The Actor's Art and Craft: William Esper Teaches the Meisner Technique
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.97 (533 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 030727926X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-08-16 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"Utterly inspirational. Inspiring. Every serious actor who dreams of becoming a first-rate artist must read this book!" --Calista Flockhart . And there is only one person to learn that technique from, and that is William Esper." --Patricia Heaton"The essence of this book is like William Esper himself: kind/clear, caring/generous, passionate/graceful, brilliant/profound. Invaluable." --Jeff Goldblum"A veritable magnum opus on acting from a Master Teacher." --Olympia Dukakis"Working with Bill Esper was an inspiring and unforgettable experience. The best book on the craft of acting that I have ever read." --Mary Steenburgen"As far as I'm concerned, there is only way to learn the craft of acting, and that is through the Meisner technique
William Esper, one of the leading acting teachers of our time, explains and extends Sanford Meisner's legendary technique, offering a clear, concrete, step-by-step approach to becoming a truly creative actor.Esper worked closely with Meisner for seventeen years and has spent decades developing his famous program for actor's training. The Actor's Art and Craft vividly demonstrates that good training does not constrain actors' instincts—it frees them to create characters with truthful and compelling inner lives.. In this book he recreates that experience for us, allowing us to see how the progression of exercises works in practice. Co-writer Damon DiMarco, a former student of Esper's, spent over a year observing his mentor teaching first-year acting students. The result is a rigorous system of exercises that builds a solid foundation of acting skills from the ground up, and that is flexible enough to be applied to any challenge an actor faces, from soap operas to Shakespeare
. He has acted professionally on stage, screen, and TV and currently teaches acting and directing at Drew University. William Esper is a graduate of Western Reserve University and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York City. Bill trained as both actor and teacher under Sanford Meisner. Bill and Sandy worked closely together for 17 years, during which time Bill served as Associate Director of the Playhouses's Acting Department (1973-1976)
Clear and Engaging Matthew As an actor I'm always interested in reading good books on the craft of acting, learning about different techniques, and seeking ways to improve my work. The last word, "improve", is perhaps the most difficult to quantify as that improvement necessitates both an objective method of judgement and a standard toward which "improvement" can be made (something that might seem fairly hard to come by when discussing the arts, and perhaps most espec. jaydub said Engrossing, inspiring, full of humanity. This book came around at a strange time in my lifewhich I suppose is still happening. Although I was never part of the BFA or MFA program at Rutgers, I did take a few acting classes there as well as get involved in some college theatre. Bill Esper was an icon even back then but I completely took for granted what it is he did and more importantly, who he is. Since getting out and pounding the pavement for some real work, I've had moments of b. "An extraordinary book on acting" according to MillstoneyWay. This book follows a class of beginning students for their first year of studies. The students are composites of many individuals. Through exercises and assignments they advance through the development of the tools for what he calls straight acting. His comments on the performances in the class are illuminating and revealing. These composite students illustrate common problems of talented beginning performers as well as flashes of brilliance.