Acting

Acting: The Basics, 3rd Edition is a dynamic response to recent societal and entertainment industry changes, focusing on inclusion, diversity, access and equity, and the actor's trajectory from training to rehearsal to performance on stage and screen, with hands-on tools and global perspectives. The book offers vital ways of building a practical acting toolkit, through breath, body, voice, emotions, imagination and spirit. We begin with a socio-cultural look at the actor as a magician, storyteller, healer and social-changer. Throughout, there are insights from Black, Indigenous, First Nations, South/East Asian, intercultural and feminist practitioners, together with methods focusing on disability and accessibility, intimacy directives, mindfulness and intersectionality. Key canonical' figures still feature (e.g. Stanislavsky, Meisner, Brecht and Suzuki) with re-visioned perspective. Scattered throughout are post-COVID insights, plus expanded sections on screen acting (including self-tapes) and Shakespeare. This book is useful for beginners or experts, as it's always helpful to get back to basics. Because the author is both an actor and an actor trainer, the tools are steeped in user-friendly applications. At the same time, transferable skills (e.g. dynamic listening and empathy) are shown as relevant to everyone. With a glossary of terms and useful online suggestions (including blogs, videos and podcasts), this is ideal for anyone to learn anew about the practice and history of acting, or to take their acting and teaching into new terrain.