Mamet: Helping The Play and Acceptance

Helping The Play: "Most plays are better read than performed" WHAT!? That doesn't make sense! Plays are written for the purpose of being performed, therefore they would seemingly be at best once performed. I didn't really like or understand Shakespeare until I performed it finally. Now, I'm in love with it. I may be stupid, but I think that plays that are merely read are boring...there's little life to them. But I am a visual and hands-on learner; maybe that is where Mamet and I differ.

Acceptance: this chapter talks about how Mamet hates how actors are told to "believe" what they are acting; Mamet thinks that imagination in the key. I agree with this. This also goes along with one of Stanislavski's followers, Stella Adler. Adler is all about big performance and loads of imagination. I feel that imagination is healthier than belief; particularly while acting.