A Dream of Passion: The Development of the Method
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- Create Date：2021-07-21 09:54:01
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Lee Strasberg
- ISBN：0452261988
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Summary
"The definitive source book on acting。"--
Los Angeles Times
Marlon Brando， Al Pacino， Paul Newman， Dustin Hoffman， Dennis Hopper， Robert DeNiro， Marilyn Monroe， and Joanne Woodward--these are only a few of the many actors training in "Method" acting by the great and legendary Lee Strasberg。 This revolutionary theory of acting--developed by Stanislavski and continued by Strasberg--has been a major influence on the art of acting in our time。 During his last decade， Strasberg devoted himself to a work that would explain once and for all what The Method was and how it worked， as well as telling the story of its development and of the people involved with it。 The result is a masterpiece of wisdom and guidance for anyone involved with the theater in any way。
"A must for young actors--for old ones， too， for that matter。"--Paul Newman
"An exploration of the creative process that will reward all who are interested in the nature of inspiration。"-- Library Journal
"An important cultural document。"-- Booklist
Marlon Brando， Al Pacino， Paul Newman， Dustin Hoffman， Dennis Hopper， Robert DeNiro， Marilyn Monroe， and Joanne Woodward--these are only a few of the many actors training in "Method" acting by the great and legendary Lee Strasberg。 This revolutionary theory of acting--developed by Stanislavski and continued by Strasberg--has been a major influence on the art of acting in our time。 During his last decade， Strasberg devoted himself to a work that would explain once and for all what The Method was and how it worked， as well as telling the story of its development and of the people involved with it。 The result is a masterpiece of wisdom and guidance for anyone involved with the theater in any way。
"A must for young actors--for old ones， too， for that matter。"--Paul Newman
"An exploration of the creative process that will reward all who are interested in the nature of inspiration。"-- Library Journal
"An important cultural document。"-- Booklist
Reviews
Nicholas
，
Have you ever started a book and for whatever reasons finished it decades later？ Surely other readers old enough must have experienced this too， no？This was a book I picked up in San Francisco in the early aughts at the now deposed Borders Books on Union Square， at Post and Powell to be precise， a lovely and always packed bookshop with a humming cafe on the second floor that I spent countless hours and dollars in， now a casualty of the digital age， thanks Amazon。I stumbled upon the book and havi Have you ever started a book and for whatever reasons finished it decades later？ Surely other readers old enough must have experienced this too， no？This was a book I picked up in San Francisco in the early aughts at the now deposed Borders Books on Union Square， at Post and Powell to be precise， a lovely and always packed bookshop with a humming cafe on the second floor that I spent countless hours and dollars in， now a casualty of the digital age， thanks Amazon。I stumbled upon the book and having a passing interest in The Method combined with a few auditions here and there decided that it might be a worthwhile thing to delve into。As my twenties drew to a close， I packed away my boxes of books and junk shop knickknacks along with my assorted youthful pursuits and romantic notions and locked them away in a storage space down on Mission street。 I made several hungover trips down there， bleary-eyed and dark-circled， sweaty in the blazing California sun， carting and schlepping my life away， storing more stuff than future wisdom would counsel， not to return for a full five years to that dusty time capsule。 Whatever my twenties had been， whatever vague longings and aches and strivings and breakthroughs and endlessly debauched nights I had endured and achieved during those Wander Years， it was over now， sealed up in a dark quiet space for future rumination， and Lee Strasberg’s ‘A Dream of Passion，’ for better or worse， was in there with it all。So was the book any good， you might be wondering？ Not bad。 I should say at the outset—or should have said at an even earlier outset—that I am not an actor （nothing much came of those erstwhile auditions that fell into my lap）， and that actors might find some of this book’s exercises and activities more useful than I did。The parts I did find interesting had to do with the psychological grapplings with the nature of emotion: How are emotions stimulated？ What takes place physiologically？ Where are emotions localized？ How are they expressed？ etc。The starkly meditative aspects of acting surprised me to some degree。 The centrality of relaxation to the craft， the way relaxation sets the stage （no pun） for good concentration， how concentration is the key to the imagination。 Strasberg states， ‘the talent of the actor functions only to the extent that his concentration is trained。’ And the more relaxed one is the better she can concentrate。 These ideas will be familiar to anyone who has spent even just ten minutes in a guided meditation。Naturally as a book geek I also loved the part on the ‘objective correlative’， which I didn’t know or had forgotten was used by T。S。 Elliot for his reflections on creativity in his essay， ‘The Problems of Hamlet’。 （Though the phrase is most commonly associated with Elliot he apparently borrowed it from the painter Washington Allston）。 Elliot’s description of the O。C。 