Listmania!
A physical comedy / theatre bibliography
Impro: Improvisation and the TheatreImpro: Improvisation and the Theatre by Keith Johnstone
Buy used from: £1.60
Required reading, a great start and constant companion.
Impro for Storytellers: Theatresports and the Art of Making Things HappenImpro for Storytellers: Theatresports and the Art of Making Things Happen by Keith Johnstone
Buy new: £10.29 / Used from: £7.58
Following on from Impro and developing from it. Great stuff.
The Moving Body: Le Corps Poetique (Performance Books)The Moving Body: Le Corps Poetique (Performance Books) by Jacques Lecoq
Buy used from: £54.95
Bah, oui...
Jacques Lecoq (Routledge Performance Practitioners)Jacques Lecoq (Routledge Performance Practitioners) by Simon Murray
Buy new: £14.13 / Used from: £17.66
Practical and informative.
Awareness through Movement: Easy-to-Do Health Exercises to Improve Your Posture, Vision, Imagination, and Personal AwarenessAwareness through Movement: Easy-to-Do Health Exercises to Improve Your Posture, Vision, Imagination, and Personal Awareness by Moshe Feldenkrais
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £4.70
Fascinating excercises that call out to be performed.
Through the BodyThrough the Body by Dymphna Callery
Buy new: £8.71 / Used from: £6.22
A most practical book for building and understanding a physical theatre workshop.
Games for Actors and Non-actorsGames for Actors and Non-actors by Augusto Boal
Buy new: £19.97 / Used from: £19.28
Useful and informative, a masterpiece.
Theatre Games: A New Approach to Drama Training (Performance Books)Theatre Games: A New Approach to Drama Training (Performance Books) by Clive Barker
Buy new: £10.21 / Used from: £3.68
Very useful.
Commedia dell'Arte in the 20th Century: A HandbookCommedia dell'Arte in the 20th Century: A Handbook by John Rudlin
Buy new: £18.29 / Used from: £28.21
A practical history and useful guide.
Commedia Dell'Arte: A Handbook for TroupesCommedia Dell'Arte: A Handbook for Troupes by Oliver Crick
Buy new: £18.99 / Used from: £44.74
Building from the previous title, invaluable as a pair.
The Physical Comedy HandbookThe Physical Comedy Handbook by David Rider Robinson
Buy new: £9.99 / Used from: £11.66
Dry to look at, but really great exercises within.
Playing Shakespeare (Performance Books)Playing Shakespeare (Performance Books) by John Barton
Buy used from: £3.06
Very readable and deeply informative.
Conference of the Birds (A theatre arts book)Conference of the Birds (A theatre arts book) by John Heilpern
Buy new: £18.04 / Used from: £7.63
Great for understanding the hard realities of amazing ideas
The Empty Space (Penguin literary criticism)The Empty Space (Penguin literary criticism) by Peter Brook
Buy used from: £0.71
Oh, why not...
Freeing the Natural VoiceFreeing the Natural Voice by Kristin Linklater
Buy used from: £0.73
Amazing voice technique, close to Feldenkrais as I understand it...
MimeMime by Jean Dorcy
Buy used from: £25.81
If you can get a hold of this you'll be laughing. A good history to the origins of current mime.
Collected Plays: "East","West","Greek","Sink the Belgrano!","Massage", "Lunch","The Bow of Ulysses","Sturm Und Drang" v.1: "East","West","Greek","Sink ... Bow of Ulysses","Sturm Und Drang" Vol 1Collected Plays: "East","West","Greek","Sink the Belgrano!","Massage", "Lunch","The Bow of Ulysses","Sturm Und Drang" v.1: "East","West","Greek","Sink ... Bow of Ulysses","Sturm Und Drang" Vol 1 by Steven Berkoff
Buy new: £7.50 / Used from: £5.61
The most articulate of writers to meet with physical performance (in my opinion). A genius...
I am HamletI am Hamlet by Steven Berkoff
Buy used from: £0.01
Great stuff.
Free Association: AutobiographyFree Association: Autobiography by Steven Berkoff
Buy new: £7.99 / Used from: £4.00
Interesting background.
My Autobiography (Penguin Modern Classics)My Autobiography (Penguin Modern Classics) by Charles Chaplin
Buy new: £7.12 / Used from: £5.00
His account of growing up in London is just amazing, and also very touching. Much like his films...
A-Z of Silent Film ComedyA-Z of Silent Film Comedy by Glenn Mitchell
Buy used from: £12.48
Very interesting guide to trends and characters of silent comedy.
The Silent ClownsThe Silent Clowns by Walter Kerr
Buy used from: £27.21
An indepth analysis of the main heroes of silent comedy.
Complicite - Three Plays: Street of Crocodiles / Mnemonic / Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol (Methuen Modern Plays): "Street of Crocodiles"; "Mnemonic"; ... Lucie Cabrol" v. 1 (Contemporary Dramatists)Complicite - Three Plays: Street of Crocodiles / Mnemonic / Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol (Methuen Modern Plays): "Street of Crocodiles"; "Mnemonic"; ... Lucie Cabrol" v. 1 (Contemporary Dramatists) by Theatre de Complicite
Buy new: £10.87 / Used from: £8.58
Physical theatre at its finest in practice on the printed page...
The Prop Builder's Mask-making HandbookThe Prop Builder's Mask-making Handbook by Thurston James
Buy used from: £25.95
Good with your hands? Try this out then.
Why Is That So Funny?: A Practical Exploration of Physical ComedyWhy Is That So Funny?: A Practical Exploration of Physical Comedy by John Wright
Buy new: £8.99 / Used from: £6.00
And finally... A fantastic new book by an inspirational practitioner. Bloomin great. Snap it up as soon as you can!