The Actor's Art and Craft cover art

The Actor's Art and Craft

William Esper Teaches the Meisner Technique

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Actor's Art and Craft

By: William Esper, Damon Dimarco, David Mamet
Narrated by: Michael Esper, Damon Dimarco
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

William Esper, one of the leading acting teachers of our time, explains and extends Sanford Meisner's legendary technique, offering a clear, concrete, step-by-step approach to becoming a truly creative actor.

Esper worked closely with Meisner for 17 years and has spent decades developing his famous program for actor's training. The result is a rigorous system of exercises that builds a solid foundation of acting skills from the ground up, and that is flexible enough to be applied to any challenge an actor faces, from soap operas to Shakespeare. Co-writer Damon DiMarco, a former student of Esper's, spent over a year observing his mentor teaching first-year acting students. In this book, he recreates that experience for us, allowing us to see how the progression of exercises works in practice. The Actor's Art and Craft vividly demonstrates that good training does not constrain actors' instincts - it frees them to create characters with truthful and compelling inner lives.

©2008 William Esper and Damon Dimarco (P)2019 Random House Audio
Acting & Auditioning Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV Celebrity Physical Exercise Art Techniques
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Secrets of Screen Acting cover art
Audition cover art
The Method cover art
The Actor's Life cover art
The Voice Exercise Book: The Warm-Ups cover art
The Film Actor's Handbook cover art
Directing Actors cover art
Access Accents cover art
Stop Acting, Start Living cover art
Act cover art
Funny How Life Works cover art
Other People's Lives cover art
Jambalaya cover art
The Positive Side of the Street cover art
The Fictional Man cover art
Universal Laws: 18 Powerful Laws & The Secret Behind Manifesting Your Desires cover art

Critic reviews

"Utterly inspirational.... The best book on the craft of acting that I have ever read." (Mary Steenburgen)

"As far as I'm concerned, there is only way to learn the craft of acting, and that is through the Meisner technique. And there is only one person to learn that technique from, and that is William Esper." (Patricia Heaton)

"The essence of this book is like William Esper himself: kind/clear, caring/generous, passionate/graceful, brilliant/profound. Inspiring. Invaluable." (Jeff Goldblum)

What listeners say about The Actor's Art and Craft

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    63
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    50
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    46
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Essential listening for Actors

I loved the delivery of the key messages a
nd examples of how the lessons were applied. It felt like I was a student in the class - I study acting part time and this complimented me massively in my own performances and understanding characters development and scene objectives. I recommend any want to be actors or novices to check this out book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great narrative on progressing through Meisner

training, enjoyed the way the year was mapped out through classes. A good overview of the work

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Engaging and insightful

Easy to take on board and exercises that are clearly laid out - enjoyable and as an introduction , I learnt a lot about the craft of acting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing Insight

Absolutely captivating. Lovingly captured by Michael revealing the inner beauty and wisdom of Bill. Thanks

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful book

I will be listening to this for many more years to come - so valuable and insightful for any aspiring actor

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Recommend for all actors, directors and teachers!

enjoyed every second of it. plenty of time to digest his teachings and time taken to really allow the listener to learn. exceptional. the narrator does a fantastic job!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An Eye opener

Absolutely Riveting, I want to learn to act with William Esper. I’m so glad I found this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Extremely easy to understand

listened to it while walking . It was really interesting and helpful I got fit while listening .

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

what should be

if the last chapter were 1st I think it would make a more powerful presentation.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Such great mastery.

This is one of the best books on the market for me as an actor.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful