An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary ReviewStanislavski is a familiar name in theatre circles. The legendary director of the Moscow Art Theatre wrote perhaps some of the most influential work on acting in the last century. I could list the big names who cite his influence (most famously, Marlon Brando and Sir John Gielgud), but the fact is his teachings have become so much a part of the way we approach theatre, that almost any actor in the English-speaking world (and abroad) can claim at least some influence.
Unfortunately, most English-speakers are familiar with Stanislavski's `system' in the considerably problematic translation by Elizabeth Hapgood. What's more, the form that translation took (as two separate books, the famous "An Actor Prepares" and "Building a Character") misrepresented Stanislavski's original intentions. In actuality, "An Actor Prepares" and "Building a Character" are two parts of a larger book, called "An Actor's Work on Himself." In the Soviet Union, they were published as volumes one and two of the same book.
Hapgood worked with Stanislavski on an early edition of the first half of the book, which in her translation would become "An Actor Prepares." However, Stanislavski continued revisions on the book after Hapgood had returned home to America in 1935. The translation that was published, in addition to being abridged to half the original's length, was also missing the subsequent revisions that Stanislavski released in a Soviet edition three years later just before his death. Stanislavski did not live to complete part two. Hapgood received fragments from Stanislavski's son, Igor. Not knowing that these were meant as a completion to a single holistic system, she published them as "Building a Character."
This new edition, called simply "An Actor's Work," reunites the two volumes at last. Translator Jean Benedetti is also an erudite scholar of the life and work of Stanislavski one whom he has published several definitive biographical works. The translations themselves are somewhat stilted, but still a major improvement over the Hapgood translations, which remain the most widely circulated versions of Stanislavski's work. Part One is finally presented unabridged. Benedetti's reconstruction of the unfinished Part Two (from a motley selection of fragments amassed after Stanislavski's death) is graceful and readable.
What is most striking, however, are the huge implications this new edition has on the way Stanislavski's system is currently understood. Part One of "An Actor's Work" dealt with the psychological construction of a role. Part Two was to elaborate on the physical training of the actor. Stanislavski stressed the importance of voice and movement training for the actor. Unfortunately, this second (and vital) half of the work went largely ignored in drama schools where "An Actor Prepares" became the standard text. (Stanislavski's original system, fortunately, made it back to the U.S. through Stella Adler who had studied with him for a brief period in Paris.) Thus, a huge emphasis was placed on psychology, when the implications on physicality went largely ignored.
The fact that Part Two was never completed is not much of a disaster. As Benedetti notes, it is really only of historical interest. Actors today have much more sophisticated methods at their disposal, such as the Alexander Technique and Kristen Linklater's approach to voice training (I recommend her Freeing the Natural Voice).
"An Actor's Work" is poised to become the definitive edition of Stanislavski for the next generation. It presents the first really viable alternative to Hapgood's translations. The fact that the hardcover edition is less expensive than the combined cost of Hapgood's "An Actor Prepares" and "Building a Character" should also not go unnoticed.
An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary OverviewStanislavski's ‘system' has dominated actor-training in the West since his writings were first translated into English in the 1920s and 30s. His systematic attempt to outline a psycho-physical technique for acting single-handedly revolutionized standards of acting in the theatre.Until now, readers and students have had to contend with inaccurate, misleading and difficult-to-read English-language versions. Some of the mistranslations have resulted in profound distortions in the way his system has been interpreted and taught. At last, Jean Benedetti has succeeded in translating Stanislavski's huge manual into a lively, fascinating and accurate text in English.He has remained faithful to the author's original intentions, putting the two books previously known as An Actor Prepares and Building A Character back together into one volume, and in a colloquial and readable style for today's actors. The result is a major contribution to the theatre, and a service to one of the great innovators of the twentieth century.

Want to learn more information about An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now