Acting Is Believing

Acting is Believing gives you the distillation of a century's worth of observations, advice, and exercises that will help you find your way as an actor. You also have the advantage of learning, in later chapters, how to approach the business end of an actor's profession, something I had to learn belatedly, pounding the pavements of New York City. --Chris Cooper, Academy Award-winning actor I love the truth of this book and its breadth. I love that the acting process is described in great detail for the novice or professional, yet it's mysterious, too. This is an important book to have on your bookcase to dive back into time and again for insights into our artform. --Molly Smith, Artistic Director, Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater In our volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, it is a rare thing for a classic acting text to retain its relevance as a foundational primer in the principles of the craft as well as a guide to applying those tools in context. Stilson's revisal remarkably does both and is well worth the time spent for the inquisitive practitioner who wishes to investigate the existential dilemmas of the human experience in this ever-evolving global environment to which contemporary dramatists, griots, storytellers, what you will, are responding. --Robert Barry Fleming, Artistic Director of the Actors Theatre of Louisville Loved it! Kenneth L. Stilson was my acting teacher in the mid-90s. Now, several decades into my own journey as a professional actor and acting coach, I'm thrilled to rediscover the foundations he taught years ago in a fresh text that feels wholly relevant and accessible in today's world. Acting is Believing is filled with great advice, exercises, and insights about the art of acting. It's a thorough and engaging text appropriate for both amateurs and seasoned professionals. What I love most about Stilson's Acting is Believing 13th edition is how vital it feels in today's industry. He's brought forward techniques and ideas that made the book a classic to begin with and married it with the intricacies of the industry in the 2020s. It's accessible, authentic, and artistically engaging. Now, in my third decade as a professional actor, Acting is Believing is a great reminder of the foundations of the craft, and also a treasure trove of fresh insights on being a working actor in today's complex theatre business. --Dana Schultes, Executive Producer, Stage West Theatre The acting techniques and exercises in Acting is Believing can give you insights and abilities you will use the rest of your life, no matter what you do for a living. Over the years, this book became my acting bible, and I learned to relax and allow myself to fail often and grow as an actress while discovering how to enjoy the whole learning process. --Marilu Henner, Broadway, film, and television actor This book, perhaps more fundamentally than any other, offers a full investigation of the complexity of the art of acting that is hidden behind the truthful simplicity of the title: 'acting is believing.' Within these pages, an actor will find analysis, exercises, examples, and demonstrations that can guide an individual's exploration of inner creativity; these lead to the phenomenon in which the character and the actor become one in the experience of a living play. Reading this book . . . will elucidate an understanding of what it takes to develop your talent to its maximum capacity. If you follow the logical progression the author provides, you will explore step by step all the means available to make your performances natural and revelatory. --Marshall W. Mason, Tony Award-winning director, acting coach, writer, and founder of the Circle Repertory Company in New York City This staple of the actor's tool kit is now even more essential with the release of the 13th edition. Equally valuable for the actor in training and the seasoned professional, Acting is Believing is a comprehensive, accessible, and practical guide to the core principles of Stanislavski-based acting technique. Of particular value are the guided exercises that help the actor make the technique their own. An indispensable guidepost for the craft of acting today. --Robert M. Hupp, Artistic Director, Syracuse Stage