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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
some things to think about., 24 Nov 2004
"True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor" is exactly that. In this slim volume Mamet exposes many of the troubles that plague the theatre and the art of acting in general.There is much contained here that IS heresy to many actors, he cuts many of Stanislavskis theories to shreds. Whether you personally agree with them or not many of his arguments are sound (although, admittedly the jazz musician analogy is awful). Aditionally, he cuts drama schools to pieces... and he is right. The only thing a drama school is good for is getting contacts, formal acting training does not teach a person to act it teaches a person to become EMPLOYABLE. (Go and see ANY showcase production from ANY drama school and it soon becomes apparent that the performers (talented or otherwise) have been taught to simply go through the motions and follow direction exactly without any element of spontaneity (often even being told EXACTLY how to say each line)) However, interesting and well written his book may be, Mamet does not say anything that hasn't been said at least a thousand times before. The naturalistic theatre of stanislavski died a hundred years ago and has been buried deeper and deeper ever since... and thank GOD! His teachings are still relevant (a fact which Mamet does not deny) but few people take them as gospel. There are also a large number of industry professionals in serious disagreement with the way drama schools teach. Where the book is most interesting is when Mamet writes about the hard life of the actor, writer and director (among others), I found myself nodding when he describes the prejudice an artist can endure fr their choice of career from people who just don't understand (friends from school or family members being a prime example) or those who have tried and given up to become administrators (casting agents and the like). "True and False: Heresy and Common Sense to the Actor" is a concise, well written and fascinating look at the world of the professional actor. Buy it, read it, take the arguments into account and make up your own mind. Just don't believe everything you read.
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