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Acting Class
A brilliant and suspenseful follow-up to the Booker-nominated graphic novel Sabrina.
"Every single person has something unique to them which is impossible to re-create, without exception." —John Smith, acting coach
From the acclaimed author of Sabrina, Nick Drnaso’s Acting Class creates a tapestry of disconnect, distrust, and manipulation. Ten strangers are brought together under the tutelage of John Smith, a mysterious and morally questionable leader. The group of social misfits and restless searchers have one thing in common: they are out of step with their surroundings and desperate for change.
A husband and wife, four years into their marriage and simmering in boredom. A single mother, her young son showing disturbing signs of mental instability. A peculiar woman with few if any friends and only her menial job keeping her grounded. A figure model, comfortable in his body and ready for a creative challenge. A worried grandmother and her adult granddaughter; a hulking laborer and gym nut; a physical therapist; an ex-con.
With thrumming unease, the class sinks deeper into their lessons as the process demands increasing devotion. When the line between real life and imagination begins to blur, the group’s deepest fears and desires are laid bare. Exploring the tension between who we are and how we present, Drnaso cracks open his characters� masks and takes us through an unsettling American journey.
"Every single person has something unique to them which is impossible to re-create, without exception." —John Smith, acting coach
From the acclaimed author of Sabrina, Nick Drnaso’s Acting Class creates a tapestry of disconnect, distrust, and manipulation. Ten strangers are brought together under the tutelage of John Smith, a mysterious and morally questionable leader. The group of social misfits and restless searchers have one thing in common: they are out of step with their surroundings and desperate for change.
A husband and wife, four years into their marriage and simmering in boredom. A single mother, her young son showing disturbing signs of mental instability. A peculiar woman with few if any friends and only her menial job keeping her grounded. A figure model, comfortable in his body and ready for a creative challenge. A worried grandmother and her adult granddaughter; a hulking laborer and gym nut; a physical therapist; an ex-con.
With thrumming unease, the class sinks deeper into their lessons as the process demands increasing devotion. When the line between real life and imagination begins to blur, the group’s deepest fears and desires are laid bare. Exploring the tension between who we are and how we present, Drnaso cracks open his characters� masks and takes us through an unsettling American journey.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published August 16, 2022
85 people are currently reading
3,532 people want to read
About the author
Nick Drnaso
8books527followersNick Drnaso was born in 1989 in Palos Hills, Illinois. His debut graphic novel
Beverly
received the LA Times Book prize for Best Graphic Novel. He has contributed to several comics anthologies, self-published a handful of comics, been nominated for three Ignatz Awards, and co-edited the second and third issue of Linework, Columbia College's annual comic anthology. Drnaso lives in Chicago, where he works as a cartoonist and illustrator.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 422 reviews
August 29, 2022
A group of seemingly random people join a community acting class. But then the fictional scenarios they play out in the class start happening in real life. Some of the people begin losing time, disappearing into a fugue state with no memory of the last few days, and the lines between reality and fantasy blur for many of them. Who is the charismatic acting teacher and what’s really going on?
Nick Drnaso, one of the most talented cartoonists working today, is back with his latest book, Acting Class. As a fan of his previous two books, Sabrina and Beverly, I wanted to like Acting Class more than I did, and, though there’s a lot in this book I did enjoy, I found the things he set up to be underexplored, ending the book on an unsatisfactory note.
From the first scene, Drnaso sets up the central theme of the book - the question of what’s real and what isn’t - as Rosie and Dennis pretend to be strangers on a first date, though they’ve been married for years. From there, I really loved the slow burn of increasing weirdness in the story. It’s not immediately clear that John Smith, the instructor, is creepy, though you do get that impression more and more as the story progresses. Similarly, the way the acting classes start to take over some of the students� lives is gradual and very disturbing and subtly insidious in how it does so.
Drnaso continues to pepper the story with lots of clever, intriguing details throughout, revealing details of certain characters� lives. Like Neil, whose philanthropic work masks a dark past, and Gloria noticing how the janitor’s house looks like her childhood home. The way Drnaso ramps up the unease and tension is quite brilliant.
That said, I felt aspects of the story were also underwritten which made it hard to understand why things were happening or what the point of it all was. The final group storyline had a lot of intense and exciting strands but what was the meaning behind it all? How is it that simple acting exercises had such a profound effect on some of the participants like this?
