Why Acting Matters
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Why Acting Matters
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See moreWhy Acting Matters by David Thomson is a provocative, highly engaging essay on the art of pretending on the stage, on screen, and in daily life.
Does acting matter? David Thomson, one of our most respected and insightful writers on movies and theatre, answers this question with intelligence and wit. In this fresh and thought-provoking essay, Thomson tackles this most elusive of subjects, examining the allure of the performing arts for both the artist and the audience member while addressing the paradoxes inherent in acting itself.
He reflects on the casting process, on stage versus film acting, and on the cult of celebrity. The art and considerable craft of such gifted artists as Meryl Streep, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Daniel Day-Lewis, and others are scrupulously appraised here, as are notions of 'good' and 'bad' acting.
Thomsonβs exploration is at once a meditation on and a celebration of a unique and much beloved, often misunderstood, and occasionally derided art form. He argues that acting not only matters but is essential and inescapable, as well as dangerous, chronic, transformative, and exhilarating, be it on the theatrical stage, on the movie screen, or as part of our everyday lives.
Series: Why X Matters S.
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INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780300195743
Publisher: Yale University Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 26 March 2016
Country: United States
Imprint: Yale University Press
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 133.0mm
Height: 197.0mm
Weight: 186g
Pages: 192
About the Author
David Thomson is the author of more than twenty books, including biographies of David O. Selznick and Orson Welles, and The New Biographical Dictionary of Film. He lives in San Francisco, CA.
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