The Actor And His Body (Performance Books) - Softcover

Pisk, Litz

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0413736601 ISBN 13: 9780413736604

Publisher: Methuen Drama, 2006

Synopsis

The most significant book on theatre movement in the English language, by one of its finest and most influential teachers




Litz Pisk examines the emotional and psychological impulses that motivate an actor in his role on the stage. Her theory is illuminated by her comments on specific texts and the relationship between meaning and movement. The Actor and His Body is also a practical manual for keeping the body physically fit and responsive which includes suggested workouts for keeping the body 'tuned'. The structure of the body is illustrated in the most direct possible way by a special series of x-ray pictures which appear at the back of the book as well as the author's own line drawings of the body in motion.

About this title

About the Author

Litz Pisk taught movement to generations of actors at RADA, the Old Vic Theatre School and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She movement directed productions at the Old Vic, National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and English National Opera. Litz also worked on television and films, most notably movement directing Vanessa Redgrave in Isadora. As a pioneering movement director her legacy is felt in the current growth of movement direction. First published in 1975, the Actor and His Body continues to be a seminal guide to movement practice.
Ayse Tashkiran trained at L'Ecole International Jacques Lecoq for two years in Paris and spent twelve years as a physical theatre performer. She has taught movement in a conservatoire setting for ten years and works as a Movement Director for a variety of professional theatre productions and companies.

Review

Those of us who were fortunate enough to be taught by Litz will never forget the inspiration she gave us. Through her movement work Litz made an extraordinary contribution to the theatre... A unique teacher of movement, an inspiring movement director, this book gives an insight into the seminal work of Litz Pisk -- Jane Gibson, former Head of Movement, National Theatre No one who worked with the movement teacher Litz Pisk, either as actor or student, will ever forget the sheer theatrical impact of her own movement, at once dynamic and sculptural, intense and totally possessed. -- George Hall, former Head of Acting, Central School of Speech and Drama Litz Pisk was a theatre visionary who introduced to the field of actors' movement a startlingly new approach, which remains ground-breaking to this day. With her background in the visual arts, Litz Pisk viewed the actor's body as a piece of dynamic sculpture capable of expressing to the audience people and places they had never known. However, a special kind of physical training was necessary before the actor could reach `a state of readiness' where the body could respond totally to the imagination. In these pages, we begin to gain an insight into how Litz Pisk went about achieving this. * Sue Lefton, Movement Director and Teacher *

Edition details

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0413736601
• ISBN 13: 9780413736604
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96