Most people don’t immediately think of theatre books for their summer reading. Then again, if not taking classes in the art/craft of theatre, most people don’t think about them at all. If you’d like to be one of the exceptions, however, you’re in luck. It’s not too late to spend a lazy day or two slathered in SPF 50 while soaking in both sun and Stanislavski, communing with both nature and No Acting Please. And the following list of classics can offer some suggestions.

If a full-fledged vacation still beckons, packing in Peter Brook’s The Empty Space on a camping trip; perusing Playing Shakespeare: An Actor’s Guide throughout a long flight; or casting your eyes over Anne Bogart: Viewpoints during a road trip (not while actually driving, I should remind any texters) might find you returning with more than some nifty photos and regional souvenirs.

Eager to stock my drama bookshop with titles that would be sure to please, I always appreciated, and often solicited, suggestions from friends, employees and customers. This list is one small way of my paying it forward for all their help and support. As for these books being classics, that word, of course, can be broadly interpreted. My choices here represent a number of the nonfiction titles that earned long-term positions on my store’s shelves, ones that remain — some after numerous editions — in well-stocked Theatre sections today.

Many in this compilation have served as teaching mainstays, though their clout certainly runs deeper than that. Timeless? That’s another tricky term. How about calling them tried-and-true. Or let’s just say that, in this era of publishing, titles staying in print 20 or so years definitely have to have something going on.

Any list of theatre-books-worth-reading could continue indefinitely. As I hope this one will: Feel free to write in with your own favorites. Older, newer — it doesn’t matter. Sharing’s the thing.

Acting:

Playing Shakespeare: An Actor’s Guide. John Barton

Way of the Actor. Brian Bates

Anne Bogart: Viewpoints. Edited by Michael Bigelow Dixon and Joel A. Smith

Games for Actors and Non-Actors. Augusto Boal

Theatre of the Oppressed. Augusto Boal

Acting: The First Six Lessons. Richard Boleslavsky

The Open Door. Peter Brook

A Practical Handbook for the Actor. Melissa Bruder, et al.

The Presence of the Actor. Joseph Chaikin

On the Technique of Acting. Michael Chekhov

To the Actor. Michael Chekhov

On Method Acting. Edward Dwight Easty

A Challenge For The Actor. Uta Hagen

Respect for Acting. Uta Hagen and Haskel Frankel

Strasberg’s Method As Taught by Lorrie Hull. S. Loraine Hull

Sanford Meisner on Acting. Sanford Meisner and Dennis Longwell

The Stanislavski System: The Professional Training of an Actor. Sonia Moore

Being and Doing: A Workbook for Actors. Eric Morris

Irreverent Acting. Eric Morris

No Acting Please. Eric Morris and Joan Hotchkis

Audition. Michael Shurtleff

An Actor’s Handbook. Constantin Stanislavski; Edited and translated by Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood

[and his trilogy:]

An Actor Prepares. Constantin Stanislavski; Translated by Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood

Building A Character. Constantin Stanislavski; Translated by Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood

Creating A Role. Constantin Stanislavski; Translated by Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood

A Dream of Passion: The Development of the Method. Lee Strasberg

Strasberg at the Actors Studio: Tape-Recorded Sessions. Lee Strasberg; Edited by Robert H. Hethmon

The Way of Acting: The Theatre Writings of Tadashi Suzuki. Tadashi Suzuki

Directing:

“Directors in Perspective” series. Cambridge University Press [featuring titles on Brook, Chaikin and Brecht, among others]

The Theater and Its Double. Antonin Artaud

Sense of Direction: Some Observations on the Art of Directing. William Ball

The Director’s Voice: Twenty-One Interviews. Arthur Bartow

The Empty Space. Peter Brook

On Directing. Harold Clurman

Movement/Voice:

Voice and the Actor. Cicely Berry

A Performer Prepares: A Guide to Song Preparation for Actors, Singers and Dancers. David Craig

On Singing Onstage. David Craig

Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre. Keith Johnstone

Freeing Shakespeare’s Voice. Kristin Linklater

Freeing the Natural Voice. Kristin Linklater

Speech For the Stage. Evangeline Machlin

The Right to Speak: Working with the Voice. Patsy Rodenburg

Commedia Dell’Arte: An Actor’s Handbook. John Rudlin

Speak with Distinction. Edith Skinner [available in several text and audio combinations]

Improvisation for the Theater. Viola Spolin

Playwrights/Playwriting:

Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays. David Ball

Playwriting: Writing Producing and Selling Your Play. Louis E. Catron

The Art Of Dramatic Writing. Lajos Egri

In Their Own Words: Contemporary American Playwrights. David Savran

Dramatist’s Toolkit,The: The Craft of the Working Playwright. Jeffrey Sweet

Dramatists Sourcebook. Theatre Communications Group

Production/Stagecraft:

The Backstage Handbook: An Illustrated Almanac of Technical Information. Paul Carter

Producing Theatre : A Comprehensive and Legal Business Guide. Donald C. Farber

Theatre Backstage from A to Z. Warren C. Lounsbury and Norman C. Boulanger

Stage Lighting Handbook. Francis Reid