Acting: Onstage and Off

Demonstrating how offstage performance can be effectively adapted for the theatre, as well as how onstage training can be applied toward leading a full life outside the theatre, ACTING: ONSTAGE AND OFF is a humorous yet informative book that discusses the interplay between life on and off the stage. You'll learn everything from the phases of actor training to body-relaxation techniques.

Barton (theater, U. of Oregon) writes for beginning acting students, for whom he believes the life-enhancing aspects of actor training are a higher priority than technical skills. He guides students through an exploration of their past and present offstage life to help them find confidence and recognize experience that can be used in class. The text covers all phases of actor training including scene study, auditioning, observation, and mind, voice, and body relaxation techniques, using examples from daily life rather than dramatic literature. Suggestions for ways to apply acting skills to personal, professional, and employment settings are included. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Booknews

A textbook for beginning acting students, emphasizing the life- enhancing aspects of actor training over technical skills. It explains how offstage performance can be adapted for the theater, and vice versa. No dates are noted for previous editions. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Robert Barton is professor emeritus of acting and continues to teach at the University of Oregon. He has performed in most of the plays of Shakespeare and has directed half of them, including the title role in a PBS production of Hamlet. He is the author of several acting texts and is co-author, with Rocco Dal Vera, of VOICE: ONSTAGE AND OFF. Robert's book STYLE FOR ACTORS was recipient of the Theatre Association's Best Book Award and he has been honored as Outstanding Acting Coach by the American College Theatre Festival. He has published numerous articles on acting, and his regular column, Many Right Ways", appears in each edition of THE VOICE and SPEECH REVIEW. He is also the author of a new introduction to theatre text, THEATRE IN YOUR LIFE (with Annie McGregor)."