No comments about Dead Man's Cell Phone.

2 comments about Blackbird: A Play (Faber and Faber Plays).

1. Fifteen years ago, Una and Ray had a relationship when Una was 12 and Ray was 40. They haven't set eyes on each other since. Now she's found him again.
   
   I bought this play after seeing it performed. It's the kind of play that follows you around for days after you've seen it.
   
   I think it's a valuable play to have on the bookshelf if you are interested in writing plays. You can learn a lot about sub-text in reading this play.
   
   
   It's a very brave play and I really feel that David Harrower spent the time to really get into his characters skins. Both characters seem very authentic in an amazing, yet in a very disturbing way.
   
   This play in essence I think is about the hold a pedophile can have over his victim and the complex relationship the victim can have with her perpetrators memory.
   
   Although disturbing I thought the structure of the play was brilliant. If you love plays you need to have this on your bookshelf.



2. Although the formatting of the text threw me off a bit (it read like a free verse poem at first) after the first page I got used to it and the story and characters totally gripped me. Very powerful, very naturalistic dialogue, and a lot of brilliant subtext. The story deals with two very damaged people trying to get on with their lives in their own way. I wish I had the chance to see the stage production, but reading it is almost as good.

5 comments about Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama.

1. Through studying David Mamet's theories, I came to realise that a character can be understood not only through what they do, but also through what they say. My style has started to incorporate Mamet's technique of having characters talk, often to each other, as well as to express themselves through physical acts like gestures and walking. The education in this book has convinced me to abandon my earlier style, where characters have wordless internal monologues while not moving for a play's 2 or 3 hour duration.
   
   3 stars.



2. This book is a great essay about dramaturgy and politics that evolves some philosophical and psychological theories.



3. I bought this book when it first came out in hardcover. It was about triple the price that it is now on Amazon, and many people I knew thought I was insane to buy such a small book for a high price.

   But to me -- it was all too worth it.

   David Mamet is all at once a very clear writer and a very mysterious writer. Critics of this particular book mainly see fault in its "seeming" lack of clarity -- Mamet has the intellect of an academic but does not feel that he should write like a dry academic because ACADEMIC PAPERS ARE BORING -- right? At least, I think so.

   Three Uses of The Knife -- I've read it about 30 times, I've underlined my favorite parts, and the dust jacket is falling to shreds. When I had Mamet sign it at a book reading he gave me this confused look because everyone had a brand-new book (it was South of the Northeast Kingdom) and I had this tattered one. I had to have that book signed because that book is really awesome and means a lot to me (it taught me alot).

   Wether you love it or hate it you have to appriciate it. Mamet's genius is undeniable, and the confidence he enbues in his writing is unforgettable.




4. This reads like a weekend brainstorm into the dictaphone, or party-chatter with metropolitan friends. First glance - you've got the large font, wide-margins and generous line-spacing to pad these notes out into a book. Then you notice that nearly every paragraph includes several parenthetical thoughts (like I just had another way-outer to squeeze in here, okay?), plus quoted after-thoughts (sorry, couldn't find "the right words" just then, you know?) - and foreign phrases swept in from every part of the old country - like this gem: "This pronunciamento can be taken as a jejune promise". Footnoted brain-sprinkles complete the overall intellectual profile of this work.

   The reader doesn't get any help to piece it all together. Eventually, you might suspect Mamet has something to say about the "three acts" of theatre (no other dramatic structures apparently exist). Mamet dips here and there into the function of drama, his bold thesis being that theatre is magic. Theatre, he declares, is a place of wonder, and no place for popular entertainment or politics. We are to walk out of theatres with "cleansing awe", knowing we are "sinful and worthless".

   Mamet never considers any ideas apart from his own. He draws heavily on the Old Testament and a primer on Freud for back-up, but no theatre theorists ever get a mention - apart from Brecht, with a single word, namely: "problematic".

