To his textbook, Shapiro (theater, U. of California-Los Angeles) has added two new chapters on the basics of acting to assist both the beginning and advanced student, and new exercises on developing a characterization. He explains how actors use the world of imagination to achieve a performance, plumb a text, open themselves as actors, and search for the essence of a character. No date is noted for the first edition. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)