Respect for Acting

by Hagen, Uta; Frankel, Haskel; Pierce, David Hyde

• ISBN13: 9780470228487
• ISBN10: 0470228482
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-07-08
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Respect for Acting "This fascinating and detailed book about acting is Miss Hagen's credo, the accumulated wisdom of her years spent in intimate communion with her art. It is at once the voicing of her exacting standards for herself and those she [taught], and an explanation of the means to the end." --Publishers Weekly "Hagen adds to the large corpus of titles on acting with vivid dicta drawn from experience, skill, and a sense of personal and professional worth. Her principal asset in this treatment is her truly significant imagination. Her 'object exercises' display a wealth of detail with which to stimulate the student preparing a scene for presentation." --Library Journal "Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting . . . is a relatively small book. But within it, Miss Hagen tells the young actor about as much as can be conveyed in print of his craft." --Los Angeles Times "There are almost no American actors uninfluenced by Uta Hagen." --Fritz Weaver "This is a textbook for aspiring actors, but working thespians can profit much by it. Anyone with just a casual interest in the theater should also enjoy its behind-the-scenes flavor." --King Features Syndicate

Author Biography

Uta Hagen was the recipient of innumerable honors and awards during her long career, including the prestigious National Medal of Arts in 2003. She died in 2004 at the age of 84. HASKEL FRANKEL was the drama critic of the National Observer.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
The Actor
Introduction	p. 3
Concept	p. 11
Identity	p. 22
Substitution	p. 34
Emotional Memory	p. 46
Sense Memory	p. 52
The Five Senses	p. 60
Thinking	p. 65
Walking and Talking	p. 69
Improvisation	p. 73
Reality	p. 75
The Object Exercises
Introduction	p. 81
The Basic Object Exercise	p. 91
Three Entrances	p. 95
Immediacy	p. 102
The Fourth Wall	p. 106
Endowment	p. 112
Talking to Yourself	p. 119
Outdoors	p. 124
Conditioning Forces	p. 129
History	p. 134
Character Action	p. 139
The Play and the Role
Introduction	p. 145
First Contact with the Play	p. 147
The Character	p. 152
Circumstances	p. 158
Relationship	p. 165
The Objective	p. 174
The Obstacle	p. 180
The Action	p. 184
The Rehearsal	p. 192
Practical Problems	p. 201
Communication	p. 213
Style	p. 217
Epilogue	p. 222
Index	p. 224
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