|
An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary | 
 enlarge | Author: Konstantin Stanislavski
Creator: Jean Benedetti
Publisher: Routledge
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy New: $23.09
You Save: $11.91 (34%)
New (35) Used (10) from $23.09
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 171394
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 693
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.9
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.7
ISBN: 041542223X
Dewey Decimal Number: 792.028
EAN: 9780415422239
ASIN: 041542223X
Publication Date: January 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: INTERNATIONL SHIPPING!!! SHIPS from 5 locations based on your Zip Code and availability! (PA TN IN OR SC) *-* Gift Quality *-* Orders Processed Immediately! - We get your book to you Very Quickly!
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
‘scrupulously precise’ – Marie-Christine Autant-Mathieu, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris ‘a far more authentic Stanislavsky… a valuable new translation, which is fuller and more readable than anything else previously attempted’ - Laurence Senelick, Tufts University, Boston ‘very readable… a vast improvement’ – Bella Merlin, University of Exeter, UK ‘Jean Benedetti has brought his usual extensive scholarship and thorough knowledge of Russian to provide a version that is more complete, much more accurate, and more readable ’ - Richard Hornby, University of California, Riverside Stanislavski’s ‘system’ has dominated actor-training in the West since his writings were first translated into English in the 1920s and 30s. His systematic attempt to outline a psycho-physical technique for acting single-handedly revolutionised standards of acting in the theatre. Until now, readers and students have had to contend with inaccurate, misleading and difficult-to-read English-language versions. Some of the mistranslations have resulted in profound distortions in the way his system has been interpreted and taught. At last, Jean Benedetti has succeeded in translating Stanislavski’s huge manual into a lively, fascinating and accurate text in English. He has remained faithful to the author's original intentions, putting the two books previously known as An Actor Prepares and Building A Character back together into one volume, and in a colloquial and readable style for today's actors. The result is a major contribution to the theatre, and a service to one of the great innovators of the twentieth century.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Finally... Stanislavski As He Intended To Be Read October 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Stanislavski is a familiar name in theatre circles. The legendary director of the Moscow Art Theatre wrote perhaps some of the most influential work on acting in the last century. I could list the big names who cite his influence (most famously, Marlon Brando and Sir John Gielgud), but the fact is his teachings have become so much a part of the way we approach theatre, that almost any actor in the English-speaking world (and abroad) can claim at least some influence.
Unfortunately, most English-speakers are familiar with Stanislavski's `system' in the considerably troubled translation by Elizabeth Hapgood. What's more, the form that translation took (as two separate books, the famous "An Actor Prepares" and "Building a Character") misrepresented Stanislavski's original intentions. In actuality, "An Actor Prepares" and "Building a Character" are two parts of a larger book, called "An Actor's Work on Himself." In the Soviet Union, they were published as volumes one and two of the same book.
Hapgood worked with Stanislavski on an early edition of the first half of the book, which in her translation would become "An Actor Prepares." However, Stanislavski continued revisions on the book after Hapgood had returned home to America in 1935. The translation that was published, in addition to being abridged to half the original's length, was also missing the subsequent revisions that Stanislavski released in a Soviet edition three years later just before his death. Stanislavski did not live to complete part two. Hapgood received fragments from Stanislavski's son, Igor. Not knowing that these were meant as a completion to a single holistic system, she published them as "Building a Character."
This new edition, called simply "An Actor's Work," reunites the two volumes at last. Translator Jean Benedetti is also an erudite scholar of the life and work of Stanislavski one whom he has published several definitive biographical works. The translations themselves are somewhat stilted, but still a major improvement over the Hapgood translations, which remain the most widely circulated versions of Stanislavski's work. Part One is finally presented unabridged. Benedetti's reconstruction of the unfinished Part Two (from a motley selection of fragments amassed after Stanislavski's death) is graceful and readable.
What is most striking, however, are the huge implications this new edition has on the way Stanislavski's system is currently understood. Part One of "An Actor's Work" dealt with the psychological construction of a role. Part Two was to elaborate on the physical training of the actor. Stanislavski stressed the importance of voice and movement training for the actor. Unfortunately, this second (and vital) half of the work went largely ignored in drama schools where "An Actor Prepares" became the standard text. (Stanislavski's original system, fortunately, made it back to the U.S. through Stella Adler who had studied with him for a brief period in Paris.) Thus, a huge emphasis was placed on psychology, when the implications on physicality went largely ignored.
The fact that Part Two was never completed is not much of a disaster. As Benedetti notes, it is really only of historical interest. Actors today have much more sophisticated methods at their disposal, such as the Alexander Technique and Kristen Linklater's approach to voice training (I recommend her Freeing the Natural Voice).
"An Actor's Work" is poised to become the definitive edition of Stanislavski for the next generation. It presents the first really viable alternative to Hapgood's translations. The fact that the hardcover edition is less expensive than the combined cost of Hapgood's "An Actor Prepares" and "Building a Character" should also not go unnoticed.
A clearer, more revealing legacy April 3, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Jean Benedetti provides the modern translation of this classic text on actor training, a recommended pick for any college-level collection strong in drama theory and actor training. His offers a more accurate new translation of the classic, critiquing Method acting and its legacy and putting Stanislavski's two-volume work back under one cover as he originally intended. The result is a clearer, more revealing legacy than the prior translation, and deserves a spot in any serious college-level acting library.
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 - RailroadBookstore.com
| |
