Theatre
-
An Atlas of Es Devlin
An Atlas of Es Devlin, the first monograph on artist Es Devlin’s genre-defying practice, is an experiential publication encompassing art, activism, theatre, poetry, music, dance, opera and sculpture.Publisher’s note: Our first print run of The Atlas of Es Devlin has sold through in record time and we are currently reprinting. Further copies will become available in December with more stock then due in early 2024.
Devlin’s protean work is rooted in a life-long practice of reading and drawing. From sketches in the margins of texts, be they poetry, drama, song lyrics, opera libretti, climate reports or endangered species lists, emerge the technically advanced, collectively imagined universes for which she is globally renowned. Fragile miniature paintings, paper cuts and small mechanical cardboard models form the seeds of some of the most iconic, large-scale, multi-disciplinary cultural manifestations in recent times, from public sculptures and installations at Tate Modern, Serpentine, V&A, Barbican, Imperial War Museum and the Lincoln Center, to kinetic stage designs at the Royal Opera House, the Royal Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala and the National Theatre, as well as Olympic Ceremonies, Super-Bowl half-time shows, and monumental illuminated stage sculptures for Beyonce, The Weeknd, U2, Rosalìa, Dr Dre and Kendrick Lamar.
Devlin’s work is at once deeply personal and inherently collective. Over the past decade her art practice has engaged with biodiversity, linguistic diversity and collective AI-generated poetry. She views the audience as a temporary society and encourages profound cognitive shifts by inviting public participation in communal choral works.
Published in association with a retrospective exhibition opening at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York in November 2023, An Atlas of Es Devlin is a unique, sculptural volume of over 900 pages, including foldouts, cut-outs, and a range of paper types, mirror and translucencies, with over 700 colour images documenting over 120 projects spanning over 30 years, and a 50,000 word text featuring the artist’s personal commentaries on each art work as well as interviews with her collaborators including Hans Ulrich Obrist, Bono, Benedict Cumberbatch, Pharrell Williams, Carlo Rovelli, Brian Eno, Sam Mendes, Alice Rawsthorn and Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye. Each book is boxed and includes a die-cut print from an edition of 5000.
‘Es is like superstring theory, at least eleven dimensions.’
Hans Ulrich Obrist‘Es knows how to bend the mind around corners of our experience.’
Benedict Cumberbatch‘Es takes our inchoate aspirations and sculpts them into a stage.’
Bono‘I wish we’d had Es as a psychologist on some of our projects.’
Brian Eno‘Es’s mind is both forensic and associative. She is able to x-ray a play and then she starts to dream.’
Lyndsey Turner‘Es is a turning point for anyone she interacts with.’
Pharrell Williams‘Es creates moments in which we suddenly become aware of life and existing, and time.’
Carlo Rovelli‘With Es, there’s no “No”. She creates a whole universe.’
Abel ‘The Weeknd’ TesfayeRead more
£62.80£80.80An Atlas of Es Devlin
£62.80£80.80 -
Working with Actors: Meisner Technique for Directors and Actors
Working with Actors provides the key to unlocking the honest, dynamic performance every actor has within them. It offers a well-articulated formulation of the Meisner Technique easy for directors and actors to use within a working context. Through setting out an accessible training programme for practitioners working across stage and screen, this book establishes a clear-cut route to building a three-dimensional character in an organic, non-intellectual fashion, based squarely on the character’s objectives. Few books in this field venture out of the training studio, while in this book – alongside offering an intense and concentrated Meisner training programme – the focus is more on the ‘pay-off’: the collaborative act of developing the role and how that plays out in rehearsal and performance. Beyond that, the books uniquely offers: > a new modality for script reading, analysis and rehearsal through which the character is born in relation to other characters; > a prioritisation of the key skills for coming alive in the moment – listening and putting one’s attention wholly on the other character/actor; > a historical perspective on how Meisner’s methods have evolved and why they provide the basis of truthful acting; > for directors, a format for analysis of the complete work based on Stanislavskian principles; > for actors, complementary methods, such as Uta Hagen’s ‘endowment’, to enhance the ‘reality of doing’Read more
£47.50 -
Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning, 7th Edition
For undergraduate and postgraduate students taking modules in Marketing Strategy, Marketing Management and Strategic Marketing Management.
Understand and formulate rigorous marketing strategies and differential advantage in today’s marketplace
Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning, 7th Edition, by Hooley, Nicoulaud, Rudd and Lee provides a deep understanding of the process of developing and implementing a rigorous marketing strategy. This book focuses on competitive positioning and includes in-depth discussions of the processes used within marketing to achieve competitive advantage in a business environment – by creating and sustaining superior performance in the marketplace. The key approach used in this book is to focus on two central issues in marketing strategy formulation – the identification of target markets, and the creation of a differential advantage. In doing so, it recognises the emergence of potential new target markets born of the recession, increased concern for climate change and disruption from ongoing technological advances. It helps you examine ways in which firms can differentiate offerings through recognition of environmental and social concerns and innovation.
Pearson, the world’s learning company.
Read more
£42.80£47.50 -
A Korean Approach to Actor Training
A Korean Approach to Actor Training develops a vital, intercultural method of performer training, introducing Korean and more broadly East Asian discourses into contemporary training and acting practice.
This volume examines the psychophysical nature of a performer’s creative process, applying Dahnhak, a form of Korean meditation, and its central principle of ki-energy, to the processes and dramaturgies of acting. A practitioner as well as a scholar, Jeungsook Yoo draws upon her own experiences of training and performing, addressing productions including Bald Soprano (2004), Water Station (2004) and Playing ‘The Maids’ (2013–2015).
