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 126
... stage happens in space , which is defined not only by the architecture and furniture of the set , but by every element of a production . If you hold something up in front of your face or hide it behind your back , if you go in and out ...
... stage happens in space , which is defined not only by the architecture and furniture of the set , but by every element of a production . If you hold something up in front of your face or hide it behind your back , if you go in and out ...
Page 130
... stage , except for the two massive pillars supporting the canopy , was a bare platform . Where might the original Juliet have situated herself at this moment of feeling environèd ? She might have turned in place at center stage . She ...
... stage , except for the two massive pillars supporting the canopy , was a bare platform . Where might the original Juliet have situated herself at this moment of feeling environèd ? She might have turned in place at center stage . She ...
Page 310
... stage . Now I'm not like that . I'm a real actress , I act with delight , with rapture , I'm drunk when I'm on the stage , and feel that I am beautiful . And now , ever since I've been here , I've kept walking about , kept walking and ...
... stage . Now I'm not like that . I'm a real actress , I act with delight , with rapture , I'm drunk when I'm on the stage , and feel that I am beautiful . And now , ever since I've been here , I've kept walking about , kept walking and ...
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