Theater as Life : Practical Wisdom Drawn from Great Acting Teachers, Actors and Actresses

Rather than focus on the well-known truism that great plays and dramatic performances can deeply transform and ennoble us, the Marcus's draw from a much less known dimension of theatre, namely, acting technique theory, how actors and actresses learn dramatic performance as an art, profession and way of life. They claim the emotional, intellectual and physical insights the actor must internalize and ultimately translate into action to become a great actor are "technique(s) of the self" that can be enormously helpful to the average person struggling with the problem of living a better life, the "good life," as they call it. Drawing from the psychological insights of Constantin Stanislavski and other such "master" teachers like Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, as well as performers like Lawrence Olivier, Marlon Brando and Meryl Streep, Theater as Life is the first book that makes the actor's magical "soul craft", her way of transforming herself into a "character" accessible and applicable to real-life, to living the "good life." Rather than focus on the well-known truism that great plays and dramatic performances can deeply transform and ennoble us, the Marcus's draw from a much less known dimension of theatre, namely, acting technique theory, how actors and actresses learn dramatic performance as an art, profession and way of life. They claim the emotional, intellectual and physical insights the actor must internalize and ultimately translate into action to become a great actor are "technique[s] of the self" that can be enormously helpful to the average person struggling with the problem of living a better life, the "good life," as they call it. Drawing from the psychological insights of Constantin Stanilavaski [sp] and other such "master" teachers like Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, as well as performers like Lawrence Olivier, Marlon Brando and Meryl Streep Theater as life Emotion recollected in tranquility: Lee Strasberg's "method" The miracle of the imagination: Stella Adler The reality of doing: Sanford Meisner Act before you think: the improvisation of Viola Spolin Real living is political: Bertolt Brecht Connecting the body to the head: Tadashi Suzuki The quest for self-transcendence: Jerzy Grotowski's holy actor The jester is the brother to the sage What we can learn from comedians, comic actors & clowns "Deny nothing, invent nothing,accept everything and get on with it": David mamet's practical aesthetics Love art in yourselves, not yourselves in art: Constantin Stanislavski The art of living the "good life": thoughts and musings from the actor's perspective. Psychoanalyst Marcus teams up with his daughter Gabriela, a working actress in New York City, to place lessons from some of the greatest acting teachers into a simplified traditional psychological and psychodynamic framework. They consider such aspects as Lee Strasberg's method of emotion recollected in tranquility, Sanford Meisner and the reality of doing, the quest for self-transcendence, David Mamet's practical aesthetics, and Constantin Stanislavski on loving art in yourself. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)