A Beginner’s Guide to Acting Methods: Understanding Practitioners and Their Legacies

Wanting to understand the workings and methods of your favourite theatre practitioner? Look no further. This accessible guide summarizes the methods of 20 practitioners by collecting the most important features of their work and framing them so that even the novice actor will understand the material.

Introducing us to the work of practitioners such as: Konstantin Stanislavski, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Bertolt Brecht, Michael Chekhov, Jacques Copeau, Maria Knebel, Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, Viola Spolin, Uta Hagen, Augusto Boal, Jerzy Grotowski, Tadashi Suzuki, and Anne Bogart among a number of others, the book sets readers on the path to discovering the methods they want to explore in greater depth.

It does so through each chapter offering:

- biographical information on each practitioner
- a description of their method
- suggestions for digging deeper and further exploration
- journal and discussion questions
- the opportunity for practical application with 3-6 hours’ worth of in-class activities for instructors to use

As a whole, the book seeks to offer an introduction to the many acting teachers and their methods in one place, demystifying terminology such as ＂biomechanics＂, ＂active analysis＂, ＂grounding＂ and ＂viewpoints＂, and introducing readers to the founders of the principles that make up modern acting.

Kimberly Shire is Associate Professor of Theatre at Carroll College, US. She has been training actors for 25 years as a high school teacher, children’s theatre artistic director, college acting professor and theatre director.