The philosophical actor
Subtitle: a practical meditation for practicing theatre artists
By: by Donna Soto-Morettini
Publisher: Intellect
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Bristol, UK; Chicago, USA
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Number of pages: 228
ISBN-13: 9781841503905; 9781841503264; 9781282622579
Subjects: Acting; Philosophy; PERFORMING ARTS; Acting & Auditioning
Description: There have been many books published on acting, actor training, and practical theories for preparing for a role, but none of these books have ever looked philosophically at the language and the concepts that we use when we talk about acting. The Philosophical Actor is the first attempt to grapple with the fundamental questions of truth, art, and human nature unexamined in past treatments, from the first great essay by Diderot to the exhaustive system described by Stanislavski. With wide appeal to actors, directors, acting students, acting teachers and trainers, Donna Soto-Morettini draws from twenty-five years of experience as an acting teacher and director to introduce innovative ways of thinking about acting.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [219]-223) and index.

Description based on print version record.
Table of contents: title: Cover13;; title: Preliminary Pages; title: Contents; title: Acknowledgements; title: Introduction; title: Playing philosophy; title: The discontents of the acting studio; title: Chapter 1: Am I ACTING?; title: True for who(m)?; title: Beyond boring relativism; title: What is acting?; title: The 'working' actor; title: Art and craft; title: That abstract thing beyond technique; title: The beautiful actor; title: Summary; title: Chapter 2: What Was I Thinking?; title: 'Conscious' performance; title: The actor and the 'swing thought'; title: Who am I anyway?; title: Monkeys, mirrors, peanuts8230;; title: Getting the trope/thought right; title: Summary; title: Chapter 3: How Am I Feeling?; title: The neutral walk; title: Emotion and imagination; title: Like the town of Brigadoon ...; title: Duse was a woman; title: 8216;Mindblindness; title: From 'embodied thinking' to 'display'; title: From primary to social; title: Summary; title: Chapter 4: What Were YOU Thinking?; title: Getting out of our heads ...; title: The psychological toy box; title: So many psychologies; title: Where do we start?; title: Psychology and survival; title: Rational actors; title: Summary; title: Chapter 5: Where Am I?; title: Actors are not green; title: So you want to be a selective quasi-amnesiac?; title: The Orient(al) Express(iveness); title: Conclusion; title: Bibliography; title: Index.