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Improvisation in Rehearsal
By John Abbott
Nick Hern Books £10 99
204 pages
Dateline: 15th November, 2009
How could one fail to like a book that contains a quote from British
Theatre Guide on its back cover? John Abbott's previous volume, The
Improvisation Book not only made its case strongly but was extremely
well written.
It therefore comes as little surprise that Improvisation in Rehearsal
is another worthwhile read that could well make the lives of directors
and actors considerably easier.
The writer's thesis is that beginning rehearsals and getting into character
is extremely difficult. Therefore, any little technique such as improvisation
that can move things along more quickly or help out must be of great
value.
This book is about a little more than it says on the front cover. In
its early stages, Mr Abbott who has acted, directed and trained for
many years, provides some useful psychological insights into the actor's
trade that could prove particularly useful for those that are relatively
new to the business.
From there on, he demonstrates how improvisation can be used at pretty
much every stage of the rehearsal process starting with the background
to help place period and milieu.
The style of this book is similar to the earlier one, with each chapter
starting off using a pearl of seemingly irrelevant wisdom. This is then
followed by a combination exercises, improvisations and examples from
a number of different plays in particular Frank McGuinness's Someone
Who'll Watch Over Me, A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller
and inevitably perhaps, lashings of Shakespeare led by Hamlet.
One of the pleasures of reading Improvisation in Rehearsal lies
in its author's methodical approach. Throughout, you are constantly
reminded of the depth of knowledge that has gone into the theorising,
with the inevitable result that you build up considerable confidence
from a very early stage.
This reviewer has not tried any of the exercises in practice but they
sound like a lot of fun. Whether it is accosting strangers in character,
say as Juliet, or imagining the conversation when Albee's George and
Martha first met, the entertainment value should be high. In fact, dare
one suggest it, some of the impromptu role plays might well turn out
to be far better bets than the plays that they are designed to perfect.
It could well be that the book proves to be most useful to those who
are really struggling to get into a character. The use of improvisation
in this context might be seen by some as slightly offbeat but it is
easy to see how it could remove a mental block as an actor begins to
take on their character without even realising that they are doing so.
As such, devotees such as Mark Rylance who has written the foreword,
swear by it.
Once again, John Abbott has come up with a really valuable addition
to the massive oeuvre of acting handbooks. Improvisation in Rehearsal
should prove a perfect complement to The Improvisation Book and
there is little doubt that these books will be compulsory reading for
many directors and actors long into the future.
Philip Fisher
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