Perhaps the most important decision an actor can make is what type of training he or she will undertake in the journey to becoming a professional. It can be a pretty daunting task given all the styles, techniques, and schools that currently exist. In Telling Stories: A Grand Unifying Theory of Acting Techniques, Mark Rafael attempts to offer a comprehensive overview of the more significant developments in the evolution of modern acting. Along the way, he provides some basic principles and exercises that actors at any level can apply to their work.
Debates rage among actors about which form of training works best — a comprehensive conservatory education or the guidance of a single instructor — and which acting technique is most effective. Rafael doesn't attempt to settle these controversies. Instead, he takes acting's various theories and focuses on the one simple truth that's common to them: Drama is about telling a story and making it compelling for an audience. Telling Stories breaks down the techniques of various masters, including Stanislavsky and Meisner, and explains how to unite their principles in a cohesive approach. Using textual analysis as his starting point, Rafael does a fantastic job describing the importance of understanding story structure and how an actor must serve the narrative. The book clearly emphasizes that actors too often get lost delivering a great performance at the expense of the story.
As Telling Stories progresses, Rafael applies exercises and methods from other legendary teachers, such as Jacques Lecoq and Michael Chekhov, as well as more-contemporary instructors like Keith Johnstone. Cutting to the chase and leaving out what he deems unnecessary, Rafael accomplishes what he set out to do, clearly defining a unified, practical approach to actor training. While this is not a new idea, Telling Stories so effectively gets to the heart of the matter that it's difficult to imagine an actor who couldn't glean at least a tidbit applicable to his or her craft.