Systems of Rehearsal: Stanislavsky, Brecht, Grotowski, and Brook [Paperback]

Shomit Mitter (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415067847 | ISBN-13: 978-0415067843 | Publication Date: December 3, 1992

The gap between theory and practice in rehearsal is wide. many actors and directors apply theories without fully understanding them, and most accounts of rehearsal techniques fail to put the methods in context.
Systems of Rehearsal is the first systematic appraisal of the three principal paradigms in which virtually all theatre work is conducted today - those developed by Stanislavsky, Brecht and Grotowski. The author compares each system ot the work of the contemporary director who, says Mitter, is the Great Imitator of each of them: Peter Brook. The result is the most comprehensive introduction to modern theatre available.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`Excellent account of methodologies of modern directors' - R Roberts, Sheffield University

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (December 3, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415067847
• ISBN-13: 978-0415067843
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #559,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Think you understand acting?, April 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Systems of Rehearsal: Stanislavsky, Brecht, Grotowski, and Brook (Paperback)

This book will open your eyes to so many ways of thinking about acting and rehearsal. If you are an actor, director, writer, or any kind of manager, these different ways of looking at problem solving will definitely help. It is well-written and easy to read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Revealing and Insightful- but not as an introduction, December 1, 2002

By 

"psyges" (Indiana, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Systems of Rehearsal: Stanislavsky, Brecht, Grotowski, and Brook (Paperback)

Having studied the approaches that Grotowski, Brook, Brecht, and Stanislavski have taken to creating theater for many years now, I found the ideas in this book expanding, challenging, and reinforcing parallels that I had drawn between the work of these important theorists. In spite of my approval of this book, I cannot recommend it to someone who is not already well-acquainted with these theorists. The author condenses some very elaborate and difficult ideas to draw relationships between them; an intelligent and capable reader who is not familiar with these ideas will most likely find themselves overwhelmed and confused by the sheer amount of information conveyed in this reasonably short work.

I would recommend looking at the following texts to acquaint one with the theories in this book:
Peter Brook: "Empty Space" & "Open Door"
Grotowski: "Towards a Poor Theater"
Brecht: "Brecht on Theater" Ed. John Willet
Stanislavski: (This is more difficult. You can trudge through his trilogy "Actor Prepares" "Buildign a Character" & "Creating a Role" or I suggest his essay in Bentley's "Theories of the Modern Stage" ...actually, the author's summary of Stanislavski is quite good anyways)

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worthless - Wish there were no stars to give., October 2, 2001

By 

David Malek "David Malek" (Los Angeles, CA - USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Systems of Rehearsal: Stanislavsky, Brecht, Grotowski, and Brook (Paperback)

This is an overly analytical diatribe of garbage. People who know do, those who don't, write. If this is the case this author knows little if anything about acting let alone rehearsal. The book is written in what I term thesaurus English in that simpler words perhaps were used in the rough draft, then to make himself appear "smarter" he went through the draft with a thesaurus in hand and changed every "simple" word for another more "complex" and "high brow" alternative. The result - a lot of wasted paper and double talk. The mark of a true genius is the ability to explain a complex subject so any person can understand it. It seems that this author does not understand what he is talking about and tries to cover it up. The dedication alone seems to point to someone who tried to stop this work from being published. It reads as follows, "To M in spite of whose every effort this book is at last complete." Perhaps M was trying to do us all a favor.