Is it a coincidence that the participants all come from the less affluent end of society, working low income/status jobs, if they have jobs at all, or suffer from mental problems? What was that about Gloria’s home being like the janitor’s - did John do research on Gloria beforehand and target her and, if he did that, did he target the others too?
It’s really compelling to see how the acting lessons start to affect the students� behaviour in their real lives, and for those scenarios to bleed over into reality, but it doesn’t really go anywhere beyond that. After a certain point, things stop developing until they do that elaborate final piece and then it’s over. I would’ve liked to have seen that go even further where even the reader can’t tell what’s real and what isn’t - as it is, you know exactly when they’re acting and when they’re not.
Maybe Drnaso was commenting on contemporary society, how fake news, Russian bots, etc. have made it so that reality is a tenuous thing to constantly be questioned, and the most susceptible seem to be lonely people with boring lives like many of the characters here. I don’t think he quite successfully made that connection or added anything more on the subject though.
The impression I got was that he was going somewhere with the whole questioning of reality angle and then it got away from him towards the end where he couldn’t quite wrap it up into anything particularly memorable - the way it ends is too sudden leaving the reader with too many questions. It’s unsatisfying because you’re not sure what you’re meant to take away from the story, if anything - the point is unclear and, considering how creative the storytelling had been up to then, to end it like that felt abrupt, unimaginative and underwhelmingly flat.
Still, Nick Drnaso’s books are always worth reading - if you’ve never read him before, I highly recommend any book you can find with this guy’s name on it. He manages to consistently produce original, thoughtful stories and, even if Acting Class isn’t as brilliant as his other books, fans will definitely find elements of the book to enjoy regardless. It had a lot of good parts but ultimately didn’t build to anything as interesting as it was setting up.
Nick Drnaso, one of the most talented cartoonists working today, is back with his latest book, Acting Class. As a fan of his previous two books, Sabrina and Beverly, I wanted to like Acting Class more than I did, and, though there’s a lot in this book I did enjoy, I found the things he set up to be underexplored, ending the book on an unsatisfactory note.
From the first scene, Drnaso sets up the central theme of the book - the question of what’s real and what isn’t - as Rosie and Dennis pretend to be strangers on a first date, though they’ve been married for years. From there, I really loved the slow burn of increasing weirdness in the story. It’s not immediately clear that John Smith, the instructor, is creepy, though you do get that impression more and more as the story progresses. Similarly, the way the acting classes start to take over some of the students� lives is gradual and very disturbing and subtly insidious in how it does so.
Drnaso continues to pepper the story with lots of clever, intriguing details throughout, revealing details of certain characters� lives. Like Neil, whose philanthropic work masks a dark past, and Gloria noticing how the janitor’s house looks like her childhood home. The way Drnaso ramps up the unease and tension is quite brilliant.
That said, I felt aspects of the story were also underwritten which made it hard to understand why things were happening or what the point of it all was. The final group storyline had a lot of intense and exciting strands but what was the meaning behind it all? How is it that simple acting exercises had such a profound effect on some of the participants like this?
Is it a coincidence that the participants all come from the less affluent end of society, working low income/status jobs, if they have jobs at all, or suffer from mental problems? What was that about Gloria’s home being like the janitor’s - did John do research on Gloria beforehand and target her and, if he did that, did he target the others too?
It’s really compelling to see how the acting lessons start to affect the students� behaviour in their real lives, and for those scenarios to bleed over into reality, but it doesn’t really go anywhere beyond that. After a certain point, things stop developing until they do that elaborate final piece and then it’s over. I would’ve liked to have seen that go even further where even the reader can’t tell what’s real and what isn’t - as it is, you know exactly when they’re acting and when they’re not.
Maybe Drnaso was commenting on contemporary society, how fake news, Russian bots, etc. have made it so that reality is a tenuous thing to constantly be questioned, and the most susceptible seem to be lonely people with boring lives like many of the characters here. I don’t think he quite successfully made that connection or added anything more on the subject though.
The impression I got was that he was going somewhere with the whole questioning of reality angle and then it got away from him towards the end where he couldn’t quite wrap it up into anything particularly memorable - the way it ends is too sudden leaving the reader with too many questions. It’s unsatisfying because you’re not sure what you’re meant to take away from the story, if anything - the point is unclear and, considering how creative the storytelling had been up to then, to end it like that felt abrupt, unimaginative and underwhelmingly flat.