A significant contribution to contemporary acting theory, A Korean Approach to Actor Training provides a fresh outlook on performer training which will be invaluable to scholars and practitioners alike.
Read more
£34.60 -
Actor Training
Actor Training expands on Alison Hodge’s highly-acclaimed and best-selling Twentieth Century Actor Training. This exciting second edition radically updates the original book making it even more valuable for any student of the history and practice of actor training. The bibliography is brought right up to date and many chapters are revised. In addition, eight more practitioners are included – and forty more photographs – to create a stunningly comprehensive study.
The practitioners included are:
Stella Adler; Eugenio Barba; Augusto Boal; Anne Bogart; Bertolt Brecht; Peter Brook; Michael Chekhov; Joseph Chaikin; Jacques Copeau; Philippe Gaulier; Jerzy Grotowski; Maria Knebel; Jacques Lecoq; Joan Littlewood; Sanford Meisner; Vsevolod Meyerhold; Ariane Mnouchkine; Monika Pagneux; Michel Saint-Denis; Włodzimierz Staniewski; Konstantin Stanislavsky; Lee Strasberg
The historical, cultural and political context of each practitioner’s work is clearly set out by leading experts and accompanied by an incisive and enlightening analysis of the main principles of their training, practical exercises and key productions.
This book is an invaluable introduction to the principles and practice of actor training and its role in shaping modern theatre.
Read more
£34.20Actor Training
£34.20 -
Games for Actors and Non-Actors (Augusto Boal)
Games for Actors and Non-Actors is the classic and bestselling book by the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, Augusto Boal.
It sets out the principles and practice of Boal’s revolutionary method, showing how theatre can be used to transform and liberate everyone – actors and non-actors alike! This new third English edition includes recently uncovered interviews and essays from the 1970s, some of which featured in the earliest Portuguese edition of this book, and a new essay by the theatre director Sergio de Carvalho, which looks at Boal’s work in the context of Brazilian theatre and politics over the past fifty years.
This is a vital handbook for theatre makers and activists of all kinds who want to deepen their understanding of the theory and practice of Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. It is also an excellent introduction for those new to the system.
Read more
£31.30£34.20Games for Actors and Non-Actors (Augusto Boal)
£31.30£34.20 -
Actor Movement: Expression of the Physical Being (Performance Books)
Actor Movement: Expression of the Physical Being is a textbook and video resource for the working actor, the student and all those who lead and witness movement for the actor, including movement tutors, movement directors and directors.Great actors are not simply great interpreters of text; they are also great interpreters of movement; able to ’embody all aspects of a character s life, with body and imagination as their instruments. In their work they are expected to become many bodies, all behaving differently from their own. Actors have to construct, inhabit and offer each character s body, with its multiplicity of known and unknown physical expression.
Featuring:
Over 155 exercises
Four full actor movement processes for creating character
Over 20 illustrations and images
Complementary online footage supporting 26 of the practical elementsInspiring confidence in the actor to make fully owned physical choices and develop a love of movement, this essential new textbook is ideal for those actors seeking to give to their movement all the complexity and range possible for great acting.
Read more
£30.10£31.30 -
Stanislavsky and Race: Questioning the “System” in the 21st Century
Stanislavsky and Race is the first book to explore the role that Konstantin Stanislavsky’s “system” and its legacies can play in building, troubling and illuminating today’s anti-racist theatre practices.
This collection of essays from leading figures in the field of actor training stands not only as a resource for a new area of academic enquiry, but also for students, actors, directors, teachers and academics who are engaged in making inclusive contemporary theatre. In seeking to dismantle the dogma that surrounds much actor training and replace it with a culturally competent approach that will benefit our entire community, the “system” is approached from a range of perspectives featuring the research, reflections and provocations of 20 different international artists interrogating Stanislavsky’s approach through the lens of race, place and identity.
Stanislavsky and … is a series of multi-perspectival collections that bring the enduring legacy of Stanislavskian actor training into the spotlight of contemporary performance culture, making them ideal for students, teachers and scholars of acting, actor training and directing.
Read more
£29.80£34.20 -
The Stars of Hollywood Remembered: Career Biographies of 81 Actors and Actresses of the Golden Era, 1920s-50s: Career Biographies of 82 Actors and Actresses of the Golden Era,…
Biographies and filmographies of 81 actors and actresses who had passed from the scene by September 1996 are presented in this reference work. The filmography lists all the films in which they appeared, along with the studio and year of release.Read more
£28.50£35.10 -
Missing Believed Wiped: Searching for the Lost Treasures of British Television (BFI Film Classics)
A volume for collectors and enthusiasts of British television that explores the history and destruction of celebrated British television programmes. It lists in detail some of the most important missing material, such as ‘A for Andromeda’, ‘Dr Who’, ‘The Avengers’ and ‘The Likely Lads’.Read more
£28.50 -
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: The Journey: Behind the Scenes of the Award-Winning Stage Production
The official behind-the-scenes book of the record-breaking, award-winning play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is one of the most celebrated stage productions of the past decade. Opening in London’s West End in 2016, on Broadway in 2018, in Melbourne in 2019 — and with more productions worldwide still to come (including San Francisco later this year) — the play has smashed records, collected countless rave reviews and awards, and captivated audiences night after night. Now readers are invited behind the scenes to experience the show’s journey to the stage — from the earliest phases of development with producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, to the crafting of the eighth Harry Potter story with J.K. Rowling, director John Tiffany, and playwright Jack Thorne, to the gathering of an extraordinary team of artists and actors together to bring this new part of Harry Potter’s story to life.With stunning photography, insightful interviews, and never-before-seen sketches, notes, candid backstage photos, and more, this full-color deluxe edition offers readers unparalleled access to this unique production, and is a beautiful gift for Harry Potter fans and theater lovers alike.
