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Tackling Text (and Subtext)
By Barbara Houseman
Nick Hern Books
£12.99
318 pages
Dateline: 31st July, 2008
Barbara Houseman certainly has a big name fan club. She has a foreword
by Daniel Radcliffe, a preface by Kenneth Branagh and cover quote from
Jude Law.
Miss Housemen is clearly a highly regarded behind-the-scenes theatrical
guru and any budding actor will be grateful for this manual, which allows
them to tap into a lifetime of experience of this acting coach.
In some ways, this is a book that might be read from the back forwards
to derive the greatest benefit. It ends with a Troubleshooting section
covering topics such as Energy, Emotion and that old favourite,
Dealing with Directors. This might provide a much needed boost
to struggling actors needing a quick fix before heading on to the stage
or audition.
Before that comes Handling Auditions and Casting, Transferring
from Rehearsals to Performance and Dealing with the Inner Critic,
who can be even more destructive than your reviewer, believe it or not.
The core of this book is a series of exercises that should combine
to make a rounded actor, confident in his or her own abilities and prepared
for every eventuality. Some of this can get a little repetitive to read
through from start to finish but that is not how this book is meant
to be used.
The author, who is clearly an expert in psychology, covers all of the
core areas, starting with her Golden Rules of The Three Connections.
She then looks at text, ancient and modern, what she calls the subtext,
which includes character and circumstance before getting into all of
those helpful extras.
An actor would have to tell you how effective some of these exercises
are but then the aforementioned trio already have. The interesting thing
about Tackling Text is that, for once, this manual might actually
be as useful to the experienced actor looking for a lifeline as the
beginner wanting tips about the trade.
Philip Fisher
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