About the Book:

Acting Under the Circumstances: Variations on a Theme of Stanislavski is a book you will put to immediate use. Based on the work Constantine Stanislavski (the founder of "Method" acting) was using near the end of his life, this is a manual for actors who wish to know more about the method of physical actions and "visualizing" their role in the rehearsal process. Professional actor and teacher Richard Brestoff details a step-by-step approach to "experience the circumstances of a play before speaking any dialogue or trying to characterize."

Richard Brestoff has refined and expanded on Stanislavski's ideas, taking you through the rehearsal process followed by two actors as a teacher guides them through their parts in Henrik Ibsen's great play, A Doll's House. He refers to choosing "strategies" to overcome your obstacles. He points out that in breaking down a script to beats, objectives, obstacles, and strategies, Stanislavsky meant for all those tools to be in aid of freeing the actor's natural instincts. Then you learn how techniques are used for monologues and cold readings. You learn how analysis stems from instinct, from experiencing the character's circumstances without becoming them or speaking their dialogue. Actors memorize "events" and not lines. This approach, never before so clearly explained or engagingly taught, gives actors, from novices to professionals, a reliable, creative, and innovative method for playing a part. An 18-point process review concludes this well-written and very useful book.

About the Author:

Richard Brestoff is a Professor of Drama in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine. He is an actor with credits on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in regional theatre, and in film, television and radio.