How do actors fuse thought, emotion and action within their creative process?
Essential Acting is an inspired and reliable toolbox for actors and teachers in the classroom, the rehearsal room and the workshop. RADA's Brigid Panet has distilled nearly 60 years of acting, directing and actor training into a unique recipe which brilliantly combines the teachings of Stanislavsky and Laban into an invaluable practical resource.
These exercises are built around the need for simple, achievable techniques that can be applied by actors, teachers and directors to answer the myriad requirements of actor training. The goal is to produce a continuous level of achievement, addressing:
How to rehearse
How to work with a text
How to audition for drama school
How to access the truth of feelings and actions.
Essential Acting will be a must-have purchase for anyone looking for a comprehensive study guide to the necessary work of the actor.
Introduction: What is acting and how do you do it? Part One Acting exercises 1. Notes for the teacher of the acting exercises 2. Making a good start 3. Experiencing the Three Essentials 4. The Magic 'If' 5. Exercises in immediate response 6. Developing the physical skills of acting Part Two Acting is behaving 7. Status* 8. Eye-gaze* 9. Confidence, poise and balance Part Three The rehearsal process 10. Meeting the play 11. Bringing the text to life 12. Breathing, speaking and learning lines 13. The actor's work on a character Part Four Directing a play 14. Solving common problems in acting 15. Playing the space 16. For the director Part Five An introduction to playing Shakespeare 17. Shakespeare's language 18. Handling Shakespeare's language Part Six Developing the physical skills of acting: Laban workshops for actors 19 .The Four Elements 20. Flow 21. Space 22. Time 23. Force 24. Laban for the speaking voice 25. The Eight Laban Effort Actions Appendix: Some suggestions to help with drama-school auditions Appendix II: Links to videos of exercises
