A Method to Their Madness: The History of the Actors Studio

by Foster Hirsch

For decades, in one small room on West Forty-fourth Street in Manhattan, Lee Strasberg ran the Actors Studio, where dozens of acclaimed actors absorbed a technique that became known as the "Method." Based on firsthand observations and numerous interviews, Hirsch's examination of the Studio's origins reveals how its graduates forever shaped the American stage and screen.

Genres: Nonfiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite theater history book. I learned more about method acting from Hirsch's writing then I have from teachers who teach the style.

[Dan Lalande · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply investigative, sometimes embedded, look at the famed Actors Studio, gene pool of The Method, the Russian-influenced acting technique predicated on "affective memory." Hirsch details the studio's influences and history, profiles its instructors and their (often warring) pedagogies, sits in on auditions and classes, interviews alumni and new members, and weighs in on the institution's legacy. Hirsch's ultimate conclusion, that it's a faded institution teaching a narcissistic practice more conducive to film than the stage, doesn't prevent him from expressing an appreciation, and a hope for renewed relevance, that is just as frank.