An Acrobat of the Heart: A Physical Approach to Acting Inspired by the Work of Jerzy Grotowski

by Stephen Wangh

Courageous and compelling, an invaluable resource for actors, directors, and teachers that can open a pathway to inner creativity.

"The actor will do, in public, what is considered impossible." When the renowned Polish director Jerzy Grotowski began his 1967 American workshop with these words, his students were stunned. But within four weeks they themselves had experienced the "impossible."

In An Acrobat of the Heart, teacher-director-playwright Stephen Wangh draws on Grotowski's insights and on the work of Stanislavski, Uta Hagen, and others to bridge the gap between rigorous physical training and practical scene and character technique. Wangh's students give candid descriptions of their struggles and breakthroughs, demonstrating how to transform these remarkable lessons into a personal journey of artistic growth.

Genres: Theatre, Nonfiction, Crafts, Art

384 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2000

Reviews

[Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very informative book about physical acting written in a way that felt like I was actually watching it play out!!

[Jessica López-Barkl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was assigned this as a textbook for an acting class in Grad School. I read it then and then re-read it in 2015 in preparation for the remount of Tae Sok Oh's AFRICA. I thought this textbook on Grotowski's methods would be useful in our 2nd workshop production of that play.

This is an excellent book for Grotowski's work and acting, in general.

Here are some quotes to prove the point:

"Don't try to exactly copy another person's path; use their knowledge, but remain aware that this particular "landscape" of your own path is unique. However, the paradox remains: you must discover your own path, but you can't perceive it while you are on it, only after you have traveled it." (xxix)

"A sense of danger is essential to all theatre." - Yoshi Oida, AN ACTOR ADRIFT (43)

"Often you must be totally exhausted in order to break down the mind's resistance and begin to act with truth. However, I do not mean that you have to be a masochist...do not always seek sad associations of suffering, of cruelty. Seek also the bright and luminous. Often we can be opened by sensual recollections of beautiful days...This is often more difficult to penetrate into the dark stretches, since it is a treasure we do not wish to give. But often this brings the possibility of finding confidence in one's work, a relaxation which is not technical but which is founded on the right impulse." - Grotowski TOWARDS A POOR THEATRE (105)

"In our world, it is not uncommon for us to live with a constant undercurrent of fear. It is one emotion that is actually encouraged by our society: fear of loss (of love, beauty, or youth) is encouraged by the advertising industry, while fear of strangers, fear of violence, and fear of Communists or terrorists are encouraged by the government and the media. The trouble is that while we are schooled to feel fear, at the same time we are not trained not to show that we are feeling it. Therefore, in public (and onstage) many of us may have a hard time finding and showing genuine terror..." (133)

"The true lesson of the sacred theatre, whether ancient or medieval European, Balinese, or Indian Kathakali, is that spontaneity and discipline, far from weakening each other, mutually reinforce each other...This was not understood by Stanislavski, for whom natural impulses dominate, nor by Brecht, who gave priority to the building of a role." - Grotowski LES TEMP MODERNES (227)

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another book I ended up reading for a class this semester. I read it for what was probably my favorite class of the semester, Movement for the Stage. I loved learning about the exercises inspired by Grotowski's work with the Polish Laboratory Theatre. It really helped in my acting journey to finally find a way to connect my body to my mind and voice when I act.

I just wish I had found this book a couple years earlier before I lost some of my joy for acting and decided to follow a different career path. If I'd read this book two years ago I probably would even now be planning on being an actress. The plastiques were a great way for me to find a really strong acting presence and I'm sad that I won't get to explore it much moving forward with my life.

[Brenda Leadlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm re-reading this book because it's one of the few that understands how Grotowski's plastiques can be applied to working with scripts

[Bree Hatfield]

Read for Acting I.

[Huling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best acting books I have ever read. Steven Wangh shows actors how to approach practical material in a most impractical way. He uses the non-traditional physical work of Jerzy Grotowski as a way to enliven and awken the actor's instrument in approaching contemporary works. Some of the exercises were familiar to me and some were totally new and very different than what I have been exposed to in my training. I found Wangh's book very insightful as it offered such a fresh and exciting way to work. He uses a lot of the principles expounded upon by not just Grotowski but such theater luminaires as Anne Bogart, Krisitn Linklater, Yoshi Oida, as well as other pioneers in new millineum training techniques. This book is for actors ready to awaken their bodies, minds, and souls in order to free themselves and achieve their ultimate creative potential.

[Christine Bissonnette · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books on acting. This book was on the recommended reading list from the National Voice Intensive with David Smukler (http://www.voiceintensive.org), and it reminded me of a lot of the work we did during those 4 weeks. Here's a quote from the beginning of the book: "His lessons, he insisted, were never meant to be a universal map for all travelers to follow, but simply a starting point from which an actor might begin to explore his or her personal unknown territory."

One of my favourite chapters in the book was the one on character. In learning how we transform ourselves into different characters in our work, the book also supplied a somewhat hidden perspective on how we make decisions about our identities in our lives. A truly fantastic read for actors, artists, and people in general.

[Ari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wangh balances pedagogy, practical exercises, and interesting stories from his own experience as an acting instructor. One cannot simply teach themselves this kind of work through a book alone. However, it would serve as a fantastic guide for someone entrenched in this or another type of acting training as supplemental material or another way of approaching actor training. Also the book can be employed a useful resource for those actor instructors and/or directors looking to expand their understanding of physical approaches to acting and character building.

[Emily Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a lot of physical acting books, it's really hard to just read the thing. It's like a class that you can only audit from a distance. But it's a really cool class. And Wangh sets this book up prettily cleverly in actually recounting this work as if it were a class, thereby addressing a lot of the back and forth that arises in response to the work as well as the work itself. I'm going to steal like a bandit from this one!

[Brian Astbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, in my opinion, the best practical introduction to the work of Jerzy Grotowski. Written fluently and with love, it sets out the basic exercises in a way that demystifies this major figure in theatre and actor training. For young actors setting out on the road, those already practising, those who might have started losing faith - this is essential reading. These techniques should be at the heart of all actor training. Sadly they aren't.

[Malvolio · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's really not a more accessible book on the training methods of Grotowski. I highly recommend it for any dance, movement, theater teacher, as well as any performer.

[Frank Hartley · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best and thought provoking acting books I've read out there. Challenges and incorporates all of the major styles and builds on your current technique.

[Paula A]

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