Objectives, Obstacles, and Tactics in Practice

Valerie Clayman Pye is an Assistant Professor of Theatre in the School of Performing Arts at LIU Post, where she teaches Acting, Voice, and Speech, and Shakespeare in Performance. She is the author of Unearthing Shakespeare: Embodied Performance and the Globe (Routledge 2017). Hillary Haft Bucs is an actor/improviser, playwright, and director. She is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Western New England University where she teaches Acting, Improvisational Comedy, and Playwriting.

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Introduction PART I Playing Objectives Chapter 1 Money in Your Pocket: Meisner, Objectives, and the First Six Lines DENNIS SCHEBETTAChapter 2 Psychological Gesture: Michael Chekhov Exercises on Physicalizing the Objective ANJALEE DESHPANDE HUTCHINSONChapter 3 Making Sport of Objectives: Teaching through Student-Developed Physical Competition JOHN KAUFMANNChapter 4 Structured Improvised Scenes TIMOTHY JOHNSONChapter 5 Scoring the Un-Scorable MARIA PORTERChapter 6 Creating a Physical Score in a Snap: Using Social Media to Appeal to the Smartphone Generation TOM PACIOPART II Overcoming Obstacles Chapter 7 Engaging Obstacles KEVIN HOFFMANNChapter 8 Active Obstacle Image Scoring DAVID HUGOChapter 9 Resistance JANET HAYATSHAHIChapter 10 Returning the Dress: Demonstrating Objectives, Obstacles, and Tactics DAVIDA BLOOMChapter 11 Improvised Fantasies: Heightening Objectives and Obstacles in Scene Work HILLARY HAFT BUCSChapter 12 Optimizing the Obstacle: Using Indicators of Csíkszentmihályi’s Flow to Help Select, Test,and Experience Stanislavski’s Obstacles FABIO POLANCO AND DIANE BONFIGLIOPART III Identifying Tactics Chapter 13 The Tag-tic that Works LYNN DEBOECKChapter 14 Improvising Tactical Choices Based on Statusor “Who’s Driving the Dramatic Action Bus?” JEAN DOBIE GIEBELChapter 15 Transformational Tactics: Engaging Studentsin the Heroic Pursuit of Their Objective KIM SHIVELYChapter 16 Hunter/Hunted: Experiential Learning and theActor’s Craft VALERIE CLAYMAN PYEChapter 17 Tactics and Action Drives: StanislavskiMeets Laban CONRAD ALEXANDROWICZChapter 18 Stanislavski in the Voice Studio DERIC MCNISHChapter 19 Stimulating Embodied Tactical Actions LESLEY-ANN TIMLICKChapter 20 NRGs and the Nature of Action: The Lessac Tactic Circle CAROLINE GOODChapter 21 Relaying Action – from Breath to Text AARON ALPERN AND REBECCA COVEYChapter 22 Using Improvisation to Identify Tactics NATHAN STITHChapter 23 Activating the Actor with Game Theory: Using Gamification to Create Playable Tactics on Stage JEANNE LEEPAFTERWORD Chapter 24 Recording Truth: The Camera in Acting Training WELKER WHITECONTRIBUTOR BIOGRAPHIES CHAPTER ABSTRACTS INDEX