The best Performing Arts History & Criticism books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

>how to construct physicality, gestures, voices, and accents to create characters

Specifically in regards to that, I don't think there's much out there. Most improv books I've read are about mindset and how to more strongly utilize the spirit of Yes-And. Like, I'm not aware of any books that go "In order to create a physicality, follow these steps:"

You may find some value in Jill Bernard's Small Cute Book of Improv which discusses her idea of VAPAPO, a simple acronym mnemonic to key into characters. But it, like most improv books, kind of assumes you already know how to change your voice to sound different or change your posture to move differently. (VAPAPO is, if I recall correctly, Voice, Attitude, Posture, Animal, Prop, Obsession.)

You may also find some value in Viewpoints which breaks movement down into three basic vectors. Playing with varying degrees and combinations of the vectors can change your physicality and thus the character you're creating. Applying that thought process to other things (like for voice, adjusting timbre, pitch, tempo, volume) may help.

I personally wouldn't try to do accents in improv. Save that for when you're with a vocal coach working on a scripted piece that calls for a specific accent. In improv, accents tend to lean toward unfair and un-fun biases and stereotypes.

Here's an Amazon link to it.

There’s lots of good books out there. One book I constantly go back to is ‘The Improv Handbook’’ by Deborah Francis-White and Tom Salinsky. Well worth checking it out

Hiya - I've worked with Frantic a bit. Obviously a lot of stuff is done with trust excercises and multiple bodies which is difficult. With isolated individuals, I think they talk quite a lot about how to start movements using a single body part and follow that through the rest of the body. Can't remember the actual way they name it, but I think their book has a fair amount about that: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Frantic-Assembly-Book-Devising-Theatre/dp/0415467608

The fire curtain added to the problem, but one of the main issues was the fire doors in the roof of the stage house were sealed shut, while the exhaust vent at the top of the balcony was open. Fire reached for the fresh aire.

Even modern fire standards have doubled down on the fact that the fire doors above the stage are the most important safety device in the event of a fire.

Edit: Read Tinder Box

The story is amazing. Also note that the first people arrested were the stagehands. Only later was management, owners, and contractors charged and arrested, since they were actually responsible.

There's a great book written about this fire called 'Tinder Box'

There is quite a bit of material out there on Frantic, mostly due to the lovely tradition of british theatre to educate and share their knowledge. If you google Frantic, some pdfs will show up. And then there is a book they wrote themselves which is highly recommended, not just for info on Frantic, but devising techniques in theatre.

As for Brecht, there are plenty of books. This might be a good start

You clearly have not seen many minstrel shows. It was often black people in black face so stale chocolate is both tasty and historically accurate.

See http://www.amazon.com/Blacks-Blackface-Sourcebook-Musical-VOLUME/dp/0810883503 for a study of black people in black face

Apologies for the shitty video quality.

There's so much I could say about this piece simply from watching the video (I've never seen it, sadly). Foreman, who wrote the libretto, directed, and designed the opera, is a master of blocking, in my opinion.

He has a wonderful book of essays and manifestos that I think anyone interested in theatre should read. His imagery and words are not inherently "random", although he does embrace a sense of improvisation in his writing and rehearsal methods.

He's also a smart mother fucker. He is extremely well read on psychology and philosophy, and incorporates a lot of these elements into his plays — although he makes a strong effort not to be pretentious, and ensure that audiences have a "good night at the theatre".

edit: Michael Gordon is the composer.

It's uncertain to say for these kids, but the Japanese idol culture is based on extreme capitalism, japanese conservatism and involves many svengalis. Hence I'm afraid it might be so, but I can't tell for sure. I do know that the business practices behind the facade tends to be quite pathetic or unethical (in my opinion).

This book has been written by (foreign) scientists who live in Japan and have researched the culture. It's an interesting read to say the least. You can find it elsewhere as well.

Life: the Movie by Neal Gabler comes to mind.

It's mainly an examination of American entertainment culture, and how it shapes our personalities. Quite a fascinating read.

I really want to learn about the commedia dell'arte and I will. As soon as I'm done with the two bankers boxes full of books I have in my closet.....