is rather autocratic in terms of creating emotion in art， but his quote is still notable:‘The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an ‘objective correlative’。。。a set of objects， a situation， a chain of events， which shall be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when the external facts， which must terminate in sensory experience， are given， the emotion is immediately evoked。’ Strasberg connects this to the method actor’s affective memory technique in that he must find an objective correlative from his own experiences to help him express the emotions his character needs at different moments。 In a late section on Bertolt Brecht， Strasberg is poignantly reverential towards the pioneering work of the late great man and takes a good deal of pride in the idea that Brecht enjoyed their semi-collaborations in rehearsals， and that it was Strasberg alone who understood and could see the true intent behind Brecht’s techniques and how they were influenced by Stanislavski’s Method。 This part of the book could grate harder were it not for Strasberg’s clear admiration and adoration of Brecht and his work， in particular the play， ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle，’ which Strasberg refers to as ‘among the half dozen outstanding experiences of my life。’ More importantly for our purposes in that section we learn of Brecht’s use of the ‘alienation effect’， essentially a distancing technique that adds depth and complexity to a play in which the audience is conflicted about or unable to form sympathy with the central character（s） due to their words， action， behaviors， etc。A memorable passage discussing artists’ heightened capacity for sensory and emotional recall uses Proust’s immortal madeleine and the way its taste conjures up a lost world of youth as its prime example。 In his ruminations on the difficulty of recovering our emotional memories and past selves， Proust writes， ‘The past is hidden somewhere outside the realm， beyond the reach of intellect， in some material object （in the sensation the object will give us）， which we do not expect。’Indeed， sometimes the random object might even be a musty old paperback found in the bottom of a cardboard box that had been locked away in San Francisco many years ago; and holding the book and feeling its particular heft and turning its pages and seeing its shiny red and lavender cover could even transport a middle-age man back to his high and hungover twenties， a time of being listless and lost， yes， but blessed with the freedom and the sweet ache of youth too。 。。。more
Nora McCarthy
，
i hate this technique。 i had to read it for my acting class and sit with my eyes closed for an hour。
Jo
，
a VERY slow read i’m a pretty fast reader but this was hard to get through。 took me an hour to read 20 pages i kept having to put it down because i had to put so much energy into trying to get through it。 if it wasn’t a book i had to read for school and if it didn’t have a set deadline that i had to finish reading it by i don’t think i ever would have finished it。 that being said it is very interesting and absolutely overflowing with wisdom from a very accomplished well versed man of theatre he a VERY slow read i’m a pretty fast reader but this was hard to get through。 took me an hour to read 20 pages i kept having to put it down because i had to put so much energy into trying to get through it。 if it wasn’t a book i had to read for school and if it didn’t have a set deadline that i had to finish reading it by i don’t think i ever would have finished it。 that being said it is very interesting and absolutely overflowing with wisdom from a very accomplished well versed man of theatre he shares a lot great information and i loved his short stories about the actors he worked with。 just like the cover says every actor old and young should read this book。 what i think the book does and what it’s trying to do is give perspective and provide the actor with possible answers to their struggles and the tools to solves those problems。 it urges the actor to look to themselves and evaluate where they are in their process。 。。。more
Shaandaar
，
It is a brilliant book on acting depicted through experiences。 I have read it and want to read again in lockdown。
Seth Leighton
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I have always been more of a fan of the Meisner technique but this written look into where and how The Method and emotional recall came to be is really quite interesting！
Solar
，
Задълбочено и в същия момент отличаващо се с лекотата на дзен търсене на причината за верните действия - актьорството。 Методът - звучи страшно， тихо и лудо。 Това са емоциите， които с постоянство дълбаят личността на актьора。 Историята на тази книга започва с настояването на съпругата на Страсбърг Ана той да записва развитието на идеите си。 Езикът според мен не е сложен и това прави идеята на Страсбърг още по-искрена。Страсбърг пише за себе си съвсем малко и всеки чувствителен читател би останал в Задълбочено и в същия момент отличаващо се с лекотата на дзен търсене на причината за верните действия - актьорството。 Методът - звучи страшно， тихо и лудо。 Това са емоциите， които с постоянство дълбаят личността на актьора。 Историята на тази книга започва с настояването на съпругата на Страсбърг Ана той да записва развитието на идеите си。 Езикът според мен не е сложен и това прави идеята на Страсбърг още по-искрена。Страсбърг пише за себе си съвсем малко и всеки чувствителен читател би останал впечатлен от акцента в живота на Страсбърг， а именно трескавия интерес към изкуството и човека。 Този интерес идва， за да утвърди новото изкуство， новата психология， т。е。 новата лудост， започната може би от личности като Шекспир， Дидро и достойно доразвита от Московския художествен театър。 В прозренията си Страсбърг и Станиславски са истински， защото не са просто теоретици， а търсят и в думите， и в действията。 Тази книга е за онези， които ще могат да си я препрочитат дори тогава， когато не я държат :） 。。。more
