Actions: The Actor's Thesaurus

An essential companion for actors in rehearsal - a thesaurus of action words to revitalise performance.

Actors need actions. They cannot act moods. They need to be doing something with each and every line. They need verbs.  They need an aim to achieve, and an action selected to help achieve that aim.

'Actions' are active verbs. In order to perform a line truthfully, the actor needs to find exactly the right action to suit that particular situation and that particular line. That is where this book comes in...

It is a thesaurus of active verbs, with which the actor can refine the acting choice until s/he hits exactly the right action to help make each line come alive. 'Actioning' is a widely used rehearsal and performance technique: this book makes it available for the first time in an organised and comprehensive form.

(Source: Actions: The Actor's Thesaurus Blurb)

Donated by the estate of Tim Nga.