The Actor's Workbook - (Theatre Arts Workbooks) by Alex Clifton (Paperback)

About the Book

Presents a system of exercises to help develop core acting skills and offers techniques for developing an authored role and models for devising new work. These techniques are based on the practices of Konstantin Stanislavski and his recent theatrical descendants, including Uta Hagen, Sanford Meisner, Michael Chekhov, and others. The exercises are outlined in a student-centered approach, offering not only in-class exercises, but also pre-class exercises, educational frameworks, teaching-tips, suggested texts through which to apply the work, follow-up exercises, and suggestions for further reading in each chapter.

Book Synopsis

The Actor's Workbook is an essential workbook for actors, actors in training and teachers of acting and drama. The workbook and video provide a clear, step-by-step guide to learning techniques in acting.

The book presents a system of exercises which will develop core acting skills, offers techniques for developing an authored role and models for devising new work. These techniques are based on the practices of Konstantin Stanislavski and his recent theatrical descendants including Uta Hagen, Sanford Meisner, Michael Chekhov and others.

The exercises in the book are outlined in a student-centred approach, offering not only in-class exercises, but also pre-class exercises, educational frameworks, teaching-tips, suggested texts through which to apply the work, follow-up exercises and suggestions for further reading in each chapter.

Enabling and guiding the actor's sustainable, communicable, believable transformation into an imagined reality, this workbook is filled with powerful and precise acting tools, each underpinned by a rigorous and well-explained philosophy of practice.

The Actor's Workbook includes video of the author teaching the exercises, with professional actors demonstrating the techniques to be learned.

About the Author

Alex Clifton has worked as an assistant director at the Royal National Theatre; resident director at English National Opera; and freelance theatre and opera director. He is now an Acting Tutor at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), specialising in teaching Stanislavski's technique. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Higher Education and a trustee of the International Schools' Theatre Association. Alex is co-founder and Artistic Director of The Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, the UK's leading open air theatre outside London.