A Method to Their Madness: The History of the Actors Studio

by Foster Hirsch

This illustrated chronicle combines theatre history, biography, film criticism, and theory to trace the development of the Actors Studio, the Method and its legendary personalities, including Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino

Genres: Nonfiction

367 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite theater history book. I learned more about method acting from Hirsch's writing then I have from teachers who teach the style.

[Dan Lalande · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply investigative, sometimes embedded, look at the famed Actors Studio, gene pool of The Method, the Russian-influenced acting technique predicated on "affective memory." Hirsch details the studio's influences and history, profiles its instructors and their (often warring) pedagogies, sits in on auditions and classes, interviews alumni and new members, and weighs in on the institution's legacy. Hirsch's ultimate conclusion, that it's a faded institution teaching a narcissistic practice more conducive to film than the stage, doesn't prevent him from expressing an appreciation, and a hope for renewed relevance, that is just as frank.