The Existential Actor: Life and Death Onstage and Off

by Jeff Zinn

This is a book for the thinking actor, and the finest actors I've known
are just that. The best actors bring it all together body, heart, spirit,
and mind. This book is for the actor who thinks about craft and influence,
who thinks about the relationship of performance to living, who thinks
about doing and what that doing means. Acting is a metaphor and it's a
mirror, and, so, a theory of acting, if true, shows us to ourselves. Jeff Zinn
knows this. He knows it as an actor, director, teacher, and thinker. His
theory of everything is simple and revelatory. (from the foreword by Todd London)

232 pages, Paperback

Published June 30, 2015

Reviews

[Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this three stars because "liked it" seems most appropriate. Zinn is able to simplify other acting theories into four components, which he then uses as a lens to explore famous plays. for me, this read as a good overview and synthesis. I'm not sure how this would read for someone who is a more experienced actor with their own training and preference for technique. overall, an interesting read.

[Elizabeth Sumoza · Rating 1 out of 5]

finally i can finish reading this awful book for class. so many harmful ideas about what's emotionally needed of someone's mental health in order to be a good actor. the effort to simplify performance was okay but Zinn clearly doesn't know enough about philosophy or psychology to understand what he's talking about even though he talks like he's the expert.