2 comments about The Actor's Art and Craft: William Esper Teaches the Meisner Technique.

1. This book is really nice. If you want to learn about craft of acting - it's your choice!



2. As Mary Steenburgen said: "It's the best book on the craft of acting", - if your using the Meisner Technique by Bill Esper - you'll find that his teaching style is sensible, creative, and compassionate. It makes you want to run to New York and get this class in person. I can see why his students love him.

5 comments about Sarah Kane: Complete Plays.

1. A unique voice that took her life too soon. These plays are an important testament to the IN Your Face Theater that lashed out in the 90s. Sometimes mistaken for pointless violence, Kane has a brilliant ability to cut to the heart of humanity and explore the darker aspects of our own kind.



2. Sarah Kane's collected plays represent an underestimated force in theater. Much like the work of Elfriede Jelinek or Ntozake Shange, Kane takes a private pain (losing oneself in another or testing the limits of proclaimed love) and creates a verbal landscape that the audience must inhabit, either by force of shock or noble acceptance of empathy. In either case, her plays must be reckoned with upon finishing. I think perhaps the most intriguing and powerful to me was 4.48 Psychosis, her final and posthumously performed play. There are no defined characters because who cannot claim a piece within the multitude of confessions that the play really unfolds as. Brutally honest and intentionally confrontational, this play, above the others, embodies the last possible moments of hope in anyone's life. Kane's characters rarely make the choice to latch on to these moments, but they are there and cannot be ignored.



3. Sarah Kane is anything but family friendly. Her plays are raw, brutal, and yet beautiful in an ironic way. She takes all of the hate that exists in this world and uses it to show us the beauty that can come from the ruble of a blown up building. There is no way to actually describe Sarah Kane to you to make you want to buy her book. I was forced to buy it because of a class at my college, but I don't think I'll be selling this one back. I never thought I would enjoy a play such as Blasted. If you want to understand what my review actually means, buy the book, read a couple of her pieces and then read this again. I'm sure you will understand then.



4. One of the strongest women writers that lived, she revolutionized theatre and her death was unfortunate robbed theatre of her potential. A Great collection of her complete work at a great price. Cleansed was my favorite in the collection. Her work is so poetic, stark, honest, painful, and brutal.



5. These are the most electric scripts to arrive in a long while. Sadly, the source was snuffed in 1999. Kane's writing is at once repellent and seductive. "Blasted" is exceptional, riffing on Beckett blatantly, but still signature of a visionary voice: inyerface, exuberant, filthy, poetic, profound. As a debut, it is truly remarkable. "Phaedra's Love" and "Cleansed" push the envelope past the hyper-real into lightning-bright brilliance, and with thunderous emotional depth. How does one stage this stuff? Kane's challenging work sets the imagination--and ultimately, the soul--on fire.

5 comments about The Art and Craft of Playwriting.

1. This book really is great for anyone just starting out in the playwriting field and if you've got experience writing plays behind you. I was in the midst of writing a new musical when I picked this book up for graduate school. Reading this book while writing helped to immediately put into practice what Hatcher was saying. It also helped me to answer a few questions I had about my own piece as well as keep me on course with my project.



2. This is the only book on the market that makes the process clear and exciting without long, dry chapters of lecturing. Hatcher gives you inspiring exercises along with a dose of terminology that balances perfectly. Buy this if you are teaching playwriting at the college level, or if you want to give it a try on your own.



3. Wonderful book. It's like taking a college course on playwriting, with a great teacher. It's very helpful.



4. Keep re-reading it over and over again. Don't ever let it leave your bedside table. Written with razor sharp simplicity, organised ingeniously and written with a scholarly expertise.



5. I checked this book out from the library, but now I must buy my own copy to keep. I've been having problems developing second act story complications without completely deconstructing my original set up and concept. The suggested techniques in this book of asking questions --somewhat like a reporter or investigator would in uncovering a life mystery-- to find the story are unique. I actually found myself with pen and paper WANTING to participate in the questions and exercises. No other manual has inspired me this way.

