Uta Hagen, a disciple of the Lunts who starred in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, is codirector -- with her husband -- of the Herman Berghof Studio. This handbook is a short course in the method that she teaches, intended for informal acting groups or actors on their own. Miss Hagen is out of sympathy with the Actors' Studio (. . . ""head-scratching, belching and blue-jean postures will not bring about a Horatio who is a dose friend of a prince of Denmark"") and audience-participation theater (it is ""vital empathy with human behavior"" which ties the viewer with performer); Grotowski's ritualized body movement lies outside her ken. Rather she believes in ""internal"" acting -- the ""organic"" mastery of a role by subjectively creating the character as another self. The student, when alone, is urged to dramatize moments in his daily life; another section of the book outlines the steps by which he can develop and identify with his stage parts. Somewhat turgid in language, this manual is reflective of the tradition of classical European repertory theater.
Pub Date: Sept. 24, 1973
ISBN: 0025473905
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: N/A
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1973
Categories: NONFICTION