Read more
£27.70£30.30 -
The Final Curtain: Obituaries of Fifty Great Actors
Michael Coveney has been writing theatrical obituaries alongside reviews for several decades and makes a telling, sometimes surprising, selection of the best performers of our time, from Laurence Olivier to Alan Rickman, Peggy Ashcroft to Helen McCrory, Richard Briers to Ken Dodd. Most of these obits appeared in the Guardian, several in the Observer, the Financial Times and the Evening Standard.
The fifty articles are arranged in chronological order of each actor’s demise and constitute a vivid history of postwar theatre through the lives of the actors, ‘the abstract and brief chronicles of the time’ as Hamlet called them. There are happy/sad juxtapositions of shooting stars Robert Stephens and Alan Bates; tragic niece and aunt, Natasha Richardson and Lynn Redgrave; classical queens Diana Rigg and Barbara Jefford; and versatile showtime hoofers Una Stubbs and Lionel Blair.
Read more
£24.60£28.50The Final Curtain: Obituaries of Fifty Great Actors
£24.60£28.50 -
The Master Key to Acting Freedom: Getting Ready for the Theatre of Life
Graham Dixon has been involved in the work of Michael Chekhov as a professional actor, director and teacher for nearly 50 years, having studied with and met many of Chekhov’s original students. As the director of the Michael Chekhov Studio London, he’s recognised internationally as one of the most important teachers in this imaginative approach to acting.
In The Master Key to Acting Freedom, Graham explores the basic principles of Michael Chekhov’s approach to a new way of acting. Over the course of a four-day workshop with twelve participants from varying backgrounds, he shows how Chekhov’s approach is radically different from many of the practices currently taught to actors and directors. Chekhov’s approach is an ‘open system’ enabling the actor to access directly – ‘to tap into’ – an objective, creative world by using a heightened ability to imagine and sense. The resultant feelings, thoughts and will impulses are natural, unforced, true and joyous!
Read more
£24.20£26.60 -
Laban’s Efforts in Action: A Movement Handbook for Actors with Online Video Resources
As an actor, awareness of your movement is the key to transformation. By making deliberate physical choices, you can fully and articulately embody different ways of being: you can come someone or something else. Laban’s Efforts give you a way of identifying and making these choices. Working with them helps the actor to create wholly present and physically ambitious performances.This book outlines Ewan’s practical process, which allows the actor to understand their own movement and that of others by exploring one key part of Laban’s work: the ‘Efforts of Action Drive’.
This complete, stage-by-stage, working process has been developed through more than thirty years of work with actors in the studio. Clear instructions for practical exercises are woven throughout the book, as well as exciting ways to apply the work in rehearsal, performance and on set. This allows the actor to learn and apply Laban’s Efforts for themselves. Full video and audio resources allow the reader to experience the practical work in action.
‘Vanessa Ewan’s work with Laban and the Efforts, as you will find in this inspired book, provides performers with an incredibly fertile foundation from which to create. She has found an astoundingly practical way of applying Laban’s work to the quest of being a fully embodied actor. You will find tools in this book that will open door after door to your own creativity and awaken you to the endless possibility of what you can create on stage and on screen.’ Andrew Garfield, actor
Read more
£23.70 -
Trish Arnold: The Legacy of a Movement Training for Actors: The Legacy of Her Movement Training for Actors
A unique guide to Trish Arnold’s pioneering movement training for actors, focusing on both the context and the practice.Trish Arnold (1918 – 2017) was a pioneer in the field of movement, her work quietly influencing international theatre, film and drama school training. In stature, she stands alongside more famous movement practitioners such as Jacques Le Coq, Rudolf Laban and Litz Pisk.
As the first and only recorded collection of her work, this book offers the reader a clear and concise explanation of movements developed by Arnold throughout her career and looks at where these came from and how they have been passed on to the next generation of practitioners.
The book documents Trish Arnold’s journey into theatre from a classical ballet background and is supplemented throughout by beautiful illustrations of her movements by Ben John, original notes and sketches of Arnold’s, and quotes from fellow movement director Jane Gibson, Arnold’s first apprentice, as well as teacher of voice production Kristin Linklater, whose voice work was hugely influenced by Arnold’s movements.
Through this book, we come to understand the foundations of Arnold’s practice – both its origins and how to implement it – and its legacy in theatre making today.
Read more
£22.20£24.70 -
The Actor Speaks: Voice and the Performer (Bloomsbury Revelations)
From the bestselling author of The Right to Speak and The Need for Words comes this Bloomsbury Revelations edition of the essential guide to voice work: The Actor Speaks. Beginning with what every first-year acting student faces in class and ending with what leading professional actors must achieve every night on stage, Patsy Rodenburg’s celebrated work as one of the world’s foremost voice and acting coaches is fully revealed in this thoughtful and inspirational book about acting.Written for the training and working actor, Rodenburg’s book brings to life a wide range of exercises and methods to release the actor’s voice, covering everything from posture, breath and the body, performing in specific spaces, previews and first performances, managing different length runs, using microphones and dealing with an ageing or sick voice. This book allows the reader to perform every night, reaching the pitch, passion and vocal intensity that the best roles require.