5 comments about Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons.

1. I saw a touring production of "Jersey Boys" in my home state, Arizona. I decided to get this book for a friend of mine who doesn't love musicals like I do, but wanted to see this show because she and her husband grew up with the music of the real Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. For me the musical was interestingg, an intriguing look at the Fopur Seasons, and why they hit so quickly, but I disliked theprofane Jersey language, so I give this four stars.



2. THIS WAS A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT....ON MANY LEVELS.ALOT OF WHAT'S WRITTEN ISN'T EVEN ACCURATE...I love the Jersey Boys but NOT this book....



3. I loved the musical "Jersey Boys" and wanted to learn more. This book has biographical data about the singers and that time in the 1960s when they made their mark. It also chronicles how the story came to the stage and includes the complete script. It was like reliving the whole experience. If you are a fan of the The Four Seasons, have seen the musical and enjoy the music of the era, you will aappreciate this book!



4. Even though i was born in the 70's i have to say Frankie Valli and the four seasons, their music, their lives, have touched me, and i love the fact that the book was written "jersey boys" it made me just totally fall in love with them and their music....awesome...thanks



5. I loved The Four Seasons. This book gives me a complete picture history of my favorite group

5 comments about Games for Actors and Non-Actors 2nd Edition.

1. The book was in very good condition and shipped quickly. I paid about $20 less than my college's bookstore was charging for it.



2. This text is an essential publication for any drama practitioner, teacher, actor. It encloses many unique activities that vary in levels of ability that enable the participants to explore various facets within drama/ theatre.
   
   A DEFINATE MUST HAVE!!!



3. This book has given me several tools to use in my Sunday School class on the gospel of Mark. It helped the group of college students and adults, really get a more embodied sense of the gospel story, human ethics and Christian theology. If you are looking to do something different in your church, buy this book!



4. This text represents a valuable introduction to the theories and practice of Augusto Boal. GFA, unlike its predecessor the Theatre of the Oppressed, contains practical exercises as well as an introduction to the important theoretical work of Boal. Boal's major innovations (such as Forum Theatre and Image Theatre) are introduced, discussed, and illustrated with examples, thus effectively allowing the reader to enter into the dialogue of using and refining the techniques. I would recommend this to any performer, artist, educator, or theatre worker who is unfamiliar with the work of Boal, and seeks new methods of understanding and transforming practice, and empowering both audience and participants.



5. Definitely a must-have in all drama classes. Don't recycle the same old exercises which have nothing to do with the world around us - the work of Boal is accessible and important to students of the theater of all ages.

5 comments about The Foreigner.

1. So much can be said about this light-hearted play that it's hard to pick where to start (and what to leave out)...
   
   Larry Shue really set up a diverse and side-splitting play. First of all, it incorporates many accents and notions as cultures collide in the Deep South. One character even makes up his own dialect and tells an entire story in it (it's a lot funnier than it sounds trust me)! The plot also drives off of a cleverly set up situation of mistaken identity.
   
   Somehow Shue created a hilarious, yet somehow realistic cast of characters. He followed this up by setting up an absurd plot that flows naturally and is exciting to read. Great character + great plot = what can go wrong?
   
   I loved this play so much that I went to see it live at a somewhat small theatre. Literally everyone in the audience was laughing hysterically throughout the performance and they all stayed after for about an hour to learn more about the play and Larry Shue. The great thing is that this play is funny without being crude, which shows real comedic talent (and seems to be a rare find these days).
   
   Reading a play doesn't take that long at all! If you are a theatre geek, or someone that is just starting to read plays this one will be a great choice for you. It's diverse, funny, witty and masterfully set-up. I strongly recommend it.