   Most of "Three Uses" is actually nothing to do with theatre. It's an outpouring of quotables about statesmanship, the "Information Age", the psychology of the masses, the causes of gambling ... all argued with arrogant inconsistency: Mamet rails against "centralisation by the body politic", and then derides all manner of extremism; he argues against "avant garde nonsense" with absurd phrases like "In endorsing a blank canvas, or the Domino Theory, the individual becomes like a King Canute". For Mamet, "good art" is no more than The Bible, Shakespeare and Bach, plus an American work - "Death of a Salesman", of course. There are no surprises in the ideas, however much they're dressed to impress with showy associations and stiff fundamentalism. Too bad that the result is more like a freshman's freewheeling weblog on "life", than anything from the likes of Brook or Grotowski on "the theatre". American critics equating it with such works is no more than chauvinism.

   One use of the knife Mamet forgot was editing. Then he might have been able to communicate something useful here - into 3 or 4 pages. But there's no holding back the primary process exhibitionist. You have to get out the knife and do the editing yourself.
   
   Oh, yes, the knife. Nice title, and it's the substance of a few lines near the end, which Mamet cares - and seems only able - to explain by offering more curly metaphor: "the knife is the dramatist's bass line". Meaning? Dramatists are misanthropes who basically want to kill their audiences? Who knows, but the meandering content and grandiose style of this work sure suggests Mamet's fundamental contempt for the reader.




5. I just got this book this morning and these are preliminary reactions.
   First of all, the content rocks!
   Mamet suggestivey points out how we dramatize our lives in our banal exchanges with each other about impersonal things like the weather. In doing so we endow our lives with significance. The insight reminds me of how charged the world once was when I was in love for the first time. I am sure that the access that this small volume gives to an interesting mind repay reading and reading. This is one of those books that makes you think and makes you feel clever for the thinking the thoughts it guides you to.
   Unfortunately, I find the poor word-processed typography is distracting. One line has the the initial capital of a sentence squeezed up against the period of the preceding one. The next line has wide open spaces between the words. Paragraph after paragraph finishes with the dangling ends of hyphenated words. I would rather pay a dollar more for a clean view of a remarkable mind.
   Surely a respected publishing company can do better than just feed the author's data file to a poorly automatic compositing application and then print the results unperused by human eye?

2 comments about Hamlet (Arkangel Shakespeare).

1. This really is "The Tragical History of Hamlet Prince of Denmark" and not only the Prince but his family. Not only his family but his friends. Not only his friends but all though that came before him and is told to those that came after him.
   
   You can slow down and pick apart many underlying themes and may of the phrases that now challenge Bible sayings in today's sound bites. But the real fun is in just reading the story and you will find that it is not as foreign as you may have thought.
   A quick synopsis is that Old Hamlet conquered Old Fortinbras seizing his land. Now that Old Hamlet is dead, Young Fortinbras wants his land back and is willing to take it by force. Meanwhile back in Dänemark Young Hamlet who is excessively grieving for the loss of his father, gets a now insight from his fathers ghost. Looks like he was a victim of a "murder most foul"; it looks like his mother and uncle were in cahoots on the murder.
   
   The story is about what each person felt and acted or did not act upon the situation.
   You will find many movies and perverted imitations of the story but nothing will replace the original that was intended to be watched but reads well.
   You may like different audio and audio dramatizations.



2. What a terrific find! I got the Romeo and Juliet cd from the same company and was very pleased. So, I tried Macbeth. This is the finest interpretation of the parts I have ever heard. The readers even speak with Scottish accents. This a dramatized version, complete with sound effects. My students love it.

5 comments about Improvise.: Scene from the Inside Out.

1. I read this book while I was taking an improv class, in order to help me with my scene work. If you can get past the author's rambling (it would probably have been a 10 page book but for the pages of stream-of-consciousness writing), it is clear that the author has a great deal of improv experience. Many of his suggestions come from a beginner's point of view, which is very helpful. It also is based on the concept "truth in improv" and shows the reader that it is not necessary to be funny, but merely to be something. I would suggest this book for anyone who is trying their hand at improv and needs help getting out of their head.



2. This is probably one of the better books out their for beginning improvisers and for improv teachers to use as a resource or textbook for college level or high school level improv classes. Having worked and done workshops with members of the Annoyance Theatre, I will say that they are the leaders in improvisational study and experimentation today. Highly recommend for pros as a reminder of the basics and for beginners to learn how to make their improvisation techniques in either long form or short form sharper.



