CHAPTER 20

ACTORS' PROBLEMS

 

Sartre said “Hell is other people,” and working under high pressure with a range of temperaments shows how true this is. This chapter is about the mines in the minefield of human relations—concentrating on actors who are the director's main concern. Their job is far from easy, and they will present you with difficulties, most of them interesting and rewarding to solve. You will be unlucky indeed if you hit much that can't be solved with goodwill, but you should be alert to one or two ticking time bombs.

PERCEPTIONS OF ACTING

The public, seeing accomplished performances as a matter of course, assumes acting is easy and pleasant. But actors' work places them under a physical and psychic scrutiny that is rare in ordinary ...

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