Bøger i Performance Books serien

Although already an accomplished artist, Vasili Toporkov was forced to retrain as an actor under Stanislavski's rigorous guidance. This is Toporkov's account of this learning process, offering an insight into Stanislavski's legendary "system".

This guide is suitable for anyone wishing to develop a career in the unpredictable profession of acting. It offers an appraisal of the challenges that actors face and identifies the opportunities that exist for the resourceful along with practical advice such as preparing a CV and getting an agent.

This work aims to give clear guidance to good pronunciation and is written in an accessible form. It explains common problems - what causes them, what are the correct sound formations - and then provides tested practical exercises to bring about the improvement required.

A practical volume providing ideas and inspiration for drama teachers, schools, colleges and theatre companies, and covering the pioneering theatre work of the Young Vic. The book contains interviews with actors and directors.

Not only a personal story but also a workbook for actors and directors wishing to understand and employ Peter Brook's techniques. The author became a leading member of Peter Brook's theatre company and his account includes an explanation of the genesis of the techniques and exercises.

The Actor's Business Plan is a self-directed practical guide for actors graduating from formal training programs, as well as for those already in the business whose careers need to move ahead more successfully. Using the familiar language of acting training, the book offers a method for the achievement of dreams through a five-year life and career plan giving positive steps to develop a happy life as an actor and as a person. It assists performers to flourish using the same kind of business/career planning that is a necessary part of life for entrepreneurs and business people. This introduction to the acting industry provides essential knowledge not only for how the business actually works, but also describes what casting directors, agents, and managers do, demystifies the role of unions, discusses how much things cost, and offers advice on branding and marketing strategies. It differs from other such handbooks in that it addresses the everyday issues of life, money, and jobs that so frequently destroy an actor's career before it is even begun. While addressing NYC and LA, the guide also gives a regional breakdown for those actors who may wish to begin careers or to settle in other cities. It is loaded with personal stories, and interviews with actors, casting directors, and agents from throughout the US. The Actor's Business Plan is the answer to the common complaint by students that they were not taught how to negotiate the show business world while at school. It is the perfect antidote for this problem and can easily fit into a ten or a thirteen-week class syllabus. Offering support as a personal career coach, empowering the actor to take concrete steps towards their life and career dreams, The Actor's Business Plan: A Career Guide for the Acting Life is a must-have book for actors who are determined to be a part of the professional world .

What is it to be a stand-up comedian? To be funny, solo? You have no character-role, no double-act partner, and nowhere to look but out into the darkness, with just a microphone, an audience and your imagination. This is a job without an annual appraisal; a job where you are publicly appraised every ten seconds. The results are harsh and obvious: if the audience isn't laughing, you 'died'; if they can't stop, you 'killed'. Deborah Frances-White and Marsha Shandur unpack the inner-workings of the minds of comics, sharing their secrets, insecurities and successes; their bêtes noires and their biggest fears. Featuring interviews with a host of comedians including Eddie Izzard, Moshe Kasher, Sarah Millican, Jim Jeffries, Stewart Lee, Lewis Black, Jenny Eclair, Todd Barry, Richard Herring, Marc Maron, Stephen K Amos, Rich Hall, Zoe Lyons, Marcus Brigstocke, Phill Jupitus, Gary Delaney, Mark Watson, Greg Davies and many more, this excellent book lets you in to the hearts and minds of celebrated comedians, away from the stage and off the mic.

Getting the Joke 2nd edition sets out to re-examine the world of stand-up comedy in the internet age, analysing the roles of the performer and audience, and the dramatic changes to how stand-up is done in recent years.

The first book to attempt to define and analyse the nature of ensemble theatre with case studies and contributions from companies and practitioners around the globe.

Actor Movement with DVD is an essential resource to help explore existing movement techniques with actors, enabling them to interpret and understand these techniques, and ultimately to fully own them. It combats issues that actors may have struggled with and allows the actor to question and critique the existing practices of movement.

Speaking with Skill marks a fundamental change in the pedagogy of speech training for actors and speakers. The method employed in this book is already and increasingly being used by instructors on major actor training programs in the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and the UK.

A practical masterclass on movement from the Head of Movement at RADA, complete with video examples on a DVD. The book provides a complete curriculum on movement training: from pure movement, to games, to Grotowski, Alexander, dance and yoga.

