ACTING ACTION
A PRIMER FOR ACTORS
ORDER TODAY:
“A comprehensive and clear-eyed distillation of some of the core tenets of acting technique, O’Gorman’s primer beautifully demystifies the craft for young actors. Finally someone has re-articulated some of the substantial contributions of Lloyd Richards and Earle Gister to our understanding of what acting is. This is an important addition to the canon of material for actors in training.”
— Gregory Wallace, Lloyd Richards Professor in the Practice of Acting, Yale School of Drama
“What is it that we’re doing, when we’re acting well?”
This is the question famously posed by Earle Gister, the legendary head of the acting department at Yale School of Drama from 1979 to 1999. In Acting Action, actor, director, and teaching artist Hugh O’Gorman invites readers to explore the question in detail.
Focusing on playing action—one of the essential components of acting passed on to renowned acting teachers Earle Gister and Lloyd Richards by Paul Mann—Acting Action is divided into two parts: context and practice. The first section provides a thorough examination of the theory behind the core elements of playing action. The second section presents a step-by-step rehearsal guide for actors to integrate playing action into their preparation process.
Acting Action offers a foundation for how to get started and build the core of a performance. More precisely, it provides a practical guide for actors, directors, and teachers in the technique of playing action, addressing a void in the world of actor training by illuminating what exactly to do in the moment-to-moment act of acting.
“I wish I'd had this book when I started teaching acting thirty years ago. Hugh O'Gorman is omnivorous. I've never known someone so hungry to understand—and explain in the most practical terms—acting technique and training from every possible angle. He's read everything remotely related to the field, and he's developed an approach to training that's broadly comprehensive and cohesive, analytical and intuitive—one that honors the wisdom of master teachers, many of whom he's studied with. Acting Action is practically its own syllabus. In 10 chapters, its author lays out every aspect of actor preparation—all adding up to a highly effective approach to playing action onstage. This book is one-stop-shopping for teachers of acting.”
— Amy Herzberg, associate artistic director, TheatreSquared, co-executive director, National Alliance of Acting Teachers, Distinguished Professor, Head of MFA Acting, University of Arkansas
About the Author
Hugh O’Gorman is an actor, director, teaching artist, and co-executive director of the National Alliance of Acting Teachers.
Since 2002, he has been the head of acting at California State University, Long Beach, and also teaches privately through the Praxis Acting Studio. His acting credits include Broadway, Off-Broadway, and over a dozen of the nation’s most respected regional theaters. His many television credits include AMC’s Emmy Award–winning show Remember WENN (SAG Award nomination) and HBO’s John Adams.
O’Gorman is also the author of The Keys to Acting.
“Hugh O'Gorman has pulled together his lifetime of experience as actor and acting teacher—not to mention as a soccer player—into a wonderfully comprehensive, eminently readable book on acting in general, and on acting training and work on scene and character. The synthesis between Stanislavsky, Earl Gister, and Michael Chekhov is truly remarkable, and the progression of the exercises is just right. It is a tremendously rewarding treasure house of professional guidance for actors, teachers, and directors alike.”
— David Zinder, international theatre director and author of “Body, Voice, Imagination”
