A lively, conversational textbook dedicated to the art of acting from a master teacher.
Act: The Modern Actor's Handbook is the result of 30 years of one of North America's most renowned acting teachers teaching some of the world's most talented screen actors. This is a full tour through the concepts at the heart of Rotenberg's techniques: states of being, primaries and secondaries, images that you elaborate up or distill down, modifiers, actions and beats, and more. Although his methods loosely draw on the great acting teachers like Hagen and Meisner back to Stanislavski, he teaches new techniques suited to the best of today's screen actors. This is a major new work in the actor's library and will be pulled off the shelf time and again to find that key into a scene, to prepare for an audition, or to find that right technique to make the art come alive again. One of the world's foremost acting teachers - who taught such actors as Rachel McAdams, Tatiana Maslany, Scott Speedman, and Sarah Gadon to name but a few - shares 30-plus years of insight into the art of acting.
David Rotenberg has been a master acting teacher for more than 30 years. He has directed on Broadway, in major regional theaters, for television, and has an MFA in directing from the Yale School of Drama. David has taught at York University, the National Theatre School of Canada, the Shanghai Theatre Academy, the University of Cape Town, and Princeton. He regularly teaches professional classes in Toronto, Vancouver, and Los Angeles, plus Zoom classes with actors from four continents. His students included Tatiana Maslany, Rachel McAdams, Scott Speedman, Sarah Gadon, Ennis Esmer, Patrick Adams, David Hirsh, Jonas Chernick, and Shawn Doyle. He is also the author of 11 novels, including the Dream Chronicles, the Junction Chronicles, the Zhong Fong Mysteries, and the novel Shanghai. He directed the first Canadian play in the People's Republic of China - in Mandarin. He lives in Toronto, Canada, where he is the artistic director of the internationally known studio The Professional Actors Lab.
Short Description
One of the world's foremost acting teachers - who taught such actors as Rachel McAdams, Tatiana Maslany, Scott Speedman, and Sarah Gadon to name but a few - shares 30-plus years of insight into the art of acting.
Sales and Market Bullets
• Rotenberg preaches practicality over idealism and teaches specific techniques: playing your type, using trigger props, and more.
• Rotenberg has an MFA in directing from the Yale School of Drama, has directed on Broadway and for television, and has published 11 novels.
• His students include Canadian screen actors Rachel McAdams, Tatiana Maslany, Scott Speedman, and Sarah Gadon to name a few.
Audience
• Actors, acting students, and their friends and family
• Acting teachers: private, colleges, universities, affiliated with film and theatre schools
• Related professionals in screen-based and performance-based industries interested in the acting process
• Early review copies to book, library, and academic trade review publications
• Targeted outreach to acting schools and drama bookstores
• Pitch to industry newsletters and union group publications (ACTRA, UBCP, SAG/AFTRA, Actors' Equity)
• Pitch to online acting websites for inclusion in top acting book listicles
• Library outreach and inclusion in librarian newsletter.
