Stanislavski was the first to outline a systematic approach for using our experience, imagination and observation to create truthful acting. 150 years after his birth, his approach is more widely embraced and taught throughout the world – but is still often rejected, misunderstood and misapplied. In Acting Stanislavski, John Gillett offers a clear, accessible and comprehensive account of the Stanislavski approach, from the actor's training to final performance, exploring: ease and focus the nature of action, interaction and objectives the imaginary reality, senses and feeling active analysis of text physical and vocal expression of character the actor in the context of training and the industry. Drawing on Stanislavski's major books, in both English translations, and on records of his directing process and final studio classes, Acting Stanislavski demystifies terms and concepts. It is for actors from an actor's point of view, and offers many practical exercises and examples as an integrated part of each subject. Acting Stanislavski also creates an up-to-date overview of the Stanislavski approach, connecting his legacy with the work of his successors, from Michael Chekhov to Meisner, Adler and Strasberg. A new, extended and fully updated edition of Acting on Impulse: Reclaiming the Stanislavski Approach (Methuen Drama, 2007), Acting Stanislavski now includes new exercises and biographies, a further chapter on The Character, and an expanded glossary along with many other additions to the previous chapters. It is an essential practical and educational resource for any acting student, professional or teacher.

This book provides actors, directors, teachers and students with a clear, practical guide to applying the work of influential theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavsky to Shakespeare. Shakespeare and Stanislavsky provides a guide for actors, acting students, directors and teachers who want to apply the work of influential theatre practitioner, Stanislavsky, to the process of rehearsing and workshopping Shakespeare's play texts. Acting tutor and director, Annie Tyson, makes applying Stanislavsky's methods to Shakespeare simple and accessible. She rejects and dispels the myth held by some that Stanislavsky and Shakespeare are incompatible, showing instead how the Shakespearean text offers clues to specific acting choices that are intricately connected to action and character. Drawing on years of acting, directing and teaching experience at the Drama Centre London and RADA, Tyson's guide is full of practical tips and humour. This guide also includes a series of interviews with actors and directors who explain their approach to applying Stanislavsky to Shakespeare.

In this collection of essays, the four branches of radical cognitive science—embodied, embedded, enactive and ecological—will dialogue with performance, with particular focus on post-cognitivist approaches to understanding the embodied mind-in-society; de-emphasising the computational and representational metaphors; and embracing new conceptualisations grounded on the dynamic interactions of "brain, body and world". In our collection, radical cognitive science reaches out to areas of scholarship also explored in the fields of performance practice and training as we facilitate a new inter- and transdisciplinary discourse in which to jointly share and explore common reactions of embodied approaches to the lived mind. The essays originally published as a special issue in Connection Science.

Play Directing: The Basics introduces theatre students to a step-by-step process for directing plays, including advice on devising. Beginning with a historical overview of directing, this book covers every aspect of the director’s job from first read to closing night. Practical advice on finding plays to produce, analysing scripts, collaborating with the design team, rehearsing with actors, devising company creations, and opening a show are peppered with advice from working professionals and academic directors. A practical workbook, short exercises, helpful websites, and suggested reading encourage readers towards a deeper study of the art of directing. This book empowers high school and early college students interested in theatre and directing to find their own voice, develop a practice, and refine their process.

An interdisciplinary approach to Stanislavsky's theatre practice in sociocultural and political contexts and its legacy in the twenty-first century.

Looks at the scientific basis for theories of drama, and explains how Cage's ideas have affected modern theater.

This insightful and practically-focused collection brings together different approaches to actor training from professionals based at universities and conservatoires in the UK, the US and Australia. Exploring the cultural and institutional differences which affect actor training, and analysing developments in the field today, it addresses a range of different approaches, from Stanislavski's System to contemporary immersive theatre. With hands-on focus from some of the world's leading programmes, and attention paid to ethical control, consent and safe practice, this book sees expert tutors exploring pathways to sustainable 21st century careers. Designed for tutors, students and practitioners, Approaches to Actor Training examines what it means to train as an actor, what actors-in-training can expect from their programmes of study and how the road to professional accomplishment is mapped and travelled.

This book rediscovers a spiritual way of preparing the actor towards experiencing that ineffable artistic creativity defined by Konstantin Stanislavski as the creative state. Filtered through the lens of his unaddressed Christian Orthodox background, as well as his yogic or Hindu interest, the practical work followed the odyssey of the artist, from being oneself towards becoming the character, being structured in three major horizontal stages and developed on another three vertical, interconnected levels. Throughout the book, Gabriela Curpan aims to question both the cartesian approach to acting and the realist-psychological line, generally viewed as the only features of Stanislavski’s work. This book will be of great interest to theatre and performance academics as well as practitioners in the fields of acting and directing.

Forms of Emotion analyses how drama, theatre and contemporary performance present emotion and its human and nonhuman diversity. This book explores the emotions, emotional feelings, mood, and affect, which make up a spectrum of ‘emotion’, to illuminate theatrical knowledge and practice and reflect the distinctions and debates in philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, and other disciplines. This study asserts that specific forms of emotion are intentionally unified in drama, theatre, and performance to convey meaning, counteract separation and subversively champion emotional freedom. The book progressively shows that the dramatic and theatrical representation of the nonhuman reveals how human dominance is offset by emotional connection with birds, animals, and the natural environment. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers interested in the emotions and affect in dramatic literature, theatre studies, performance studies, psychology, and philosophy as well as artists working with emotionally expressive performance.

The Routledge Companion to Studio Performance Practice is a unique, indispensable guide to the training methods of the world’s key theatre practitioners. Compiling the practical work outlined in the popular Routledge Performance Practitioners series of guidebooks, each set of exercises has been edited and contextualised by an expert in that particular approach. Each chapter provides a taster of one practitioner’s work, answering the same key questions: ‘How did this artist work? How can I begin to put my understanding of this to practical use?’ Newly written chapter introductions put the exercises in context, explaining how they fit into the wider methods and philosophy of the practitioner in question. All 21 volumes in the original series are represented in this volume.