Sign-In
Cart
Audacity to Act Volume One
Hardcover
Publisher Price: $275.00
Please select the version of book you would like to purchase.
ISBN13: 9798995302506
Publisher: Ballet Magique(r)
Published: Apr 27 2026
Pages: 802
Weight: 6.28
Height: 2.25 Width: 8.50 Depth: 11.00
Language: English
Publisher: Ballet Magique(r)
Published: Apr 27 2026
Pages: 802
Weight: 6.28
Height: 2.25 Width: 8.50 Depth: 11.00
Language: English
Audacity to Act is a hybrid acting textbook and memoir in which Anthony W. Johnson fuses technique, history, and personal narrative into a single training roadmap for stage and screen actors. Written primarily for students and teachers, the book argues that true excellence in acting demands more than learning a single Method it requires disciplined work on voice and body, deep reading, cultural and philosophical literacy, and an understanding of how theater and cinema actually function as crafts and industries.
Part One (The Stage) traces the actor's journey from prerequisites like drama, voice, and movement into the major 20th-century acting systems-Stanislavski, Strasberg, Meisner, Chekhov, Hagen, Adler, Shurtleff, and others-followed by Johnson's own syntheses and critiques of each. He then expands into styles (classical, naturalistic, absurdist, film noir, black comedy) and advanced technique, including Soviet theater, Black drama and anthology, Chinese aesthetics, and Eastern and Western philosophy, showing how all of these inform character, theme, and a substantial section on physicality introduces Laban, animal work, anthropomorphism, Viewpoints, Grotowski, Suzuki, Alexander Technique, and an extensive exploration of masks (Greek, neutral, larval, Commedia) as tools for transforming the actor's body and imagination. Part Two (The Screen) shifts to the nuts and bolts of film and television: script and screenplay formats, genre and sub-genre, the differences between spec and shooting scripts, and how actors must read sluglines, action lines, and structure to understand what is being asked of them. Johnson details camera shots, lenses, blocking, fight choreography, chase scenes, falls, falling in love for the first time scenes, and montage (including Eisenstein, The Odessa Steps, The Godfather, Soy Cuba, The Untouchables) to show how performance and camera together create meaning and time on screen. Interwoven throughout are vivid personal stories: his training and racism-scarred conservatory years, his work as a stripper and covert magician's assistant, his experiences in Black theater and Hollywood, and case studies of performances in works like The Boys, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Last Duel, Megalopolis, and Killers of the Flower Moon, used to illustrate both successful and failed acting choices. He also addresses minority typecasting, Black drama, LGBTQ+ literature, and the pressures of representation, urging actors of all backgrounds to use technique to transcend stereotype rather than deny it.The book also includes practical first-aid kit tools-cold reading, dramaturgical questions, props, costuming, energy work, and a set of improvisation and question-based games (including his Ultimate Question Game) designed to force specificity, opinion, and observation into the actor's daily practice. Throughout, Johnson insists that acting is a sacred, collaborative art, not a vehicle for ego: the actor's task is to serve the text, the theme, and the audience with audacity, discipline, imagination, and respect.
Also from
Johnson, Anthony W.
Writing and Religion in England, 1558-1689: Studies in Community-Making and Cultural Memory
Johnson, Anthony W.
Hardcover
$327.59
Also in
Acting & Auditioning
Hollywood Babylon: The Legendary Underground Classic of Hollywood's Darkest and Best Kept Secrets
Anger, Kenneth
Paperback
$10.44
Freeing the Natural Voice: Imagery and Art in the Practice of Voice and Language (Revised & Expanded)
Linklater, Kristin
Paperback
$21.85
How To Succeed At Your Next Audition: An Interactive Guide For Performers Ages 12-18
Neighbor, Jessica W.
