The Actor and the Target: New Edition

Not only is this the best book on acting I have yet encountered -- and I have read many -- but it is an amazingly insightful and instructive take on life itself. After having studied Stanislavski at length and feeling quite intrigued and comfortable with his approach, I first was afraid that Donnellan was standing everything on its head and I was going to have to start all over again. But upon further review and more thinking I realize that Donnellan just takes things so much further and into a whole new realm -- something Strasberg thought he was doing, but wasn't. I have read and reread the book several times now and every time it gives me whole new perspectives. This is a book not only for any actor but also for any person who wants to better understand him/herself and the world around them. If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would. Off the scale would be appropriate. This is something every actor and director should read and take to heart. Although they probably won't have a true appreciation of it without an extensive and thorough background in Stanislavski as well as the appropriate patience to explore the depth of Donnellan's writing. But it's certainly well worth it.

I’m an aspiring actor I’ve been taking acting classes for three years now, I think about acting obsessively and reading the introduction of this book the hours and hours of thought I had in my head was written and published and here it was all in one place. Reading this book was like reading a map of my journey as an actor. It validated all of the thoughts I thought were crazy compared to how my non actor friends saw the world. This is an amazing book a MUST read if your an actor of any status. I highly recommend this book I learned so much about how to not get “blocked” or “stuck” while researching/creating/portraying a character along with real world stereotypes actors are faced with like “all actors are liars” and “anyone can learn how to act” There is a reason this book is published in 3 countries. It is Brilliant. And I enjoyed and thought deeply about every paragraph in this book. Thank you for your time, and reading my review. I honestly hope you buy this book weather it is for you or an actor you know.

Declan Donnellan’s book, The Actor and the Target, is a gift to actors. As a long time professional coach and teacher, I find that this book alleviates the actor's feelings of inadequacy by offering solutions to difficulties that can seem overwhelming. He presents practical, merciful, and logical ways to solve problems. His premise is that eliminating self-consciousness will free an actor to work. He presents more wisdom per page than any book on acting I have ever read. Donnellan truly seems to have inhabited actor's psyches and analyzed their struggles. He has offered them a liberating way to think about their work. This is one of the finest delineations of the actor's process that I have read in many years. I first encountered it in its original edition and have been using it to teach more advanced actors ever since. It builds upon the work of Stanislavski, Jung, Adler, Shurtleff, Spolin, Meisner, Uta Hagen, Cicely Berry, Kristin Linklater, and the rest of the Greats. The Actor and the Target probably does require some background in basic acting. However, it is not meant to supplant Stanislavski nor the theorists who followed. In fact, Donnellan wrote the introduction to the newest Stanislavski translation, The Actor's Work, tr Jean Benedetti. Recently I hosted a twelve-week Stanislavski discussion group for actors of all ages and expertise using Benedetti’s work. We stopped at the thirteenth chapter (the first year of training) by their request. During those twelve weeks, I frequently referred to The Actor and The Target in our conversations. The group asked that our next seminar be devoted to Donnellan’s book. We are now in our tenth week examining it, and the actors are truly inspired. It may be that because they have read Stanislavski, they don't find the writing tedious nor the concepts confusing. I strongly recommend that anyone interested in acting read this book and then read it again and again for the many lessons it has to teach.

This book is different. If you are a young actor struggling with understanding playing action, sense memory, substitutions, or if none of these things are part of your process, then don't buy this book.... YET! Instead look into Uta Hagen's book, Respect for Acting, or perhaps even Robert Cohen's book, Acting One. This book assumes that the reader has been trained in modern acting theory, that the actor reading it has understanding of how to play and build a character, and yet still struggles (as we all do) with forms of "block". The author often uses the phrases/teachings of other acting teachers to point out that it is in fact the framing of some of these "tools" that leads to block. Not that the other theorist's ideas are incorrect, but rather that each actor needs to frame his/her process differently, and that the "target" dictates more of the game than we often think. Little of this is plainly stated in the book, much of it is implied, and if the reader hasn't the breadth of experience much of the potential firepower in this text may be missed. Each time you read it you will see another layer. It's a fantastic book for any actor trying to re-evaluate, or sharpen his/her process. It is loaded with truth.

