false 12513 5 To hell with Stanislavsky. To hell with the Method. "The actor is onstage to communicate the play to the audience," says David Mamet. "That is the beginning and the end of his and her job. To do so the actor needs a strong voice, superb diction, a supple, well-proportioned body and a rudimentary understanding of the play." Anything else--"becoming" one's part, "feeling" the character's emotions--devalues the practice of a noble craft and is useless to the play. "The 'work' you do 'on the script' will make no difference," he cautions. "That work has already been done by a person with a different job title than yours. That person is the author."<p> But <I>True and False</I> does not confine itself to the work done on the actual stage. Its brief essays contain sound advice on how an actor might apply himself or herself to the <I>life</I> of the actor: the proper consideration due the audition process, the selection of parts that one accepts, and so on. Mamet delivers these kernels of wisdom in the taut, no-nonsense prose for which he is justifiably famous, and, ultimately, his core principles are applicable beyond the theater. "Speak up, speak clearly, open yourself out, relax your body, find a simple objective," he instructs. "Practice in these goals is practice in respect for the audience, and without respect for the audience, there is no respect for the theater; there is only self-absorption." Substitute "others" for "the audience" and "life" for "the theater," and could any Taoist say it better? <I>--Ron Hogan</I> 2173894 book 1997 True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor total:345|5:119|4:122|3:71|2:25|1:8| 345 1354 414 48 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 3 1 false Tue Feb 19 09:24:37 -0800 2008 Tue Oct 16 11:26:11 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 16 11:39:43 -0700 2007 more...]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 4 0 false Fri Mar 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 20 10:25:05 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 20 10:39:28 -0700 2009
Some reviews here have interpreted Mamet's bluntness as a disgust or disrespect for acting. Read a little closer... It is the layers of window-dressing, institutionalism, hierarchy, pretension, and disingenuous devo...more...]]> 821290 0571192610 9780571192618 1 1 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178678428m/821290.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/821290.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 3 0 false Sat May 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 05 09:53:49 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 19:41:34 -0700 2009 more...]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 5 0 false Sat May 09 14:51:53 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 23:33:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 5 0 false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Fri Jun 22 23:36:02 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 24 16:14:36 -0700 2007 more...]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 3 0 false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 14 14:34:05 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 31 11:59:13 -0700 2007
As an...more...]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 5 0 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Mon Oct 08 12:28:51 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 08 12:34:05 -0700 2007 more...]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 3 0 false Fri Sep 05 05:40:29 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 05 05:51:09 -0700 2008 more...]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 3 0 false Sat Apr 26 15:39:08 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 15:45:07 -0700 2008 more...]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 4 0 false Sat Aug 22 13:30:53 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 13:36:58 -0700 2009
Wanna be an actor? Read this book, save yourself a lot of work.]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 5 0 false Sun Nov 23 13:32:11 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 23 13:33:12 -0800 2008 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 3 0 false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed May 06 17:12:03 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 17:12:55 -0700 2009 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 4 0 false Wed Aug 08 11:43:02 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 08 11:46:09 -0700 2007 more...]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 2 0 false Wed Jan 07 18:17:16 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 18:18:23 -0800 2009 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 4 0 false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 07 19:23:14 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 19:23:58 -0800 2009 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 5 1 false Thu Apr 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 30 11:48:44 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 17:37:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 4 0 false Sat Jun 07 18:04:29 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 07 18:08:42 -0700 2008
However, as the years went by, and I watched Mamet direct his own w...more...]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 4 0 false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Jan 20 19:36:26 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 19:37:42 -0800 2009 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 5 0 false Wed Aug 27 08:29:23 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 27 08:49:30 -0700 2008
Picture Mamet walking alone through the Garden of Acting Wisdom.

Now picture all the statues of False Gods which occupy the Garden. They stand perched on plyths, cast in ridiculous postures designed to inspire cheap ...more...]]> 12513 0679772642 9780679772644 339 47 3.92 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513.True_and_False_Heresy_and_Common_Sense_for_the_Actor 5 0 false Sat Jan 17 13:17:56 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 17 13:18:39 -0800 2009 ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=12513