Recommended Reading

In response to student requests for a list of good acting and theatre books to read, we asked Theatre Lab faculty members to recommend their favorites. Here's what they had to say. Click on the name of the book to learn more about it from Amazon.com. (If you choose to buy it from Amazon after linking from this page, The Theatre Lab will receive a percentage of the sale price at no extra charge to you.)

Deb Gottesman: "My favorite book about the actor's process is Acting : The First Six Lessons, by Richard Boleslavsky, a disciple of the legendary Constantin Stanislavsky. I love it because it clearly illustrates the value of fundamental principles like 'observation' and 'concentration' and it's also a really fun read. People looking for something more contemporary might want to check out Conversations in the Wings : Talking About Acting (Roy Harris, 1994), a fascinating series of interviews with theatre and film actors, including Stockard Channing, Charles Durning and Madeline Kahn. Their insights make you aware of how many radically different approaches there are to this craft."

Buzz Mauro: "I'll pick Stanislavsky's An Actor Prepares because someone has to pick that one, but also because the fictional form of it works so well. You're able to follow very different personalities through their progression as actors and figure out which one you most resemble. And Stanislavsky covers practically every idea he ever had about acting, and that's a lot of invaluable insight. I also highly recommend Keith Johnstone's book Impro : Improvisation and the Theatre. It offers some great new ways of thinking about the work of the actor."

Michael Rodgers: "My pick goes to Audition by Michael Shurtleff. The ideas he brings forth are very relevant and easily applicable-not just to auditioning but to every kind of work you'll do as an actor."

Michael Russotto: "My recommendation is A Practical Handbook for the Actor (put together by students from NYU's graduate theatre training program, Vintage Books). I like it because it gives the actor a way in which to work. It provides clear direction in the craft on things like playing objectives, analyzing the text, and finding the truth of the moment."

Kim Schraf: "A book I keep coming back to lately is Michael Chekov's To the Actor. He does a good job of addressing the mind/body connection in speaking about image, psychological gesture, and making the process visceral." Kim adds that her all-time favorite book about theatre is Peter Brooks' The Empty Space because "when he speaks about theatre, he makes you yearn for it."