ABSTRACT

How do actors fuse thought, emotion and action within their creative process?

Essential Acting is an inspired and reliable toolbox for actors and teachers in the classroom, the rehearsal room and the workshop. RADA's Brigid Panet has distilled nearly 60 years of acting, directing and actor training into a unique recipe which brilliantly combines the teachings of Stanislavsky and Laban into an invaluable practical resource.

These exercises are built around the need for simple, achievable techniques that can be applied by actors, teachers and directors to answer the myriad requirements of actor training. The goal is to produce a continuous level of achievement, addressing:

  • How to rehearse
  • How to work with a text
  • How to audition for drama school
  • How to access the truth of feelings and actions.

Essential Acting will be a must-have purchase for anyone looking for a comprehensive study guide to the necessary work of the actor.

part |2 pages

Part One Acting exercises

chapter 2|12 pages

Making a good start

chapter 3|12 pages

Experiencing the Three Essentials

chapter 4|5 pages

The ‘Magic If’

chapter 5|10 pages

Exercises in immediate response 34

part |2 pages

Part Two Acting is behaving

chapter 7|22 pages

Status*

chapter 8|7 pages

Eye-gaze*

chapter 9|7 pages

Confidence, poise and balance

part |2 pages

Part Three The rehearsal process

chapter 10|16 pages

Meeting the play

chapter 11|18 pages

Bringing the text to life

chapter 12|12 pages

Breathing, speaking and learning lines

chapter 13|12 pages

The actor’s work on a character

part |2 pages

Part Four Directing a play

chapter 14|10 pages

Solving common problems in acting

chapter 15|5 pages

Playing the space

chapter 16|9 pages

For the director

part |2 pages

Part Five An introduction to playing Shakespeare

chapter 17|15 pages

Shakespeare’s language

chapter 18|11 pages

Handling Shakespeare’s language

part |2 pages

Part Six Developing the physical skills of acting: Laban workshops for actors

chapter 19|3 pages

The Four Elements

chapter 20|7 pages

Flow 216

chapter 21|14 pages

Space

chapter 22|13 pages

Time

chapter 23|8 pages

Force

chapter 25|14 pages

The Eight Laban Effort Actions