Read more
£21.80 -
An Actor’s Handbook: An Alphabetical Arrangement of Concise Statements on Aspects of Acting, Reissue of first edition (Theatre Arts Book)
This is the classic lexicon of Stanislavski’s most important concepts, all in the master’s own words. Upon its publication in 1963, An Actor’s Handbook quickly established itself as an essential guide for actors and directors. Culling key passages from Stanislavski’s vast output, this book covers more than one hundred and fifty key concepts, among them ‘Improvisation’, ‘External Technique’, ‘Magic If’, ‘Imaginary Objects’, ‘Discipline’, ‘What Is My System?’ and ‘Stage Fright’.This reissued, attractively packaged edition will be an essential book for any performer.Read more
£19.80 -
The Anywhere Voice Actor: Voiceover Handbook on Remote Voice Acting
Are you an aspiring voice actor looking for their chance to dive into the wild world of the voiceover industry but don’t live near Los Angeles and have no idea where to start? The Anywhere Voice Actor was made for you!In recent years, the voiceover industry has become an exceedingly different landscape to navigate. Many voice actors have since adapted to remote, at-home recording spaces, making home studios as much of a staple as professional studios. This transformative divergence from what was once perceived as the norm in the industry has led to an entirely new path that brings possibility and accessibility to voice actors worldwide through, at-home remote recording.
In The Anywhere Voice Actor, professional voice actress Sara Secora reflects on her years of experience—from recording on the floor of her closet to becoming a full-time professional. She identifies and outlines clear-cut methods fresh voice talent can use to find their start and carve a career pathway that is uniquely their own.
What You’ll Find Inside:
• Basics: Genres, Rates, Training, Acting, Preparation
• Technical: Demos, Home Studios, Terminology
• Business: Unions, Agents, Auditioning, Networking
• Fortitude: Rejection, Imposter Syndrome, Community
And much, much more!Read more
£19.40 -
The Power of the Actor: The Chubbuck Technique — The 12-Step Acting Technique That Will Take You from Script to a Living, Breathing, Dynamic Character
In The Power of the Actor, a Los Angeles Times bestseller, premier acting teacher and coach Ivana Chubbuck reveals her cutting-edge technique, which has launched some of the most successful acting careers in Hollywood.The first book from the instructor who has taught Charlize Theron, Brad Pitt, Elisabeth Shue, Djimon Hounsou, and Halle Berry, The Power of the Actor guides you to dynamic and effective results. For many of today’s major talents, the Chubbuck Technique is the leading edge of acting for the twenty-first century. Ivana Chubbuck has developed a curriculum that takes the theories of the acting masters, such as Stanislavski, Meisner, and Hagen, to the next step by utilizing inner pain and emotions, not as an end in itself, but rather as a way to drive and win a goal.
In addition to the powerful twelve-step process, the book takes well-known scripts, both classic and contemporary, and demonstrates how to precisely apply Chubbuck’s script-analysis process. The Power of the Actor is filled with fascinating and inspiring behind-the-scenes accounts of how noted actors have mastered their craft and have accomplished success in such a difficult and competitive field.
Read more
£19.30 -
An Actor’s Work (Routledge Classics)
Stanislavski’s ‘system’ has dominated actor-training in the West since his writings were first translated into English in the 1920s and 30s. His systematic attempt to outline a psycho-physical technique for acting single-handedly revolutionized standards of acting in the theatre.
Until now, readers and students have had to contend with inaccurate, misleading and difficult-to-read English-language versions. Some of the mistranslations have resulted in profound distortions in the way his system has been interpreted and taught. At last, Jean Benedetti has succeeded in translating Stanislavski’s huge manual into a lively, fascinating and accurate text in English. He has remained faithful to the author’s original intentions, putting the two books previously known as An Actor Prepares and Building A Character back together into one volume, and in a colloquial and readable style for today’s actors.
The result is a major contribution to the theatre, and a service to one of the great innovators of the twentieth century.
This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by the director Richard Eyre.
Read more
£19.00 -
The Actor’s Career Bible: Auditioning, Networking, Survival & Success (Rada Guides): Auditioning, Networking, Survival and Success
The Actor’s Career Bible is a practical guide to building an acting career. Based on a huge range of interviews with actors of all backgrounds at every level of the profession, industry experts, key organisations, casting directors, agents, producers, directors and many others, this guide covers all the essentials as well as sharing exclusive inside knowledge.Whether you’re a recent graduate, a young actor or an experienced professional, The Actor’s Career Bible will help you kick-start or reinvigorate your career in an industry famous for its high levels of competition. This in-depth guide will show you how to cope with the pressures and strains of being an actor and offers easy-to-follow advice on how to improve your chances of success.
Read more
£18.00 -
Actors’ and Performers’ Yearbook 2024
This well-established and respected directory supports actors in their training and search for work in theatre, film, TV, radio and comedy.It is the only directory to provide detailed information for each listing and specific advice on how to approach companies and individuals, saving hours of further research. From agents and casting directors to producing theatres, showreel companies, photographers and much more, this essential reference book editorially selects only the most relevant and reputable contacts for the industry.
Covering training and working in theatre, film, radio, TV and comedy, it contains invaluable resources such as a casting calendar and articles on a range of topics from your social media profile to what drama schools are looking for to financial and tax issues.
With the listings updated every year, the Actors’ and Performers’ Yearbook continues to be the go-to guide for help with auditions, interviews and securing/sustaining work within the industry.
Actors’ and Performers’ Yearbook 2024 is fully updated and includes a newly commissioned article by actor Mark Weinman, a new foreword, 4 new interviews by casting director Sam Stevenson, giving timely advice in response to today’s fast-changing industry landscape, and an article by Paterson Joseph.
