Acknowledgments 1. The "Given Circumstances" 2. Emotional Control: Lee Strasberg as "Big Daddy" of the Method 3. Script Analysis: Stella Adler’s Feminist Subtext 4. Exercises in Repetition: Sanford Meisner and "Instinct" 5. Respect for the Actress: Uta Hagen on Playing Female Roles 6. The "Magic If": Forward-Looking Conclusions Notes Bibliography Index
Biography
Rosemary Malague is the director of the Theatre Arts Program and a senior lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a doctorate in theatre from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
'I've been waiting for someone to write this book for years: a thorough-going analysis and reconsideration of American approaches to Stanislavsky from a feminist perspective ... lively, intelligent, and engaging.' – Phillip Zarrilli, University of Exeter
'Theatre people of any gender will be transformed by Rose Malague’s eye-opening study An Actress Prepares. Women performers have long needed this trenchant analysis of the craft of method acting, one that intervenes in its more sexist tendencies. Rejecting the common admonition, "Don’t think, act," Malague suggests that you can both think and act. This book will be useful to all scholars and practitioners determined to make gender equity central to how they hone their craft and their thinking.' – Jill Dolan, Princeton University
'It’s an interesting read for anyone seriously interested in drama education theory and the differences between US and British practice...' - Susan Elkin, Teaching Drama
‘Vigorously and persuasively positioning ‘feminist consideration of Method actor training’ as ‘not passé’, but ‘past due’, Malague’s book not only robustly highlights the gendered techniques and assumptions underlying the training, but displays the potential of these techniques to become sources of empowerment for the female actor.’ – Alissa Clark, New Theatre Quarterly
'In returning to the image of Monroe, whose experience exemplifies the most damaging elements of Method training, we recognize that Malague has given us a sharply drawn feminist critique of our actor-training history and practical applications for transforming its future.' - Daydrie Hague, Theatre Topics
