Acting techniques

On October 20, 1882, future actress Margaret Dumont was born in Brooklyn, New York. A Broadway regular by the 1920s, Dumont found lasting fame once she started appearing with the Marx Brothers. Tall and regal in bearing, her character provided the...

There’s a saying: the door to magic is closed, but it’s not locked. In How Magicians Think, professional magician and bestselling author Joshua Jay not only opens that door, he brings us inside and turns on the light, revealing the artistry, inside...

Stanislavski was the first person to develop a cogent and practical system of acting. Throughout his life he sought the answers to such fundamental questions as: "What is great acting?" and "How can you find inspiration in every performance?"...

Age range 12+This edition of Henry V presents eight scenes, using all actors as Chorus. Included in this riveting cutting are Henry's inspiring "band of brothers" oration to his men, a merry interlude with Bardolph and friends, and an...

Age range 12+Drawing on his eighteen years of experience as a teaching artist for Folger Shakespeare Library, Nick Newlin offers eighteen scenes to get young actors on their feet performing Shakespeare with confidence, understanding, and fun!Each scene...

"Punchy, spiky, and flush with a young writer's love of language, the collection often deglamourizes the acting business. A great find."-Library JournalWith insightful poetry that is quite serious yet has fun with metaphor, imagery, and language, Amber...

A must-have resource for aspiring actors: both monologues to audition with and a step-by-step guide on the best monologue audition preparation!Great Monologues: And How to Give Winning Auditionsis primarily for actors looking for excellent acting...

Based on her experiences at the legendary Herbert Berghof studio in New York City, Carol Rosenfeld’s Acting and Living in Discovery is an essential workbook for actors of all types that focuses the actor’s homework—the work...

"There is a muscularity, not to mention wisdom and truth, to Seth's techniques. He is a wonderful teacher, and I know that having him as my first guide is one of the luckiest things to have happened to me in my career and life." -Anne Hathaway, from her...

Thinking Shakespeare gives theater artists practical advice about how to make Shakespeare's words feel spontaneous, passionate, and real. Based on Barry Edelstein's thirty-year career directing Shakespeare's plays, this book provides the tools that...

In his introduction, Christopher Bayes describes the pursuit of the clown as the search for "the authentic, playful self and its unique relationship to the comic world." An essential read for performers of all kinds, this text takes a deep dive into...

Audition monologues from recent works by American playwrights.

William Kluba, author, takes an in-depth look at the origins of inspiration and ideas, to help us better understand where creativity comes from in our bodies and minds, and to understand how this intangible force translates into artistic expression. This...