An acting textbook focusing on stylized performance. Moving from the fundamentals of "Being Seen" and "Being Heard," to challenges of Asides, Soliloquies, and explorations of "Hamlet," "The Misanthrope" and "Tartuffe." Based on Timothy Mooney's popular Acting Workshop, Mooney expands his topic to cover issues of memorization, pursuit of objectives, "presence" and the mastery of rhetoric. From the cover: The best acting workshop you never attended! Acting students all over the U.S. have the three steps of Tim Mooney's "Hamlet" exercise indelibly imprinted in their brain! In a brief two-hour session, this workshop completely upends the way performers look at dialogue! With "Acting at the Speed of Life," Mooney goes beyond what he is able to squeeze into this hugely successful master class, to share secrets of Theatrical Power! The results are immediate, for actors, teachers and anyone seeking to boost the power of their "presence" in public! Among the book's many lessons, you'll learn to...Stop Stopping yourself!Make Memorization Stick!Triumph Over Rhetorical Speech!Incorporate the 'Stuff' of Historical Style!Uncover Theatrical Convention in Modern Life!Go Ridiculously Beyond the Bounds of "Realism!"Capture Emotional Action by Pursuing its Opposite!
About the Author: Timothy Mooney has thrilled thousands with his hit one-man shows, "Moliere Than Thou," "Lot o' Shakespeare" and "Criteria"! The author of seventeen rhymed renditions of Moliere's plays, published and performed around the world, and the founder and editor of "The Script Review," Mooney has shared his vision of theatrical style with high schools, colleges and professional theatres all over the U.S., giving the eye-opening workshops that inspired this book. Earning a B.A. in Acting and Directing from Southern Illinois University and an M.F.A. in Directing from University of Nebraska, Tim Mooney interned with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and the Seattle Repertory Theatre, as Actor, Director and Literary Manager. He taught Acting and Stage Movement with Northern Illinois University and was the Artistic Director of the Stage Two Theatre, producing fifty plays in five years. Mooney's playfully rhymed versions of the plays of Moliere have been celebrated around the world, with fifteen scripts published by Playscripts, Inc. His "Moliere than Thou" has been seen by over a hundred thousand people, and his latest play, "Lot o' Shakespeare" features one monologue from every Shakespeare play (over two hours of material), performed entirely at random, based on the spin of a Bingo cage! Mooney has spent his career making the classics available and accessible for Actors and Audiences around the world, and with "Acting at the Speed of Life, he puts simple tools into the hands of actors on the path to mastering Theatrical Style.