2. I was lucky enough to see Larry Shue play the role of Charlie off-Broadway in May of 1985 (he died in December of that year). To my mind, he was the perfect Charlie, although years later I saw a performance of the play with Jaston Williams and Joe Sears that rocked the house and showed just how sharp Shue's wit was.



3. This is about the funniest play I ever read. Have never seen it staged either. But it is typical of modern plays in having only seven characters, all of whom have meaty roles. Needs thick Southern accents and one cultured British and one Cockney accent. Five men and two women.



4. Having taken part in a performance of "The Foreigner" over ten years ago, I was anxious to take a trip down memory lane. After reading the play today, I am reminded what a precise and humorous tale this is. Despite remaining relatively obscure, it is one of my favorites. Larry Shue's attention to detail and sharp wit make this play a laugh a minute and thought provoking.
   
   Charlie accompanies Froggy to Georgia on military business as Charlie's wife's health declines. Feeling his marriage is failing, Charlie becomes very asocial. To maintain his silence, Charlie adopts the persona of a foreigner with no English speaking skills. In the lodge he takes up residence, the lodge's keeper Betty is about to loose the property to a conspiracy of Owen and a resident of the lodge and preacher David. As a member of the Ku Klux Klan, Owen's feelings of hatred rise when he feels Charlie mocks him. This causes Owen as well as David, whose membership in the Klan is not known, to attempt to exact revenge. When their violent scare tactics fall apart, so does the conspiracy of David and Owen. Additionally, the corrupt preacher David's image is soiled as his true intentions are revealed toward his fiance and her wealth.
   
   It is a misfortune that this show is hard to find on the stage. Were it more well known, I am sure it would achieve much deserved recognition. If you are unable to see the show, reading it is the next best thing.



5. I had the sheer joy of playing Charlie several years ago and I hope some day I can do it again. It is funny and thought provoking at the same time. When I first read it I couldn't stop laughing and I wondered how we would get through it as actors without cracking up.
   Everyone should read it and try to see it if it is playing at a theatre near you.

3 comments about Cengage Advantage Books: Essentials of Public Speaking (Cengage Advantage Books).

1. Dont waste money buying this from the school book store. Get it here at amazon. It is the same thing and cost much less. Arrived in new condition.



2. This book was required for a speech class I took. The book is very interesting and has a lot of techniques to make a speech effective. I really like the sections on "Preparing Your Speech" and "Presenting Your Speech." They were actually the best. There are some great examples of how communication affects the environment and the speaker. The sequential process of writing and delivering a speech is packed with some excellent principles and suggestions. This is an excellent book for preparing and delivering a speech; building confidence to speak, and to develop credibility with the audience. This is an excellent book for speakers and potential speakers. It has helped me with poetry presentations and speaking engagements.
   
   Another great book to read is "Trilogy Moments for the Mind, Body and Soul." This book introduces the new "Epulaeryu" poetic form, and it's also filled with great inspirational poems to stimulate the mind, body and soul.



3. Great emphasis on visual aids. Organization is great and easy to understand. Author does an excellent job of explaining. Includes some great examples of speeches throughout the book. Great section on speaker anxiety - helped a lot.

5 comments about The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama, Brief Edition.

1. This book is perfect for studying theatre history! It contains prominent plays from each time period as well as the history behind them. One is not only able to read the play, but also learn what was going at the time it was written. This makes the play much more meaningful. In that sense, it's the best of both worlds!
   Wadsworth Anthology of Drama Brief Fifth Edition



2. This Anthology's shortcomings in no way reflect poorly on the material in the book, but rather in what the editors chose to exclude. All the pieces (and there are many) come with excellent background information, interesting and relevant theory, and most importantly source text from many of the relevant playwrights, including original essays by Brecht and Artaud. The anthology includes many of the classics, and where it proves itself especially useful is in its inclusion of sociopolotical plays such as "Information for Foreigners" and "Los Vendidos", contemporary rewrites such as "Hamletmachine" and the clever pairing of the classic "Tempest" with the lesser known searing colonization commentary "A Tempest" by Cesaire. But totally lacking is treatment of the entire Roman and Medieval periods, as well as the post-Shakespeare pre-Ibsen area. The anthology remains an invaluable tool for survey courses (I used it for a Intro Theatre Studies Class) but perhaps is too limited for more specific Theatre applications.



