Toward Mastery: An Acting Class With Nikos Psacharopoulos

What makes for great acting? Nikos Psacharopoulos answers the question here, as he leads his students "toward mastery" on a journey not for the faint of heart. In a dynamic series of classes at Yale and NYU, running the gamut from beginners' anguish to advanced actors' triumph, Nikos tests his charges' talent, intellect, and courage. Again and Again he shows why he was a great teacher, a pioneering artistic director at Williamstown, and an inspiration to hundreds of major careers in the American theater. With wit and anger, persuasion and bottomless energy, Nikos instills in his students the conviction that the aesthetic qualities behind great acting are as teachable as the most basic technical tools. Backed up by moving and perceptive comments from some of his closest associates, he proves that one can definitely aim for great acting...and, in some cases, achieve it. With commentaries by: Gregory Boyd, Steve Lawson, Lynne Meadow, Bonnie Monte, Tom Moore, Austin Pendleton, David Schweizer, and Joanne Woodward.