One of our very own faculty members has written a book that is about to be hot off the press!
Susan R. Applebaum, PH.D. is a theatre professor here at Loyola. Her book, In the Studio with Joyce Piven: Theatre Games, Story Theatre, and Text Work for Actors will be published at the end of September by Bloomsbury Press in the UK:
A practical workbook on the creative process of acting and actor training from the point of view of Joyce and Byrne Piven, professional theatre artists who co-founded The Piven Theatre Workshop in 1971. There they developed a way of working that blends two major approaches to actor training – the improvisational method, and the “Stanislavski System”. As actors, stage directors and teachers, Joyce and Byrne Piven’s constantly evolving training led to discoveries in how to release the actor through the play of game work, through a heightened physicality, through a building of the group energy, and through the organic flow of class design. This book sets down their tried and tested approach which has evolved from over 40 years of work at at an acclaimed and important Chicago based theatrical training institution. Part I covers improvisation and theatre games. Part II introduces the concept of “encounter.” Finding the encounter of a moment (the emotional experience at the heart of a set of given circumstance) is discussed and explored through scenes from story theatre workshops, examples of actor coaching in class settings and in the rehearsal and performance of play texts, as well as examples of the adaptation of myths. The book ends with an alphabetical appendix of games.
It is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.
