Preface

ACTING ONE

Introduction

PART I. PREPARATION FOR ACTING

Lesson 1: Preparing to Act

Relaxation / Exercise 1-1 Relaxation / Trust / Exercise 1-2 Spine Lengthening / Exuberance / Exercise 1-3 BAM-POW, Dance, Sing / Discipline / Criticism / A Playful Attitude / Freedom / Preparation

Lesson 2: What Is Acting?

Exercise 2-1 Pledge Your Allegiance to a Flag

PART II. THE ACTOR'S APPROACH

Lesson 3: Goal and Obstacle

Fundamental Principle / Exercise 3-1 Reaching / Exercise 3-2 Reaching for Goals / Exercise 3-3 Overcoming an Obstacle / Self-Consciousness / Exercise 3-4 Doing vs. Being / Projection / Exercise 3-5 Resonating / Exercise 3-6 Resonating (A Continuation) / Exercise 3-7 Goals

Lesson 4: Acting with the 'Other'

The Other / Exercise 4-1 Making Your Partner Smile / Interactive Dynamics / Exercise 4-2 Vulnerability / Exercise 4-3 Discovery / The Character / Tactics / Exercise 4-4 Using Tactics / Exercise 4-5 One Two Three Four Five Six Seven / Monologues / Exercise 4-6 Inventing the Other

Lesson 5: Beginning to Act

Contentless Scene / Exercise 5-1 Contentless Scene I / Intensifiers / Exercise 5-2 Intensifying / Physicalizers / Exercise 5-3 Varying Locale or Action / Exercise 5-4 Contentless Scene II

Lesson 6: Tactics

Punishment and Reward / Playing Tactics / Exercise 6-1 Frighten Your Partner / Exercise 6-2 Building Intensity / Exercise 6-3 Try to Make Your Partner Cry / Exercise 6-4 Movement and Contact / Exercise 6-5 Encourage Your Partner / Alternating Tactics / Exercise 6-6 Mixing Tactics / The Middle Ranges / Exercise 6-7 Eliminating the Extremes

Lesson 7: Expectations

Expecting Victory / Exercise 7-1 Playing Bored / Positive Goals / Exercise 7-2 Enthusiasm / Exercise 7-3 Try the Impossible / Eye Contact / Exercise 7-4 Tactics and Expectations

Lesson 8: GOTE

A Basic Method / "Get Your Character's GOTE" / Exercise 8-1 The GOTEsheet

PART III. THE ACTOR'S TASK

Lesson 9: Preparing a Role

Finding Your Role / Finding Your "Character" / Editing a Scene / Memorization Methods / Cues / Studying the Part / Exercise 9-1 The Gentleman Caller I

Lesson 10: Rehearsing

Rehearsals / Undirected Rehearsals / Rehearsal Alternatives / Exercise 10-1 The Gentleman Caller II

Lesson 11: Staging the Scene

Stage Directions / Creating the Locale / Movement and Stage Business / Interesting Positions / Reaching the Audience / Exercise 11-1 Setting the Stage

Lesson 12: Choices

The Need for Choices / Good Choices / Exercise 12-1 Bold Choices

Lesson 13: Performing

Stage Fright / Classroom Performance / Play for Results--In the Other Character!

Lesson 14: Evaluation and Improvement

Helpful Criticism / Reworking / Exercise 14-1 Scene Presentation

PART IV. THE ACTOR'S INSTRUMENT

Lesson 15: The Actor's Voice

Breathing / Exercise 15-1 Breathing from the Abdomen / Phonation: Making Sounds / Exercise 15-2 Sounding / Resonance / Exercise 15-3 Exploring Resonance / Pitch / Exercise 15-4 Exploring Your Pitch Range / A Stageworthy Voice / Exercise 15-5 Speaking with Resonance

Lesson 16: Stage Speech

Good Diction / Speech Sounds / Exercise 16-1 Vowels / Exercise 16-2 Repeating Syllables / Exercise 16-3 Consonants / Exercise 16-4 Speeches

Lesson 17: Using Your Voice

Liberation / Exercise 17-1 Rude Chants / Exercise 17-2 Rude Cheering / Exercise 17-3 Fancy Talk / Exercise 17-4 Address a Group / Purposefulness / Exercise 17-5 Adding Purpose

