Working Up a Part: A Manual for the Beginning Actor

This manual is primarily intended to serve a) a textbook for college classes in acting; b) a handbook for those actors in school or community who may have begun to "act," in the sense that they have already been cast in several parts, but who have had no real training and wish practical assistance in preparing a role of some proportions. In either case, the manual is meant for the beginner, before he has read widely in more advanced works, or at least before he has developed from wide reading and experience a workable system of his own. In keeping with both of these aims, the volume offers a brief though not superficial introduction to the many inter-related problems of play presentation, as the actor must sooner or later face them. The seasoned student-actor who has had even a minimum of formal training can of course be expected to bring to his work some knowledge of the broader problems of production, and some awareness of the director's aims and responsibilities. The experienced player has already struggled with his own voice and speech, his own posture and movement; he has already faced the complications of dramatic structure, characterization, audience psychology. But all of these, and more, crowd in on the beginner at once. Working Up a Part attempts to outline a sound and practical approach for the beginner. Moving from analysis of a role, through rehearsal, to performance, it presents an orderly, logical, and balanced arrangement of material. No one aspect of the beginner's task is slighted at the expense of others; and the material is so organized that the volume may readily be used either as a basic class text or as a reference handbook.