3. I enjoyed this book very much. Rather than force you to learn what NOT to do in improv (The Rules) he explains why he thinks the rules came to be and why they are not necessarily important. He focuses more on what works and what doesn't. To do good improv you need to be out of your head, rather than in your head filtering through rules and determining what your correct response should be. Use your total brain power reacting and creating! He then presents concepts that can be used to advance scenes to a higher level. Best of all he has numerous things to practice at home, by yourself, to help you become a better improvisor. I read this and Truth in Comedy at the same time. They are both very good but I liked this one better for where I am in improv right now.



4. This book has a slightly different way of approaching improv than most other books. This "slightly" different way is, however, an enormous important insight. Napier turns things upside down: bad improv doesn't come from breaking the improv-rules, but people break the improv rules because they play in a scene that is not going well. Napier suggests we get rid of rules. Instead of telling us excactly what to do or what not to do (which gets us into our head), he gives us improv players ways of entering a scene which makes us do all the good stuff without second (or first) thoughts. The psychology of an improv player is very accurately analysed. Since reading this book, I discovered improved results with my improv classes. However, although I think Napiers book is a very important step in discovering how to play improvised theatre, I think this book is too one-sided to use as a sole source. It is very good "anti-dote" against where the classical improv methods go wrong. But the book is too one-sided to replace them.



5. The order process was fast and I received the book in a timely fashion. I would do business with this seller again.

2 comments about Ballet for Dummies.

1. I like this book.This book is what I was looking for.It covers all basics with a very simple description and you don`t have to dig for the further explanation somwhere else.Author do not assume that every person in the world knows at least 1% of ballet terminology.
   Thanks a lot for this book!This is what I was looking for



2. This is absolutely the perfect book for someone wanting to learn (or learn about) ballet. I have seen the other ballet books out there. Most of them are either too simplistic (showing pictures of various pretty moves without telling you how to do them) or too abstract. This book strikes the ideal balance. It is practical and thorough. It doesn't assume any prior experience in ballet, but goes from square 1 to a quite advanced level. It takes you through the same logical sequence of moves that all dancers learn. It offers tons of tips and inside information that only ballet dancers know. It's very well written and easy to read. The expert authors are knowledgeable, patient, and VERY FUNNY. (A laugh on every page -- I didn't expect that added bonus.). And it has what seems like about a million beautiful photographs illustrating each move in great detail. I can't say enough great things about this book. It's the book I've been waiting for. Buy it!

5 comments about Gotta Tango (Book & DVD).

1. 
   The Tango was a slightly salacious dance that had its origins in the barrios of Argentina and went on to achieve widespread popularity in the dance halls of Europe and America in the early decades of the 20th Century -- a popularity in ball room dancing that persists to this day. Profusely illustrated and with an accompanying DVD, "Gotta Tango: Argentine Tango Anywhere, Anytime" is the collaborative work of Tango experts and instructors Albert Paz and Valorie Hart. Offering (quite literally) a step-by-step instruction guide, "Gotta Tango" is the ideal do-it-yourself manual for men and women wanting to master and then excel in their performance of this Latin American dancing tradition. All of the concepts, techniques, flourishes and flairs associated with the Tango are covered in depth and in detail. This book/DVD combination is the perfect format and forum for instruction for the novice dancer (as well as a perfect brush up resource for even experienced Tango dancers coming back to the dance after an absence) and is enthusiastically recommended for personal, dance school, and community library instructional reference collections.



2. This innovative combination of text and DVD provides a unique resource for tango dancers at any level and for instructors as well. We have recommended it to our own students and have found it an appreciated gift to other teachers.
   
   The well-organized information carries the reader/viewer from the most fundamental aspects of the dance into the realm of complex techniques and improvisation, while providing a thorough understanding of concepts and dynamics behind the techniques along the way.
   
   After a first reading, don't put it away. Both the book and the video will be valuable, long-term references.



3. From the opening description of an eager and silent arrival at a nameless milonga, through the loving details of historical and musical significance, and with a thorough and conscientious discussion of the mechanics of the dance, Alberto Paz and Valorie Hart present a beautiful and invaluable resource for lovers, and future lovers, of Argentine Tango.
   
   Theirs is a methodical approach, gleaned from a tireless dedication to understanding and teaching the structure of this dance, and they hold the keys to unlock for their readers the passion and wonder that so many tangueros worldwide have been fortunate enough to find.
   
