The Presence of the Actor

This is a seminal book for anyone interested in the arts of acting and directing. It is a pithy and inspiring read.

He, Peter Brook and Oida all are on my favorite list of books about acting and theatre. This is a veryvaluable book and must be included for any person interested in contemporary drama and art. I gave mycopy to my daughter but will purchase another one soon.

If I could possess only one book, I would choose this book. Chaiken candidly describes profound moments of awareness in his work and in his life, and the relationship between these. This is not a conventional book about the theater, but rather a complicated and understandably inconclusive examination of being and enduring and striving toward authenticity within the confines of an inauthentic "setup." It begins..."Most of the people I know who are seriously interested in the theater don't really like it very much." If you like this book, try The Performance of Self in Everyday Life by Erving Goffman.

The great thing about Joseph Chaikin is that he doesn't just give you method's to work on. He tells you how he did it in detail. He gives life experiences and tells you the struggles he went through to do the method he is now telling you about. I would suggest this book because I believe he gives good notes on acting that would any actor.

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