Drama / Plays > Performance & Acting & Theatre

Publishing November 2008.

During his career Douglas Wright established himself as New Zealand's leading contemporary dancer and choreographer. He started out with the Limbs Dance Company in 1980, then worked in New York with the Paul Taylor Company and DV8 Physical Theatre in London before forming the Douglas Wright Dance Company in Auckland in 1989. During this time he created over 30 major dance works, which culminated in his 2006 masterpiece 'Black Milk', his last major work. The dance critic Jennifer Shennan wrote, 'In my opinion, this is Wright's, New ... read more

Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929) was an extraordinarily gifted impresario, curator, director and animator of the arts. He was perfectly at home in the wave of creative energy that pushed theatrical performance to the forefront of the arts in the early twentieth century - and perfectly placed to export Russian culture to Western Europe. Active in Europe and America between 1909 and 1929, Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company expanded the frontiers of theatre. Many of its acclaimed productions were true collaborations, examples of gesamtkuns... read more

Dance is a universal language, spoken and understood by all. It knows no barriers and traverses time and space. The Best Dance Moves in the World ...Ever! is an irreverent, hilariously illustrated guide to the wonderful world of the dance floor, covering everything from the most basic move to the more advanced, from established favourites to new directions. Dance moves are like building blocks that can either enliven a simple side-to-side shuffle, or be joined up to create a dazzling night-long display. Unlike the rigors of a tango... read more

Beautifully packaged and highly practical guide to the exotic, expressive, alluring art of bellydancing, its history, its culture and the many health benefits it can bring. In Cairo there is a saying 'Every girl is born a dancer'.From the sensual sway of the hips to the artistic flair of the hands, the allure of bellydancing has captivated men and women alike across the ages. Known in the Middle East as 'the dance of the East', this ancient art encompasses more than just moves and techniques-to learn the dance of a region is to bec... read more

A lively, critical study of one of the most important innovators, thinkers and directors in contemporary world theatre: Tadashi Suzuki. This book explores Suzuki's theatre practice and contains a DVD with practical Suzuki Method actor-training examples. For over forty years Tadashi Suzuki has been a unique and vital force in both Japanese and Western theatre, creating and directing many internationally acclaimed productions including his most famous production, The Trojan Women, which toured throughout the world. Dr Paul Allain, a... read more

'In life I want students to be alive and on stage I want them to be artists' Jacques Lecoq Jacques Lecoq was one of the most inspirational theatre teachers of our age. The International Theatre School he founded in Paris remains an unrivalled centre for the art of physical theatre. In The Moving Body, Lecoq shares his unique philosophy of performance, improvisation, masks, movement and gesture which together form one of the greatest influences on contemporary theatre. Neutral mask, character mask, and counter masks, bouffons, a... read more

'Stimulating and intelligent' Yoshi Oida Seventy percent of everyday conversation is conveyed through body language, twenty percent is the voice and only ten percent is the meaning of the words. In The Body Speaks, expert RADA trainer Lorna Marshall, shows how to recognise and lose unwanted physical inhibitions that our background, education or family have taught us and presents a fundamental re-thinking of our relationship to the body and its role in performance. Good performers - be they trapeze artists, Shakespearean acto... read more

'Here then is more word from the master. It is a book for all theatre professionals as well as students. Whether in agreement or disagreement with it, you cannot help being stimulated and enriched by it' - Robert Lewis, Founder of the Actors Studio, USA. In his most famous first book, "An Actor Prepares", Stanislavski dealt with the inner imaginative processes. In the second "Building a Character", he concentrated on the body, the voice and other physical means of expression.In "Creating a Role", the third book, he describes the el... read more

In his most famous book, "An Actor Prepares", Stanislavski dealt with the imaginative processes. In the second book, "Building a Character", he deals with the physical realisation of character on the stage, expressions, movement and speech etc. It is a book in which every theory is inextricably bound up with practice - a perfect handbook to the physical art of acting. The work of Stanislavski has inspired generations of actors and trainers. This edition, now reprinted with a new cover at a more accessible price, has stood the test ... read more

