Acting One

by Robert Cohen

Used to teach beginning acting on more campuses than any other text, Acting One contains twenty-eight lessons based on experiential exercises. The text covers basic skills such as talking, listening, tactical interplay, physicalizing, building scenes, and making good choices.

Genres: Theatre, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Plays

Paperback

First published March 1, 1984

About the author

Robert Cohen was an American university professor, theatre director, playwright, and drama critic.

Reviews

[Arlie]

I list this book not so much because I remember being all that impressed with it, but because it is associated with a very special summer about 22 years ago. Stuck in a nothing job after graduting from college, I decided to take an acting class at the University of Illinois where I was working. I got a crush on my acting partner (a straight guy who was very kind to me and actually became a good friend), got involved at a Catholic Worker House shelter, became a Big Brother volunteer, came out, starting dating someone, and had a killer time in acting class. It was a great summer! Class met at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and one day we did an exercise from Acting One in which we screamed all kinds of taboo words to get past feeling inhibited on stage. As we opened the classroom door to exit, we found a hallway full of nuns! Then we realized it was a dress rehearsal for The Sound of Music.

[Christian]

Finally...

After finishing my Acting I course in college, I put off the last section of this book (my professor didn’t require it). How pathetic of me is that?

This book is truly dedicated to the actor’s success. Cohen phenomenally addresses the ingredients of this craft that we as students to it will eternally be. I have loved reflecting on how much more I have got a grasp on this craft in the last 7 months. This material has been a key factor to my growth and success. Now I’m onto finishing Donnellan’s “The Actor and the Target’! 🤩

[AK]

Having read other acting books, I can say this is a great one for beginners, as well as for seasoned students sharpening their craft. Although some exercises are for at least two people, there are plenty for single students. I personally have taken my time on some exercises to familiarise myself with the physical work. Note this book doesn't discuss the area of characterisation.

[Julianna]

Now this is an actual helpful textbook. I devoted everything I could from this

[Kyle Wrigley]

Got through about 3/4 and it seems pretty useful, emphasizing doing instead of reading is great.

[Patrick]

I hadn't seen the GOTE (Goal, Other, Tactics, Expectation) approach before, and I found it helpful. Other books cover similar principles, but things finally sank in with Cohen's method. As a whole, the book is well written too. For a classroom setting, it could probably use more exercises.

[Karen Wessel Thomas]

This is my favorite book on acting. While other books become "inside themselves" or too esoteric, Cohen gives practical lessons for actors and teachers to try.