The Secret Art of the Performer : A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology

Containing over 650 photographs and diagrams, this lavishly illustrated and entirely original sourcebook on Western and non-Western theatre is an inspiring tribute to the secret art of the performer. Revised and updated with fifty new photographs of the performers'craft, bibliography and index, and three new chapters on: Eurasion Theatre Exercises Organicity. The Dictionary focuses on the craft of an actor and aims to expand our knowledge of the possibilities of the scenic body, and of the spectator's response to the dynamics of performance. It includes practical sections on balance, opposition and energy, and discusses such issues as, The Text and the Stage, The Dilated Body, and Energetic Language. The visual essay of photographs, drawings and diagrams which runs parallel to the text is skilfully constructed to complement the textual argument and the whole Dictionary is vital reading for students of contemporary theatre theory.