Today; it is difficult to imagine a living room without a sofa. When the first sofas on record were delivered in seventeenth-century France; the result was a radical reinvention of interior space. Symptomatic of a new age of casualness and comfort; the sofa ushered in an era known as the golden age of conversation; as the first piece of furniture designed for two; it was also considered an invitation to seduction. With the sofa came many other changes in interior space we now take for granted: private bedrooms; bathrooms; and the original living rooms.
#2100532 in eBooks 2009-10-23 2009-10-23File Name: B002VQ7Q80
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Fascinating Overview of a Revolution in ActingBy Charles M. HowellKonstantin Stanislavski invented a whole new way of approaching acting - internal rather than external. It is almost impossible to believe. but when his Moscow Art Theater came to America in the early 1920s. critics around the country raved and box office was so brisk that they had to be held over - even though they were performing only in Russian! IN RUSSIAN?!? No one had ever seen such realistic performances on the stage. Some of his actors stayed here to teach. and a new generation of American actors and directors. galvanized by the prospect of deeper communication from the stage. further developed and spread this new theatrical gospel. This book is the first Ive found that tells the complete story of Stanislavskis tour of the U.S. and how his Russian emigre and home-grown American disciples propagated his techniques. Its a full. fair discussion of their failures and foibles as well as their triumphs.Method acting and emotional recall are terms that have entered even the broad publics vocabulary. From Maria Ouspenskaya and Richard Boleslavsky to Lee Strasberg. Stella Adler. Sanford Meisner and many others. we follow these varied personalities - what they drew from each other. how their techniques grew and diverged. their spats and splits - as they lead us to Method Acting. The Group Theatre. The Actors Studio and todays most effective performances. Along the way we get glimpses of talents like John Garfield. Marlon Brando. Robert Duvall. Beatrice Straight and other actors developing and practicing their craft. as well as an account of the damage done to many of the early practitioners by the McCarthy blacklist.And as a bonus we get brief appendices to each chapter that give concise and colorful overviews of the exercises used by each teacher. (The word "workbook" in the title. though. is something of a misnomer. This is not an instruction manual. One gets a taste of each approach here. but then. if so inclined. should move to other books for details of each specific technique. There are many such books. but this overall account is unique.)I would have liked extended quotes from some of the interviews he credits. but that would no doubt have prevented the author from giving us this brisk. fascinating and detailed account in under 200 pages. Perhaps the actual interviews will make up his next book. This one is written in an admirably thorough-but-lively style that will fascinate and inform anyone involved in or interested in the theater.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Sensational read! Finally a much-needed challenge all those previously-held. incorrect notions on the subjectBy Suresh PatelThis is a stunning piece of work. For FAR too long. this topic has been poorly handled by academics and practitioners alike. Given its centrality to our current understanding of theatre and acting. not to mention our own more general western cultural evolution. there has long been a need for someone to set the record straight. And finally we have Mel Gordon providing invaluable detail. insight. references and myth-dispelling. Written with utter authority but also accessibility. its an undeniable must-read for anyone interested in anything from Russian theatre to Hollywood movies. *****
