Acting Material for Dramatic Classes - edizione con copertina flessibile

ACTING MATERIAL FOR DRAMATIC CLASSES COMPILED BY ANGUS WILSON - 1934 - PREFACE ONE of the many difficulties met with in organizing the work of Dramatic Classes in Evening Institutes and similar places is the lack of material suitable for intensive practice in the technique of acting. The many excellent anthologies of plays are not compiled with this end in view-indeed, in some of them the average number of characters per play is so small that the majority of a class is left out. Watching others being taught is very useful, but it becomes wearisome if one has to wait two or three weeks for ones turn. In some classes, little or no tuition is given, all the work being directed towards a production for public performance. The actors buy a copy of the play and the matter ends there. But most teachers try to devote a part of each evening to instruction, and for this purpose they require a book containing a number of short scenes, each of which must be played in its own special style. I have endeavoured in this volume to satisfy the need. It ought to be found equally useful for helping to cure special faults. If, for example, a class is slow on its cues it can be turned on to The Lilies of the Field if it lacks attack, The Lady of Lyons or The Critic will give it verve if its timing is bad it can be made to practise pause and variety of tempo in Str fe or If Four Walls Told. The selections are short, so that lines can be rapidly learnt and something like a finished performance of the scene can be arrived at in an hour or two. Polish and assurance can thus be attained a dozen times in a winter, instead of, at the most, two or three times when only complete plays a. re used. Apart from TheSpell, few of the extracts have any entertainment value in themselves, so that complete plays will be required in addition if a public show is being aimed at. Though this is by no means an anthology of dramatic gems I have tried to draw on plays which are of some value from the point of view of either study or performance. Particulars of publisher, royalty, and cast are given opposite the first page of each extract. I have also tried to keep in mind that scenes must contain parts for the largest possible number of players, and that in most dramatic classes women greatly predominate. In many scenes male parts can easily be taken by women. To assist rapid casting, the dramatis personae are arranged approximately in the order of their importance in the scene, but, of course, this does not necessarily correspond with their importance in the complete play. Minor characters who can be omitted or doubled are given in brackets. I have added production notes at the end of the book, but they are intended merely as suggestions, and no one need have any compunction in disregarding them entirely. I make no apology for leaving out Shakespeare surely a copy of his works ought to be deemed as indispensable in every home as a dictionary. I wish to express my thanks to a number of producers who take dramatic classes in various parts of the country for valuable encouragement and advice, and to my wife for untiring work on the whole compilation. CONTENTS PAGE THE LADY WITH A LAMP . 1 Reginald Berkeley IF FOUR WALLS TOLD . 7 Edward Percy THE LILIES OF THE FIELD . . 15 John Hastings Turner THE GOVERNMEINNTS PECTOR . . 25 Nikolay Cfogol THE SCHOO F L O R SCANDAL . ...