DARREN ARONOFSKY

The Wrestler Director Darren Aronofsky on Mickey Rourke and the Benefits of Having a Small Music Budget

12/17/08 at 4:45 PM

Photo: WireImage

Brooklyn’s own Darren Aronofsky spent the eighties listening to hip-hop and being a whiz kid at school, so it’s probably a bit strange to see him making a movie about a has-been pro wrestler who still fights to the strains of forgotten metal heroes like Accept and Cinderella. Aronofsky burst onto the indie scene with 1998’s ultra-low-budget Pi and then catapulted onto the A-list with 2000’s Oscar-nominated addiction drama Requiem for a Dream; But with his latest film, The Wrestler, which opens today, Aronofsky appears to be ready to recharge his batteries, having dispensed with his regular crew and working on a relatively tiny budget. And with said budget, Aronofsky won the Golden Lion at Venice and resurrected troubled lead Mickey Rourke’s career along the way. The director sat down with Vulture to talk about his latest, the reception to his 2006 sci-fi epic The Fountain, and about how a Ratt song can enhance the emotional texture of a bar scene.

I think a lot of people will be surprised by how restrained your style is in this film.

I took on this film because I very consciously wanted to do something different. I feel like Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and The Fountain are all kind of connected in some way — they’re almost a trilogy. And I wanted to reinvent myself. So this was a radical departure for me. My partner, Rachel Weisz, is an actor, and I loved the idea of just getting in there and being able to work in that space between actors, to really make a film that fed off on that interaction between actors. I also wanted to go back to shooting documentary style, which was how I originally started filmmaking.

You realize, of course, that people will say that you’re just regrouping after the failure of The Fountain.

[Laughs] Well, you know, I couldn’t be happier with The Fountain. It’s the film I wanted to make, and I think if you get it, you get it, and if you don’t, you don’t. People seem to think that movie was universally panned, but if you go back and look at what was actually said, you’ll see that that’s not the case. I was talking with Hugh Jackman the other day, and he said that he still gets approached by more people about The Fountain than about any other film he’s made. There are a lot of people out there who really love that movie.

Did people warn you about working with Mickey Rourke?

Financiers certainly did. We couldn’t get the film financed with Mickey in it. Everybody thought we were crazy. Nobody thought that he could be sympathetic in the role. Which is ridiculous when you see the film. You just have to look into his eyes and there’s just something incredible there. And Mickey was great to work with — you have to push his buttons certainly, and he’s a challenging actor. But that’s what I wanted to do anyway. This movie is Mickey. It’s hard to imagine anyone else doing this part.

Did you improvise along the way?

Mickey and I sat down with the script beforehand and went through it line by line, and I let him change things that worked or didn’t work for him. But we definitely worked from a script. There is a lot of stuff there where we just got in there and shot what we could. The scenes with Mickey behind the deli counter — that’s a real deli counter. A lot of those are real customers. That’s him just interacting with people. We didn’t have the budget to plan and program everything perfectly. For a lot of the wrestling scenes, we were at real matches.

What’s the hardest cut you’ve ever had to make?

The hardest was while making this movie, actually. We had a scene near the end with Mickey in front of the mirror, where he’s talking and he just went to some incredibly deep, dark place. Seriously, it was possibly the finest piece of acting I’ve ever seen in my life. It was absolutely intense. And I had to cut it. It would have totally upset the balance of the film — it was that powerful. It was heartbreaking.

I was impressed with the music in the film. Yes, you’ve got a Springsteen song and you’ve got “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” but you’ve also got Ratt and Accept — these are kind of like the loser bands of eighties metal.

