Letters to a Young Actor by Robert Brustein
Book Title: Letters to a Young Actor
Author: Robert Brustein
Genre: Non-Fiction, Acting, Theatre
My Grade: C+
# of Pages: 215
Summary: This smart, no-nonsense primer-cum-directive on the art and science of acting comes stocked with information and peppered with anecdotes that will inspire the ambitious actor, despite the daunting nature of Brustein's curricula. Brustein, founder and director of the Yale Repertory Theatre and Harvard's American Repertory Theatre, is no lightweight, and this book may come as a shock to those who think acting is something innate and easy. Drawing on his 40-plus years of experience as an actor, director and dramaturge, Brustein explores what makes a good actor. Talent is essential, but insight, knowledge, reading, researching and a host of other explorations of both the human psyche and the history of literature are necessary for an actor to have the range of some of Brustein's former students (Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver and Christopher Walken among them). Get a good liberal arts education, Brustein tells aspiring actors. Get a good job to pay the rent and student loans while auditioning. Make numerous friends - these friendships will turn into jobs later in life. Most important, maintain a balance between performing and a personal life and remember that the best actors are all, at core, character actors. This is a sharp, accessible but far from simplistic Cliffs Notes on being an actor.
My Thoughts: This book is geared mainly towards young stage actors. While not outwardly critical it's also not very complimentary towards film/tv and musical theatre, treating them as pesky but tolerable nuisance. That irked me a lot because I studied musical theatre but stayed in LA to go into the film industry. But whatever.
If you're looking for a book about how to act, this isn't it. If you're looking for a book that will help you prepare for your career this is okay, but there are better ones out there. But if you want a book telling you what's out there and what to expect, than this is it.
Most of what was in this book was not new to me. It would have been more fitting a read while I looked for schools, not after I graduated. It did introduce me to some actors and directors I hadn't heard of before, though. Something I can now investigate and learn more about.
By the end of the book I was pretty bored. Brustein started off really strong, everything he talked about was followed by an example or story. After halfway through though it almost seemed like he was beginning to struggle. The stories he had peppered throughout the beginning became few and far between.
All in all? Okay. Nothing new for me though. If Brustein wrote a book addressing the various techniques of different artists he's encountered, I woul be very interested.
Next Book: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman • review
Back to the Book List.
Author: Robert Brustein
Genre: Non-Fiction, Acting, Theatre
My Grade: C+
# of Pages: 215
Summary: This smart, no-nonsense primer-cum-directive on the art and science of acting comes stocked with information and peppered with anecdotes that will inspire the ambitious actor, despite the daunting nature of Brustein's curricula. Brustein, founder and director of the Yale Repertory Theatre and Harvard's American Repertory Theatre, is no lightweight, and this book may come as a shock to those who think acting is something innate and easy. Drawing on his 40-plus years of experience as an actor, director and dramaturge, Brustein explores what makes a good actor. Talent is essential, but insight, knowledge, reading, researching and a host of other explorations of both the human psyche and the history of literature are necessary for an actor to have the range of some of Brustein's former students (Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver and Christopher Walken among them). Get a good liberal arts education, Brustein tells aspiring actors. Get a good job to pay the rent and student loans while auditioning. Make numerous friends - these friendships will turn into jobs later in life. Most important, maintain a balance between performing and a personal life and remember that the best actors are all, at core, character actors. This is a sharp, accessible but far from simplistic Cliffs Notes on being an actor.
My Thoughts: This book is geared mainly towards young stage actors. While not outwardly critical it's also not very complimentary towards film/tv and musical theatre, treating them as pesky but tolerable nuisance. That irked me a lot because I studied musical theatre but stayed in LA to go into the film industry. But whatever.
If you're looking for a book about how to act, this isn't it. If you're looking for a book that will help you prepare for your career this is okay, but there are better ones out there. But if you want a book telling you what's out there and what to expect, than this is it.
Most of what was in this book was not new to me. It would have been more fitting a read while I looked for schools, not after I graduated. It did introduce me to some actors and directors I hadn't heard of before, though. Something I can now investigate and learn more about.
By the end of the book I was pretty bored. Brustein started off really strong, everything he talked about was followed by an example or story. After halfway through though it almost seemed like he was beginning to struggle. The stories he had peppered throughout the beginning became few and far between.
All in all? Okay. Nothing new for me though. If Brustein wrote a book addressing the various techniques of different artists he's encountered, I woul be very interested.
Next Book: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman • review
Back to the Book List.