So Therefore...: A Practical Guide For Actors - Hardcover

Ruscio, Al

9780415516716: So Therefore...: A Practical Guide For Actors

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415516714 ISBN 13: 9780415516716

Publisher: Routledge, 2012

‘Every scene or action or speech has a so therefore. It is the goal, the ultimate statement of the character. You should know the so therefore as you begin your scene ... The climax and the payoff is the so therefore.’ – from Al Ruscio’s Preface

When working through a scene with a student, renowned actor and acting teacher Al Ruscio will ask, ‘so therefore, what?’ to urge them to capture the specific actions and desires that define their character at that moment. So Therefore... interweaves tried-and-tested practical exercises with sound advice, and illustrative tales from Ruscio’s remarkable career, to form a training handbook as uniquely pragmatic as his favourite phrase. Breaking down his method into three broad focuses, Ruscio considers:

Warming Up – including relaxation, going ‘beneath the words’ and emotional recall;

Scene Work – ranging from character analysis to an exploration of action;

The Play – discovering its spine, progressing through rehearsals and sustaining a performance.

But So Therefore... also reflects wisely on such diverse subjects as Stage versus Film, and Stamina, Luck and Chutzpah. Enriching and generous, it is the culmination of a career that has taken in dozens of major motion pictures, and spans the entire history of television – as well as half a century spent training actors.

Al Ruscio graduated from the famed Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and has been teaching acting for five decades. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild and is a current voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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About the Author:

Al Ruscio graduated from the famed Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and has been teaching acting for five decades. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild and is a current voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Review:

'In this succinct guide, Ruscio draws on his successful 40-year career of film and stage experience and his professional acting training with Sandy Meisner at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse School. He provides a plethora of practical, thorough, realistic advice in 41 bite-size chapters organized into five parts. His goal is to provide experiences that will help actors find truth and depth in their characters at all times, and to offer useful information about scene work and rehearsal processes for beginning to intermediate actors. He breaks down the salient points about each element of acting with examples and exercises including stage versus film acting, and how stamina and luck play a part in actor's lives. Part 1, "Warming Up," is foundational yet goes beyond other texts for beginning actors by including activities based on animal and life studies for character development. In part 2, "Scene Work," Ruscio emphasizes emotional truth and the importance of finding the spine--or main force--driving the character and the play. Throughout, he shares fascinating, humorous, and inspirational anecdotes from his experiences working with actors and directors ranging from Laurence Olivier to Matt Damon. Summing Up: Highly recommended.' J. Tomalin, CHOICE

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