Well, let’s just say that those are the rewards of not really having a music budget. [Laughs] The original script had these bigger songs in it, but there was no way we could afford them. In fact, in the bar scene where Marisa and Mickey bond over Ratt’s “Round and Round,” Mickey really wanted it to be Guns ‘N Roses. He hates hair metal. And I knew there was no way we could get “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” Mickey said, “I’m friends with Axl, I’m friends with Axl!” And he was on the phone every day leaving messages for Axl to let us have the song. Finally, we just had to shoot it, and Axl came through at the last minute, let us have it for a fraction of the amount they would have ordinarily charged. But I decided I couldn’t change it. I had to go to Mickey and tell him that. He was furious. But it wouldn’t have worked — two people connecting over “Sweet Child O’ Mine” isn’t anything special. Two people connecting over Ratt — that’s so much more unique.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

DAVID LYNCH INTERVIW

Click on image for interview with David Lynch.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

MYTH AND FILM: JOSEHPH CAMBELL

IN: CINEMARATTY SOULSMITH: PHIL COUSINEAUThe Hero's Journey 2008-05-31 18:03:00 by Maya in The Evening Class

"Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived."

"When people say they're looking for the meaning of life, what they're really looking for is a deep experience of it."—Joseph Campbell

In the active years of his retirement, mythologist Joseph Campbell became a popular seminarian, teaching at various venues across the country. In the Bay Area he had two surrogate daughters, Lynne Kaufman—program coordinator for U.C. Berkeley Extension—and Barbara McClintock—initially the program coordinator for the Dominican College Reminding Series, then San Francisco's C.G. Jung Institute and, later, the Pacifica Graduate Institute. In my early 20s, Barbara took me under wing as one of her protégés and provided me multiple opportunities to study with Joseph Campbell whenever he taught in the Bay Area. Campbell's was, in fact, the first seminar I ever attended and his influence upon my life—as upon so many others—has been indelible.

When Joe passed away at 83 on October 30, 1987, I remember sitting on the steps at the C.G. Jung Institute suffering the loss, not only for myself, but for all those who would never have the chance to experience his visceral gift for storytelling, what filmmaker George Lucas later described as a "life force" that poured out of him when he taught others. It was not just the ancient stories themselves that proved magical but Joe's unique manner of inflecting them with contemporary resonance and the mystagogical way he had of inspiring others to actively seek out their own spiritual adventures. Little did I know at that time that Joe suffered no fools and had been permitting prescient filmmakers to memorialize his lectures and interviews. Chief among them was Stuart Brown who had fallen in love—not specifically with Campbell himself—but with what happened to others when they saw and heard Campbell. Aware that Campbell was in failing health, Brown organized a production crew to follow Joe on his last major lecture tour, which included appearances at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts and the California Historical Society; events which I feel blessed to have attended. Despite the presence of cameras and cables, I didn't realize what was being endeavored.

This effort to memorialize Campbell's work resulted in the film The Hero's Journey. Phil Cousineau, associate producer on the film, had written its narration along with coproducer Janelle Balnicke and—though the Bill Moyers series on The Power of Myth is credited as having catapulted Campbell into national notoriety and a season of fame—it was this earlier venture by Stuart Brown and Phil Cousineau that was actually the first filmic vehicle to introduce Campbell posthumously to a new generation. When I first saw The Hero's Journey at its Castro Theater premiere, I was thrilled to consider the impact and reach of Joe's disembodied presence, this second life through the medium of film, this continued opportunity to be further educated by my admitted mentor.

Shortly after that premiere, I crossed paths with Phil Cousineau at a Robert Bly seminar and approached him to express personal thanks for the film. During the seminar's lunch break, Phil joined me down at the Ft. Mason docks where we ate our sandwiches and initiated what has become a strong, lasting friendship of many years; I dare say, brotherhood. Since those days, Phil and I have shared many stories, many ideas, several scotches, several coffees, and he has (to date) written 23 books and worked on numerous films—several of which I intend to profile in the weeks to come on The Evening Class. I am profoundly complimented that Phil has profiled my Guatemalan fieldwork in several of his books, and that he accepted my invitation to stowaway on an excursion down the Usumacinta River when I was leading ecotours and teaching wealthy Americans how to read Mayan hieroglyphs. We both have a love for ancient, indigenous traditions, for quotesmanship, and—is it any surprise?—for movies. Phil has taught frequently on the mythic import of cinema.

