Items related to True and False : Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor
Synopsis
A guide to the acting profession by a leading American playwright. He advises aspiring actors on topics such as judging a role, approaching the part, working with the playwright, undertaking auditions, and the relationship with agents and the business in general.
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Review
To hell with Stanislavsky. To hell with the Method. "The actor is onstage to communicate the play to the audience," says David Mamet. "That is the beginning and the end of his and her job. To do so the actor needs a strong voice, superb diction, a supple, well-proportioned body and a rudimentary understanding of the play." Anything else--"becoming" one's part, "feeling" the character's emotions--devalues the practice of a noble craft and is useless to the play. "The 'work' you do 'on the script' will make no difference," he cautions. "That work has already been done by a person with a different job title than yours. That person is the author."
But True and False does not confine itself to the work done on the actual stage. Its brief essays contain sound advice on how an actor might apply himself or herself to the life of the actor: the proper consideration due the audition process, the selection of parts that one accepts, and so on. Mamet delivers these kernels of wisdom in the taut, no-nonsense prose for which he is justifiably famous, and, ultimately, his core principles are applicable beyond the theater. "Speak up, speak clearly, open yourself out, relax your body, find a simple objective," he instructs. "Practice in these goals is practice in respect for the audience, and without respect for the audience, there is no respect for the theater; there is only self-absorption." Substitute "others" for "the audience" and "life" for "the theater," and could any Taoist say it better? --Ron Hogan
From the Back Cover
"This book should be read and considered by everyone who acts."
--Steve Martin
"Entertaining and enlightening...Mamet's new book on the actor's life makes me proud to be a participant in that life."
--Joe Mantegna
"This is a very important book. No one has defined the actor's job better than Mamet. So much of the acting we see these days is, in my opinion, emotional glop. The actors are not really acting the story, they are acting what the story means. When all is said and done, it's just indicating. And as Mamet so outrageously and compellingly shows us, the future belongs to those actors who don't indicate at all, ever."
--William H. Macy
"I agree with almost nothing Mr. Mamet says in this book and encourage you to devour every word. Mamet is a genius."
--Alec Baldwin
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- PublisherFaber Paperbacks
- Publication date1998
- ISBN 10 0571192610
- ISBN 13 9780571192618
- BindingPaperback
- LanguageEnglish
- Number of pages128
- Rating
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True and False
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Faber & Faber, United Kingdom, London, 1998
ISBN 10: 0571192610
ISBN 13: 9780571192618
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, director and teacher has written a blunt, unsparingly honest guide to acting. In True and False David Mamet overturns conventional opinion and tells aspiring actors what they really need to know. He leaves no aspect of acting untouched: how to judge the role, approach the part, work with the playwright; the right way to undertake auditions and the proper approach to agents and the business in general. True and False slaughters a wide range of sacred cows and yet offers an invaluable guide to the acting profession. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR001328581
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