Read more
£18.00 -
Marilyn Monroe: A Photographic Life
The camera loved Marilyn, and she loved it right back. In this luxurious volume, get to know the enigmatic star through iconic and rare photos, intimate stories, and removable memorabilia.Everyone knows the classic photographs of Marilyn Monroe: in the dress she wore to John F. Kennedy’s birthday, or leaning out of a balcony over the streets of New York City, or famously standing over the subway grates while shooting The Seven Year Itch. Behind the glamour, we’ve also heard the sad stories: her mother’s institutionalization, her three failed marriages, her own struggles with mental health, her surprising death that still leaves us with questions.
Marilyn Monroe: A Photographic Life delves into the life of the star—before, during, and after she became a “Blonde Bombshell.” Born Norma Jeane Mortenson (the Baker came later), she had a troubled childhood that culminated in her self-described “inferiority complex.” But all the while, she dreamed of something more.
Read the stories behind her first marriage (and why she kept it secret when she started modeling), her early roles with the studios (and the one exec who thought she didn’t have “it”), and her life as a budding actress that include humble anecdotes (at one point, she was so poor that she and a roommate shared one pair of high heels—and whoever had a date that night got to wear them).
Along with the stories are fabulous rare photographs and reproductions of frameable memorabilia, such as:
- Birth and marriage certificates
- Handwritten letters
- Certificate of conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Arthur Miller
- Screen Actors Guild membership card
- Picture of Marilyn sketched by Jane Russell
- Watercolor Marilyn painted for JFK
- Childhood photos
- Shots and ads from her earliest modeling days
- Wedding photos
- Images of those who knew her, including Groucho Marx, Ella Fitzgerald, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and so many more
- Marilyn’s favorite image of herself, taken in 1956
Further chapters cover Marilyn’s marriages to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, her time in England and New York, and her rise as one of Hollywood’s most sought after starlets. Through it all—the self doubts, the illnesses, the isolation—we see Marilyn triumph with the help of friends and confidantes and her own tenacious will of knowing what she wanted.
We see time and again the depths of Marilyn’s heart and her capacity to care for others. “I want to love and be loved more than anything else in the world,” she once said, and with Marilyn Monroe: A Photographic Life, you can’t help but oblige.
Read more
£17.90£20.90Marilyn Monroe: A Photographic Life
£17.90£20.90 -
Voice-Over Voice Actor: The Extended Edition
Interested in Pursuing a Career in VO? Curious what goes on behind the scenes in a business where people talk funny for money? This updated edition of the award-winning first book offers a fun and comprehensive look at what it takes, what goes on, and what it’s like behind the mic from two (still) working pros who started from scratch. In this book you will discover: • The ins and outs of auditioning • Vocal warm-ups and exercises • Tips for reading copy to maximum effect • Hints to help you stand out • Advice for setting up your own home studio • Keys to marketing yourself: demo > agent > job • What to expect when you book the job • A bonus workbook to hone your skills • Performance capture, podcasting, & more!Read more
£17.50 -
Respect for Acting: Expanded Version
The classic book on acting, in an attractive updated edition
Since its original publication in 1973, Uta Hagen’s Respect for Acting has remained a durable classic and a must-read for all students of acting. As an acting instructor at the Herbert Berghof Studio, Hagen helped to develop the talents of world-class actors like Robert DeNiro, Matthew Broderick, Gene Wilder, Amanda Peet, Austin Pendleton, Whoopi Goldberg, and more. In this book, Hagen offers an indispensable account of the techniques that professionals use to elevate their acting to an art form. This updated edition illuminates Hagen’s original text with a new foreword written by Katie Finneran, retaining the David Hyde Pierce foreword, along with added background on HB Studio―one of the original New York performing arts training and practice spaces―and an excerpt from Hagen’s autobiography SOURCES.
In working through this book, actors will learn physical, verbal, and emotional practice that empower them to connect their own self-concept to the characters they play. Specific, detailed exercises help actors learn to address a range of problems actors face, like maintaining immediacy and relevance, and developing the dimensions of a role over a long performance run. Respect for Acting is a book for actors and audiences who understand the need for truth in the creative process.
- Discover the acting book that has shaped professional theater performances for decades
- Learn the history and background of Herbert Berghof Studio, one of New York’s foremost acting schools
- Practice the craft of acting with concrete exercises and instruction on technique
- Delve into the deep questions that arise when actors truly inhabit the lives of their characters
Actors at all levels of their craft will love this stunning updated version of the essential Respect for Acting.
