Young Actors Workbook

From the Author:

The "germ" of this scene anthology/workbook was a coaching project back in
the 1970's. I was hired by an intermediate school on Manhattan's upper West
Side to coach a group of young teen-age students preparing for entrance
auditions to the renowned School of Performing Arts (of "Fame" fame). They
needed brief dramatic and comic selections close to them in age, material
with which they could readily identify, material worth working on. But back
then there were no scene anthologies on the market to fill all those needs.
Many of these teen-agers came from disadvantaged backgrounds and needed my
help in finding appropriate selections. Before I could coach, I had to
research plays and various non-dramatic sources extensively, so that I could
provide each student with interesting choices. Since a teen-age scene
anthology of excellent literary quality was clearly needed, I decided to
compile one myself and to follow each selection with several pages of acting
suggestions. The book would be geared for class work, or for actors
preparing audition material, or those simply pursuing acting for their own
pleasure.

The Young Actors' Workbook contains 51 such selections-32 monologues and 19
scenes (dialogues and scenes for both small and large groups, including one,
from West Side Story, for an entire class). Part I: Dramatic Selections for
Girls and Boys (Age Twelve and Older). Part II: Dramatic Selections for
Young Adults (Age Sixteen and Older). These excerpts range from light comedy
to serious drama, including selections from the works of the world's
best-known writers-Tennessee Williams, Carson McCullers, Lorraine Hansberry,
Paul Zindel, Ferenc Molnar, Jean Giraudoux, William Inge, James Baldwin,
Richard Wright, Mary Chase, Sholem Aleichem, Lanford Wilson and many more.

I included a large number of Afro-American roles as well as those of other
ethnic groups. I don't believe that actors should limit themselves to roles
of their own race, but on the other hand, they should be able to play such
parts if they desire to do so. I also included excerpts from books and plays
which dramatize the aspirations of young women and the significant
contributions women have made to our society.

I gleaned many of these dramatic selections from non-dramatic
sources-fiction, biographies, autobiographies. I found exciting material in
Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Ann Frank's diary, in Growing Up
Puerto Rican, edited by Paulette Cooper, in autobiographies by singer Marian
Anderson, dancer/choreographer Agnes de Mille, actor Ethel Waters,
photographer Margaret Bourke White, ex-slave/abolitionist Frederick Douglass
and writer Claude Brown, in a fictionalized biography of Harriet Tubman, and,
on the lighter side, a monologue that made me laugh aloud, from James Lincoln
Collier's novel The Teddy Bear Habit.

Each selection is preceded by an introduction describing character, setting
and the plot up to that point in the story. Two appendices include "Some
Hints for Blocking a Scene" and an "Actor's Check List," containing two lists
of thought questions: "The Character You Play" and "Specific Circumstances of
the Scene."

I began my Preface with these words addressed to the young actor: "Acting can
bring you joy, excitement and a sense of fulfillment if you approach each
role creatively, with your entire self—mind, body and feelings all working
in unison . Your goal as an actor should be to merge your whole self with
another whole self, another 'you'—the character you play. The 'Suggestions
for the Actor' immediately following each selection help you to 'step into
the shoes' of that other person. These specific suggestions include
stimulating thought questions about your role, relevant acting games and
improvisations to play, either as yourself, the actor, or as 'you,' the
character . It is important to play yourself sometimes, to discover what
you, the actor, would do in various situations, to become more aware of your
own feelings, attitudes, and values. After all, you cannot know another
human being intimately, from the inside out, unless you first know yourself."

I ended, "One final word about acting: Even though the roles in this
anthology are close to you in age, a given character may be utterly unlike
you in other ways. By putting yourself in that character's place, you may
gain tolerance and perhaps even appreciation of viewpoints radically
different from your own. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to
lead someone else's life for a little while? Now's your chance to find out!"