This second edition of the highly successful Popular Singing serves as a practical guide to exploring the singing voice while helping to enhance vocal confidence in a range of popular styles. The book provides effective alternatives to traditional voice training methods, and demonstrates how these methods can be used to create a flexible and unique sound.This updated and thoroughly revised edition features a new chapter on training for popular singing, which incorporates recent movements in teaching the discipline across the globe, taking into account recent developments in the area. The book also features a new section on ''bridging'' - ie. using all the technical elements outlined in the book to help the singer find their own particular expressive style to inspire more playfulness and creativity, both for the individual singer and for the teacher in practice and performance.

Musical Theatre Song is a handbook for musical theatre performers, providing them with the wide-ranging skill set they need for success in today's competitive musical theatre environment. Breaking down the process into knowing how to select your song material based upon your individuality and how to prepare and perform it in a manner that best highlights your attributes, Stephen Purdy provides a succinct and personalized trajectory toward presentation, taking the reader through a series of challenges that is designed to evoke original, personal and vibrant song performances. Written by renowned Broadway and West End vocal and audition coach Stephen Purdy, Musical Theatre Song is a must-have guide for all performers who are looking to succeed in the musical theatre industry.

Acting Characters is an introductory book for students and aspiring actors to help demystify the process of acting, by breaking the process down into twenty manageable steps.

"Many high school theatre teachers do not have access to intensive voice instruction. Rena's book will fill that void. It is instructive, concise, easy to understand, and most importantly for the high school student, fun. All high school theatre programs should have Voice and the Young Actor as a textbook." Kim Moore, High School Teacher

Based on the latest research from the fields of neuroscience and mind-body psychology, Acting With Passion offers a revolutionary new approach to the age-old problems of the actor: dealing with nerves, engaging the body, quieting the inner critic, auditioning, creating a character, and even playing comedy. With this step-by-step guide, actors who have struggled with 'visualization' and 'emotional recall' can learn an alternative method of accessing feelings through the release of chronic, subtle muscular tensions that connect into the brain at lightning fast speed and can actually produce emotions on cue. Written with verve and accessibility, and using practical exercises to guide the actor through each stage, Acting With Passion is the must-have text for actors seeking that magical 'state of aliveness'.

Clive Barker, trained actors at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in its heyday and developed his famous "theatre games" system over 20 years. This re-issue of this classic text now includes a DVD with video material showing Clive Barker teaching his games in a studio and contains background information and first hand material from Clive himself.

Between 1935 and 1938, Stanislavski did his final work in Moscow with a group of 11 young actors and directors trained in his special "system". This volume contains a full translation of verbatim transcriptions of Stanislavski's notes and practical exercises from these sessions.

The Stanislavski "system" is still the only comprehensive method of actor training we posses. This text traces the growth of the "system" from its roots in the tradition of Russian realism, and charts the various phases it went through until the final emergence of the Method of Physical Action.

Seventy percent of a conversation is conveyed through body language while only 10 percent is the meaning of the words. Here, an expert RADA trainer shows how to use our body so that it will speak more effectively and how to recognize and lose unwanted physical inhibitions.

Dealing with the cutting edge of contemporary theatre. This book presents the results of a unique investigation, carried out in conjunction with the Royal National Theatre Studio, into the nature of performance itself.

"Penny Dyer is an inspiration to work with" Helen Mirren An essential tool for actors needing to develop an accent at a moments notice. Top voice coach, Penny Dyer, voice coach to Helen Mirren on The Queen and Gwyneth Strong (Cassandra, Only Fools and Horses) present an hour long voice coaching session on CD.

Kelly McEvenue teaches the Alexander Technique, a method of physical relaxation that reduces tension throughout the body. This guide to the technique is specially adapted for actors to promote efficient use of the body. The book includes a series of step-by-step warm-ups and exercises.

This study of the work of the European choreographer and pioneer of dance notation, Rudolf Laban, examines the many strands of his thinking and its application. It attempts to convey the full implications of his ideas about movement, not only for dancers but also for actors and directors of drama.

A collection of acting exercises from around the world. There are voice warm-ups and bodywork through to interacting with space and creating characters all drawing on influences from Japanese Butoh to African dance, Shakespearean verse and children's games.

Brings together the many diverse strands of Craig's theories, many of which influenced such individuals as Stanislavski, Reinhardt, Meyerhold and Brecht.

Stand-Up! is the first book to both analyse the background of stand-up comedy and take us inside the world of being a solo comedian