Read more
£17.20£19.90Respect for Acting: Expanded Version
£17.20£19.90 -
Actors’ and Performers’ Yearbook 2022: Essential Contacts for Stage, Screen and Radio (Actors’ & Performers’ Yearbook)
This well-established and respected directory supports actors in their training and search for work in theatre, film, TV, radio and comedy. It is the only directory to provide detailed information for each listing and specific advice on how to approach companies and individuals, saving hours of further research. From agents and casting directors to producing theatres, showreel companies, photographers and much more, this essential reference book editorially selects only the most relevant and reputable contacts for the actor. Actors’ and Performers’ Yearbook 2022 features: * a new foreword by actor Paterson Joseph (Noughts & Crosses, Grantchester, Law & Order, A Christmas Carol) * 4 newly commissioned interviews with theatre industry professionals on topics of the moment * 1 new article on a current aspect of the industry With the listings updated every year, the Actors’ and Performers’ Yearbook continues to be the go-to guide for help with auditions, interviews and securing/sustaining work within the industry. Covering training and working in theatre, film, radio, TV and comedy, it contains invaluable resources such as a casting calendar and articles on a range of topics from your social media profile to what drama schools are looking for to financial and tax issues. An invaluable professional tool that anyone working in the industry will benefit from.Read more
£17.10 -
British Cinema and the Cold War: The State, Propaganda and Consensus (Cinema and Society)
Cinema was one of the Cold War’s most powerful instruments of propaganda. Movies blended with literary, theatrical, musical and broadcast representations of the conflict to produce a richly textured Cold War culture. Now in paperback, this timely book fills a significant gap in the international story by uncovering British cinema’s contribution to Cold War propaganda and to the development of a popular consensus on Cold War issues. Tony Shaw focuses on an age in which the ‘first Cold War’ dictated international (and to some extent domestic) politics. This era also marked the last phase of cinema’s dominance as a mass entertainment form in Britain. Shaw explores the relationship between film-makers, censors and Whitehall, within the context of the film industry’s economic imperatives and the British government’s anti-Soviet and anti-Communist propaganda strategies. Drawing upon rich documentation, he demonstrates the degree of control exerted by the state over film output. Shaw analyses key films of the period, including High Treason, which put a British McCarthyism on celluloid; the fascinatingly ambiguous science fiction thriller The Quatermass Experiment; the dystopic The Damned, made by one of Hollywood’s blacklisted directors, Joseph Losey; and the CIA-funded, animated version of George Orwell’s novel “Animal Farm”. The result is a deeply probing study of how Cold War issues were refracted through British films, compared with their imported American and East European counterparts, and how the British public received this ‘war propaganda’.Read more
£17.10 -
The Intent to Live: Achieving Your True Potential as an Actor
“I call this book The Intent to Live because great actors don’t seem to be acting, they seem to be actually living.”
-Larry Moss, from the IntroductionWhen Oscar-winning actors Helen Hunt and Hilary Swank accepted their Academy Awards, each credited Larry Moss’s guidance as key to their career-making performances. There is a two-year waiting list for his advanced acting classes. But now everyone-professionals and amateurs alike-can discover Moss’s passionate, in-depth teaching.
Inviting you to join him in the classroom and onstage, Moss shares the techniques he has developed over thirty years to help actors set their emotions, imagination, and behavior on fire, showing how the hard work of preparation pays off in performances that are spontaneous, fresh, and authentic.
From the foundations of script analysis to the nuances of physicalization and sensory work, here are the case studies, exercises, and insights that enable you to connect personally with a script, develop your character from the inside out, overcome fear and inhibition, and master the technical skills required for success in the theater, television, and movies.
Far more than a handbook, The Intent to Live is the personal credo of a master teacher. Moss’s respect for actors and love of the actor’s craft enliven every page, together with examples from a wealth of plays and films, both current and classic, and vivid appreciations of great performances. Whether you act for a living or simply want a deeper understanding of acting greatness, The Intent to Live will move, instruct, and inspire you.
From the Hardcover edition.
Read more
£16.40 -
How to Do Standard English Accents: From Traditional RP to the New 21st-Century Neutral Accent (The Actor’s Toolkit)
The essential handbook for every actor In every drama school, in every English-speaking country, students from all over the world have to learn a Standard English Accent, and voice and drama tutor shave to teach it. But what exactly is it? How many varieties are there? And which one should they use when? Following on from How To Do Accents, this book provides a long awaited,up-to-date answer to these important questions and offers a complete course in how to do A Neutral Standard English Accent & Upper and Upper-Middle Class Varieties Part One: contains all the tools you need to learn a current Neutral Standard English Accent; neutral in terms of class, race, age, gender, occupation and social background Part Two: introduces you to the most useful Upper and Upper-Middle Class varieties of Standard English AccentRead more
£16.10£19.00 -
How to Be a Working Actor, 5th Edition: The Insider’s Guide to Finding Jobs in Theater, Film & Television (How to Be a Working Actor: The Insider’s Guide to Finding Jobs)
How to be a Working Actor is the bible for anyone in the business of acting. It is considered to be the definitive resource to finding jobs in theatre, film and television. Establishing an acting career involves developing all aspects of an actor’s performing skills as well as learning how to manage one’s career as an ongoing business. No book does a better job of covering all the basics, from improving one’s image and auditon abilities to getting an agent, landing roles, surviving a screen test, making it through the first day on the set and finding regional work. In addition this book contains 15 illustrations that include sample headshots, business cards, iCards, flyers and other tools of the trade.Read more
£15.60 -
The Actor Speaks: Voice and the Performer (Performance Books)
Beginning with what every first-year acting student faces in class and ending with what leading professional actors must achieve every night on the three stages of the Royal National Theatre, Patsy Rodenburg’s celebrated work as one of the world’s foremost voice and acting coaches is fully revealed in this thoughtful and inspirational book about the process of acting. Through a seven-step process, she takes the actor through an intensive voice and speech workshop tackling the vexing problems faced in rehearsal and on stage: breathing and relaxation; vocal range and power, communication with other actors and the audience; integrating movement, singing and speaking; deciphering and animating a text; adjusting voice to different size stages and auditoria; working in mediums beyond the stage; sustaining a performance through an entire evening and a long run and identifying and overcoming the countless potential problems that face every performer who works in front of an audience.”The Actor Speaks is a stimulating read and an invaluable reference for all actors …a landmark book” (The Stage)Read more
£15.40 -
SHORT MONOLOGUES FOR ACTING CLASSES
A great choice for both professional actors and performing arts students who have been assigned a monologue in an acting class. You will learn how to select a monologue that is right for you and get valuable tips for presentation and how to present your choice within an acting class. Contains 80 original short monologues for presentation and practice.Read more
£15.40 -
An Actor’s Handbook: An Alphabetical Arrangement of Concise Statements on Aspects of Acting (Performance Books)
“I have felt there was nothing for me to do except to devote my labour and energy almost exclusively to the study of Creative Nature…I have acquired a sum of experience in the course of long years of work and this is what I have sought to share with you.” (Stanislavski)Here in concise form is what Stanislavski said about acting, alphabetically arranged to aid students, professionals and lay people interested in the stage craft. These collected short statements on a variety of subjects cannot replace the full expression of Stanislavski’s ideas and discoveries in his other books, but they will serve to refresh the reader’s memory and pinpoint what Stanislavski has to offer enquiring minds both in and out of the theatre.Read more
£15.20 -
Success for Actors (Psychology for Actors)
Is your quest to become a successful actor taking over your life and turning into self-sabotage?
