational guide to creating a truthful, dynamic and audience-captivating performance.

The Method Acting Exercises Handbook is a concise and practical guide to the acting exercises originally devised by Lee Strasberg, one of the Method's foremost practitioners. The Method trains the imagination, concentration, senses and emotions to ‘re-create’ – not ‘imitate’ – logical, believable and truthful behavior on stage and in film. Building on nearly 30 years of teaching internationally and at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York and Los Angeles, Lola Cohen details a series of specific exercises in order to provide clear instruction and guidance to this preeminent form of actor training. By integrating Strasberg's voice with her own tried and tested style of teaching, Cohen demonstrates what can be gained from the exercises, how they can inform and inspire your learning, and how they might be applied to your acting and directing practice. As a companion to The Lee Strasberg Notes (Routledge 2010), a transcription of Strasberg's own teaching, The Method Acting Exercises Handbook offers an unparalleled and updated guide to this world renowned technique.

"First published in the United States, this unique survey of the twentieth century's most influential acting methods offers invaluable practical insights for actors and drama teachers all over the world." "Each of the ten famous techniques included in this handbook is described in detail by one of today's foremost practitioners. Each chapter outlines the development of the respective technique and offers practical guidance for actors wishing to explore it for themselves." --Book Jacket.