Lesson 18: The Actor's Body

Agility / Exercise 18-1 Fast Warm-Up / Alignment / Exercise 18-2 Improving Alignment / Walking / Exercise 18-3 Sixteen Walks / Exercise 18-4 Walk and Talk / Sitting and Standing / Exercise 18-5 Walk, Talk, Sit / Velocity: Accelerating, Decelerating, and Constant / Exercise 18-6 Acceleration/Deceleration / Counterpoise / Exercise 18-7 Contraposto / Exercise 18-8 Contraction/Extension / The Dynamics of Effort / Exercise 18-9 Distinct Movements / Exercise 18-10 To Be or Not to Be / Exercise 18-11 Walking and Kicking

Lesson 19: Voice and Body Integration

Coordination / Exercise 19-1 Commands / Exercise 19-2 Speeches with Business / Exercise 19-3 Physical Punctuation / Exercise 19-4 Physical Rhythms / Exercise 19-5 Verbal Rhythms / Pointing / Exercise 19-6 Pointing / Tempo / Exercise 19-7 Speech/Movement Timing / Actors with Disabilities

Lesson 20: Imagination and Creativity

Imagination / Creativity / Creativity and Imagination / Using Your Fantasies / Exercise 20-1 Cold/Hot / Exercise 20-2 Age Regression/Advancement / Exercise 20-3 Facing an Imagined Death / Exercise 20-4 Facing Love /

Lesson 21: Emotion and Acting Theory

Exercise 21-1 Playing (with) Real Emotion I / Self-Consciousness / Exercise 21-2 Playing (with) Real Emotion II / Conclusion

PART V. THE ACTOR'S TECHNIQUE

Lesson 22: Phrasing

Diction / Open-Mouthed Speaking / Exercise 22-1 A Acting with Your Teeth / Exercise 22-1 B / Exercise 22-1 C / Developing Diction / Exercise 22-2 Repeated Sentences / Exercise 22-3 Shaw Speech / Emphasis / Exercise 22-4 Change of Emphasis / Exercise 22-5 Punctuate with Emphasis / Inflection / Exercise 22-6 Inflections / Phrasing

Lesson 23: Attack

The First Word / Physical Attack / Turn-Taking / Exercise 23-1 Turn-Taking Dialog / Preparing Strong Attacks / Exercise 23-2 Action Cues

Lesson 24: Follow-Through

The Hook / Questions as Questions / Statements as Questions / Exercise 24-1 Making Questions / Statements as Statements / Exercise 24-2 Argument-Enders / Trail-offs

Lesson 25: Line Linkage

Analyzing Dialog / Rising End-Inflections / Falling End-Inflections / Attack Inflections / Pauses / Long Speeches / Exercise 25-1 Line Linking / Exercise 25-2 The Long Speech / Line Linking in Practice

Lesson 26: Scene Structure

Breaking Down a Script / Choosing a Scene to Do in Class / Structural Characteristics / Transitions / Scene Breakdown / Exercise 26-1 Scene Structure in Action

Lesson 27: Building a Scene

Building and Topping / Exercise 27-1 Standard Build I / Exercise 27-2 Standard Build II / Exercise 27-3 Standard Build III / Cutting Back / Getting on Top / Pacing a Build / Complex Builds / Exercise 27-4 I Detest Monday / Exercise 27-5 I Detest January / Exercise 27-6 Come Here / Exercise 27-7 Building Molière

Lesson 28: Creating a Monologue

Going It Alone / The Monologue to Someone Else / The Soliloquy / Playing a Monologue or Soliloquy / Exercise 28-1 Prepare a Monologue /

L'Envoi

ACTING TWO

Introduction

Terminology: Style, Character, and performance / Acting Two's Structure / A Word About Gender /

Part I. Extensions of Yourself

Lesson 1: Style

Exercise 1-1 Baby Talk / Exercise 1-2 Baby Moves /

Lesson 2: Stylized Exchanges

Exercise 2-1 Pig Latin / Exercise 2-2 Speaking in (Foreign) Tongues / Exercise 2-3 Contemporary Greetings / Exercise 2-4 Making Elizabethan Greetings / Exercise 2-5 Ad-Libbing Elizabethan Greetings / Exercise 2-6 Ad-Libbing Elizabethan Insults / Exercise 2-7 Hamlet's Greeting to the Players