What I love about Phil's films is their sibling connection to literature; the "connective tissue" that David Lowery has written about so eloquently. Do you recall the opening sequence to Steven Spielberg's television series Amazing Stories where flapping books take flight? That's the image I think of with Phil. He has used the written word and the filmed image to remind us that imagination can be defined as a process of flight and that flight can lead—not only to the heights—but also the depths of aspiration. Frequently, his films have companion volumes, as if this lateral sibling connection should be neither denied nor resisted. Such was the case with The Hero's Journey, which—along with transcriptions of the documentary interviews—included Phil's editorial commentary.

Cousineau recognized early on the "treasure trove of material left over" from the editing of the film. He had been utilizing outtakes from the filmed sessions with Campbell in his "Myth and Movies" seminars and discovering that audiences were delighted with the material. He approached Stuart Brown "about rescuing the hours of outtakes from the obscurity of film vaults and organizing them into a book to meet the groundswell of interest." Brown granted him access not only to the film footage but to hours of videotaped lectures, generously encouraging Cousineau to create the companion volume to the film.

As Cousineau detailed in his introduction to the companion volume, the actual transformation of the transcripts into book form followed his exploration through the records of the original filming at Esalen Institute, the National Arts Club, and finally at the Campbell home in Honolulu. He also had the great fortune of being able to select passages from the videotaped lectures on "The Perennial Philosophy," "James Joyce and Thomas Mann," and "Psyche and Symbol" from Joe Campbell's last official lecture tour (which Stuart Brown—"with tremendous foresight and courage"—had videotaped between 1982 and 1983). Cousineau further consulted the audiotaped panel discussion after the West Coast premiere of The Hero's Journey at the Director's Guild in Los Angeles in May 1987.

Personal Aside

As I reviewed the film and its companion volume for this entry—the first of a series on Phil's work—I had that peculiar experience of returning to a book whose pages I had marked with post-its, flagging passages that held personal resonance for me at the time of my first reading. Nearly 20 years later I meditate on those marked passages, curious as to who I was then as opposed to now and what—at that time—I held of importance, much in the selfsame manner Campbell himself proposed when he suggested that underlining sentences was his practice of meditation.

My scholasticism at the time was steeped in seeking mythic relevance to my Mesoamerican studies in order to provide a psychological hook to my on-site lectures. I was shaping my voice in field by combining these two fields of academia. During the Esalen sessions when Campbell was filmed in conversation with a rich mix of personages, Angeles Arrien brought up the mythic motifs of water and rock. "Well, yes," Campbell responded, "and the tree and the rock are also motifs: These rocks are the enduring, and the tree the living symbol. James Joyce plays with it in Finnegan's Wake, where he speaks about the 'tree stone'—Tristan—the one who is wealthy, the eternal rock, ever-growing life." (1990:11) I loved that passage—and flagged it—because I had recently learned of the Maya term tetun, which means "tree stone", their description of their stelae, or monumental sculpture. This was just one more example of—not so much diffusionist contact—but the archetypal underpinnings of diverse cultural expression. I could list numerous other examples I found through the post-its I adhered so many years ago; but, rather, encourage your own exploration, through both film and companion volume. Suffice it to say that—after his death—I was the first person allowed to lecture with Campbell's own slides about his only-partially formed theories on Mesoamerican cultures. That remains one of the highlights of my personal experience.

The only other reflection I will mention, however, is to acknowledge the profound influence Phil Cousineau has had upon my interview technique, specifically in his handling of Joseph Campbell who had been long reluctant to reveal much of his personal biography. Phil was quick to observe that the template of the monomyth that Campbell taught to others was resident in Campbell's own life's journey. "There were choice passages here and there," Phil wrote, "in our own filming of him over the three-year period, in the scattered interviews found in library stacks, and during our casual conversations with him about how he had recognized, in meandering through the maze of his own life, the various stages of the hero journey: the calls to adventure, the mentors and allies, the threshold guardians, the dark forest, the bringing back of the boon to the community." (1990:xvii) Cousineau convinced Campbell that for the dramatic structure of the documentary, it would be compelling to chronicle the nature of Campbell's own learning process. "How did he discover the themes that became the crossbeams of his work? Why did he connect the Navajo material to the Hindu? When did he first align in his mind the twilight myths of the Celts with Joyce's nightworld novels?" (Ibid.)

