Inventing the Truth: Devising and Directing for the Theatre

Mike Bradwell

ISBN 10: 1848421532 / ISBN 13: 9781848421530

Published by Nick Hern Books, 2012

About this Item

2012. Paperback. An accessible insider's guide to creating a play from scratch, from the award-winning author of "The Reluctant Escapologist." Num Pages: 206 pages. BIC Classification: ANB; ANF. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 153 x 210 x 18. Weight in Grams: 294. . . . . . Seller Inventory # V9781848421530

Bibliographic Details

Title: Inventing the Truth: Devising and Directing ...

Publisher: Nick Hern Books

Publication Date: 2012

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis:

The must-have textbook for students, actors and directors on how to create a play from scratch, from the winner of the Theatre Book of the Year Award 2011.

Devising is a major element of GCSE and A level Drama and Theatre Studies. Inventing the Truth is the insider's guide to devising and the art of improvisation, from someone who learnt the craft from Mike Leigh.

Taking the reader behind the scenes and into the rehearsal process, Inventing the Truth is Mike Bradwell's accessible guide to creating a play from scratch. Theatre is fundamentally about persuading an audience to suspend their disbelief; here Bradwell shows how he has worked with actors to build and develop the characters and plot of an improvised play; and then how he uses improvisation as a director of a scripted piece, taking his actors on a journey of exploration, to create as real a piece of theatre as possible.

In two brilliantly complimentary parts Bradwell takes us through his work on Bed of Roses, improvised with actors from Hull Truck, and When You Cure Me written by Jack Thorne for Bradwell to direct at the Bush Theatre. In the first half he provides a clear and precise analysis of how an improvised play is put together and then, in the second, shows how those same techniques can be used on a scripted play to build and develop characters the audience can truly believe in. It's a revelatory process, learned while working with Mike Leigh, and one that is rarely talked about with such candour and honesty. The full scripts of both plays are included in this book as essential reference points.

About the Author:

Mike Bradwell is an acclaimed director and the award-winning author of The Reluctant Escapologist, the story of his thirty years and more working on the fringe.