Lesson 3: Roses Are Red

Rhyme and Verse / Exercise 3-1 Roses Are Red / Exercise 3-2 Roses Are Redder--Take One / Eye Contact--And Looking Elsewhere / Exercise 3-3 Roses Are Redder--Take Two / Exercise 3-4 Roses Are Redder--Take Three / Thinking Your Character's Thoughts / Exercise 3-5 Roses Are Redder--Take Four / Playing the Play

Lesson 4: Playing God

Exercise 4-1 Playing God / Playing a Character

Lesson 5: Characterization

Exercise 5-1 Reciprocal Characterization: Richard and Hastings / Exercise 5-2 Intrinsic Characterization: Richard and Hastings / Intrinsic Characterizations: Extensions and Stereotypes / Centering / Exercise 5-3 Centering / Character Postures and Walks / Exercise 5-4 Character Walks / Character Voices / Exercise 5-5 Finding Your Voices / Character Descriptions / Exercise 5-6 Playing Out Character Descriptions / Animal Imagery / Exercise 5-7 Animate (Animalize) Your Character / Intrinsic and Reciprocal Characterization / Exercise 5-8 Character Greetings

Lesson 6: More God

Exercise 6-1 A Stanza, by God

Lesson 7: The Battle of the Sexes: Noah and His Wife

Scene 7-1 Noah and His Wife

Lesson 8: Performance: Being Public in Private

Exercise 8-1 A Performative God / Performative Aspects of Dramatic Scenes / Exercise 8-2 Performing Your Greetings and Insults / The Audience in the Theatre / Scene 8-3 The Performative Context: Oedipus and Creon / Exercise 8-4 The Performative Context: Shakespeare / Exercise 8-5 the Performative Context: Chekhov

Part II. The Scenes

Lesson 9: Greek Tragedy

Scene 9-1 Politician vs. Prophet: Oedipus and Teiresias / More Greek Scenes /

Lesson 10: The Commedia

Commedia Styles and Scripts / Commedia Performances / Commedia and Renaissance Ideals / Acting Commedia: Machiavelli's Clizia / Exercise 10-1 Commedia: Direct Address / Commedia Lazzi / Scene 10-1 Nicomaco and Sofronia / Stock Characters / More Commedia Scenes

Lesson 11: Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Theatre

Scene 11-1 The Past Made Vivid: Richard and Ann / Scansion / Verse Variations / Playing the Verse / Rhetoric / Playing and Building the Rhetoric / The Public Environment / Scene 11-2 A Merry War: Beatrice and Benedick / Shakespeare and Commedia / More Elizabethan Scenes

Lesson 12: The Theatre of Molière

Scene 12-1 Physical Comedy / Jourdain and the Philosopher / Molière and Commedia / Costume and Deportment / French Verse / Scene 12-2 Quarreling in Couplets: Alceste and Celimène /

Lesson 13: Restoration Comedy

Exercise 13-1 Restoration Speeches / Scene 13-1 Sexual Banter/

Lesson 14: The Belle Epoque

George Bernard Shaw / Exercise 14-1 Shaw's Political Speeches /

Anton Chekhov / Scene 14-1 Chekhov's Symphony of Feeling

Oscar Wilde / Scene 14-2 Wilde's Comedy of (Male) Manners / Exercise 14-3 Wilde's Comedy of (Female) Manners

Lesson 15: The Hypertheatre

Eugene Ionesco: Theater of the Absurd / Exercise 15-1 Theatre of Absurd: Mr. and Mrs. Martin

Bertolt Brecht: Theater of Distancing / Scene 15-2 Distancing in Szechuan / Verfremdung in Everyday Life

Lesson 16: Contemporary Styles

Clashing Cultures / 16-1 Prior and Harper / Clashing Subcultures / 16-2 Boy Willie and Grace / Clashing Professions / 16-3 Vivian and Jason / Solo performer, Multiple Roles

L'Envoi

A Glossary of Acting Terms

Index