As an actor, if you take the trouble to really assimilate what this author explains, you'll find it's not just obvious but a most invaluable source and thus unquestionably one of the clearest, most ingenious means of "finding yourself" amidst the occasional confusing acting scenes that could have you feeling you're lost. THAT in and of itself qualifies it as a brilliant road map for getting you back on track so you don't stay mired in "not knowing" how to proceed with whatever text you're struggling with. So glad my current acting teacher recommended it but then his own technique could very well be influenced by it. However, I would add that for as insightful and practical as the book is, the occasional digressive musings of the author can make the material dense and a little bit incomprehensible but despite all that do not at all detract from the book's overall greatness. Something in the book particularly resonated. When he stated the uselessness of the actor attempting to answer the classic "Who am I?" question I thought immediately of Daniel Day Lewis who operates in that very manner which at least in part accounts for his being the great actor he is.

I kept looking at this book and leery about buying another book on the craft of acting. I have been an actor for over 25 years and rarely do I come across material that really makes me re-think the way I can approach acting. This book does just that, and I found myslef earmarking, highlighting, and nodding to myself up and down every page. Not a book for the novice, but for anyone who takes the craft seriously, he approaches it with new insights and great wit and humor. Highly, highly, recommended.

This technique in this book is very similar to David Mamet's non-technique. The joy of both is how freeing they are onstage, the text of the play becomes like the net below you and the words and your fellow actors are all together in a high-flying trapeze game. It works even if you don't have any text -- in an improv situation for instance. It's hard to describe, actually, but it makes what could be a dead process come alive every night... and can scare the hell out of everyone around you if they don't understand what is going on. A lot of actors like the old way -- hit your marks, say the word, cock the eyebrow, turn here, pause...curtain. But if you use this technique, and play for the life-or-death stakes that Donnellan and Mamet espouse, well, you'll never be the same again. I highly recommend this book, it is easy to read and understand, but it deals with a highly sophisticated concept that, properly applied, will propel the actor right up off the high bar.

This is not a "how-to" book for the novice, inexperienced actor, but if you do have any experience or training the book is invaluable. I have been an acting teacher for 40 years, and this is the best book on the subject of actor empowerment and living in the moment that I have seen in a couple of decades. The book is a "must read" for any actor, and belongs in a very short list of most important books on the subject.

It's not method acting, it's just a book that answers ANY question you might have when creating a character, preparing a monologue or learning a part. It's systematic, clear, and bold! It wrestles with the topics that are usually swept under the carpet in most classes and books. And it gives you the answer! The most logical, natural, and universal answer. Read it. Then study it. Then live by it.

This book is a great twist of perspective that delivers a road-map to focus on the external world as an anchor from fear into authenticity. Wonderfully complex thoughts phrased by an artist; it's rooted in experience, but phrased in accessible language and concept.

Fantastic book

This is such a great book, full of essence, wittily written and devoid of meaningless bubble. Other reviewers have already covered aspects of this, so all I'll add is that as an actor, this is the kind of book you dream of coming across. Entirely practical, it shows you how to rid of blocks and give your performances life and urgency. It's witty style is thoroughly inspiring. And the revelations in it go much further, into illuminating aspects of the human psyche (as dramatic art should). I read a copy from my library and it was so good that I had to get my own, to festoon with pencil marks and use as a regular acting bible.

So many thought provoking insights about how an actor can approach a role and should approach a role. Simple ways to unravel complicated characters(Juliet from Romeo and Juliet) is the main example he uses. So before you read this book read Romeo and Juliet and it’ll be that much better. My favourite line in the book is “what does your character want to be and what does your character afraid s/he’ll become” Very simple but we all ask ourselves that question and it thrusts us into action!