Comedy Acting for Theatre

Analysing why we laugh and what we laugh at, and describing how performers can elicit this response from their audience, this book enables actors to create memorable – and hilarious – performances.
Rooted in performance and performance criticism, Sidney Homan and Brian Rhinehart provide a detailed explanation of how comedy works, along with advice on how to communicate comedy from the point of view of both the performer and the audience. Combining theory and performance, the authors analyse a variety of plays, both modern and classic. Playwrights featured include Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Christopher Durang, and Michael Frayn. Acting in Shakespeare's comedies is also covered in depth.

Sidney Homan is Professor of English at the University of Florida, USA, a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars and an actor and director in traditional and non-traditional theatres. The author of eleven books on Shakespeare and the modern theatre, his most recent books are The Audience As Player: Interactive Theatre Over the Years and Hitler in the Movies: Finding Der Führer on Film.

Brian Rhinehart is an actor, director and Lecturer of Directing and Theatre History at The Actors Studio Drama School, Pace University, USA. He is Artistic Director of a theatre collective, Dog’s Breakfast, and was awarded a 2012–13 Fulbright Grant to develop Dispersal: A Gentrification Story. He directed the award-winning Butoh Medea on Theatre Row in Manhattan, which also had productions in Warsaw and Edinburgh. He has performed in over fifty productions in New York City, Germany, and Florida.