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The English Actor: From Medieval to Modern
£7.10
The English Actor charts the uniquely English approach to stagecraft. In thirty chapters, Peter Ackroyd describes, with superb narrative skill, the genesis of acting – deriving from the Church tradition of Mystery Plays – through the flourishing of the craft in the Renaissance to modern methods that followed the advent of film and television. The biographies of the most notable and celebrated actors are also explored, right up to the present day. In this book, Ackroyd gives us an original and superbly entertaining appraisal of how actors have acted – and how audiences have responded – since the medieval period, and what we mean by the ‘magic of the stage’.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Reaktion Books (1 Mar. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 1178 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 462 pages |
by Perthecat
Full of interesting anecdotes and goes from early English theatre up to people acting on stage now. We’ll written, as are all Ackroyd’s works.
by Brian James
Given the scope of this book, I’m amazed that Mr. Ackroyd has managed to cover the acting styles from
medieval times in only one volume.
He guides us through each main period, and picks out the relevant performers for each section,
adding in some cases some neat biograhies, as well as pointing out the development of the theatres or ‘spaces’, in which they performed. As an ex-actor, and retired drama teacher, I’m happy to say that I recognised all the references to people and places that he made.Perhaps then, his ‘audience’ might only be academics or people working in the theatre. I don’t understand why the text has not been accompanied by any photographs or illustrations, which would have done much justice to his well -researched book, and a definite aid to the reader – especially as the development of the acting space
has changed so much over the centuries. As for the mystique of the actor ( which some people claim exists ), I’d rather claim that SOME actors behave like Gods, because they are held in high esteem by their fans or audience. What makes a good actor ? – a whole host of things – but good presence, a natural
ability (some well- known actors had no training) a good play, good theatre, good agent,……….and a luck of good luck too !!!