Reviews for Audition Book: Winning Strategies for Breaking into Theater, Film, and Television

The average rating for Audition Book: Winning Strategies for Breaking into Theater, Film, and Television based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-12-27 00:00:00 Jean-Francois Leblanc I was introduced to the work of Augusto Boal by a woman whom I admire greatly. She is a gardener, a writer, an activist, and a performer. She spent time in Brazil studying Theatre of the Oppressed techniques with landless workers there, and now has brought the techniques and skills she learned there back to the States, where she conducts workshops in the practice, among other things. As an ESOL and writing teacher, I don't always make room in my syllabi for my political work. Many would suggest that I should leave those things at home; the classroom is for skills and content. However, the more I reflect on my convictions and beliefs, the more I come to consider radical practice a fundamental part of what I do, what I should do, what I aspire to do. I have recently been running up against this notion of "practice" - is it really "practice" when it is a way of life? It seems to me that practice, then, is something deeper. It becomes more like a "way," when we think of a "way" as a "Tao." It is one of the paths one can walk - either we walk that path, or we walk another, but we do not pick and choose when to be on it and when to get off, depending on the hat we wear. We simply stay on the path. In any case, I think that radical practice - a radical path - for a teacher in my position means truly considering my students - in my case, students often considered "at-risk": immigrants, refugees, single parents, first-generation college students, minorities, individuals recently released from prison, workers without jobs - as humans, as valued, reflective, intelligent individuals with interests and a great capacity to teach and learn from one another. It means recognizing their various challenges, and celebrating and supporting their strengths. It also means trying new things. The techniques outlined in Games for Actors and Non-Actors transformed my understanding of how to relate to a group of people. I have tried several of the games in my classes, and have had nothing but outstanding positive results, ranging from puzzled introspection leading to insight, to shrieking delight and the mad joy of freedom that comes from doing some that feels both very new and very, very natural. I am grateful for the constant reminder that, as a teacher, I must always continue to learn.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-01-09 00:00:00 Frank Calogero Boal, a man who truly understands the balance between artistry and education, provides an excellent set of instructive methods for theatre practitioners, or indeed, any one interested in using theatre to help colleagues, friends or patients, access difficult elements within their own natures. While I can't speak to this book's validity as a text for artistic therapy, I can say that reading this book sparked such a desire to teach and see these exercises in practice, that it was all I could do not to walk up to random people on side walks and say: "excuse me, do you feel like playing a little game called 'Analogy'?" But then I remembered that such educator related neuroses probably would not be looked upon favorably by those who renew my teaching license. Still, the strength of Boal lies in his gentle, considerate guidance. The same manners he used in running his own workshops are on display in the text here. He doesn't mandate obedience to the forms, but rather offers assistance. Any teacher who hopes to help students on their way to greater artistry could benefit from a review of Boal's methods.