Customer Reviews

Acting Power

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The above reviewer was probably an acting student at The Boston Conservatory. There, the standard text for senior year is Acting Power. That aside, the reviewer is correct. The book is the best you'll ever read on the techniques of acting. Forget Uta, forget Stanislavski, this book puts you in the mindset that what your scene objectives are are playable. You don't worry about what's behind you, you focus on what's ahead. Read the book and you'll see what I mean. Having written that, realize that you cannot really learn to act from a book. You have to work at it. This book just helps you come from a realistic standpoint.

"The best book on how to act yet written" is how this book is described on more than one "recommended books for actors" list. Aimed at the College Senior/Conservatory level. Some find it easier to follow if read backwards -- starting with the Appendix, then Chapter Six, then Chapter Five, etc.

Why on earth has this book gone out of print? It is the best, many say "only", acting text an actor needs. Nowhere else are the essential elements of acting (such as; "private audience"; cybernetic approach; cognitive dissonance; style as action; "what for" replacing "why"; relacom victory; the myth of character) revealed for the student actor to know, believe and use. The quotes throughout by respected working professionals are priceless. The first edition in 1978 got it absolutely right. This is an acting text for the 21st century and it is criminal that today's theatre students are unable to access it.

As a lifelong actor, director, theatre major, and Drama teacher, I have been exposed to numerous texts attempting to clarify the actor's process for the actor. Fortunately, I discovered Mr.Cohen's definitive work, "Acting Power", and it changed the way that I taught acting from that day on...

Presented in an easy to grasp vocabulary, with a logical flow of ideas that can empower the acting student from beginner to advanced, "Acting Power" is the foundation for solid, honest interpretation. An ideal gift for anyone considering acting as a profession, a college emphasis, or as an artistic expression (regardless of the venue)!