It is this tendency to seek connections rather than divisions that informs most of my own work, including my writing on film, and my conversations with filmmakers. It is why I refuse to be a critic and why I insist upon remaining an enthusiast. It is my way of honoring my teacher Joe Campbell and to carry aloft—in my own way—the flame of his ideas.

THEATER DIRECTOR WITH A FILMAKER'S EYE

By TOM SELLAR

Published: November 30, 2008. New York Times

Ivo van Hove is known in America for his bold, actor-centered stagings of classic dramas. But “Opening Night” will show a different dimension of the director.

"THE Belgian theater director Ivo van Hove swears he has never seen “Opening Night,” the classic 1977 backstage film by John Cassavetes, but that didn’t stop him from adapting the film for the stage. His innocence helped rather than hindered him, he said, in imagining his stage version based on Cassavetes’s original screenplay." (MORE)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

"CRUEL BUT NECESSARY" AVAILABLE ON DVD, NOVEMBER 11TH

AMAZON

"Fans of American Beauty, will be clamoring over the new dark comedy, Cruel But Necessary releasing this November by Sommerville House, Critical Mass and KOCH Entertainment. It is a one of a kind comedic drama, directed by award winning actor/director Saul Rubinek that exposes viewers to the unique and quirky life of Betty Munson, a recent divorcee who begins to videotape every aspect of her life." (MORE - NeuFutur Magazine)

TRAILER

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

UH OH . . .THE TERMIN-ACTOR

By HARRY HAYDON
Published. The Sun. Friday, November 28, 2008

A PLAY with a difference has opened in Japan – it's cast is half robot, half human.

The theatrical production stars a pair of Mitsubishi's 'Wakamura' robots alongside two human actors.

See robot's publicity show below:

The robots play two depressed household servants who work for a young couple.

But the robots grow tired of their mundane lifestyle and long to break free and see the world.

The 20-minute piece titled Hataraku Watashi (I, Worker) was written by Japanese playwright Oriza Hirata and opened this week at Osaka University.

The robots cannot use facial movements to express emotions so instead tilt their heads and make sounds.

The first night of the play received rave reviews.

Advertisement

“It was very surprising,” said one guest.

“You could see the robots thinking about how to respond - you could swear they were feeling emotion.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

21L.001 THE FILM EXPERIENCE: FALL 2007

MITOPENCOURSECWARE

Course Description

This course is an introduction to narrative film, emphasizing the unique properties of the movie house and the motion picture camera, the historical evolution of the film medium, and the intrinsic artistic qualities of individual films. The primary focus is on American cinema, but secondary attention is paid to works drawn from other great national traditions, such as France, Italy, and Japan. The syllabus includes such directors as Griffith, Keaton, Chaplin, Renoir, Ford, Hitchcock, Altman, De Sica, and Fellini. (CLICK THROUGH TO COURSE).

SELECTED LECTURES: Chaplin | Italian Neo-Realism

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

ONLINE, ONSTAGE INTERFACING WITH THE WORLD

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Modern technology is both the subject of “Continuous City” and an integral part of the way it tells its story.

Theater

By MARK BLANKENSHIP

Published: November 16, 2008

DURING every performance of “Continuous City,” Rizwan Mirza has a live, unrehearsed video chat with his cousin in London and his nephew in Virginia. While their faces are projected on giant screens, they tell him about their days, almost as if they’re having normal conversations. Except Mr. Mirza’s relatives don’t call him Rizwan. They call him J. V. (MORE)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

I_NY

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE
CINDY CHEUNG
TO FIND GOOD ACTORS, GO SEE THEM WORK.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

THE STRANGER AS PATHFINDER

THE STRANGER AS PATHFINDER

CLICK ON IMAGE TO LINK

"When you accept the state of being a stranger, you are no longer a stranger. I have been in exile when everything around me seemed strange and everybody was a stranger. Once I accepted that I didn't have to belong and I didn't have to be part of the world, then I was free to be part of it. There was a paradoxical release of the spirit. The world became mine when I was no longer holding on to it."

