During its fifty year run, Theatre Arts Magazine was a bustling forum for the foremost names in the performing arts, including Stanislavski, Laurence Olivier, Lee Strasberg, John Gielgud and Shelley Winters. Renowned theatre historian Laurence Senelick has plundered its stunning archives to assemble a stellar collection of articles on every aspect of acting and theatrical life.
'The successful leading players of today stand on an uneasy bridge between two extremes of theatrical development. Behind us lie the glories of tradition, the grand manner, the star system ... Before us lie the fear of convention and imitation, the demand for novelty, the restless, impatient craving for easy success.' John Gielgud
'I hate actors who bump into the furniture, or stand where they seem to be goosed by an armchair, or are frightened by tables, beds, lamps, doors and the surroundings in general.' Hume Cronyn
Introduction Acting in the American Tradition Acting and the New Stagecraft, by Walter Pritchard Eaton The Place of the Actor in the New Movement, by Claude King Billets doux, by Stark Young Paul Muni: a Profile and a Self-Portrait, by Morton Eustis Margaret Sullavan, by John Van Druten Comedienne from Radcliffe: Josephine Hull, by William Lindsay Gresham Laurette Taylor, by Norris Houghton Seven Interviews in Search of Good Acting Off-Broadway, by Aimee Scheff That Wonderful Deep Silence, by Shelley Winters Shakespeare and the American Actor, by John Houseman Geraldine Page, the Irony of a Legend, by Joseph Carroll Jason Robards, Jr, by John Keating George C. Scott, by Jack Balch Maureen Stapleton, by Gilbert Millstein Dear Diary, by Hume Cronyn Julie Harris, by John Keating The British Legacy A Crux in English Acting, by Alastair Cooke Acting in My Time, by St. John Irvine An Artist's Apprenticeship, by John Gielgud The Gielgud Macbeth, by Ashley Dukes John Gielgud, by Alan Dent The Actor as Biographer: Wilfred Lawson, by Rosamund Gilder Gertrude Lawrence, by Theodore Strauss The Oliviers, by Sewell Stokes Sir Laurence and Larry, by Alan Pryce-Jones Shaw and the Actor: Rex Harrison and SiobhIAn McKenna on Their Roles An Actor Stakes His Claim, by Cedric Hardwicke Albert Finney, by Audrey Williamson Foreign Modes of Performance How Reinhardt Works with His Actors, by Gertrud Eysoldt The Month of Duse (excerpts), by Kenneth Macgowan Eleonora Duse, by F. Bruno Averardi Giovanni Grasso, by Stark Young Mei Lan Fang, by Stark Young The Acting of the Abbey Theatre, by Andrew J. Stewart The Actor and the Revolution, by Pavel Markov Child of Silence, by Jean-Louis Barrault Louis Jouvet, the Triumph of Deceit, by Monroe Stearns Lotte Lenya, by David Beams Stanislavsky and His Followers Stanislavsky's Speech to His Players Perspective on Character Building, by Konstantin Stanislavsky Fundamentals of Acting, by Richard Boleslawski An Actor Prepares: a Comment on Stanislavski's Method, by John Gielgud An Actor Prepares: Comments on Stanislavski's Methods, by Robert Sherwood, Harold Clurman and Norris Houghton The Group Theatre in Its Tenth Year, by John Gassner The Actor's Lab, by Dwight Thomas and Mary Guion Griepenskerl Past Performance, by Lee Strasberg An Actor Must Have 3 Selves, by Michael Chekhov A Study of Actors Studio, by Maurice Zolotow A Point of View and a Place to Practice, by Robert Lewis Wanted: More Stars, Less Method, by Sherman Ewing The Actor and His Role The Actor Attacks His Part: Lynne Fontanne and Alfred Lunt A Play in the Making: The Lunts Rehearse Amphritryon 38, by Morton Eustis The Actor Attacks His Part: Katherine Cornell The Actor Attacks His Part: Burgess Meredith The Dancing Actor Attacks His Part: Fred Astaire The Singing Actress Attacks Her Part: Lotte Lehman Great Roles Reborn: Bette Davis Tells How Regina, the Old Maid and Miss Moffatt Came to the Screen, by Roman Bonen Technical Matters The Voice in the Theatre, by Stark Young Illusion in Acting, by Stark Young The Lazy Actor, by John Shand Type-casting the 8th Deadly Sin, by Edith Isaacs The Moribund Craft of Acting, by Cedric Hardwicke Speak the Speech, I Pray You, by John Gielgud Notes on Film Acting, by Hume Cronyn The Actor as Thinker, by Eric Bentley GLOSSARY OF PROPER NAMES