Acting: The First Six Lessons: Documents from the American Laboratory Theatre

by Blair; Rhonda

• ISBN13: 9780415563864
• ISBN10: 0415563860
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

A key text for drama students today. These dramatic dialogues between the teacher and 'The Creature' ' an idealistic student - explore the 'craft' of acting according to one of the godfathers of method acting. The book also features Boleslavsky's lectures to The Creative Theatre and American Laboratory Theatre, as well as 'Acting with Maria Ouspenskaya', four short essays on the work of Ouspenskaya, his colleague and fellow actor trainer. This new edition is edited with a new introduction and bibliography by Rhonda Blair, author of The Actor, Image, and Action.

Author Biography

Richard Boleslavsky (1889-1937) (born Ryszard Boleslawski) was a Polish actor and director. He was a member of the Moscow Art Theatre and director of its First Studio. He emigrated to New York in the 1920s and was the first teacher of the Stanislavski system of acting in the West. He went on to produce plays on Broadway and was a leading Hollywood director in the 1930s. Rhonda Blair is Professor of Theatre at Southern Methodist University, USA. She is a leading voice on the applications of cognitive science on the acting process and the author of the Actor, image, and Action: Acting and Cognitive Neuroscience. She is currently the President of the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. viii
Editor's introduction	p. ix
Acting: The First Six Lessons	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
The First Lesson: Concentration	p. 4
The Second Lesson: Memory of Emotion	p. 11
The Third Lesson: Dramatic Action	p. l2
The Fourth Lesson: Characterization	p. 31
The Fifth Lesson: Observation	p. 45
The Sixth Lesson: Rhythm	p. 53
The ôCreative Theatreö Lectures	p. 65
Introduction	p. 67
What is the theatre?	p. 71
What is a play?	p. 74
What is the audience?	p. 77
What is an actor?	p. 82
What is a theatrical designer?	p. 84
What is a theatrical composer?	p. 88
What is a collective work in a theatre?	p. 92
What is a theatrical performance?	p. 97
What is a mechanical performance?	p. 99
What is a creative theatrical performance?	p. 101
The qualifications of a creative actor	p. 103
What is the meaning of ôLiving the Part?ö	p. 105
What is ôSpiritual Concentration?ö	p. 107
What is the Spiritual or Affective Memory?	p. 114
How to use affective memory in preparing a part	p. 117
Boleslavsky lectures from the American Laboratory Theatre	p. 121
Lecture 3	p. 123
Lecture 5	p. 130
Lesson 6	p. 137
Lecture 7	p. 142
Lesson 8	p. 150
Lesson 9	p. 156
Lecture 10	p. 164
Lecture 11	p. 169
Notes on acting with Maria Ouspenskaya	p. 181
October 1954	p. 183
November 1954	p. 189
December 1954	p. 195
January 1955	p. 201
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