   Their detailed and descriptive text is accompanied by diagrams, photographs, and an accompanying DVD, all of which contribute to their enlightening discussion of the mechanics of Argentine Tango. It is well-ordered, logical, and thorough. I found their discourse on the musical history of tango to be especially fascinating, as well. It left me wanting more--and I hope that they do plan to give us more.
   
   Paz and Hart's text is voiced richly and fully by the historian, by the musical theorist, by the accomplished dancer, by the compassionate and skilled teacher, and ever by the dedicated lover of tango. We are exceedingly fortunate to have this timeless resource by master teachers Alberto Paz and Valorie Hart.
   
   I agree with a previous reviewer that it should be "required reading" for any student and lover of Argentine Tango!



4. GOTTA TANGO (Book and DVD)
   
   There are several excellent reviews that have already been written describing the contents of "Gotta Tango", and its long term importance as a tango resource.
   
   What I want you to understand is something of its revolutionary significance and value as a teaching tool. Everyone knows the old adage `those who can, do, and those who can't teach.' In the case of Paz and Hart, it should read `those who can do, should do, and leave the teaching to someone who really knows how to teach!' They are among the few who not only understand and can effectively communicate the structure of the dance...their brilliance as teachers has allowed them to present the material in a variety of creative ways, so that it is accessible to students with varying learning styles.
   
   There is first the written text, expressing an overview of the concepts being presented. Then there are step by step directions on how to properly execute the particular movements. There are diagrams (cleverly drawn from above) so one can grasp the pattern and flow of the movements, and there are photographs, allowing one to see the authors executing the steps. Each section of material also references the accompanying DVD, where one can see the movements in motion. The DVD has voice over as well as printed text-over so one can reinforce the visual concepts that way as well.
   
   In short, if you read this book, you are going to dance better. If you don't yet dance, you are going to want to dance, joining the tangueros and tangueras of past and future times, sharing Valorie and Alberto's love and passion for the tango.



5. Gotta Tango (Book & DVD)
   Compact, informative and fun, this integrated digital and print textbook should be "required reading" for all students of Argentine Tango. It is not another coffee-table Tango book. Myth-busters Paz and Hart concentrate the founding history, culture and traditions of the Tango in the initial chapters. They follow this with clear and concise explanations of all the core movements; the text integrates seamlessly with the DVD chapters. All material is representative of the essential elements of Tango covered in some of the most expensive and exclusive classes around the world. Unlike many other "master" teachers, this American-Argentine duo clarifies every term and movement with precision and elegance. Both novice and expert have much to learn from "Gotta Tango".

3 comments about Intercultural Communication: A Reader (with InfoTrac®).

1. I have taught with several of the major readers on the market: Samovar and Porter's, Nakayama and Martin, and others. This text has the most well written readings and contains articles on many seminal issues, context (Hall), time (Hall), etc. This text has the LEAST blatantly fluff filled articles intended only to titillate and pander to students. Additionally, if you review some of the other texts, you will see that they often have poorly referenced articles and the work is less than scholarly. It is possible to write a chapter for a reader such as this and support your content with support and references. The articles here are interesting, well written, well referenced, and more-grounded in theory and research than a lot of the competition. I recommend it highly. MLK



2. I was lucky enough to take a class from Professor Samovar. This was a great book and a good introduction to intercultural communication.



3. Intercultural Communication : A Reader by Larry A. Samovar (Editor), Richard E. Porter Paperback 9th edition (July 1999) Wadsworth Pub Co;

5 comments about True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor.

1. This book was recommended to me by a successful actor and I really enjoyed reading it.



2. This book is both true and false. Mamet shares some brilliant insights and just when you are ready to drink the koolaid, he says something so unbelievably ridiculous and generalized that you literally throw the book down in disgust - or at least I did. In the end, however, the good outweighs the bad and the insights are worth the outrage.



3. I read this to find ways to improve my performance as a magician. I got a great deal out of this book. However, I would rather go practice than spend time reviewing ! This book is a steal, buy it.



