"This fascinating and detailed book about acting is Miss Hagen's credo, the accumulated wisdom of her years spent in intimate communion with her art. It is at once the voicing of her exacting standards for herself and those she [taught], and an explanation of the means to the end." --Publishers Weekly
"Hagen adds to the large corpus of titles on acting with vivid dicta drawn from experience, skill, and a sense of personal and professional worth. Her principal asset in this treatment is her truly significant imagination. Her 'object exercises' display a wealth of detail with which to stimulate the student preparing a scene for presentation." --Library Journal
"Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting . . . is a relatively small book. But within it, Miss Hagen tells the young actor about as much as can be conveyed in print of his craft." --Los Angeles Times
"There are almost no American actors uninfluenced by Uta Hagen." --Fritz Weaver
"This is a textbook for aspiring actors, but working thespians can profit much by it. Anyone with just a casual interest in the theater should also enjoy its behind-the-scenes flavor." --King Features Syndicate
Amazon.com Review: In her introduction to Respect for Acting, actress and teacher Uta Hagen talks about a time when she herself had no respect for the art of acting. "I used to accept opinions such as: 'You're just born to be an actor'; 'Actors don't really know what they're doing on stage'; 'Acting is just instinct--it can't be taught.'" But this attitude of "you got it or you don't" is fundamentally one that denigrates the craft, as she points out. Great actors do not perform effortlessly, or merely through learning the appropriate tricks and cheats to manipulate an audience. Great acting is about the difficult fusion of intellect and action--about sincerely and truthfully connecting to the moment, your fellow actors, and the audience--and Hagen's thoughtful and profound book contains a series of observations and exercises to help an actor do just that. Her prose style is admirably clear and filled with examples from her own lengthy career both as a performer and in the classroom. While her exercises in sense memory and basic objects skirt close to the sort of self-absorption that followers of "the Method" are routinely accused of, they are presented clearly and with a focus on practical results. And in such places as her chapter "Practical Problems," which includes discussions of stage nerves and how to stay fresh in a long run, her straightforward advice is invaluable. --John Longenbaugh
The best lessons ever laid out! This is one of the most intelligent, clearly laid out acting books on the market!
Very Dry I had to read this for acting class. Author has a stuck-up, snooty know it all tone. Paragraphs are very long & wordy, not friendly to the reader at all. While this book has good information, the presentation of the material is downright awful. Aside from the good techniques presented, I would say that it is a very difficult read, quite possibly the worst book ever written. Follow-up should be "The Guide to being a feminist snob."
Great--but skip and read "A Challenge for the Actor" This book is great, don't get me wrong. But her later book, "A Challenge for the Actor" takes everything of value in this book, elaborates on it, and adds oodles more information and insight (reflecting the author's own revising of her approach and methods over the years). Reading both isn't necessary; I would head straight for "...Challenge..."
Waited too long!! The book took longer than the specified time to arrive. I requested information about shipping a few weeks after ordering but never received a reply. Eventually the book arrived wrapped in plain copy paper and tape almost a month after ordering. Another vendor may be the best choice!
A Classic This book is a classic. I should be read by everyone interested in a career in acting. I'm a Talent Manager and partner in www.actinglink.com and I recommend this book to everyone of my clients. It's been called "the textbook for aspiring actors". If you are interested in acting but not sure where to start, I would strongly suggest starting with this book.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