- Satish Kamuar. Porabola, Summer 1995.Cover.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

CHANGE

ASPECTS OF CHANGE

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

ACTIVE VERBS

	Accelerate
	Accommodate
	Accomplish
	Accumulate
	Achieve
	Acquire
	Act
	Activate
	Adapt
	Add
	Address
	Adjust
	Administer
	Advertise
	Advise
	Advocate
	Aid
	Aide
	Align
	Allocate
	Amend
	Analyze
	Answer
	Anticipate
	Apply
	Appoint
	Appraise
	Approve
	Arbitrate
	Arrange
	Articulate
	Ascertain
	Assemble
	Assess
	Assign
	Assist
	Assume
	Attain
	Attend
	Attract
	Audit
	Augment
	Author
	Authorize
	Automate
	Avert
	Award
	Bargain
	Begin
	Bolster
	Boost
	Bought
	Brief
	Broaden
	Budget
	Build
	Built
	Calculate
	Calibrate
	Canvass
	Capture
	Care
	Catalog
	Catalogue
	Categorize
	Cater
	Cause
	Centralize
	Chair
	Charge
	Chart
	Check
	Clarify
	Classify
	Co-operate
	Coach
	Code
	Collaborate
	Collate
	Collect
	Combine
	Comfort
	Commence
	Communicate
	Compare
	Compile
	Complete
	Compose
	Compute
	Conceive
	Conceptualize
	Conciliate
	Conclude
	Condense
	Conduct
	Confer
	Confirm
	Connect
	Conserve
	Consider
	Consolidate
	Construct
	Consult
	Contact
	Contract
	Contribute
	Control
	Convert
	Convey
	Convince
	Cooperate
	Coordinate
	Copy
	Correct
	Correlate
	Correspond
	Counsel
	Create
	Critique
	Cultivate
	Customize
	Dealt with
	Debate
	Debug
	Decide
	Decrease
	Dedicate
	Deduce
	Defend
	Defer
	Define
	Delegate
	Deliver
	Demonstrate
	Depict
	Depreciated
	Derive
	Describe
	Design
	Detail
	Detect
	Determine
	Develop
	Devise
	Devote
	Diagnose
	Diagram
	Differentiate
	Direct
	Discharge
	Disclose
	Discover
	Discriminate
	Discuss
	Dispatch
	Display
	Dissect
	Disseminate
	Distinguish
	Distribute
	Diversify
	Document
	Draft
	Draw
	Drew
	Earn
	Edit
	Educate
	Effect
	Elect
	Elicit
	Eliminate
	Emphasize
	Employ
	Enable
	Encourage
	Enforce
	Engineer
	Enhance
	Enlarge
	Enlighten
	Enlist
	Enrich
	Ensure
	Enter
	Entertain
	Enumerate
	Equip
	Establish
	Estimate
	Evaluate
	Examine
	Exchange
	Execute
	Exercise
	Exhibit
	Expand
	Expedite
	Experiment
	Explain
	Explore
	Express
	Extend
	Extract
	Extrapolate
	Fabricate
	Facilitate
	Familiarize
	Fashion
	File
	Filter
	Finalize
	Fine-tune
	Fix
	Focus
	Forecast
	Formulate
	Fortify
	Forward
	Foster
	Found
	Frame
	Fund
	Furnish
	Further
	Gather
	Gauge
	Generate
	Govern
	Grade
	Grant
	Greet
	Guide
	Handle
	Head
	Help
	Highlight
	Hire
	Host
	Identify
	Illustrate
	Impart
	Implement
	Import
	Improve
	Improvise
	Incorporate
	Increase
	Index
	Individualize
	Influence
	Inform
	Initiate
	Innovate
	Inspect
	Inspire
	Install
	Institute
	Instruct
	Insure
	Integrate
	Interact
	Interface
	Interpret
	Intervene
	Interview
	Introduce
	Invent
	Inventory
	Investigate
	Involve
	Join
	Judge
	Justify
	Label
	Launch
	Lead
	Learn
	Lecture
	License
	Lighten
	Liquidate
	List
	Listen
	Litigate
	Lobby
	Localize
	Locate
	Log
	Maintain
	Manage
	Manufacture
	Map
	Market
	Master
	Maximize
	Measure
	Mechanize
	Mediate
	Mentor
	Merge
	Methodize
	Minimize
	Mobilize
	Model
	Moderate
	Modernize
	Modify
	Monitor
	Motivate
	Narrate
	Navigate
	Negotiate
	Notify
	Nurse
	Nurture
	Observe
	Obtain
	Officiate
	Offset
	Operate
	Orchestrate
	Order
	Organize
	Orient
	Orientate
