Technique of Acting

"Acting is stubborn work, necessitating constant attention and a rigorous schedule. It is not for geniuses. It is for people who work step-by-step. While there is no recipe for acting, it does follow a sequence of principles. The ideas and exercises that follow can work for you and give you the courage to fight for your development and craft. . . . More than anything, it is an actor's job to penetrate the playwright's creations-the subtleties and mysteries that the playwright's ideas contain."

-from Stella Adler's introduction to The Technique of Acting.

As a seminal American acting teacher of the 20th century, Stella Adler shaped the work of such acclaimed actors as Marlon Brando, Selma Hayek, Harvey Keitel, Melanie Griffith, Robert DeNiro, Benicio Del Toro, and Warren Beatty, as well as choreographers Alvin Ailey and Jerome Robbins, among others. As Brando states in his foreword, "Ms Adler presents us with an analysis of the technique of acting that is incisive, intelligent, and long overdue."

The Technique of Acting is an introduction to Adler's unique approach to acting, addressing such key elements as imagination, circumstances, actions, working with text, and developing a character, and is replete with examples and exercises that concretely build skills. The book finishes with her compelling narrative of how she came to study intensively with Konstantin Stanislavski.

If you love theater and love acting, this work will provide you with invaluable insight and education to both.

This book is also available from Echo Point Books as a paperback (ISBN 1648374212).