Customer Reviews

The Art of Acting

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This great book has a quick and enthusiastic Introduction by former student Marlon Brando, and then consists solely of transcripts of cogent and thought-provoking lectures of the legendary and revered acting teacher Stella Adler (1901-1992). Howard Kissel has compiled, or possibly combined, tapes in order to come up with these "classes," or chapters.

Adler was an eloquent and reverential philosopher of acting, a teacher and acting coach extraordinaire of Brando, de Niro, Warren Beatty, Harvey Keitel, Candice Bergen, and many more. As a young, serious actress she had traveled to Paris, in order to study with Konstantin Stanislavsky, founder of "Method" acting. She was his only American student. She brought his philosophy back to the US, but added her own considerable beliefs to it. She cautions students: "Don't read his book, because it makes absolutely no sense. He came from a culture entirely alien to yours, and you won't understand it."

The twenty-two classes are seemingly presented verbatim. Each 'class' forms a chapter, and has a named subject as its organizing principle. ("Acting is Doing," "Developing the Imagination," Building a Vocabulary of Actions," "Understanding the Text," Dressing the Part," "Instant and Inner Justifications," etc.) Each class is clear, thoughtful and thought-provoking, and wonderfully stimulating. Adler focuses on meaning and the soul of the thing - at all times. In addition, she is delightfully concrete, so you are never lost in well-meaning platitudes.

Right off the bat, you are educated as to why acting is not a cousin to, for example, fashion modeling. Adler is blunt, and supports her assertions. Acting has nothing to do with being "discovered," it is not about fame or celebrity. She bemoans the loss of the theater companies of mid-century, and the opportunities they provided to actors, who are now left to 'go it alone.'

To Adler acting is a labor of intelligence and will and love, a "profession that is over 2000 years old" and one that requires boundless energy and a sort of selfish (but not narcissistic) ambition first, and then "critical seeing, self-awareness, discipline, and self-control" - for starters. She talks about the importance to an actor of the use of one's imagination, the disciplined willingness to actually do the research -in order to care deeply and conscientiously about the play. She asserts, "A great disservice was done to American actors when they were persuaded that they had to experience *themselves* on the stage instead of experiencing the play. Your experience is not the same as Hamlet's - unless you too are a royal prince of Denmark. The truth of the character isn't found in you but in the circumstances of the royal position... [to play the role] your past indecision on who to take to the prom won't suffice."

This book is stimulating, uplifting, thought-provoking, and deep. You do not have to be interested in 'doing' acting in order to enjoy her wisdom. Worth reading, and rereading.

This is going to the top of the "books my kids must read" when they are going off to college or leaving home. This book is a supposedly a series of Stella Adler's lectures about acting, but it is also very inspirational as a series of lectures about how to live.

Addler says that "The whole thing about acting is to give. The actor must above everything be generous. He doesn't hoard his riches...But before you can be giving and magnanimous, you must have something to give. Ideas don't come from your legs. They don't come from your voice. They come from your mind. The theatre is built on developing your mind. It's an education for your mind."

She works on critical seeing, self-awareness, discipline, self-control - skills that are important to everyone, not just actors. She discusses the importance of developing your imagination, "Eventually your imaginative reach will extend to other things, until you can say, I know how it feels to be in mourning, how it feels to be isolated, what it means to be abandoned, what it's like to be engaged or to be married." She means this in the context of acting on stage, but for the non-actor, it translates into becoming truly empathetic, to being able to truly understand and communicate with others.

Every page is full of memorable comments:

"You must be aware that even a subject of profound importance can be trivialized and degraded if you haven't the energy and interest to match it."

"Sometimes, when a husband and a wife go on a trip together, he might say, "My God! Do you know what that is? Why that's Notre Dame!" and she replies, "Yes I know. I can see it." They are seeing in Notre Dame something entirely different. As actors you must make everything you see come alive."

"You will fail. That's great. Here's a secret for you - that's the only way you can learn. Learning has to cost you something."

And on and on and on! She must have been such a strong, amazing woman, so completely different from anyone in my own solidly suburban middle class life. It is profoundly uplifting to hear her voice through the pages of this book. I highly, highly recommend this book.

Stella Adler puts forth the idea that an actor must have SIZE. That is, to stand in front of the world and speak great words and perform great actions, one must have a mind and presence poised to take on the universal problems presented by great playwrights. An actor must develop a mind worthy of great ideas.

And that's just where the fun begins. From there, an actor must learn to dissect text and create circumstances. An actor must learn to visualize and experience those circumstances in vivid detail. An actor must learn to identify action and disassemble it until every bit of that action is seen and performed by every bit of the actor.

I enjoyed Sanford Meisner on Acting. It presented a series of exercises and examples of students failing at those exercises. At the end of the book, one appreciated Meisner's system and how the practises may help develop strong impulses. Stella's book has exercises too, and it also has short examples of students attempting them. But this is not where the heart of the book is. The heart is in its passionate declaration of what an actor's responsibility is, and how an actor - an artist - perceives the work and seeks to be worthy of it.

I was a student of Stella Adler's when she taught in Los Angeles in the late seventies. I was very young and she very patient. Her classes taught me of life which in turn has made me a natural actor.

Her lessons have not always served me well in regular life, I can see her laughing at this statement now. She taught me to feel honestly and to be true to myself and therefore I would be true to any character I played.

On a daily basis I ask myself why people are not more honest about what they feel to one another; what a wonderful life it would be if Stella's lessons where given to all that walk the stage which is life.

I will one day look back knowing I really felt life its joys, sorrows, sacrifices and many emotions you taught us to embrace.

Thank you so much Stella and wherever you are I know you got your wings for being the wise woman who gave so much to us with such selflessness.

I carry your words with me on each audition never failing to do my best for I would never let you down, you never did us.

I miss you not being here everyday. Love, Ellie

For those of you not as fortunate as I to know her the book is luckily here for everyone to know Stella.

Stella Adler was considered one of the best (perhaps the best) acting teachers of all time. This books give concrete ways to become a better actor and, I believe, at the same time become a more fully developed human being. It is an inspiring book full of wisdom and thought provoking ideas. Definitely worthwhile.

i got this book to help me in my acting classes. I started reading it and i had a highlighter whith which i was planning to underline all the important stuff. Well i ccould not stop highlighting; every single paragraph in this book is pure genius. I already started developing as an actress more efficiently and faster than i used to, i wish i met her before she died...

the only criticism...she is too abrupt. She is harsh with you. even if she does not kknow you personally, she stil attacks the young actor. this can be rude, but her directions are always right. If u are an actor, you NEED this book. Acting teachers should read it too. I had some horrible teachers in my life

Her energetic, enthusiastic presentation of written material leaves me thinking she must have electrified audiences when on stage. An inspiring, uplifting read.

I'm still trying to make it through this book. I am not an avid reader. I purchased this book through the recommendation of Bob Proctor along with another project I am working on. It is a subject that is different from my goal but I am sure there is a lesson for me when I make it to the end. It does make sense but I am doing this while working on various other things.

Stella Adler is, to me, the most important Acting teacher of the world. The only one Acting teacher in America who have studied with Stanislavski. This book is essential. It gives you an insight of Adler's Technique of Acting. Action and Given Circumstances must be the unique focus of the Actor. Not emotional memory. The only thing I can tell is: Buy it and you' ll understand why it is an important book.

This book is truely one of the best acting books out there. I am a young actress, and i first learned about Stella through my acting teacher. We spent 3 months studying her book, and i know it has made me a much better actress.