Telling Stories: The Grand Unifying Theory of Acting Techniques (Career Development Series) (Career Development Series)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 208 pages
• Published by: Smith & Kraus June 1, 2008
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1575255650
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1575255651
• Book Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Weighs: 8 ounces

Product Review
Actor Rafael (U. of San Francisco and Academy of Art U.) declines to choose between the currently competing approaches to acting, in favor of explaining what it is they are all trying to accomplish: to share a compelling story with an audience. He discusses storytelling and character, story structure, class exercises, telling classical and new stories. A chapter also profiles 18 people and institutions representing acting theories besides the few he incorporates. -- Book News, Inc

In Telling Stories, Mark Rafael brings together Stanislavsky and other modern approaches to acting to demonstrate his belief that each leads to the same thing -- the sharing of a compelling story with an audience. Acting exercises illustrate various approaches, allowing the actor to pick from those that seem to be most relevant. Especially helpful is a discussion of the differences between acting in classic plays and working on new scripts. -- Stage Directions-Off The Shelf, June 2008

Product Description
Everyone who loves theatre and is interested in the craft of acting will be fascinated by Mark Rafael's Telling Stories. This extraordinary book is full of information rarely available to us. By taking us inside the classrooms of some of the most important teachers of our times, he becomes, in effect, a master teacher. - Marian Seldes, Actress

I found Telling Stories to be practical, insightful and I recommend it to be used for student actors and especially invaluable for professors and teachers of acting across a range of levels. - Diane Baker, Actress, Director of ActingSchool of Motion Picture & Television, Academy of Art University

Telling Stories: A Grand Unifying Theory of Acting Techniques is an essential resource for professional actors, acting students and teachers, or anyone who wants to better understand the evolution of modern acting theory. This guidebook provides a history of acting theories and training and describes techniques that enable an actor to inhabit a character. In the book are numerous acting exercises that illustrate each method, as well as advice on performing Shakespeare and on developing scripts.

Telling Stories is an important addition to any theatrical library and can serve as the basis for acting and theater courses across a wide range of levels.

MARK RAFAEL, an actor and educator, received his BA from Brown University and holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. He has also studied with teachers from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in London and was awarded a scholarship to the Michael Chekhov Studio in New York. He served as an assistant to Dr. Maria Piscator, widow of Erwin Piscator, and has worked extensively on the development of new scripts in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. As an actor, he has performed in theatres across the country as well as in television and films, including James Cameron's Titanic. He currently lives and works in San Francisco with his wife and three children, where he teaches at the University of San Francisco and the Academy of Art University.