Discover a psychological approach to success that will help you make the most of every opportunity.
Using psychological insights, Success for Actors explains in clear and jargon-free language how to avoid self-sabotage and navigate the rollercoaster of success with ease and grace.
By understanding how your mind works and learning simple yet powerful tools, you will find relief from your insecurities and build a solid foundation for your acting career.
Read this book and discover:
- How to navigate the emotional rollercoaster of success
- How to avoid letting your insecurities turn into self-sabotage
- How to make the most of every opportunity
- The impact of brain chemistry on your state of mind
- Practical tools you can use straight away
Short enough to read in an afternoon, yet jam-packed with practical advice, Success for Actors will help you develop a healthy mindset and build a successful acting career.
Alexa Ispas holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Edinburgh. The books in her Psychology for Actors Series provide actors with proven psychology techniques to thrive and build a successful career.
Read more
£15.20 -
Excellence for Actors (Psychology for Actors Series)
Do you want to achieve your full potential as an actor?
Discover how to apply “deliberate practice”–a type of practice used by top performers around the world–to turn your weaknesses into strengths.
We all know that becoming a great actor requires hard work, but what specific actions will help you get better?
Perhaps you have spent years taking acting classes without any noticeable improvement.
Or maybe your acting did improve for a while, but you don’t know how to make further progress.
This lack of clarity is likely to lead to dissatisfaction and a decline in your enthusiasm for the craft.
After all, nobody goes into acting aiming for mediocrity.
If this sounds familiar, psychology can help.
For many years, psychologists have been studying the process by which those dedicated to their craft achieve mastery.
The biggest reveal of this exploration has been “deliberate practice,” a process through which you can turn your weaknesses into strengths.
The impact of deliberate practice has been demonstrated by a wide variety of top performers, including athletes, musicians, and chess masters.
Excellence for Actors is the first book to explore the application of deliberate practice to acting. Reading this book will provide you with a new level of clarity about how to reach your full potential.
As you will learn, achieving excellence is not just about hard work, but also about taking the right actions with the right amount of dedication.
Read this book and discover:
- How to achieve mastery over any aspect of your craft
- How to turn your weaknesses into strengths
- How to avoid mediocrity and achieve excellence
- The mistakes actors make when trying to improve
- Practical tools you can use straight away
Short enough to read in an afternoon, yet jam-packed with practical advice, Excellence for Actors will give you the clarity you need to reach your full potential.
Alexa Ispas holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Edinburgh. The books in her Psychology for Actors Series provide actors with proven psychology techniques to thrive and build a successful career.
Read more
£15.20 -
Resilience for Actors (Psychology for Actors Series)
Life as an actor is full of setbacks. Discover proven psychology techniques to avoid damaging your mental health and sinking into despair.Building a successful acting career requires resilience.
Whether going to auditions, applying to drama school, or battling unemployment, you must be able to bounce back from setbacks and keep going.
Resilient actors benefit from the “familiarity effect:” the more industry professionals see you, the more they like you, and the more opportunities you get.
But how do you keep going despite repeated setbacks? How do you shake off the painful feelings that arise and get back in the game with a healthy mindset?
Encountering a setback changes your brain chemistry, which depletes your energy and affects your state of mind.
Repeated setbacks can have a cumulative effect, making it harder to bounce back and take on new challenges.
Fortunately, psychologists have studied these negative effects and developed a range of powerful techniques to avoid falling down this slippery slope.
Resilience for Actors distills these psychological insights specifically for actors using clear and jargon-free language.
Whether you got knocked back after delivering an amazing audition, or recently got fired from an acting job, this book provides you with the tools to bounce back and go after the next opportunity with optimism and enthusiasm.
Read this book and discover:
- How to deal with rejection in a positive way
- How to recover from disappointment
- How to stop the vicious cycle of despair
- Mindset hacks to turn failure into success
- Practical tools you can use straight away
Short enough to read in an afternoon, yet jam-packed with practical advice, Resilience for Actors will help you overcome any setback and find your inner strength.
Alexa Ispas holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Edinburgh. The books in her Psychology for Actors Series provide actors with proven psychology techniques to thrive and build a successful career.
Read more
£15.20 -
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER
This Christmas let Dame Judi Dench take you behind the scenes as she shares her life with, and love of Shakespeare.
‘A MAGICAL LOVE LETTER TO SHAKESPEARE’ Sir Kenneth Branagh
‘Companionable and compelling – it genuinely feels like you’re sitting at her kitchen table with her. If you love Judi Dench or Shakespeare (and most of us do), look no further’ Guardian
‘It swirls and dances with brilliance and mischief’ Daily Mail
‘Gloriously entertaining’ ObserverTaking a curtain call with a live snake in her wig…
Cavorting naked through the countryside painted green…
Acting opposite a child with a pumpkin on his head…
These are just a few of the things Dame Judi Dench has done in the name of Shakespeare.
For the very first time, Judi opens up about every Shakespearean role she has played throughout her seven-decade career, from Lady Macbeth and Titania to Ophelia and Cleopatra.
