In her long-awaited book; the legendary acting teacher Stella Adler gives us her extraordinary insights into the work of Henrik Ibsen (ldquo;The creation of the modern theater took a genius like Ibsen . . . Miller and Odets; Inge and Orsquo;Neill; Williams and Shaw; swallowed the whole of himrdquo;); August Strindberg (ldquo;He understood and predicted the forces that would break in our livesrdquo;); and Anton Chekhov (ldquo;Chekhov doesnrsquo;t want a play; he wants what happened in life. In life; people donrsquo;t usually kill each other. They talkrdquo;). Through the plays of these masters; Adler discusses the arts of playwriting and script interpretation (ldquo;There are two aspects of the theater. One belongs to the author and the other to the actor. The actor thinks it all belongs to the author . . . The curtain goes up and all he knows are the lines . . . It is not enough . . . Script interpretation is your professionrdquo;). She looks into aspects of society and class; and into our cultural past; as well as the evolution of the modern spirit (ldquo;The actor learns from Ibsen what is modern in the modern theater. There are no villains; no heroes. Ibsen understands; more than anything; there is more than one truthrdquo;). Stella Adlermdash;daughter of Jacob Adler; who was universally acknowledged to be the greatest actor of the Yiddish theater; and herself a disciple of Stanislavskymdash;examines the role of the actor and brings to life the plays from which all modern theater derives: Ibsenrsquo;s Hedda Gabler; The Master Builder; An Enemy of the People; and A Dollrsquo;s House; Strindbergrsquo;s Miss Julie and The Father; Chekhovrsquo;s The Seagull; Uncle Vanya; The Cherry Orchard; and Three Sisters (ldquo;Masha is the sister who is the mystery. You cannot reach her. You cannot reach the artist. There is no logical way. Keep her in a special pocket of feelings that are complex and differentrdquo;). Adler discusses the ideas behind these plays and explores the world of the playwrights and the historymdash;both familial and culturalmdash;that informed their work. She illumines not only the dramatic essence of each play but its subtext as well; continually asking questions that deepen onersquo;s understanding of the work and of the human spirit. Adlerrsquo;s book; brilliantly edited by Barry Paris; puts her famous lectures into print for the first time.
#4333414 in eBooks 2004-06-06 2004-06-06File Name: B007QWFDKM
Review
