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Acting
Keywords and Concepts
Series: Readings in Theatre Practice
Brief Description
An accessible and authoritative compendium of key concepts in acting, this book reveals how the craft has been understood by the world’s leading practitioners and theorists. What is ‘truthful’ acting? Am I ‘freeing the voice’ and being ‘authentic’ in my performance? The idioms of acting can...
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Acting
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Applying novel research techniques to the largest digitized database of literature on acting in the world, this book and its companion volume, Training Actors, explores and explains the complex and competing ideas about acting.
Applying novel research techniques to the largest digitized database of literature on acting in the world, this book and its companion volume, Training Actors, explores and explains the complex and competing ideas about acting.
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Description
An accessible and authoritative compendium of key concepts in acting, this book reveals how the craft has been understood by the world’s leading practitioners and theorists.
What is ‘truthful’ acting? Am I ‘freeing the voice’ and being ‘authentic’ in my performance? The idioms of acting can both delight and confound. While enthusiastic theatregoers and aspiring actors may be attracted to studio slang, theorists and practitioners of the craft will argue fiercely over the meaning and use of professional terms, while academics dispute the very philosophical basis of concepts such as ‘emotion’ and ‘imagination’, ‘believability’ and ‘character’. Acting: Keywords and Concepts is for readers from all these communities of interest and it provides a practical and reliable evidence-based account of the most significant ideas about acting in circulation today.
It is the first book in the field to use innovative computational analysis to produce a comprehensive critical investigation of concepts and terms from a vast corpus of over 1,000 books on acting. By mining the world’s largest digitized database of literary sources on the craft, it provides the most complete and wide-ranging account of the ideas and ideals that define the craft of acting.
Organized in digestible sections with pithy ‘keyword’ subheadings, this book makes key concepts easily referenceable and reveals the politics and ideologies at play in both dominant and niche acting schools and traditions, indicating how ideas and practices have developed over time as well as where acting theory and practice is heading.
Acting: Keywords and Concepts will prove an indispensable companion to anyone interested in the craft of acting and the meaning of its key ideas.
Series: Readings in Theatre Practice
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Acting
An accessible and authoritative compendium of key concepts in acting, this book reveals how the craft has been understood by the world’s leading practitioners and theorists. What is ‘truthful’ acting? Am I ‘freeing the voice’ and being ‘authentic’ in my performance? The idioms of acting can both delight and confound. While enthusiastic theatregoers and aspiring actors may be attracted to...Paperback$4500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Stage Management
Drawing on interview material from more than 20 leading stage managers from the UK, USA and Australia, this book situates the contemporary practice of stage management within its historical and social contexts. Questioning the notions of the invisible stage manager and a linear production process, it argues for a broader conception of stage management lying at the intersections of administration,...Paperback$6599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Clown
This rich collection of readings offers a wide-ranging and authoritative survey of clown practices, history and theory, from the origins of the word clown through to contemporary clowning. Covering clowns in theatre, circus, cinema, TV, street and elsewhere, the author's stimulating narrative challenges assumptions and turns orthodoxy on its head. When referencing the title, avoid putting it in quotes or...$8895Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Acting
An accessible and authoritative compendium of key concepts in acting, this book reveals how the craft has been understood by the world’s leading practitioners and theorists. What is ‘truthful’ acting? Am I ‘freeing the voice’ and being ‘authentic’ in my performance? The idioms of acting can both delight and confound. While enthusiastic theatregoers and aspiring actors may be attracted to...Hardback$28400Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781350387225
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 19 March 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Methuen Drama
Contributors:
- Series edited by Simon Shepherd
Audience: Tertiary education
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 12.0mm
Width: 156.0mm
Height: 232.0mm
Weight: 189g
Pages: 152
About the Author
John Matthews is Head of the School of Society and Culture at University of Plymouth, UK.
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