Why Do Actors Train: Embodiment for Theatre Makers and Thinkers

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How are we to understand the actors work as a fully embodied process 'Embodied cognition' is a branch of contemporary philosophy which attempts to frame human understanding as fully embodied interaction with the environment. Engaging with ideas of contemporary significance from neuroscience, psychology, linguistics, and philosophy, Why Do Actors Train challenges the outmoded dualistic notions of body and mind that permeate common conceptions of how actors work. Theories of embodiment are drawn up to shed important light on the ways and reasons actors do what they do. Through detailed, step-by-step analyses of specific actor-training exercises, the author examines the tools that actors use to bring life and meaning to the stage. This book provides theatre practitioners and scholars alike with a new lens to re-examine the craft of acting, offering a framework to understand the art form as one that is fundamentally grounded in embodied experience.

Reviews

Krumholz has provided both the scholarship and tools for a new insight and understanding of the art of theatre and specifically the craft of acting that is essential in delivering the art. Theatre professionals, educators, students and historians will find this a revelatory and engaging exploration. * Joseph V Melillo, Executive Producer Emeritus. Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) *
How do the actions of everyday life change when theyre performed under the eyes of an audience Drawing on the growing field of embodied cognition and his own extensive experience in acting, directing, and actor training, Brad Krumholz answers this question with a rich account of actingand actor trainingas dynamic, relational, sensorimotor processes. Bristling with insights, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in why actors train and what this training accomplishes. * Stanton B. Garner Jr., James Douglas Bruce Professor of English and Theatre, University of Tennessee, USA *
Why Do Actors Train is a vitally important book for actors, students, scholars, and instructors who wish to better understand embodied cognition in actor training and how they might utilize it within their own practice. * Anne Bogart *
Some books might tell you that the body is important without going much beyond this slogan. This book tells you why! A sharp and careful analysis of the many ways theatre practice might be said to be embodied. Brad Krumholz expertly engages in some of the most recent contemporary philosophical theories and opens up a way for theatre scholars and practitioners to think differently. * Frdrique de Vignemont, CNRS Research Director, Jean Nicod Institute, Paris, France *
A thorough and thoughtful book full of astonishing ideas and intriguing proposals! * Christopher Bayes, Professor in the Practice of Acting and Head of Physical Acting at David Geffen School of Drama, Yale University, USA *
Why Do Actors Train is a thoroughly considered analysis of what is happening at the site of performance. I felt invited to encounter myself as a performer and a human being through a different lens, thus reconsidering myself onstage and off. * Jenn Kidwell, Performing Artist *

Author Bio

Brad Krumholz is Assistant Professor and Head of Production for the Theatre Department at Hunter College, NY, USA. He is also Executive Artistic Director and Co-Founder of North American Cultural Laboratory (www.NACL.org). His recent publications include "The Problem of Movement Theatre" in Movement for Actors (Methuen Drama, 2013) and Locating the Ensemble: NACL Theatre and the Ethics of Collaboration in Encountering Ensemble (Methuen Drama, 2013).