Customer Reviews

Theatre Exercises You Haven't Tried

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found the tape condescending and truly annoying to listen to. Ms. Atman talks to people we can't hear and they have their little inside jokes. Often, I had difficulties discerning the WHY of the activities, I didn't find she made that clear. I've been teaching theater for almost 10 years and was dissappointed in how boring and mundane MOST of the suggestions were. To note, a couple were worthwile, but nothing earth shattering.

I "adjusted" the basically adult exercises on this tape and used them with my 6th Grade Theater Troupe. I learned a lot about them (in many ways), and they had a great time with the exercises. When my adult community theater group got together for their last production, I had everyone try the exercises. Everyone got fired up -- so once we began auditions, we were ready! The cozy live-workshop nature of the tape made us all feel like we were part of the group, and the advice the author/reader gave was sound -- it reminded us of a few things all ensembles need to know. A mature tape for open-minded, serious actors and instructors, willing to have a good time.

Although some of the exercises here were variations on classics, they took such a different approach, they served a completely different function. Being a drama teacher for almost thirty years now, I appreciate the attention to sensory mode enhancement, and the open-endedness of some exercises (which allowed me to "customize" them)!

I also teach drama in the Los Angeles area, and was put onto Ms. Atman's exercises by a colleague. I'm glad to see the tape is now available here. These are simply the best exercises available, because they teach while entertaining. No one turns down the opportunity to get up and participate (as so often happens in a class situation), because nothing here seems to be "just too much" or too intimidating. A great bunch of exercises, some of which can be worked on alone.

I've taken several of Sally's classes over the years, and her exercises [even the hard ones] are always full of fun and insight. They work. I used to hate improvs, but Sally's are so different I really had a good time with them. The main thing I got out of all the games and bluffing exercises was that my memory improved. I still play 'Changing Emotions' when I'm driving. This is a tape I'm going to get to take in the car with me.

The author, "Mrs." Sally Altman, may have some sound, very basic advice on her subject, but oh does she need an editor! Redundancies and serious typos unfortunately make this short book almost impossible to read.

From the back cover: "Many people dream of starting a business -- but are hesitant to start a business of their own because they don't know if they're the right sort of person to be starting a business or are worried that they'll start a business and fail." Does anyone else think the idea is overstated and that the word "business" is overused?

A couple of gems from the first few pages of the book are: ". . . it is your responsibility as a business owner to not take risks but only calcuated risks . . ." (?) and ". . . You need a business name that will help you create a business name . . ." (okay)

Again, I think the author does have basic advice to impart, but she really needs help expressing herself. If you can't deal with lack of punctuation, misleading typos, nonsensical sentences, and redundancies, please look elsewhere!

I have worked with all of the exercises on this tape, along with the speaker, Ms. Atman. Some may sound like classic theatre exercises, but anyone who pays attention to what's really being said will notice that there is a new spin on the classics, and that the new, copyrighted exercises present a means of getting past the communication barriers and stagefright acting students often suffer. The open-ended quality of some, such as the Pathway Exercise, allow those of us with imagination to take the exercises as far as we want.

Great tape. Nicely presented.

If you run out of party games, use the games on this tape. I "stole" them from class, and people love them. (But now that the secret is out, my parties won't be different anymore. More's the pity.)