MTU Library Catalogue

Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

So you want to be an actor? / Prunella Scales and Timothy West.

By: Scales, Prunella.
Contributor(s): West, Timothy.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: London : Nick Hern, 2005Description: 143 p. ; 22 cm.ISBN: 9781854598790.Subject(s): Acting -- Vocational guidanceDDC classification: 792.028023
Contents:
Preparation -- Practice -- Perseverance.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Barcode
General lending MTU Cork School of Music Library Lending 792.028023 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00152547
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A handbook for aspiring actors by two of the best-known names in British theatre and television.

So You Want To Be An Actor? by Timothy West and Prunella Scales offers practical advice and do's and don'ts to anyone thinking of taking up acting. The authors are passionate about actor training, know the profession inside out and have more than a hundred years' experience between them...

Writing alternately throughout the book - and sometimes offering radically different opinions - they cover over sixty topics including:

* Drama school
* Auditions and interviews
* Agents
* Financial Security
* Learning the lines
* Working in television/radio
* Touring
* Media attention

Charmingly informal but full of sound advice, So You Want To Be An Actor? is essential reading for anyone with their eye on a career in acting.

Includes bibliographical references.

Includes web resources.

Preparation -- Practice -- Perseverance.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Preparation
  • First thoughts about becoming an actor (p. 3)
  • How to go about it (p. 5)
  • To train or not to train (p. 7)
  • Drama School (p. 10)
  • Graduation (p. 15)
  • Unpaid Fringe productions (p. 18)
  • Agents (p. 18)
  • Advertising yourself (p. 21)
  • Auditions and interviews (p. 24)
  • Spreading yourself around (p. 27)
  • Financial security (p. 28)
  • Equity (p. 30)
  • Health (p. 33)
  • Physical well-being (p. 34)
  • Reading matter (p. 35)
  • Onward ... (p. 37)
  • Practice
  • What is acting for? (p. 41)
  • Approach to a character (p. 42)
  • Truth (p. 42)
  • Technical advice - shape (p. 44)
  • Use of language (p. 45)
  • 'R.P.' (p. 46)
  • Orchestral demands of text (p. 51)
  • Phrasing (p. 52)
  • Some principles of stress in spoken English (p. 53)
  • Some extra points in the speaking of verse (p. 55)
  • Soliloquy (p. 58)
  • Learning the lines (p. 60)
  • 'I would never say that ...' (p. 62)
  • Skills (p. 63)
  • Learning from other performances (p. 64)
  • Rehearsals (p. 65)
  • Small parts (p. 68)
  • Big parts (p. 69)
  • Costume (p. 70)
  • Research (p. 71)
  • Directors (p. 73)
  • Working with people you don't get on with (p. 76)
  • Audiences (p. 77)
  • The different media (p. 81)
  • The camera (p. 81)
  • Working in film (p. 84)
  • Working in television (p. 88)
  • Working in radio (p. 92)
  • Commercials (p. 94)
  • Critics (p. 96)
  • Perseverance
  • The unpredictability of the business (p. 101)
  • Being out of work (p. 102)
  • The Actors Centre (p. 103)
  • Writing and devising (p. 103)
  • Teaching (p. 105)
  • Temporary jobs (p. 108)
  • Work you can't afford to do (p. 109)
  • Touring (p. 110)
  • Regional theatre (p. 114)
  • Where to live (p. 115)
  • Public transport (p. 116)
  • Relationships (p. 117)
  • Children (p. 118)
  • Media attention (p. 119)
  • Publicity (p. 120)
  • Fan mail (p. 122)
  • Tipping (p. 123)
  • Branching out (p. 124)
  • Organisations and clubs (p. 125)
  • Committee work (p. 126)
  • Giving something back (p. 128)
  • Charities (p. 129)
  • Celebrities (p. 130)
  • When to stop (p. 131)
  • Appendix
  • Useful publications (p. 137)
  • Useful addresses (p. 139)
  • Drama training (p. 141)
  • Agents (p. 142)
  • Photographers (p. 143)
  • Theatre books (p. 143)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Prunella Scales is world-famous as Sybil Fawlty and well-known on stage and screen for countless other roles.

Timothy West is best-known on TV for Brass and on stage for classic roles at the National Theatre, the RSC, the West End and recently with English Touring Theatre. His autobiography, A Moment Towards the End of the Play, is published by Nick Hern Books.