Synopses & Reviews
Here is the thoroughly revised third edition of the bible of improvisational theater.
Viola Spolin's improvisational techniques changed the very nature and practice of modern theater. The first two editions of Improvisation for the Theater sold more than 100,000 copies and inspired actors, directors, teachers, and writers in theater, television, film. These techniques have also influenced the fields of education, mental health, social work, and psychology.
Also available: Spolin's
Review
"Her book is the bible." --Rob Reiner
Review
"It's like basic research ... she [has] changed the theater for generations." --Alan Alda
Review
"She has genius and shares it." --Valerie Harper
Synopsis
Viola Spolin's improvisational techniques changed the very nature and practice of modern theater. The first two editions of Improvisation for the Theater sold more than one hundred thousand copies and inspired actors, directors, teachers, and writers in theater, television, and film. These techniques have also influenced the fields of education, mental health, social work, and psychology.
Synopsis
Here is the thoroughly revised third edition of the bible of improvisational theater. Viola Spolin's improvisational techniques changed the very nature and practice of modern theater.
About the Author
Viola Spolin, the originator of theater games, was introduced to the use of games, storytelling, folk dance, and dramatics as tools for stimulating creative expression in the 1920s while a student of Neva Boyd at Chicago's Hull House. During her years as a teacher and supervisor of creative dramatics there, she began to develop her nonverbal, nonpsychological approach. Her books have been translated into Swedish, German, and Portuguese. She died in 1994.
Paul Sills is Viola Spolin's son and the founding director of Chicago's Second City and of Story Theater. He is the coeditor of the third edition of Improvisation for the Theater.
Table of Contents
Editor's Note
Paul Sills' Introduction
Paul Sills' Sayings of Viola Spolin
Alphabetical List of Exercises
Acknowledgments
Viola Spolin's Preface to the First Edition
Viola Spolin's Preface to the Second Edition
THEORY AND FOUNDATION
I. Creative Experience
II. Workshop Procedures
EXERCISES
III. Orientation
IV. Where
V. Acting with the Whole Body
VI. Non-Directional Blocking
VII. Refining Awareness
VIII. Broadcasting, and Technical Effects
IX. Developing Material for Situations
X. Speech and Rounding-Out Exercises
XI. Emotion
XII. Character
CHILDREN AND THE THEATER
XIII. Understanding the Child
XIV. Fundamentals for the Child Actor
XV. Workshop for Six-to-Eight-Year-Olds
FORMAL THEATER AND IMPROVISATIONAL THEATER
XVI. Preparation
XVII. Rehearsal and Performance
XVIII. Post-Mortem and Special Problems
DEFINITIONS
Definition of Terms
Glossary of Side-Coaching Phrases
APPENDIXES
Appendix I. New Exercises
Appendix II. Traditional Games