What can you actually do after you understand the scene?
A Practical Handbook for the Actor, by Melissa Bruder, Lee Michael Cohn, Madeleine Olnek, Nathaniel Pollack, Robert Previto and Scott Zigler.
What the book addresses
Six collaborators present a practical approach associated with Practical Aesthetics, developed through work with David Mamet, William H. Macy and Gregory Mosher. The handbook connects analysis with usable action.
How to read it
Distinguish a compelling interpretation from a playable task. You may understand the play's themes and still have no action when the partner speaks. Follow the authors' analysis process in full, keeping each step connected to a concrete attempt in the scene.
An original rehearsal investigation
Read a short exchange and describe what literally happens. Identify an action the actor can attempt, then test it with a partner. Ask whether the choice creates room for an actual response. If the action only describes a mood, refine the question until there is something to do.
Connections and distinctions
Compare Actions: The Actors' Thesaurus for a vocabulary of possible attempts and Backwards & Forwards for reading dramatic structure. Script and Character Analysis also seeks playable specificity. The comparison does not imply that JBAS is a Practical Aesthetics school or that its six tools are the handbook's system.
This is an original JBAS reading guide with an attributed overview and study questions. Read the complete book for the author's developed argument and exercise instructions.
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