2nd Edition

Essential Acting A Practical Handbook for Actors, Teachers and Directors

By Brigid Panet Copyright 2015
    326 Pages 6 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    326 Pages 6 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    How do actors fuse thought, emotion and action within their creative process?

    Essential Acting is an inspired and reliable toolbox for actors and teachers in the classroom, the rehearsal room and the workshop. RADA's Brigid Panet has distilled nearly 60 years of acting, directing and actor training into a unique recipe which brilliantly combines the teachings of Stanislavsky and Laban into an invaluable practical resource.

    These exercises are built around the need for simple, achievable techniques that can be applied by actors, teachers and directors to answer the myriad requirements of actor training. The goal is to produce a continuous level of achievement, addressing:

    • How to rehearse
    • How to work with a text
    • How to audition for drama school
    • How to access the truth of feelings and actions.

    Essential Acting will be a must-have purchase for anyone looking for a comprehensive study guide to the necessary work of the actor.

    Introduction: What is acting and how do you do it?  Part One Acting exercises  1. Notes for the teacher of the acting exercises  2. Making a good start  3. Experiencing the Three Essentials  4. The Magic ‘If’  5. Exercises in immediate response  6. Developing the physical skills of acting  Part Two Acting is behaving  7. Status*  8. Eye-gaze*  9. Confidence, poise and balance  Part Three The rehearsal process  10. Meeting the play  11. Bringing the text to life  12. Breathing, speaking and learning lines  13. The actor’s work on a character  Part Four Directing a play  14. Solving common problems in acting  15. Playing the space  16. For the director  Part Five An introduction to playing Shakespeare  17. Shakespeare’s language  18. Handling Shakespeare’s language  Part Six Developing the physical skills of acting: Laban workshops for actors  19 .The Four Elements  20. Flow  21. Space  22. Time  23. Force  24. Laban for the speaking voice  25. The Eight Laban Effort Actions  Appendix: Some suggestions to help with drama-school auditions  Appendix II: Links to videos of exercises

    Biography

    Brigid Panet's teaching and directing career includes productions for the Royal National Theatre, Rio de Janeiro, Montreal, Boston, and major English Drama schools including LAMDA and RADA.