Product details
- ISBN 9781350461390
- Dimensions: 138 x 216mm
- Publication Date: 10 Dec 2026
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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The Gonsalves Method is an inspiring, comprehensive and replicable theatre process that builds skills, develops trust and opens hearts in any rehearsal room. It offers a systematic approach to acting and directing that builds on the techniques developed by Sanford Meisner and updates them for the pressures and contexts of the modern world.
Five Conditions – As, If, Prep, Objectives, Stakes and Entitlement – offer a clear, relatable performance language and a simple step-by-step guide to practicable and powerful ways to breathe life into the words of any playwright.
Five Rehearsal Stages work alongside the Five Conditions in offering a clear path to performance that showcases both ensemble practice and the uniqueness of each performer.
Rehearsal exercises are detailed throughout, illustrated through work by a wide range of playwrights, including Tanika Gupta, Duncan Macmillan, Caryl Churchill and William Shakespeare.
A wealth of practical tips are woven through the process, including for casting, line learning, auditions, self-tapes and direct address. For whatever stage in your career, this book offers actors, directors and theatre teachers insights and exercises to develop alive, responsive, authentic performances that meet Meisner’s instruction that actors should ‘live truthfully under a given set of circumstances’.
Aileen Gonsalves is an actor, director and writer. She was Founder of Butterfly Theatre Collective, as well as creator of the Gonsalves Method. She was Head of the MA in Acting at ArtsEd, Head of Acting at Drama Studio London and has been an associate director for the RSC and Kali Theatre. She trained at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and specialised in Meisner. She is co-author of Shakespeare and Meisner for the Arden Performance Series (Bloomsbury, 2021).
Tracy Irish is an experienced teacher, theatre practitioner and scholar. She is an Associate Learning Practitioner with the Royal Shakespeare Company and works regularly with the University of Birmingham. Tracy has authored many resources, articles and books including Teaching and Learning Shakespeare through Theatre-based Practice, Shakespeare and Meisner and the RSC School Shakespeare editions.