Angels Can Fly, a Modern Clown User Guide, includes a mix of fiction which follows the adventures of ten clowns, some personal anecdotes from clowns from around the world, a total of 50 practical clown exercises, and some theory on the nature of modern clown. Clown is a fascinating, diverse, complex and exciting art form, which has existed around the planet for thousands of years. Like any art form it has to evolve to stay relevant to the culture nurturing it, and at the same time, and by its very nature, clown teases and turns ups... read more

Boal restores theatre to its proper place as a popular form of communication and expression. He demonstrates the ways in which theatre has come to reflect ruling-class control, drawing on the theories of Aristotle and Machiavelli. He then shows the process reversed in Brechtian/Marxist poetics to the revolutionary potential of transforming the spectator into the actor. Throughout, Boal draws on his own experience in Latin America and illustrates his theory with practical examples. Review: 'One of the most revered figures in wor... read more

Do you know what a gimbal stage is, or a gaffer? What is the Alexander technique? And what does it mean when a director says, 'Back to one!' or 'Stop thinking!'? Does a film director want a piece of fruit when he or she asks for a half apple, or says, 'Give me a banana!'? What is an air-to-air shot? What is the alienation effect? And what is wire removal? Do you know what a soundie is? (No relation to a techie!) If you have to go for ADR, can you use a cough drop? Hint: it's not something you swallow. All these entries and 4200 mor... read more

The Guerilla Guide to Performance Art is written by artists and for artists. It is designed for the benefit of artists engaged in creating original performance and multimedia work, including live art, installation, digital art and hybrids of theatre and visual art. Although there is no 'how to' in performance, no clearly defined 'industry' as such around the art form, this book stares unflinchingly into the headlights of the oncoming question: how do you make a living as an artist? This book offers an invaluable collection of indiv... read more

The Wing has produced the Working in the Theatre seminars, a series that features the greatest names in theatre. Spanning the range of these seminars, this title provides the information, anecdotes, heartaches, and triumphs. It enables the readers to learn what a career in the theatre is really about, from inspiration to a Tony or Pulitzer Prize.

Live theatre is an exciting, challenging profession - but how is professional theatre actually made? What are the roles and what does each person do? Which pathways lead into the profession? What skills are necessary to each role and how does the job differ according to the size of theatre or company? Written by the Acting Head of the Young People's Programme at the Royal Shakespeare Co. and former Director of Education at the Bristol Old Vic, this is a book for new entrants in the theatre industry needing a behind-the-scenes... read more

"Refreshing and imaginative, this book teaches through enhanced awareness, and instructs through clear and specific exercises" Cicely Berry This practical workbook and DVD helps actors to fully developexpressive voice skills to communicate thoughts and feelings withprecision and power. At the heart of the book are practical projects,with examples supplied on the accompanying DVD, which enables you to: * connect your breath with your voice* meet the demands of your performance* use your voice expressively with pitch and range Each... read more

'A manual full of enabling, easing exercises - it will enable you to analyze any scene. The cry of the actor at sea 'I don't know what I'm doing' should, with this book, become a thing of the past' - Sam West. 'I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting an introduction to Stanislavksi or Michael Chekhov or acting in general' - Matt Peover, LAMDA trainer and theatre director. 'Contains all the important things that need to be said about learning to act in an extremely logical and sensible manner' - Simon Dunmore, Editor "Actor's Year... read more

Dance composition - the discipline that translates ideas into dances - is an important part of dance education. This book, a bestseller for over twenty years, is a practical guide to creative success in dance making and is invaluable for all those who are interested in dance composition, from secondary school to university.

This fifth edition has been revised and updated to include a new chapter exploring creative processes in relation to composing dances.

About the Author:
Jacqueline Smith-Autard... read more

Stanislavski's 'system' has dominated actor-training in the West since his writings were first translated into English in the 1920s and 30s. His systematic attempt to outline a psycho-physical technique for acting single-handedly revolutionised standards of acting in the theatre. Until now, readers and students have had to contend with inaccurate, misleading and difficult-to-read English-language versions. Some of the mistranslations have resulted in profound distortions in the way his system has been interpreted and taught.At last... read more