Theat 631 Spring 2012

Everyone who loves theatre and is interested in the craft of acting will be fascinated by Mark Rafael's Telling Stories. This extraordinary book is full of information rarely available to us. By taking us inside the classrooms of some of the most important teachers of our times, he becomes, in effect, a master teacher. - Marian Seldes, Actress

I found Telling Stories to be practical, insightful and I recommend it to be used for student actors and especially invaluable for professors and teachers of acting across a range of levels. - Diane Baker, Actress, Director of ActingSchool of Motion Picture & Television, Academy of Art University

Telling Stories: A Grand Unifying Theory of Acting Techniques is an essential resource for professional actors, acting students and teachers, or anyone who wants to better understand the evolution of modern acting theory. This guidebook provides a history of acting theories and training and describes techniques that enable an actor to inhabit a character. In the book are numerous acting exercises that illustrate each method, as well as advice on performing Shakespeare and on developing scripts.

Telling Stories is an important addition to any theatrical library and can serve as the basis for acting and theater courses across a wide range of levels.

MARK RAFAEL, an actor and educator, received his BA from Brown University and holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. He has also studied with teachers from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in London and was awarded a scholarship to the Michael Chekhov Studio in New York. He served as an assistant to Dr. Maria Piscator, widow of Erwin Piscator, and has worked extensively on the development of new scripts in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. As an actor, he has performed in theatres across the country as well as in television and films, including James Cameron's Titanic. He currently lives and works in San Francisco with his wife and three children, where he teaches at the University of San Francisco and the Academy of Art University.

An Actor’s Work on a Role is Konstantin Stanislavsky’s classic exploration of the rehearsal process, applying the techniques of his seminal actor training system to the task of bringing life and truth to one’s role.

Originally published over half a century ago as Creating a Role, this book became the third in a trilogy – after An Actor Prepares and Building a Character, which are now combined in a newly translated volume called An Actor’s Work. In these books, now foundational texts for actors, Stanislavsky sets out his psychological, physical and practical vision of actor training.

This new translation from renowned writer and critic Jean Benedetti not only includes Stanislavski’s original teachings, but is also furnished with invaluable supplementary material in the shape of transcripts and notes from the rehearsals themselves, reconfirming The System as the cornerstone of actor training.