The Invisible Actor

(Paperback)

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The Invisible Actor presents the captivating and unique methods of the distinguished Japanese actor and director, Yoshi Oida. While a member of Peter Brook's theatre company in Paris, Yoshi Oida developed a masterful approach to acting that combined the oriental tradition of supreme and studied control with the Western performer's need to characterise and expose depths of emotion. Written with Lorna Marshall, Yoshi Oida explains that once the audience becomes openly aware of the actor's method and becomes too conscious of the actor's artistry, the wonder of performance dies. The audience must never see the actor but only his or her performance. Throughout Lorna Marshall provides contextual commentary on Yoshi Oida's work and methods. In a new foreword to accompany the Bloomsbury Revelations edition, Yoshi Oida revisits the questions that have informed his career as an actor and explores how his skilful approach to acting has shaped the wider contours of his life.

Reviews

Yoshi Oida shows how the mysteries and secrets of performance are inseparable from a precise, concrete and detailed science learned in the heat of experience. The vital lessons he passes on to us are told with such lightness and grace that typically the difficulties become invisible. -- Peter Brook

Author Bio

Yoshi Oida became the first member of Peter Brook's international theatre company in Paris in 1968. Trained in the traditional Japanese arts of Noh theatre, Kabuki dance and Bunraku storytelling, since joining he has become a leading member of the company. He participated in the extraordinary explorative journey through Africa, and has played starring roles in The Ik, The Conference of the Birds, The Mahabharata and The Tempest. He was made Chevalier de l'Ordre des Art et des Lettres in 1992, and in 2007, made an officer of the same order. Lorna Marshall has taught physical acting to performers in almost every area, from ballet dancers to classical actors and opera singers, and from performance artists to circus acts. She has worked with companies such as The Royal Shakespeare Company, Shared Experience, The Royal National Theatre, and The Consort of Musicke. She runs international workshops and is currently Honorary Research Fellow at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and Adviser on Actor Training at the New National Theatre, Tokyo.