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The Actor's Art and Craft

William Esper Teaches the Meisner Technique

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The Actor's Art and Craft

By: William Esper, Damon Dimarco, David Mamet
Narrated by: Michael Esper, Damon Dimarco
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About this listen

William Esper, one of the leading acting teachers of our time, explains and extends Sanford Meisner's legendary technique, offering a clear, concrete, step-by-step approach to becoming a truly creative actor.

Esper worked closely with Meisner for 17 years and has spent decades developing his famous program for actor's training. The result is a rigorous system of exercises that builds a solid foundation of acting skills from the ground up, and that is flexible enough to be applied to any challenge an actor faces, from soap operas to Shakespeare. Co-writer Damon DiMarco, a former student of Esper's, spent over a year observing his mentor teaching first-year acting students. In this book, he recreates that experience for us, allowing us to see how the progression of exercises works in practice. The Actor's Art and Craft vividly demonstrates that good training does not constrain actors' instincts - it frees them to create characters with truthful and compelling inner lives.

©2008 William Esper and Damon Dimarco (P)2019 Random House Audio
Acting & Auditioning Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV Celebrity Physical Exercise Art Techniques
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Critic reviews

"Utterly inspirational.... The best book on the craft of acting that I have ever read." (Mary Steenburgen)

"As far as I'm concerned, there is only way to learn the craft of acting, and that is through the Meisner technique. And there is only one person to learn that technique from, and that is William Esper." (Patricia Heaton)

"The essence of this book is like William Esper himself: kind/clear, caring/generous, passionate/graceful, brilliant/profound. Inspiring. Invaluable." (Jeff Goldblum)

What listeners say about The Actor's Art and Craft

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  • Overall
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Essential listening for Actors

I loved the delivery of the key messages a
nd examples of how the lessons were applied. It felt like I was a student in the class - I study acting part time and this complimented me massively in my own performances and understanding characters development and scene objectives. I recommend any want to be actors or novices to check this out book

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Great narrative on progressing through Meisner

training, enjoyed the way the year was mapped out through classes. A good overview of the work

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Engaging and insightful

Easy to take on board and exercises that are clearly laid out - enjoyable and as an introduction , I learnt a lot about the craft of acting

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Amazing Insight

Absolutely captivating. Lovingly captured by Michael revealing the inner beauty and wisdom of Bill. Thanks

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Wonderful book

I will be listening to this for many more years to come - so valuable and insightful for any aspiring actor

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Recommend for all actors, directors and teachers!

enjoyed every second of it. plenty of time to digest his teachings and time taken to really allow the listener to learn. exceptional. the narrator does a fantastic job!

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An Eye opener

Absolutely Riveting, I want to learn to act with William Esper. I’m so glad I found this book.

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Extremely easy to understand

listened to it while walking . It was really interesting and helpful I got fit while listening .

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what should be

if the last chapter were 1st I think it would make a more powerful presentation.

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Such great mastery.

This is one of the best books on the market for me as an actor.

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