Aimed at the beginning acting student, this book takes a commonsense approach to the craft, building on basic techniques in the first part and then going on to cover two distinct types of theater; comedy and Shakespearean verse. Kuritz introduces basic acting techniques through a series of simple exercises. the section on verse analyzes accent and rhythm with examples of dialog, while the comedy chapter lists 15 examples of comic situations, along with definitions and examples of comic figures of speech. Warm-up exercises, comic dialect guidelines, and a general stage terminology contribute to the usefulness of the book. Recommended for theater arts collections in public, high school and college libraries.
A professor of theater at Bates College since 1978, Paul Kuritz teaches acting and directing for the stage and screen, and directs plays and films. In fall 2007, Paul directed the East Coast premiere of Gillette Elvgren's "Five Cups of Coffee" and his recent directorial projects include "The Contrast" (2006) "The Taming of the Shrew," (2005) "House of Blue Leaves" (2004), the musical "Swingtime Canteen" (2004), "Lady Windermere's Fan" (2002) and a stage adaptation of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" (2001). In the fall of 2009 he will direct John Reed's "All the World's a Grave. A New Play by William Shakespeare." Since his directorial debut in 1966, Paul has directed over one hundred plays throughout the United States. In 1990 he was invited to be the first American to teach and direct at the National Theater School in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Paul is the author of "Fundamental Acting: A Practical Guide" (Applause Theatre Books, 1997), "The Making of Theatre History" (Prentice Hall, 1987) and "Playing: An Introduction to Acting" (Prentice Hall, 1982). His latest book, "The Fiery Serpent. A Christian Theory of Film and Drama" was published in 2006. Paul's play "The Yellow Wallpaper" was included in The Best American Short Plays 2001-2002 (Applause, 2006).
Paul in recent years has studied filmmaking and film directing at the
International Film and Digital Video Workshops in Rockport. His current film, "A New Life", received an Honorable mention at the 2008 Bayou City Inspirational Film Festival.
In 2005 Paul moved back to Lewiston with his wife Kathleen, the Volunteer Services Coordinator at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center, and son, Stefan, a junior at Lewiston High School. Paul also has three older sons: James, a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army, Nathaniel, an advertising art director in New York City, and Ethan, a lawyer in Connecticut.
