The Body Speaks: Performance and Expression - Softcover

Marshall, Lorna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1403960283 ISBN 13: 9781403960283

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2002

Synopsis

The Body Speaks is a fundamental rethinking of our relationship to the body and its role in performance. Seventy percent of everyday conversation is conveyed through body language. Lorna Marshall shows us how to recognize and lose unwanted physical inhibi

About this title

About the Author:

Lorna Marshall is one of the foremost theater practitioners in the world today dealing with stage movement. She has worked in both western and eastern traditions of theater and collaborated with some of the most well-known directors in the world, most notably Peter Brook.

Yoshi Oida is a Japanese actor and author of The Invisible. He is best known for his work with Peter Brook's Paris-based theater company.

From Library Journal:

One would think that "moving" would be as natural as falling off a log, and yet when we stand in front of an audience, our hands grow large and heavy and our feet root to the floor. Marshall (physical acting, Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, London) and the contributors to the collection by Potter (theater, Marymount Manhattan Coll.) are well aware of this problem and take different approaches to solving it. Marshall tends to focus on the inner being and the actor's inner response. Concepts such as "finding the center," "discovering the rhythm," and "focusing your energy" are cited throughout, along with physical and practical exercises and activities that will help actors use their bodies effectively to communicate with the audience. As a collection, Potter's book offers a variety of viewpoint and focus. For example, Mary Fleischer's article is about stillness-how to be silent, respond, return to stillness, and so on-while Marianne Kubik discusses Meyerhold's system of training actors and body movement. Theresa Lee examines the Alexander Technique. In all, there are 23 articles and almost as many approaches to body movement. Interestingly, both books discuss the importance of the synthesis of body and mind, discipline and spontaneity, and knowledge and instinct. Both works are highly recommended for all library theater collections and large public libraries.
Susan L. Peters, Univ. of Texas, Galveston
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1403960283
• ISBN 13: 9781403960283
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240