The Actor and His Body (Performance Books)

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.

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.