Dreamwork for Actors

Janet Sonenberg is Professor of Theatre at MIT. A stage director who has also worked in television and film, she is the author of The Actor Speaks: Twenty-Four ActorsTalk about Process and Technique. In August 2003 she will be developing her dreamwork technique with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She lives in Cambridge, MA.

"Sonenberg's thesis and the elements of the technique are clearly identified and honed in each of her students' journeys and, in a separate chapter, with actor Alan Arkin and son Anthony." -- Elizabeth Stifter, LibraryJournal"Mining your dreams, the mother lode of inspiration, is here made practical and useful and oddly safe with such an honest and courageous guide to lead the way. Like all good teachers she doesn't ask you to do anything she hasn't done herself." -- Kathleen Chalfant, actor"Soonberg's new acting techniques guide actors in the use of dreams to enrich performance. Her techniques give access to that part of the imagination which emanates from our unconscious.." -- Jean-Claude Van Itallie"Reading Dreamwork for Actors by Janet Sonenberg was a little like having a really good dream. It needed a little time to draw me in, but once I did, I was fascinated and didn't want it to end. Also like a dream, I was never sure whether to believe what I was reading or not, but so convincing was the journey and the description along the way that the book made me want it to be real. Unlike a dream,, however, when I closed the book on the last page, I was convinced that what Sonenberg reported was no fiction created by the imagination, and I can't wait to try out her discoveries--if not with my college students, then certainly with my colleagues in the profession." -- Dramatics Magazine

• Introduction Chapter One Stories We Tell Ourselves Chapter Two Next Year Let's Work on Your Imagination Chapter Three The Pilgrimage to the Temple Chapter Four Prayers and Offerings Chapter Five The God is Silent; The God Speaks Chapter Six Dream Homeopathy Chapter Seven A Machine and A Miracle Chapter Eight Virtual Reality Chapter Nine Rules for Dreamworking the Character's Body Conclusion