Samuel French is one of the biggest bookshops that publishes plays, represents authors, sells scripts and dedicated to theatre & film lovers, like me. Every time I walk in there I feel like Belle from Beauty & the Beast, just mesmerized by all those stories. If you didn’t know I love reading especially when it comes to plays, acting, or anything to do with filmmaking. I love learning the history behind drama, reading what professionals in the business have to say and reading new stories.
As an Acting Teacher it’s important for me to frequently update my material for my students and continue to keep educating myself. I love discovering different acting techniques or exercises and incorporate them when I teach. I am not a one method kind of teacher. I love using bits and pieces from different techniques and teachers that fit my overall approach to acting which is MOMENT-TO-MOMENT ACTING. Acting truthfully in the present.
I’m about to start teaching my Acting Intensive Summer Camp at Phantom Projects and needed to pick up new material. I always have to give myself at least an hour because I get carried away looking at everything. Or I might start reading a play and then can’t put it down.
*Any actors looking for some good material to perform? Check out TOYER – By: Gardner McKay It is a Psychological/Thriller with only two characters so there’s a lot of good scenes to pull from and really work on Character development.
I was looking for some good monologues and scenes. It’s actually a lot harder to find quality writing for younger people. But the nice gentleman working at the front pointed me in the right direction.
I ended up buying the following:
Great Monologues For Young Actors II – Edited By: Craig Slaight & Jack Sharrar
62 Comedy Duet Scenes for Teens – By: Laurie Allen
5 – Minute Plays For Teens – Edited By: Lawrence Harbison
I also ended up buying …
Childsplay: A Collection of Scenes & Monologues for Children – Edited By: Kerry Muir
And the last book The Power of the Actor – By: Ivana Chubbuck
Oh and I tiny little composition book. It was super cute, I couldn’t resist.
I spent a little over $100 but it was worth it. I wish I could’ve gotten a lot more but I’ll save it for next month.
Samuel French has many different sections including a “Green Room” where seminars, book signings & performances take place.
They also have bathrooms inside and a parking lot behind their building. If you turn on Stanley off Sunset Blvd, make a right into the parking lot.
Whether you are looking for a play, biographies, dialect tapes, film books, Samuel French has it all. If you don’t live in LA you can order online at www.samuelfrench.com
I personally prefer going in and making a little day of it. A few stores away there’s a coffee shop called Blackwood Coffee that I highly recommend.
If you are one of my students or an actor you need to make it a point to visit Samuel French this summer. Pick up some good reading material, there is a lot to choose from.
Samuel French Theatre
& Film Bookshop
7623 Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90046
10am–6pm Mon–Sat
10am–5pm Sun
Website: https://www.samuelfrench.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samuelfrenchnyc/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamuelFrenchInc/app/100265896690345/?ref=page_internal
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamuelFrenchNYC
I would love to hear some of your recommendations for plays to read, so leave those in the comments!
“When I examined the lives of successful people, I noticed that they seemed to use their physical and emotional traumas as a stimulus, not to self-indulgently suffer, but to inspire and drive their great achievements.” – Ivana Chubbuck / The Power of the Actor