	Originate
	Outline
	Overhaul
	Oversaw
	Oversee
	Package
	Participate
	Perceive
	Perfect
	Perform
	Persuade
	Photograph
	Pilot
	Pioneer
	Plan
	Practice
	Predict
	Prepare
	Present
	Preserve
	Preside
	Prevent
	Print
	Prioritize
	Probe
	Process
	Produce
	Program
	Project
	Promote
	Propose
	Provide
	Publicize
	Publish
	Purchase
	Qualify
	Quantify
	Quote
	Raise
	Ran
	Rank
	Rate
	Read
	Reason
	Recall
	Recognize
	Recommend
	Reconcile
	Record
	Recreate
	Recruit
	Rectify
	Reduce
	Refer
	Refine
	Register
	Regulate
	Rehabilitate
	Reinforce
	Relate
	Related
	Release
	Remodel
	Render
	Renew
	Reorganize
	Repair
	Replace
	Report
	Represent
	Research
	Reserve
	Resolve
	Respond
	Restore
	Restrict
	Retain
	Retrieve
	Revamp
	Reveal
	Review
	Revise
	Revitalize
	Route
	Sample
	Save
	Scan
	Schedule
	Screen
	Script
	Scrutinize
	Search
	Secure
	Segment
	Select
	Serve
	Service
	Set goals
	Set up
	Settle
	Shape
	Share
	Show
	Simplify
	Simulate
	Sketch
	Sold
	Solicit
	Solve
	Sort
	Speak
	Spearhead
	Specialize
	Specify
	Spoke
	Stage
	Standardize
	Start
	Stimulate
	Straighten
	Strategize
	Streamline
	Strengthen
	Structure
	Study
	Submit
	Substantiate
	Substitute
	Suggest
	Summarize
	Supervise
	Supply
	Support
	Surpass
	Survey
	Sustain
	Symbolize
	Synthesize
	Systematize
	Tabulate
	Tail
	Target
	Taught
	Teach
	Tend
	Terminate
	Test
	Theorize
	Time
	Tour
	Trace
	Track
	Trade
	Train
	Transcribe
	Transfer
	Transform
	Translate
	Transmit
	Transport
	Transpose
	Travel
	Treat
	Triple
	Troubleshot
	Tutor
	Uncover
	Undertook
	Unify
	Unveil
	Update
	Upgrade
	Upheld
	Use
	Utilize
	Validate
	Value
	Verify
	View
	Visit
	Visualize
	Vitalize
	Volunteer
	Weigh
	Widen
	Win
	Withdraw
	Witness
	Write

FREE DICTIONARY

(Amazon Link)

Book Description:

ACTIONS: The Actors' Thesaurus is a vital companion for actors in rehearsal—a thesaurus of action words to revitalize performance.

Actors need actions. Actors cannot ‘act’ adjectives, they need verbs. Verbs are an aim to achieve, an action to perform.

‘Actions’ are active verbs. ‘I tempt you.’ ‘You taunt me.’ In order to perform an action truthfully--and therefore convincingly-- an actor needs to find exactly the right action to suit that particular situation and that particular line. That is where this book comes in….

ACTIONS is a thesaurus of active verbs that the actor can use to refine performance until s/he hits exactly the right one to help make the action come alive. ACTIONS: The Actors’ Thesaurus by Marina Caldarone & Maggie Lloyd-Williams has gathered together the (formerly) dogged-eared photocopied lists of action verbs from greenrooms and rehearsal rooms and put them together in this pocket-sized thesaurus. All with a view to helping actors get to the heart of meaning and to a great performance. This thesaurus of action words is indispensable in developing mood, line readings, and acting choices for each and every line.

From the Publisher
This new book just released by Drama Publishers gathers together -- for the first time -- the acting community’s –- formerly — secret lists of action words and makes them available in an organized and comprehensive format.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."