The Art of Coarse Acting

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 127 pages
• Published by: Limelight Editions; New Rev edition January 1988
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0879101113
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0879101114
• Book Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Weighs: 6.6 ounces

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The art of coarse acting (Paperback) In one memorably ruined production this was the director's obsession, so he gave the actor playing Lear tiny, birdlike movements. Alas! The set designer strongly disagreed and burst forth with a magnificently bare stage relieved only by a giant phallic monument at the center. His vision being that King Lear was: "A Man Lost in a Wilderness. " They never did reach an agreement. But, as Green points out, it really wouldn't have mattered, because if one is brilliant enough to be obsessed about Lear being 'A Man Trapped In a Tube', neither Shakespeare, the cast, nor the audience has much of a fighting chance. . . ----------------------------------------------------------------- This book is a deliciously hilarious spoof of the British stage, with heavy emphasis on 'cultural' amateur societies. It is a satire on producing as well as acting, directing,--and the gurus who teach it. But in a wonderful twist of irony, it is now required reading with many Theater Arts depatrments in universities around the world. ( "Do NOT go to acting school!"--- Eleonora Duse ) As well it should be. Filled with outrageously improbable anecdotes , it nevertheless hits home too well for anyone in the profession. It is a true masterpiece of ham, which offers marvelous advice for directors on how to succeed through obscurantist doublespeak. No director, for example, should EVER say anything that remotely sounds 'practical' such as : "Well, frankly, I have to get 'em to speak up. " Far, far better, according to Green, is to say things that sound profound but mean nothing, such as : "I'm not interested at all whether the audience hears my actors, but---it is vital they should hear them thinking. " Heavy . . . ( "If a director writes in his notes: 'The Oedipal complex is obvious in this scene, must discuss with the queen'; the sooner he is packed and thrown out of the theater, the better it'll be for everyone! "-- George Bernard Shaw ) Shaw has an ally in Green who, based on personal experience, is convinced that the director's primary job is to weed out the obvious psychotics in the cast during the first week of rehersals. As to actors left on board Green believes he is far more practical than Stanislavsky, whom he does not admire on the grounds that 'these method people are so vague.' He advises actors should carry a chart (1. Speak Slower. 2. Speak Faster, etc.) for whenever the director goes off into interpretive raptures, Oedipal or not. Simply ask him to point to which number he wants. Ah! And who could possibly forget the classic: "How To Steal a Scene Though Unconscious" which puts anything ever written by Constantin to shame. . . An very, very funny book, which suprisingly does contain unexpected gems of commonsense. Five stars are not enough. Comment | Permalink | (Report this)