description: This is the first time that the reader has been able not only to go behind the scenes with the great man but also be up there on stage with him. Laurence Olivier talks to the reader as a friend and confidant; it is like being in a room alone with him, his sharp gaze concentrating solely upon you.This book is not about his life - that has been done many times before, including his own remarkable memoirs; it is about his profession, his craft, of which he is master. Olivier tells you about his successes and failures, discusses the origins of the theatre, and even takes you on a detective journey back through Irving, Kean and Garrick to Burbage himself.But most of all, through both narrative text and his letter to the young actress Joan Plowright (who became his third wife), he describes how he built and created his great classic roles, how he observed and studied, learnt and retained. He unfolds the onion layer by fascinating layer. He takes you from the dressing room to the stage and there, through his eyes, you relive the first nights of such diverse players as Richard III, The Entertainer, Othello and The Party. He talks of his stage fright as though it were happening at this very moment You can smell the excitement, feel the adrenalin pumping.To live with Olivier from Henry V at the Old Vic in 937 through to his television Kin Lear in 1983 is a must for any lover of the magnificent art of acting. This is a unique and immediate account by the greatest actor of our time.
language: English
title: On Acting
titlecomplete: On Acting
genres: Biography, Drama, Theatre, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 121
publisher: Random House Value Publishing