Here she reveals her behind the scenes secrets; inviting us to share in her triumphs, disasters, and backstage shenanigans, all brightened by her mischievous sense of humour and striking honesty.
Witty, provocative and inspiring, this is ultimately Judi’s love letter to Shakespeare, or rather, The Man Who Pays The Rent.‘An utterly delightful book… Shakespeare from a great actor’s perspective – that repeatedly strikes to the heart of the matter with a sharp instinctive intelligence that puts fancy-pants literary critics to shame’ Telegraph
‘A wonderful ode to the bard’ I
‘The book is pure enchantment. It swirls and dances with brilliance and mischief, so forget traditional Shakespearean criticism and analysis. Sack the Eng. Lit. professors. As never before, this book brings the subject to wild, authentic life.’ Daily Mail‘Riveting, revealing and witty’ Gazette and Herald
Read more
£15.00£25.00Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent
£15.00£25.00 -
Book The Fucking Job!: A Guide for Actors
As the follow-up to his best-selling At Left Brain Turn Right and Alphabet Soup for Grown-Ups, Book The F*cking Job is fast becoming the how-to manual for working actors all over the world. To Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Anthony Meindl’s Actor Workshop, we created a variety colorful covers for the re-issue of Book The Fucking Job! Pick the color that fits your mood!For over 20 years, top Acting Coach Anthony Meindl has been demonstrating his unique approach to modern acting training to thousands of actors worldwide. The demands for today’s actors have changed and with it have emerged many new breakthroughs in understanding creativity.From science to the power of the moment; from consciousness and mindfulness meditation to the art of the “f*ck it,” Mr. Meindl describes how you can let go of your control of how you think a scene should be and instead let something much more powerful and creative happen for you. Discover the exciting possibilities that await you in your creative journey when you learn the science of surrender.Find answers to your questions about technique, the business, and life in Book The F*cking Job! A new guide for the next generation of artists.Read more
£14.80 -
Contemporary Monologues for Young Actors: 54 High-Quality Monologues for Kids & Teens
Contemporary Monologues for Young Actors features 54 original monologues created specifically for actors and acting students ages 7-14 and for the teachers, directors and acting coaches who work with them.
These refreshing monologues encompass a broad range of circumstances and emotions perfect for young actors seeking new material to explore – some of which will appeal to slightly younger actors and others of which will excite slightly older actors.
Here are some of the features of this book:
- A broad range of circumstances and emotions, from comedic to heartfelt to quirky
- Emotional arcs and strong endings to challenge actors and keep audiences engaged
- Modern day topics with contemporary language
- Convenient organization from “younger” to “older” as the book progresses
- Ideal for auditions, as short performance pieces or for use in the classroom
This resource was created by Beat by Beat Press, the same award-winning publisher of Teaching Drama: The Essential Handbook, a #1 best-seller on Amazon which has sold over 35,000 copies and has been translated into 5 languages.
PLEASE NOTE: This is the only official volume of this title that has been tested and proven in thousands of classrooms around the world. Please check for the Beat by Beat logo before purchasing any similar products online to assure you’re receiving the highest quality of material for young actors.
Below are sample monologues from the book:
SHARING
Some people think I don’t like sharing, but that isn’t true at all. I love sharing. I mean, what’s not to love about being able to go up to someone and say, “Hey, can I have some of that candy?” And then they give you some! Or, “Can I ride your bike for a while?” And then you get to ride their bike! Sharing is awesome. Sometimes you have to be careful, though. Like if someone comes up to me and says, “Can I have one of your cookies?” Well, if I gave them a cookie, then I might not have any cookies left to share with other people and that would be, like, the opposite of sharing. So I have to say no. Because sharing is really important.
SCOUT
Before we moved here, we had this big dog named Scout. Mom always said he was a total mutt, but I think he was also part collie. And maybe part golden retriever. But he was definitely at least half mutt. Scout was supposed to be the whole family’s dog, but he was really mine. I mean, after school, it was me he would be waiting for. And when anyone threw his ball, I’m the one he always brought it back to. And at night, it was always my bed he slept in. But before we moved here, my Mom found out we weren’t allowed to have any pets, so we had to give him away to my cousins. I don’t really talk about it, but sometimes I dream about Scout. He’s got his ball in his mouth and he’s looking for me. And I’m saying, “Here, Scout. I’m right here.” But he doesn’t hear me, and he can’t see me, and I’m saying, “I’m right here. Scout. I’m right here.” And then, I don’t know, I guess I wake up . . . I don’t know if Scout dreams about me.
Read more
£14.80 -
An Actor’s Tricks (Performance Books)
A founding member of Peter Brook’s international theatre company, Yoshi Oida infuses his acting and directing with the artistry of the Oriental traditions and a mastery of Western forms. In this disarmingly accessible study of the art of acting he shares his unique experience and range of expertise. An Actor’s Tricks offers a meticulous scrutiny of the actor’s preparation for performance and comes with a foreword by Peter Brook.
Drawing on an unrivalled wealth and range of expertise in the fields of acting, directing and training, Yoshi Oida and Lorna Marshall provide an authoritative and fascinating study of the art of the actor.
In scrutinising the process of performance from the twin perspectives of the actor and director, An Actor’s Tricks is filled with hints, insights and stories from productions with Peter Brook and from around the world.
Beginning with the daily preparation to train the body, it moves to the process of rehearsal for a performance right up to the moment when the actor steps onstage. An appendix of practical exercises is included for the actor to follow.
The books combines principles and techniques from both Western and Eastern disciplines of acting to provide a masterful study essential for every actor and director.
Read more
£14.40
