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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 792.028
EAN: 9780810140080
ISBN: 081014008X
Label: Northwestern University Press
Manufacturer: Northwestern University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 412
Publication Date: July 28, 1999
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
Sales Rank: 31966
Studio: Northwestern University Press
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
This work has inspired the work of countless actors, directors, and writers in theatre, television and film. Spolin's improvisational techniques have changed the very nature and practice of modern theatre. This third edition updates the more than 200 now-classic exercises and adds 30 new ones. It adds 30 traditional theatre games that are frequently used as warm-ups. It includes Spolin's explanations of key concepts crucial to her programme, and collects 'The Sayings of Viola Spolin' and adds a glossary of phrases for teachers and directors, with Spolin's definitions of their meaning and value. Most significantly, though, this edition makes available 'The Lone Actor'. In this section, Spolin offers games for individuals to play when they are alone. It is an important piece that should expand Spolin's teachings and influence to an entirely new audience.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Loads of information and exercises
You can't beat this book as a place to really learn about improv. Viola Spolin is a goddess, a giant in the improv world. The material is a bit dry, but there is much to ponder. I checked this out from the library and almost immediately knew I had to have my own copy.
for more on me: Someone Else's Tomorrow: A Tale of Transformation
Rating: - Physical Theater
Very good, I am from México and can read it and apply it in my teachings. I specialize in physiscal theater and I still can grab allot of exercises from it.
Rating:  - The gold standard ...
A good student must always seek a master, and Viola Spolin is a master of improvisational theatre. The book is filled with powerful games and information to support not only improvisational theatre, but truthful acting and being "in the moment", a hallmark not only of improvisational theatre, but acting.
Rating:  - Very dry, like a boring textbook ... odd, stilted language.
There's something strange about the way this book is written ... I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it's MEANT to be a TEXTBOOK, but ... it's just strange. It's like, you would think that the subject matter (improvisation) would be associated with a lot of excitement and energy, lots of enthusiasm ... instead, it's just a dry, boring textbook. Very cold and impersonal. The other books I've been reading, including Keith Johnstone's IMPRO, Chalma Halpern's TRUTH IN COMEDY, and Mick Napier's IMPROVISE, are written with enthusiasm and what seems like genuine joy ... the way you'd think a book on improv should be.
Another thing that was odd - one of the co-authors is Paul Sills, who is apparently Viola Spolin's son ... yet in his "Foreward" (or maybe it's the introduction), he refers to her only as "Viola Spolin" this and "Viola Spolin" that ... again it just seemed so impersonal, like he was giving an academic speech before a bunch of old professors. No warmth at all.
And all through the book, Viola Spolin uses the same cold, impersonal language to talk about what should be fun, amusing memories - like, instead of saying "Once in one of my classes there was etc. etc." she'll say "In a class taught by this author, an incident occured at which etc etc" ...
These are minor things, I guess ... maybe I'm asking too much but I guess the bottom line is that, for me, this book (unlike the other books I've mentioned) failed to convey any sense of the thrill and delight ... Read More
Rating: - Spolin Is Better Than NyQuil !
After reading the first page of Spolin's first chapter I was intrigued. Several pages later, I was sound asleep. I attribute this to the fact that Viola Solin, when she's theorizing, writes like Immanuel Kant tripping on acid. This was especially discouraging, since I had just finished reading Audition by Michael Shurtleff, which is the most clearly written and insightful book on acting anyone could ever ask for.
Skimming the exercise descriptions, I found some of them tedious ("Play a salesman with only your calves!") and some of them risible ("Scream with your elbow!"). Also, her chapter on Emotion seems to contradict the entire Method acting tradition, which, thankfully, she is in no danger of overthrowing.
I'm sure that there are some useful points that this book makes, or might make through its exercises, if I cared to try them. But thanks to Spolin's soporific word-salad, her points are a pleasure to miss.
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