3. I would first like to mention that this book has stunning supplementary materials (theory, performance discussions, etc.) that make the book well worth using for a general survey of Western dramatic history.
   But it is what is excluded or glossed that makes this collection fall somewhat short. I teach out of this book for a major university (it is the required text for multiple other classes, so it is requested that I use this text as well.) While it does cover many major and significant periods, the Romans are entirely ignored and non-western theatre is seemingly thrown in as a sidethought... leading many of my students to question whether there is really a worthwhile eastern theatre tradition. When teaching Greeks and Renaissance drama, it is critical to understand the approach that the Romans took to the theatre. Even a Senecan tragedy would have enlivened the "Classical" section of the anthology.
   I do understand that not ALL periods can be given equal weight, but by disrgarding periods and regions (or even worse, by giving them such short shrift that nobody even considers them beyond a passing comment) our students are presented an incomplete history of theatre. I must order a number of other texts to fill these holes in the historical timeline.
   That being said, what this anthology does include is well documented and supported by appropriate texts. As I mentioned, it is a good basic introduction to theatre history and theory (and is possibly the strongest out there for this task) and should deserve 4 stars, but the 3 stars reflects my reservations above.



4. I read so much about the anthology, but nowhere did I find what plays were actually presented, for those interested here is the list: Orestia, Agamemnon, Liberation Bearers, Eumenides, Oedipos King, Medea, Lysistrata, Matsukaze, Chushingura, Second Shepards' Pageant, Everyman, Doctor Faustus, Hamlet, The Tempest, Life is a Dream, Tartuffe, Phaedra, The Rover, Loa DIvine Narcissusm Recruiting Officer, Doll House, Father, Cherry Orchard, Major Barbara, Six Characters..., Mother Courage, Endgame, Homecoming, Hamletmachine, Cloud Nine, Our Country's Good, Trifles, Hairy Ape, Glass Menagerie, Dutchman, Vedidos, True West, Fences, M Butterfly, Angels in America I, Fires in the Mirror, America Play, Lady Aoi, My Beatles, A Tempest, Information for Foreigners, Death and King's Horseman, Translations, Gangsters, No Sugar, Dry Lips Oghta..., Valley Song. On top of it all, there are incredible and insightful critical reviews.



5. I had to buy this book for my dramatic lit classes in school and fell in love with it. It covers plays from the early Greeks to modern plays. Before every play there is a bio of the writer that outlines their history and how they came to write the play you are about to read. At the beginning of each section there is an essay about that time period. It talks about what was happening then, the different writing styles that evolved, the layout of theatres and how they changed and the different prominent writers of that time. The book also includes many pictures from different productions of the plays in the book. It shows pictures with traditional stagings and also updated or stylized stagings. Pretty much all of the plays also have at least one critical essay included as well. This is a great assortment of plays with lots of good background info to get you going. Whether you are just looking for a good collection pf plays to read or are a drama student looking to broaden your play collection for scene study and monologue work this is the book for you.

5 comments about Video Basics.

1. 
   
   Really am enjoying the book. A great wealth of info!



2. It is a useful book but it is unneccesary if you are taking a course along with it. If you really need a book to refrence to remember what trucking, panning, and medium shots are then go ahead and get it anyway. But really, any good college intro to film class should surpass this to the point you don't need it.



3. This book is a must for anyone getting into video production. Full of basic information that is conveyed in an intuitive and concise way, plus there is plenty of advanced knowledge to keep you referring back for years to come. Definitely a staple for all video people.



