The Stage Actor’s Handbook: Traditions, Protocols, and Etiquette for the Working and Aspiring Professional

An invaluable guide to theatre’s traditions and best practices, from first rehearsal to final curtain.

Professional stage actors are expected to have ready knowledge of proper theatre conduct, enabling them to build and maintain a reputation for being great to work with. Traditionally, these protocols were passed along from one generation of stage actors to the next by word of mouth, or were learned by having one’s missteps corrected-until now.

The Stage Actor’s Handbook is a definitive written mentorship, detailing the previously unwritten rules for actors that help a production operate smoothly. It covers best practices such as proper conduct during rehearsals, how to interact with various departments, how to process notes from the director, and how best to collaborate with fellow actors. It also offers traditional guidelines regarding things like effective communication, interactions with the public, and considerations specific to touring, while also sharing theatre’s beloved superstitions and insider jargon.

Written by established theatre pros Michael Kostroff and Julie Garnye, the book also contains bits of wisdom contributed by well-known stage actors such as Chita Rivera, John Lithgow, Sir Patrick Stewart, Bebe Neuwirth, Alfred Molina, Billy Porter, Stephanie J. Block, Harvey Fierstein, Sam Waterston, Raul Esparza, Jason Alexander, and more. With such expert guides, The Stage Actor’s Handbook promises to become a perennial resource not only for this generation, but for generations of stage actors to come.