Respect for Acting

It teaches how to establish the identity of a character, how to use physical senses and inner objects, and much more

Uta Hagen is an internationally renowned actress and author and has also taught acting for more than forty years at the HB Studio in New York

" I have attempted to break down all the areas in which you can work and search for realities in yourself which serve the character and the play

Put your instincts and sense of truth, your understanding of human realities to use while probing and grappling with the content and the roots of the material. Be specific and real in your actions, and they will communicate your artistic statement. Bring your universal understanding of the present to the present as a real artist" ~Ut Hagen

At the invitation of Herbert Berghof, Uta Hagen joined the faculty of the HB Studio in 1947. Since then, teaching has always been a challenge for her, as well as for the many prominent actors whom she has helped to develop

For many years, she has been asked to write a book. Now, here it is - an account of her own struggle with the techniques of acting and based on her teachings

The first part - The Actor - deals with techniques that set an actor in motion physically, verbally, and emotionally. It deals with the actor's concept of him/herself and with the art of acting, as well as with the ethics that have made the theater what it is today and what it could be tomorrow

Part Two - The Object Exercises - offers specific and detailed work for the actor, covering a broad range of his problems

Part Three - The Play and the Role - concerns itself with the definition of the play and identification with the character the actor will undertake. It also covers practical problems, the rehearsal, style and communication

SEE ALSO
A Challenge for the Actor