Product Description

About Acting - formerly titled The Complete About Acting - has become indispensable for students and professional actors alike because it is simple, clear and inspiring about the difficult art and craft of performing on stage, film, television and radio.Peter Barkworth guides the reader through all aspects of acting - from auditions and preparing for a part to rehearsals and surviving long runs with freshness. He has also included a selection of interviews with leading performers and a director about how to work on a part: Judi Dench, Alec McCowen, Edward Petherbridge, Anna Massey, Wyn Jones, Alison Steadman, Patience Collier, Roger Rees, Prunella Scales and Samuel West. About Acting is not only a lucid and practical book about technique, it also explores ways of achieving the connection between an actor's own life and the life of each part he or she plays.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20649 in Books
• Published on: 1991-11-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 274 pages

About the Author
Peter Barkworth has appeared on many West End stages, on television and in films, twice winning BAFTA Best Actor Awards. His stage and television appearances have included Shadowlands, Hidden Laughter, Professional Foul and Telford's Change.

Customer Reviews

My acting crutch
I bought this book after taking up amateur dramatics following a ten year break. I read and re-read it whenever I have a new part or find myself hitting a creative dead-end. It is a compendium of interesting tidbits - interviews with well-known actors about how they prepare for parts and who they find inspirational, techniques for getting over difficulties, rehearsal etiquette, and most importantly for me, how acting is a process of thought and intellect. Some people look as if they just do it easily - this book reassures me they have to go through the same struggles as I do to bring my characters to life. It is well written, being a personal view by the author who spent some time teaching drama, and can be read for interest or as reference material. My copy is extremely well-thumbed, dog-eared, and has page corners turned down to favourite parts!

What? More?
I bought an earlier edition of this some years back and was very pleasantly surprised. Mr. Barkworth is not only an excellent actor (very under-acknowledged in my opinion) but turns out to be a highly competent writer too. This book is one of the best I've read on the subject - and a real eye opener to anyone who isn't an actor themselves.

I'm pleased to see that this has since become a standard text, and because this new edition includes "a selection of interviews with leading performers" I'm going to have to get a fresh copy!