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Maria Knebel is one of theatre studies' missing links; a student of and later assistant to Stanislavsky, and a colleague of Michael Chekhov's, she was instrumental in promoting their theories of acting via her teaching. Action Analysis combines her two books, 'The Verb in the Art of an Actor' and 'Action Analysis of the Play and the Role' in an edition conceived by Knebel's most famous student, the renowned director Anatoli Vassiliev. This is the first English translation of an important and authoritative fragment of the great Stanislavsky jigsaw. A landmark publication.
Active Analysis combines two of Maria Knebel’s most important books, On Active Analysis of the Play and the Role and The Word in the Actor’s Creative Work, in a single edition conceived and edited by one of Knebel's most famous students, the renowned theatre and film director, Anatoli Vassiliev. This is the first English translation of an important and authoritative fragment of the great Stanislavski jigsaw. A landmark publication. This book is an indispensable resource for professional directors, student directors, actors and researchers interested in Stanislavski, directing, rehearsal methods and theatre studies more generally.
"Dynamic Acting through Active Analysis is a pragmatic guide for actors to the history and practice of Stanislavsky's last and most innovative approach to performance. Named "Active Analysis" by Maria Knebel, Stanislavsky's most influential protégé, it invites actors to explore the interactive dynamics in scenes by enacting them before memorizing lines. This process of analyzing texts actively taps actors' minds, bodies and spirits simultaneously, thus fostering dynamic acting. In Part 1 of the book, the author introduces the people who sacrificed much to create and keep the technique alive during the darkest era of Soviet repression. In Part 2, actors are offered a series of lessons on th...
Anatoly Efros (1925-1987), one of the most admired and original directors of post-war Russia, directed at the Central Children's Theatre, Malaya Bronnaya Theatre, Lenkom Theatre, Moscow Art Theatre, and Taganka Theatre, and elsewhere including the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and the Toen Theatre in Tokyo. He taught directing at the State Institute for Theatre Training and wrote several influential books. His productions received numerous awards for creative excellence. In The Joy of Rehearsal, his best-known work, Efros illuminates the dynamics of the director's creative work. He discusses the process of considering future plays, rehearsing them, and evaluating the results. Devoted to the...
A Director's Guide to Stanislavsky's Active Analysis describes Active Analysis, the innovative rehearsal method Stanislavsky formulated in his final years. By uniting 'mental analysis' and 'études', Active Analysis puts an end to the problem of mind-body dualism and formalized text memorization that traditional rehearsal methods foster. The book describes Active Analysis both practically and conceptually; Part One guides the reader through the entire process of Active Analysis, using A Midsummer Night's Dream as a practical reference point. The inspiration here is the work of the Russian director Anatoly Efros, whose pioneering work led the way for a reawakening of theatre in post-Soviet Ru...
Analysis through Action for Actors and Directors is a comprehensive view of an innovative and exciting process for making new theatre. As well as an understanding of how Analysis through Action has developed over time, this book also demonstrates how it can be put into practice in today’s theatre. The first part of this book traces the exciting genealogy from Stanislavsky’s unfinished experiments, through the insights of geniuses Maria Knebel and Georgii Tovstonogov, down to today’s avant-garde auteurs. The second part is a practical manual based on extensive field testing by the author and colleagues. Here, two key components of the process are elucidated: Text Actions – ten interwoven text analysis steps – to be twinned with the thrilling rehearsal process using focused and joyful improvisations called Études. Written for new or experienced theatre students and practitioners, this book will enrich the technique of any theatre artist and anyone else interested in the theatre and its future.
What is good acting? How does one create believable characters?. In The Science of Acting, Sam Kogan applies his theories and teaching to answering these questions. It represents a comprehensive and complete technique applying neuroscience and psychology to the role of acting. At its heart lies a unique and groundbreaking understanding of the subconscious, as well as an unparalleled insight into, and expansion of, Stanislavski's original Russian teaching. The book includes chapters on Awareness, Purposes, Events, Actions, Imagination, Free Body, Tempo-Rhythm, and Laws of Thinking, culminating.
Stanislavsky in Focus brilliantly examines the history and actual premises of Stanislavsky’s 'System', separating myth from fact with forensic skill. The first edition of this now classic study showed conclusively how the 'System' was gradually transformed into the Method, popularised in the 1950s by Lee Strasberg and the Actor’s Studio. It looked at the gap between the original Russian texts and what most English-speaking practitioners still imagine to be Stanislavsky’s ideas. This thoroughly revised new edition also delves even deeper into: the mythical depiction of Stanislavsky as a tyrannical director and teacher yoga, the mind-body-spirit continuum and its role in the ‘System’...
Acting: The Basics 3rd Edition is a dynamic response to recent societal and entertainment industry changes, focusing on inclusion, diversity 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 actor as 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 acces...
This volume of specially commissioned essays explores the world of Anton Chekhov - one of the most important dramatists in the repertoire - and the creation, performance and interpretation of his works. The Companion, first published in 2000, begins with an examination of Chekhov's life, his Russia, and the original productions of his plays at the Moscow Art Theatre. Later film versions and adaptations of Chekhov's works are analysed, with valuable insights also offered on acting Chekhov, by Ian McKellen, and directing Chekhov, by Trevor Nunn and Leonid Heifetz. The volume also provides essays on 'special topics' such as Chekhov as writer, Chekhov and women, and the Chekhov comedies and stories. Key plays, such as The Cherry Orchard and The Seagull, receive dedicated chapters while lesser-known works and genres are also brought to light. The volume concludes with appendices of primary sources, lists of works, and a select bibliography.