4. Acclaimed screenwriter and playwright David Mamet has written "True and False," a provocative, intentionally revolutionary book on acting in which he attempts, with varied success, to sweep aside most acting theories and to reduce acting to simply and actively communicating the play (or film) to the audience by doing something like what the writer has shown the character to be doing.
   
   While this is fundamentally true, and the way Mamet develops it hits the reader like a breath of fresh air, Mamet often throws the baby away with the bathwater. For example, acting schools and most acting teachers are seen as authoritarian charlatans, when many of them in my experience encourage the very truthful self-realization that Mamet champions!
   
   Mamet also seems to believe that doing any research on the world of the play or on the kind of human being your role suggests prevents you from being truthful in the moment of performance, while the experience of great actor-teachers like Uta Hagen (and my own experience as both actor and audience) indicates precisely the opposite.
   
   In general, valuable acting techniques that help the actor to truly commit to his task in the scene, with high personal stakes and a deep emotional resonance, are discarded not only as useless and unplayable but also as harmful.
   
   Mamet is right that acting is finally simple, but it's not as simple as he makes it, and thereby he robs it of much of its range and richness. It's great for me the actor to commit 100% to my action on stage/screen, but what skills do I actually use to do that? And how do I bring an ever deeper, richer, more complex, and truthful me to the task in a way that both enlightens and entertains the audience? These questions are answerable but not with the oversimplified method that Mamet presents.
   
   Nevertheless, "True and False" is an enjoyable and constantly provocative meditation on our contemporary state of acting--and of living--that no actor should miss. Even though I cannot agree with all of his answers, Mamet's enduring questions about what is true and false in life and onstage makes this book a must-read.



5. I love this book. It changed my life. The passion and logic of Mr. Mamet's argument outshines his most controversial statements. The main thing that might bother some people is his assertion that drama school, or any school for that matter, is a waste of time. I agree with him. Artists are rebels. If you don't like that, then you probably belong in school.
   
   True artists stand up, speak up, and follow their own good opinion. The rest is just funny voices.

4 comments about Tom Stoppard: Plays 5 : Arcadia, The Real Thing, Night & Day, Indian Ink, Hapgood.

1. Tom Stoppard is arguably one of the greatest playwrights of all time (and I do say arguably), and this collection only proves it. I am currently away at college while I write this review, and have pitifully forgotten my battered, dog-eared copy of this book at home, and so I'm pining away because it really is such a staple in my life - I cannot count the amount of times I've pulled out the book and read "The Real Thing", but I'm nearly sure it runs toward the hundred mark. All the plays are exceptional, although the aforementioned "The Real Thing" stands out, along with "Aracadia" and the wonderfully underrated "Indian Ink."



2. Every time I pick up this collection, I find myself sitting and reading for hours. Something about Stoppard's command of the language, his own personal calling card, is undeniably riveting.

   And though there are times (especially in Day & Night) where it seems that characters are too clever for their own good, his sense of timing and his love for delivering a smart, believable group of people amazes me.

   This collection is wonderful in its scope, including everything from the frequently produced "Hapgood" to the more recent treasure "Indian Ink." It's a must-have.




3. This is a great collection of Tom Stoppard plays, and includes some of his best works.

   Arcadia is one of Stoppard's greatest plays - a bizarre combination of physics, mathematics, poetry, a good old-fashioned academic stoush and romance (or lust) to boot. A fantastic play to see, but very good to read also.

   The Real Thing, Hapgood and Indian Ink are also among Stoppard's more mature and better plays, and nicely round out this collection. These are some of Stoppard's better known plays (and you can read reviews of them on their own pages) but I'll just summarise by saying that I think they are fantastic.

   Night and Day is an earlier Stoppard play and maybe not quite as good - it is concerned with journalism in war-torn Africa and does take a deep look at issues faced by a journalist in that situation. However, in comparison to the other plays in this volume, it just doesn't seem quite as good - however it is still a fine play in its own right and does make for interesting reading nonetheless.

   Overall, I definitely reccomend this volume, particularly since it's cheaper than buying each of the plays individually.




4. After seeing Stoppard's "The Real Thing" in London, I was blown away. I purchased this collection to have "The Real Thing," and was blown away but all 5 of Stoppard's masterpieces. He writes convincingly of love, redemption and what it means to exist and to live. I cannot recommend this collection (or anything by Stoppard) enough.