The classic book on acting, in an attractive updated edition
Since its original publication in 1973, Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting has remained a durable classic and a must-read for all students of acting. As an acting instructor at the Herbert Berghof Studio, Hagen helped to develop the talents of world-class actors like Robert DeNiro, Matthew Broderick, Gene Wilder, Amanda Peet, Austin Pendleton, Whoopi Goldberg, and more. In this book, Hagen offers an indispensable account of the techniques that professionals use to elevate their acting to an art form. This updated edition illuminates Hagen's original text with a new foreword written by Katie Finneran, retaining the David Hyde Pierce foreword, along with added background on HB Studio—one of the original New York performing arts training and practice spaces—and an excerpt from Hagen's autobiography SOURCES.
In working through this book, actors will learn physical, verbal, and emotional practice that empower them to connect their own self-concept to the characters they play. Specific, detailed exercises help actors learn to address a range of problems actors face, like maintaining immediacy and relevance, and developing the dimensions of a role over a long performance run. Respect for Acting is a book for actors and audiences who understand the need for truth in the creative process.
- Discover the acting book that has shaped professional theater performances for decades
- Learn the history and background of Herbert Berghof Studio, one of New York's foremost acting schools
- Practice the craft of acting with concrete exercises and instruction on technique
- Delve into the deep questions that arise when actors truly inhabit the lives of their characters
Actors at all levels of their craft will love this stunning updated version of the essential Respect for Acting.
Table of Contents:
Editor’s Note by Jesse Feiler xiii
Foreword by Katie Finneran xv
Foreword by David Hyde Pierce xix
Acknowledgments xxiii
Part One The Actor Introduction 3
1 Concept 11
2 Identity 22
3 Substitution 34
4 Emotional Memory 46
5 Sense Memory 52
6 The Five Senses 60
7 Thinking 65
8 Walking and Talking 69
9 Improvisation 73
10 Reality 75
Part Two The Object Exercises Introduction 81
11 The Basic Object Exercise 91
12 Three Entrances 95
13 Immediacy 102
14 The Fourth Wall 106
15 Endowment 112
16 Talking to Yourself 119
17 Outdoors 124
18 Conditioning Forces 129
19 History 134
20 Character Action 139
Part Three The Play and the Role Introduction 145
21 First Contact with the Play 147
22 The Character 152
23 Circumstances 158
24 Relationship 165
25 The Objective 174
26 The Obstacle 180
27 The Action 184
28 The Rehearsal 192
29 Practical Problems 201
30 Communication 213
31 Style 217
Epilogue 222
The Studio Story, by Uta Hagen 224
Address to the Austrian Academy, by Herbert Berghof 239
Sources, by Uta Hagen 244
About Uta Hagen 252
About Haskel Frankel 254
Index 255
About the Author :
UTA HAGEN, Tony Award-winning actor and renowned acting teacher, co-founded HB Studio in New York City with her husband, Herbert Berghof, where she trained actors including Al Pacino, Jason Robards, Jack Lemmon, Whoopi Goldberg, and Christine Lahti. On stage she starred in groundbreaking productions with José Ferrer, Paul Robeson, Anthony Quinn, and Marlon Brando. HB Studio is her legacy where new generations of actors come from around the world to study.
HASKEL FRANKEL worked as a journalist and critic for publications including The New York Times, The Saturday Evening Post, Saturday Review, The National Observer, Show and Playbill. He wrote and collaborated on many books including Milton Berle: An Autobiography, The Admiral’s Daughter with Victoria Fyodorova and All My Patients Are Under the Bed with Louis J. Camuti.
