Acting Narrative Speeches: The Actor as StorytellerMeriwether Pub., 2002 - 445 pages Narrative speeches, both classical and contemporary, are used to reveal how an actor can discover the inherent energy, the essence and the subtextual colours of every word and sentences of a dramatic speech. This book clearly demonstrates that any memorable performance needs far more than acting technique alone. In eighteen chapters actor/director/teacher McDonough defines in depth how an actor can find the often overlooked subtleties that create characters with dimension and moments of heightened reality. |
From inside the book
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Page 26
... Weston's objective in the bath speech is to convince his son that he is no longer the same person , that he is a new man . True enough , but this observation will not generate moment - to - moment choices about how Weston might make his ...
... Weston's objective in the bath speech is to convince his son that he is no longer the same person , that he is a new man . True enough , but this observation will not generate moment - to - moment choices about how Weston might make his ...
Page 131
... Weston is visualizing ? The panorama below you is vast . At the same time , explore how Weston gets bedded down . Suppose that he starts these lines sitting on the edge of the table ; how does he get prone ? Read Excerpt 20 , Appendix A ...
... Weston is visualizing ? The panorama below you is vast . At the same time , explore how Weston gets bedded down . Suppose that he starts these lines sitting on the edge of the table ; how does he get prone ? Read Excerpt 20 , Appendix A ...
Page 220
... Weston's backbone , of the eagle's " climbing straight back up into the sky , " and of Weston's impulse to “ stand up on that one . " Notice that I can use words from the text to name all these dimensions of what the build is about ...
... Weston's backbone , of the eagle's " climbing straight back up into the sky , " and of Weston's impulse to “ stand up on that one . " Notice that I can use words from the text to name all these dimensions of what the build is about ...
Common terms and phrases
acceleration acting action actor Agamemnon Appendix Athi audience beginning body build caesura central moment chair character character's choices circumstances climax Clytemnestra conjure create deceleration develop draft E.E. Cummings emotional emphasize endwords energy example explore expressive eyes fade father feel feet from/to gesture Gus Edwards Hamlet hand happened hear Hotspur I'm Not Rappaport Imagine implicit scene impulses indirect quote inner conflict inside the story Juliet language layered look metaphor moments Monologues move movement narrative speeches onomatopoeia onomatopoetic opposites performance phrase physical play point of view possible pullback Puntila rehearsal reliving rhythm rhythmic Romeo Romeo and Juliet Sam Shepard seam sentence set the scene Shakespeare shape single image slow snake handling sound sense space specific spondee stage syllables talk tell the story telling a story theater Titania transition trochee Tybalt voice Wesley Weston words