Abstract

A new approach to actor training by a senior teacher, this illustrated manual shows how to use the body to produce rich, varied and truthful performances. The approach, rooted in the Michael Chekhov Technique, integrates ancient Qigong knowledge with somatic psychology and western actor training methods to identify the links between physical shape, emotion and feeling in performance. Supporting and illustrating the text, extensive practical exercises developed through actor training classes provide techniques to tune and adapt the body in preparation for creative work.

This book will enhance your understanding of the actor's craft, offering the opportunity to grow and advance your pre-existing skills. Warm ups and sequences of exercises will enable you to implement and fully understand this innovative approach. All of the work can be applied to live and screen performances.

The Energetic Performer is an insightful and brilliantly researched study of emotional awareness rooted in an in-depth understanding of the anatomy of the body. Offering both practical and holistic exploration to support and interpret character through imagination and perception, it is an inspiration for anyone involved in public speaking and communication and an absolute must on every actor's bookshelf. I shall treasure it on mine!
Sara Kestelman, actor and writer
Amanda's approach is brilliant. Combining physical techniques with intellectual rigour to bring you to a place of grounded and relaxed creativity. She's been a great help to me.
Riz Ahmed, actor, Four Lions, Nightcrawler, Star Wars: Rogue One
Amanda's work and writing is a whole practice for artists seeking a greater connection through the creative expression of performance. My work with her has been invaluable and through her thinking and teaching I feel that my work as an artist can take on an importance to me and the people I connect with in a performative environment that transcends the simple act of regurgitating someone else's writing. She deals with a whole universe of connected energies - through Qi Gong and her interest in the energy within the performer she empowers us as actors to do something pure, simple and revolutionary in its implications. The delicate balance and exchange of energy she talks about in this book will be eye-opening to anyone in the creative arts. Dancers, actors on stage and screen, and musicians can have a fire lit within them by her gentle wisdom. I am eternally grateful that I met her as a student and always seek her out to work on characters and to discuss the physical and inner life of the people I am trying to inhabit. She elevates the work of the artist to a spiritual level and I realise through working with her that there was nothing else I want to do through being an actor.
Johnny Flynn, actor and musician
An invaluable book - on both acting and living - to which I shall return often. A fascinating interdisciplinary braiding of anatomy, philosophy and mindfulness, with instantly implementable acting exercises. Energy pounds through this imaginative and profoundly practical volume, usable for stage and screen.
Bella Merlin, actor and Professor of Acting and Directing, University of California, Riverside
Amanda Brennan is principal lecturer on MA and postgraduate courses at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London and is also a freelance acting coach, workshop leader and trainer. She has worked with every level, age and ability in settings from psychiatric hospitals, youth centres, prisons, universities, theatre and on film sets. She is also licensed as a Qigong teacher.