What can an anecdote reveal about the social world in which performances are made?
Hollywood Stories, by Eric Morris, with contributors.
What the book addresses
A collection of Morris's and contributors' stories about Hollywood people, encounters and professional life.
How to read it
Keep the teller, the event and the interpretation distinct. A remembered encounter can be vivid and useful without providing a complete history of everyone involved. Attend to who has access, who holds authority, who needs something and what professional pressures shape the telling. When a factual claim matters, follow it to independent documentation.
An original rehearsal investigation
After reading one story, identify a moment that could become a scene. Who wants what from whom? What changes before the encounter ends? If you invent dialogue or combine people for a writing exercise, label the invention. The dramatic usefulness of a story does not make an invented version a factual record.
Connections and distinctions
This collection belongs beside Morris's autobiographical writing rather than being treated as another exercise manual. It broadens the library's picture of professional experience while the craft books address how you prepare a performance.
Instrumental work and acting craft
Instrumental work develops the actor’s expressive resources; craft applies those resources to the demands of a role. At JBAS, the six craft tools are Sensory Work, Improvisation, Archetype Work, Externals, Imaging and deep Script and Character Analysis, with voice supporting the work throughout. Morris’s work informs the distinction between instrument and craft. Roy Hart voice work and the Stones’ Psychology of Selves contribute further resources for vocal expression, awareness and imaginative exploration.
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.
Further Reading · Acting, voice and psychology encyclopedia · Teacher and practitioner profile
