The acting process is an interlocking trinity: the person, the actor, and the character. The person has habits and idiosyncrasies cultivated over the years in response to life experiences. The actor may have developed another set of behaviors that manifest themselves during a performance. The exercises within this text will guide the user toward making the necessary choices needed to achieve the extension of self to character-whether that involves utilizing personal traits that are congruent to a character's make-up, or discarding personal habits which do not fit. Movement: From Person to Actor to Character concisely collects many common movement principles such as use of breath, alignment, relaxation, imagery, and surroundings. Illustrations are included which provide the actor with a basic knowledge of the human body and function that can serve as a foundation for advanced movement techniques. Case studies outline a variety of characterization projects from a range of well-known plays, to further illustrate some of the exercises within the text. Mitchell's text will be useful for beginning to intermediate movement courses or as a supplement to acting or directing courses, or by actors seeking to enrich their movement technique.
About the AuthorTheresa Mitchell has been teaching movement classes for more than fifteen years and is associate professor of theatre at Webster University where she is head of the Performance Program and the Director of the Webster Movement Institute.
ReviewsMitchell's excellent text for young actors who begin their movement training in collegiate programs should also be on library shelves...the author's writing is clear...in the library the book will serve not only young dancers and actors...but also athletes...no other recent work so clearly and unambiguously outlines movement for the beginner. * CHOICE *
Book InformationISBN 9780810833289
Author Theresa MitchellFormat Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Scarecrow PressPublisher Scarecrow Press
Weight(grams) 358g
Dimensions(mm) 281mm * 221mm * 8mm