The Actor as Storyteller: An Introduction to Acting

by Bruce Miller

Overview

This introductory acting text emphasizes the actor's responsibility to tell the story of the play. Through an engaging presentation of anecdotes and techniques, including more than 100 exercises, this text teaches beginning actors their craft as it casts them in the role of storytellers in service of the script. A complete play, Rules of Love, by Joe Pintauro, is included.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781458471536
Publisher:	Limelight Editions
Publication date:	01/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	330
File size:	727 KB

About the Author

Bruce Miller (Miami, FL) is a professor and the director of acting programs at the University of Miami, where he teaches acting and script analysis. He is the author of The Scene Study Book, Acting Solo, and Actor's Alchemy (Limelight Editions'), 'as well as Headfirst Acting. His more than 100 articles on acting appear regularly in Dramatics Magazine and Teaching Theatre. Miller has conducted acting workshops nationally and internationally, including a series for the Educational Theatre Association's Professional Development Program. He is the winner of the EDTA's Founders Award given for lifetime achievement in educational theater. Miller is a member of AEA, SAG, and AFTRA, and holds an MFA in acting from Temple University.

Table of Contents

PART I. BACKGROUND

1. Why the Theatre to Study Acting?

2. What Is Theatre?

3. Stage Acting and Film Acting: Same Game, Different Surface

4. Inside Out, Outside In: From Stanislavski to Strasberg
PART II. ADVANCING THE STORY

5. The Actor in Service of the Script

6. Given Circumstances and Playing the Action

7. Acting with Conflict

8. Finding and Playing Objectives

9. Listening and Staying In the Moment

10. Interpreting and Using Dialogue

11. Working with People, Places, and Things
PART III. APPLYING THE TOOLS

12. Script Analysis: A Blueprint for Storytelling

13. Rehearsing the Scene: Preparing for the First Read

14. Rehearsing the Scene: Blocking and Working It

15. Using the Words: Discovering and Telling the Story

16. Theatrical Conventions and Style

17. Criticism
PART IV. PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

18. Auditioning

19. Defining the Role

20. Developing the Role: The Rehearsal Process

21. What You Need to Succeed

Editorial Reviews

Not a bold new theory of acting, but an introduction for serious beginning actors to the classic methods based on Stanislavski using an approach that Miller (U. of Miami) has developed over the years. He insists that actors are responsible to serve any dramatic situation by making choices that create the best possible story of their character, while at the same time serving the overall story of the play, the scene, and every moment. This means, he says, that actors must think quite a bit before they hit the boards. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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