The Actor and the Target

by Declan Donnellan (Author)

• New

  Paperback
  2005

  $18.18

  Thorougly revised, second edition of one of the most successful theatre books ever published by NHB - a definitive guide to acting. The Actor and the Target offers a fresh and radical approach to acting by a world-famous director. Now republished in an extensively revised new edition, it has sold almost 4,000 copies in the home market alone since first publication in October 2002.

• Used

  Paperback
  2002

  $16.18

  It's about time there was a modern equivalent of Stanislavsky. This is it - written by the founding director of the new Royal Shakespeare Company Academy Declan Donnellan's Acting Unrestrained is set to become a classic in its field. Simply and directly written, it outlines the eight 'blocks' an actor is likely to encounter, offering clear instructions as to how to overcome them. Each blockage is expressed in a similar way: 'I don't know what I'm doing', 'I don't know what I want', 'I don't know who I am' etc. The problem, Donnellan says, is that in worrying about the 'self', the actor loses touch with the character. For instance, the actress playing Juliet does not need to find within herself the ability to love her Romeo: she needs simply to see Romeo through Juliet's eyes. This loss of self-consciousness is achieved by the used of targets or objectives outside the self which the actor strives to fulfil - and in that striving, concern with self drops away. Clearly and systematically laid out and full of firm and unambiguous precepts, this book will become a bible for actors in the 21st century.

• New

  Paperback
  2006

  $20.99

  Acting is a reflex, a mechanism for development and survival. . . . It isn't 'second nature, ' it is 'first nature.' --Declan Donnellan This immensely popular and ever-practical book on acting takes a scalpel to the heart of actors' persistent fears, helping them to release their talent on stage. It is straightforward and unpretentious, with a spirit of artistic and personal freedom.