Drama: What it is and how to do it

by Pete Hartley

This book is a no-nonsense guide to creating, rehearsing and staging drama. It focuses on all aspects of acting from your very first encounter with practical drama right through to the final bow at the end of the performance. There is also a major section on how to direct for the stage. It contains chapters on what to expect from drama classes and workshops, and how to devise your own theatre productions. In addition the book offers some basic definitions of drama and theatre and includes introductions to stage design and producing plays. There is a chapter on professional training and how to approach auditions and also one on acting for electronic media. It is an excellent guide for beginners or for more experienced actors who are looking to broaden their range of techniques or progress into directing. It features lots of simple but proven practical tips ranging from how to learn lines to coping with the morning after the closing night. This is the third edition of this book and it conforms fully with the paperback edition. Pete Hartley is based in northern England where he has taught drama since 1984. He began acting in 1968 and has the experience of being involved in over 300 productions the majority of them as director and/or producer.

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 17, 2013

About the author

Pete Hartley is based in northern England where he taught drama for three decades and ran uneasy theatre - a small production company specialising in creating new drama and reworking established classics.

He has written extensively for the stage. Some fifty of his plays have been performed by professionals, amateurs and student companies. Six have won prizes, and one, was broadcast by BBC Radio.

Pete also had short stories published and broadcast long before the digital era dominated the airwaves.