The Actor's Ways and Means

by Michael Redgrave

Published on the tenth anniversary of his death, a new edition of Michael Redgrave's famous book on acting -- with a new introduction by his daughter Vanessa.

Written when Michael Redgrave was at the height of his power and acclaim, The Actor's Ways and Means is a spirited and knowledgeable account of the most influential ideas about the art and craft of acting. Drawing on his own direct experience, Redgrave evaluates the influence of famous actors and directors, from Copeau to Stanislavski, from Meyerhold to Edward Gordon Craig.

This new edition is supplemented with sixteen pages of photos from the Redgrave family collection.

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (March 20, 1908 - March 21, 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author.

He twice (1958 and 1963) won Best Actor trophies in the Evening Standard Awards and twice received the Variety Club of Great Britain 'Actor of the Year' Award (in the same years). He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1952 and was knighted in 1959.

Redgrave married actress Rachel Kempson, and their children — Vanessa Redgrave, Corin Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave — and grandchildren have also had notable theatre and film acting careers.

Reviews

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed a copy of this from the library as it had a rather nice picture of Beatrix Lehmann with Michael Redgrave in Uncle Harry. I read as Michael acting with Beatrix in a few plays, as well as standing up with her for the People's Convention, and subsequently getting banned from the BBC. He wrote it in the 50s as a series of lectures for acting students at Bristol University in the 50s. As Beatrix also started teaching at this time I thought it would be quite insightful and it was. There was a lot of talk about how Stanislavski had been misinterpreted. He also mentioned how when they were performing Uncle Harry the play lengthened by 20 minuted during the production as they further developed their characters, and what he did as a director to bring that back. I will admit I was distracted by a film crew around me while I was reading so ended up skimming a bit but the bits I did find relevant to my own research were very interesting.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a slightly earlier edition than the one in the description (no intro by Vanessa). In a series of lectures Michael Redgrave tackles perennial questions: what makes a good actor? Is it better to run purely on emotion or be in total intellectual control? Does movie acting suffer for lack of an audience? Is an actor who disappears into their role better or worse than the one whose personality is the same in every show?
Redgrave doesn't claim to have definitive answers, but he does have a lot of interesting stuff to say about them. The biggest weakness is that most readers (myself included) won't have seen most of the big names he cites as examples, or in some cases even heard of them.
This copy was given to my Mum on her 20th. Which doesn't affect the content, but it's still neat.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

vanessa's dad wrote this book, so.