Acting Under the Circumstances: Variations on a Theme of Stanislavski: A Step-By-Step Approach to Playing a Part

by Richard Brestoff

From the author of The Great Acting Teachers and Their Methods, Acting Under the Circumstances details a step-by-step approach to playing a part. Based on the work Constantine Stanislavski was using near the end of his life, we follow two actors as a teacher guides them through their parts in Henrik Ibsen's great play, A Doll House. Then we learn how techniques are used for monologues and cold readings. We learn how analysis stems from instinct, from...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1575251876
• ISBN13: 9781575251875
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: Smith & Kraus
• Length: 183 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Worthwhile approach to the "action" of acting

What I like about Brestoff's approach is that it focuses on actions or intentions. A lot of beginning, and not so beginning, actors focus on feelings or emotions. But we're called ACTORS, not FEELERS. Brestoff emphasizes playing actions or intentions. Emotions will follow, but they won't be pre-programmed, but organic to the acting moment. It's most useful for actors who are not beginners, but have the basics under their belt. I use this as a suggested 2nd year text at Humber College's School of Creative and Performing Arts in Toronto where I am on the faculty in the Acting for Film and TV program.

One of the best books on acting out there

I've taught acting for five years and studied it much longer. The process in this book cuts through all the jargon and intellectual sturm and drang and gets down to the craft of acting and scene preparation. I had been working in a similiar fashion for years as an acting coach and director, but it wasn't until I read Brestoff's approach that my own process was clarified. It has changed the way I teach, direct and write.

Useful beyond acting

Right from the start, please know that I am the author's (slightly older) brother. Despite this, my appreciation for Richard's book is genuine, because I appreciate that actors are professional communicators. And aren't we all in the communication business, whether at home with spouse and kids or in the office? I'm a business litigation attorney, and I have to be able to synthesize and get to the nub of complex factual circumstances, just as Richard teaches actors to do. I've tried using Richard's techniques in what my profession, and they work! So, my view is that no matter what you do, Richard's book is invaluable, because it will provide you with a technique for being insightful about your "circumstances," and getting other people to understand whatever it is you are saying to them.

A practical introduction to a difficult art.

Richard Brestoff's Acting Under The Circumstances tells actors how to play their parts using intellect and creative intuition. From learning quickly and settling into a role to performing at peak efficiency during a reading, this provides an important and basic step-by-step approach to acting.