Paperback
$11.99
Stay Interesting: I Don't Always Tell Stories about My Life, But When I Do They're True and Amazing
Goldsmith, Jonathan
Paperback
$24.00
Back to the Body: Infusing Physical Life into Characters in Theatre and Film
Rodrigue, Jean-Louis
Weintraub, Scott
Paperback
$23.74
The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition
Bogart, Anne
Landau, Tina
Paperback
$18.95
Solo: The Everything Guide to Writing, Performing, and Producing Your One-Person Show
Ganey, Julie
Malinowski, Arlene
Paperback
$40.80
The Visual Story: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, Tv, and Digital Media
Block, Bruce
Paperback
$64.67
Confessions of a Casting Director: Help Actors Land Any Role with Secrets from Inside the Audition Room
Rudin, Jen
Paperback
$22.99
Art by Committee: A Guide to Advanced Improvisation; Sequel to "Truth in Comedy" [With DVD]
Halpern, Charna
Paperback
$21.80
Fractured Fairy Tales for Student Actors: A Collection of Contemporary Fairy Tale Scenes
Ewen, Jan Peterson
Paperback
$17.05
How to Be a Working Actor, 5th Edition: The Insider's Guide to Finding Jobs in Theater, Film & Television
Henry, Mari Lyn
Rogers, Lynne
Paperback
$24.00
The Screen Actor's Audition: The Craft of Film & Television Auditioning in Any Medium
Scully, Jay
Paperback
$18.95
Truth: Personas, Needs, and Flaws in the Art of Building Actors and Creating Characters
Batson, Susan
Paperback
$23.99
Too Darn Hot: Kiss Me, Kate & the Making and Remaking of a Broadway Musical
Robbins, Hannah
Hardcover
$50.68
Experiencing Speech: A Skills-Based, Panlingual Approach to Actor Training: A Beginner's Guide to Knight-Thompson Speechwork(R)
Parker, Jeffrey
Caban, Andrea
Foh, Julie
Paperback
$76.99
Improv Ideas--Volume 1 and CD: A Book of Games and Lists [With CDROM]
Jones, Justine
Kelley, Mary Ann
Paperback
$23.70
The Art of Voice Acting: The Craft and Business of Performing for Voiceover
Alburger, James R.
Paperback
$67.19
A Beginner's Guide to Acting Methods: Understanding Practitioners and Their Legacies
Shire, Kimberly
Paperback
$43.43
Improv Ideas--Volume 2: A New Book of Games and Lists for the Classroom and Beyond
Jones, Justine
Kelley, Mary Ann
Paperback
$21.80
The Actor's Art and Craft: William Esper Teaches the Meisner Technique
Esper, William
DiMarco, Damon
Paperback
$19.00
How to Avoid The Cutting Room Floor: an editor's advice for on-camera actors
Goldman Ace, Jordan
Paperback
$14.24
Right for the Role: Breakdowns, Breakups and Breakthroughs From 35 Years of Casting Iconic TV Shows
Levey, John Frank
Paperback
$14.20
Thinking Shakespeare (Revised Edition): A Working Guide for Actors, Directors, Students...and Anyone Else Interested in the Bard
Edelstein, Barry
Paperback
$21.80
You Can Go Deep Without Disappearing: The Hobbs Integrated Acting Method (HIAM)
Hobbs, Kevin Tajzea
Paperback
$20.89
Mastering Stand-Up: The Complete Guide to Becoming a Successful Comedian
Rosenfield, Stephen
Paperback
$16.14
Spotlighting the Comedia Actor: Politics, Tradition, and La Vida Es Sueño on Stage
Paredes Ocampo, Eduardo
Hardcover
$174.00
How to Get the Part...Without Falling Apart!: Featuring the Haber Phrase Technique for Actors
Babchick, Barbara
Haber, Margie
Paperback
$22.00
The Acting Book I Wish I Had: Lessons Learned from Navigating the Industry Alone
King, Derrick A.
Paperback
$28.49
Irreverent Acting: A Bold New Statement on the Craft of Acting and Individual Talent
Morris, Eric
Paperback
$16.10