4. My boss told me to buy this book, and it is one of the best available book.



5. i am an electronic media communications major and this book has been used for a number of years in my school's communications program. video basics 3 has everything you need to know and everything is explained in much detail, yet not too complicated. there are great illustrations throughout the book that are very helpful as well.
   i bought this book used from my campus bookstore and i gotta wonder, why would someone return this book at the end of the semester? i still have mine and have re-read it through quite a few times, most definately something worth holding on to!

2 comments about An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary.

1. Stanislavski is a familiar name in theatre circles. The legendary director of the Moscow Art Theatre wrote perhaps some of the most influential work on acting in the last century. I could list the big names who cite his influence (most famously, Marlon Brando and Sir John Gielgud), but the fact is his teachings have become so much a part of the way we approach theatre, that almost any actor in the English-speaking world (and abroad) can claim at least some influence.
   
   Unfortunately, most English-speakers are familiar with Stanislavski's `system' in the considerably troubled translation by Elizabeth Hapgood. What's more, the form that translation took (as two separate books, the famous "An Actor Prepares" and "Building a Character") misrepresented Stanislavski's original intentions. In actuality, "An Actor Prepares" and "Building a Character" are two parts of a larger book, called "An Actor's Work on Himself." In the Soviet Union, they were published as volumes one and two of the same book.
   
   Hapgood worked with Stanislavski on an early edition of the first half of the book, which in her translation would become "An Actor Prepares." However, Stanislavski continued revisions on the book after Hapgood had returned home to America in 1935. The translation that was published, in addition to being abridged to half the original's length, was also missing the subsequent revisions that Stanislavski released in a Soviet edition three years later just before his death. Stanislavski did not live to complete part two. Hapgood received fragments from Stanislavski's son, Igor. Not knowing that these were meant as a completion to a single holistic system, she published them as "Building a Character."
   
   This new edition, called simply "An Actor's Work," reunites the two volumes at last. Translator Jean Benedetti is also an erudite scholar of the life and work of Stanislavski one whom he has published several definitive biographical works. The translations themselves are somewhat stilted, but still a major improvement over the Hapgood translations, which remain the most widely circulated versions of Stanislavski's work. Part One is finally presented unabridged. Benedetti's reconstruction of the unfinished Part Two (from a motley selection of fragments amassed after Stanislavski's death) is graceful and readable.
   
   What is most striking, however, are the huge implications this new edition has on the way Stanislavski's system is currently understood. Part One of "An Actor's Work" dealt with the psychological construction of a role. Part Two was to elaborate on the physical training of the actor. Stanislavski stressed the importance of voice and movement training for the actor. Unfortunately, this second (and vital) half of the work went largely ignored in drama schools where "An Actor Prepares" became the standard text. (Stanislavski's original system, fortunately, made it back to the U.S. through Stella Adler who had studied with him for a brief period in Paris.) Thus, a huge emphasis was placed on psychology, when the implications on physicality went largely ignored.
   
   The fact that Part Two was never completed is not much of a disaster. As Benedetti notes, it is really only of historical interest. Actors today have much more sophisticated methods at their disposal, such as the Alexander Technique and Kristen Linklater's approach to voice training (I recommend her Freeing the Natural Voice).
   
   "An Actor's Work" is poised to become the definitive edition of Stanislavski for the next generation. It presents the first really viable alternative to Hapgood's translations. The fact that the hardcover edition is less expensive than the combined cost of Hapgood's "An Actor Prepares" and "Building a Character" should also not go unnoticed.



2. Jean Benedetti provides the modern translation of this classic text on actor training, a recommended pick for any college-level collection strong in drama theory and actor training. His offers a more accurate new translation of the classic, critiquing Method acting and its legacy and putting Stanislavski's two-volume work back under one cover as he originally intended. The result is a clearer, more revealing legacy than the prior translation, and deserves a spot in any serious college-level acting library.