List 1
PRIMARY ACTING THEORISTS
This list of titles comprise the original sources of modern acting technique.
__________________________________________________________

[Click on an individual title for a full description or to purchase.]

ACTING-THE FIRST SIX LESSONS by Richard Boleslavsky (1933)
The first published presentation of Stanislavski’s system in the US. With Stanislavski’s support, it was published three years before
An Actor Prepares and remains an important introduction to the art of acting.

AN ACTOR PREPARES by Constantin Stanislavski (1936)
The first volume of the groundbreaking and most influential system or technique for modern acting.
The text presents approaches for exploring the inner preparation an actor might undergo in order to prepare a role to the full.

BUILDING A CHARACTER by Constantin Stanislavski (1949)
The second volume in Stanislavski's acclaimed trilogy emphasizes the external aspects of acting: the use of the body, movement, and voice.

TO THE ACTOR by Michael Chekhov (1953)
Revised in 1991 as ON THE TECHNIQUE OF ACTING
Michael Chekhov takes Stanislavski’s approach to the next stage, adding greater emphasis on spirituality and
the actor’s imaginative use of his or her body for creating characters and feelings.

CREATING A ROLE by Constantin Stanislavski (1961)
Through an in depth examination of three widely different plays, the third volume in Stanislavski’s acclaimed trilogy focuses on creating a character from the inside and outside simultaneously.

IMPROVISATION FOR THE THEATER by Viola Spolin (1963)
The first entire text for learning the skill and art of improvisational acting.
It presents a technique of theater games and their use as a source of improvisational theatre and as a resource for exploration in rehearsals of scripted plays.
This book and its theater game approach was the genesis of the entire improvisational comedy genre.

RESPECT FOR ACTING by Uta Hagen with Haskel Frankel (1973) and
A CHALLENGE FOR THE ACTOR by Uta Hagen (1991)
A Stanislavski influenced technique with clear and specific steps to help the actor prepare, rehearse and perform.

SANFORD MEISNER ON ACTING by Sanford Meisner & Dennis Longwell (1987)
Behavioral and action based, Meisner technique is a unique approach to acting through exercises
that emphasize spontaneous responses to everything and everyone the actor encounters.

BOOK ON ACTING - IMPROVISATION TECHNIQUE FOR THE PROFESSIONAL ACTOR IN FILM, THEATER & TELEVISION
by Stephen Book (2002)
The only complete text and technique for learning improvisation and its direct application
to improvising performances with scripted and memorized lines.