Acting with Passion: A Performer's Guide to Emotions on Cue

Description

Based on the latest research from the fields of neuroscience and mind-body psychology, Acting With Passion offers a revolutionary new approach to the age-old problems of the actor: dealing with nerves, engaging the body, quieting the inner critic, auditioning, creating a character, and even playing comedy. With this step-by-step guide, actors who have struggled with 'visualization' and 'emotional recall' can learn an alternative method of accessing feelings through the release of chronic, subtle muscular tensions that connect into the brain at lightning fast speed and can actually produce emotions on cue. Written with verve and accessibility, and using practical exercises to guide the actor through each stage, Acting With Passion is the must-have text for actors seeking that magical 'state of aliveness'.

Niki Flacks is a director, actor, teacher and psychologist. A frequent tutor at the Actors Centre in London, she leads popular workshops in New York, Paris, Berlin and Tel Aviv. Visit her at www.nikiflacks.com

A frighteningly simple super-highway into an actor's well of creativity and passion. * Stephen Beckett, actor * The central tenet is 'self-tuning' - reconnecting with the body - or more likely, connecting with the body to understand what it feels like. Really comprehensive exercises - with an online audio guide that require repetition will help all serious actors. Flacks makes a good point: 'you wouldn't expect to go from lifting one kilo weights to 15 after a couple of days, over time you will build incredibly strong neuromuscular connections.' It sounds scientific, because it is. But Flacks' engaging written style ensures the science bit is more than accessible. Handy. -- Allison Johnstone * Ink Pellet * Whilst I personally resist her demonizing of intellect, that caveat is outweighed by the delightful mix of inspired pragmatism and no-nonsense speculation in Niki Flacks' book that will not only be solidly useful for any actor, but will stimulate that voracious curiosity which is the lifeblood of a fulfilling life in our business. * Mark Wing-Davey, Chair, Graduate Acting Program, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU * Acting with Passion offers a wonderful invitation to enter the exhilarating world of Niki Flacks' acting workshops dropping in for useful exercises, profound insights and experienced advice on the craft of acting. * Niamh Dowling, Head of School, Rose Bruford College, UK * Through an extraordinary life as a theatre artist, teacher, trained psychotherapist, and corporate consultant, Niki Flacks has earned the privilege to claim the overworked artistic word passion in the title of her book, Acting with Passion: A Performer's Guide to Emotion on Cue. Her energetic writing style matches the ardor of the book's accompanying audio, as well as YouTube videos of her lectures on the subject. ... Many sections of this book are inspired, inspiring, and extremely valuable in terms of actually creating life on stage and screen. ... This book speaks directly to actors working solo or in groups, as if Flacks is teaching them personally. In this relationship with performers, the author offers some very fresh insights into actors' eternal struggles. ... [T]here is enough fresh and often ingenious content in it to earn a significant place in a performer's or teacher's library. * Theatre Topics *