Sathish
，
Good book for actors to get hands on
5 Track
，
As a musician/songwriter/improvisor I got far more of use out of Stanislavsky's 'An Actor Prepares'。 But some of the insights in this one are essential。 So I took way fewer notes， but the ones I took were just as important。 As a musician/songwriter/improvisor I got far more of use out of Stanislavsky's 'An Actor Prepares'。 But some of the insights in this one are essential。 So I took way fewer notes， but the ones I took were just as important。 。。。more
Aly Zhang
，
While Lee Strasberg and 'Method Acting' have indelibly left a legacy for good reason， acting is a subjective art with no one approach。 Like all art forms then， it is difficult to divulge the talent beyond classical technique。 However， this book ably inspires and instructs us as actors to focus on relaxation， empathy and analysis of the reality of the writer's constructs。 Strasberg's overlying quest is to direct real emotional responses provoked from personal experiences into the actors performan While Lee Strasberg and 'Method Acting' have indelibly left a legacy for good reason， acting is a subjective art with no one approach。 Like all art forms then， it is difficult to divulge the talent beyond classical technique。 However， this book ably inspires and instructs us as actors to focus on relaxation， empathy and analysis of the reality of the writer's constructs。 Strasberg's overlying quest is to direct real emotional responses provoked from personal experiences into the actors performances。 With emphasis on reaching authentic emotion via exercises of stimulation， the exercises and psychological explanations are incredibly insightful， but the conclusions he draws are not always as objectively true as he ascertains， as many of my fellow actors might agree on。 Indeed， the book's enlightening didacticism is let down by Strasberg's rigid dismissal of many other methods with only his personal experience as evidence; what doesn't work for one person may ultimately work for another。 Still an incredibly educational read， and would recommend to all actors！ 。。。more
Bardia mj
，
it answered to the questions remained from Stanislavski's acting method it answered to the questions remained from Stanislavski's acting method 。。。more
Savannah Levell
，
One thing I hate about Strasberg books is the fact that he makes everything sound so much more confusing than it is。
Patrick Graham
，
Not an actor but used it to develop songwriting creativity。 What a smart idea that was。 This book is great。 Let it go。 Everyone wants you to。
Gypsy Novela
，
one of the best books on acting。 great for anyone wanting to know where Marilyn Monroe or Robert Denero learned from。 a perfect beginning into the world of method acting。
Andrew
，
Probably the most important text on the subject of Method acting。 A combination biography of Stanislavsky， some of his contemporaries and followers， history of Method acting， and the various theaters which gave birth or contributed to the development of thereof， as well as autobiography of Strasberg。 If one simply wants to understand the theory and practice of Method acting， one could easily skip ahead to the chapter entitled "Fruits Of The Voyage"。 I dabbled in Performance Art for a while， and Probably the most important text on the subject of Method acting。 A combination biography of Stanislavsky， some of his contemporaries and followers， history of Method acting， and the various theaters which gave birth or contributed to the development of thereof， as well as autobiography of Strasberg。 If one simply wants to understand the theory and practice of Method acting， one could easily skip ahead to the chapter entitled "Fruits Of The Voyage"。 I dabbled in Performance Art for a while， and if this book taught me nothing else， I now know why I'd occasionally see certain people walking around during a rehearsal shouting "HAH"！ 。。。more
Brent
，
I started reading this for acting class， but i find that some of the ideas are useful far beyond that。 A book that makes you think。 If you have interest in acting， a must。
Marijana Peršić
，
Odlična knjiga o glumi， glumcu， jednom životnom， osobnom iskustvu važnog čovjeka za kazalište。
Josh
，
This is worth reading if you want to be able to correct people when they misuse the term "Method acting。" That refers only and exclusively to Strasberg。 People abuse the term and the exercises all the time， but this book articulates their specific natures well。 It doesn't teach you Method acting， though。 This is a history of its development。 This is worth reading if you want to be able to correct people when they misuse the term "Method acting。" That refers only and exclusively to Strasberg。 People abuse the term and the exercises all the time， but this book articulates their specific natures well。 It doesn't teach you Method acting， though。 This is a history of its development。 。。。more
Sarah
，
Interesting read。 It shows as much about Lee Strasberg as a person as it does about him as an actor or a director。 I'm still not a huge fan of method acting， but some of the techniques in this book might help my students think about character and motivation。 Interesting read。 It shows as much about Lee Strasberg as a person as it does about him as an actor or a director。 I'm still not a huge fan of method acting， but some of the techniques in this book might help my students think about character and motivation。 。。。more
Melanie
，