To the Actor: On the Technique of Acting

a most excellant method alternative

I had to read this book (along with 28 others) as preparation for acting grad school. It was by far my favorite acting text. It provides a most compelling alternative to "the Method" and other techniques that rely so heavily on the the mining of one's past and his/her personal psychology in creating a role. There are many techniques out there and no serious actor now days subscribes to one and only one, but Chekhov's focus on the power of the imagination appealed greatly to my own sense of adventure and convinced me that acting really can be a creative art form and not just self-therapy.