Still, Nick Drnaso’s books are always worth reading - if you’ve never read him before, I highly recommend any book you can find with this guy’s name on it. He manages to consistently produce original, thoughtful stories and, even if Acting Class isn’t as brilliant as his other books, fans will definitely find elements of the book to enjoy regardless. It had a lot of good parts but ultimately didn’t build to anything as interesting as it was setting up.
October 16, 2022
Nick Drnaso is really like, "I am going to create graphic novels that are so unnerving." I feel like I have to throw up.
December 21, 2022
Really dark and weird. Like but with a much bigger cast of major characters. I liked it.
follows ten people who join a (you guessed it) acting class led by a strange but charismatic teacher who encourages them to explore their minds and push their boundaries. They all have their own reasons for joining-- escapism, desire for confidence, yearning for a break to the daily monotony-- and each will be changed in their own way.
It's odd, unsettling, occasionally funny and eventually starts to make you question what is real. Where is the line between acting and becoming what you're pretending to be? If your "act" really hurts someone, can it be just an act?
It's a really sharp, disturbing contemplation of that old concept of humans being players on the world's stage. The character drawings are very basic, androgynous, often showing little expression, which pairs well with the bold ideas about psychology, the power of suggestion and our desire to perform so we can be part of the group.
It's another one that's contemporary but feels like it should be dystopian. The characters float in their oft bare panels, lending a touch of surrealism to the narrative. There's something so eerie about Drnaso's work.
follows ten people who join a (you guessed it) acting class led by a strange but charismatic teacher who encourages them to explore their minds and push their boundaries. They all have their own reasons for joining-- escapism, desire for confidence, yearning for a break to the daily monotony-- and each will be changed in their own way.
It's odd, unsettling, occasionally funny and eventually starts to make you question what is real. Where is the line between acting and becoming what you're pretending to be? If your "act" really hurts someone, can it be just an act?
It's a really sharp, disturbing contemplation of that old concept of humans being players on the world's stage. The character drawings are very basic, androgynous, often showing little expression, which pairs well with the bold ideas about psychology, the power of suggestion and our desire to perform so we can be part of the group.
It's another one that's contemporary but feels like it should be dystopian. The characters float in their oft bare panels, lending a touch of surrealism to the narrative. There's something so eerie about Drnaso's work.
August 30, 2022
People who are socially awkward often suffer from a sense of being alienated and not wanted � particularly in environments that are new to them. Most people experience this on some level but it's more acutely felt by certain people. It's difficult to know whether these feelings are self manifested or if this rejection comes from being different and not conforming to common social behaviour. At the start of Drnaso's latest graphic novel, we get snapshots of several such individuals who feel isolated in different ways. They come together in response to a general ad for an acting class which is described as a “unique opportunity� that is seemingly more about building self confidence than training to become a professional actor. The class is lead by John Smith, an affable man with a disturbingly commonplace name. He asks for no payment for the first set of classes and though his motives seem purely altruistic at the beginning his plans for these students become increasingly mysterious. Through a series of scenes which switch between these individuals' outside lives and acting prompts performed in class the line between reality and artifice becomes worryingly blurred. The story raises poignant questions concerning what constitutes an authentic self and the degree to which socialising inhibits or enhances self expression.
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March 1, 2023
A group of people start going to a free acting class at a local rec center. The teacher's technique is a bit unique and usually has the characters improvising in a group. One has them all playing different characters at a party. Slowly real life and the acting starts to blur. Drnaso does a good job of illustrating the real life and what the characters are imagining as they act, and slowly even the reader is confused about what's what.
I didn't expect this one to get so creepy! I feel like Prince's Ice Cream Man series could do a great job of this concept in just a single issue. My big complaint about this one is the length, I feel like the story could be effectively told with a lot less pages (or panels).
I was starting to get a bit annoyed by Drnaso's art style in this one. At times it effective as it makes the characters seem like ciphers, but with such a large cast of characters it gets confusing. The class teacher John had a distinct style with grey hair and jagged teeth. The bald character was easy to recognize, as was the grandmother. But there rest were hard to make out, even when it was a man and a woman! Drnaso could have added a few more features to each character to help out.
I didn't expect this one to get so creepy! I feel like Prince's Ice Cream Man series could do a great job of this concept in just a single issue. My big complaint about this one is the length, I feel like the story could be effectively told with a lot less pages (or panels).
I was starting to get a bit annoyed by Drnaso's art style in this one. At times it effective as it makes the characters seem like ciphers, but with such a large cast of characters it gets confusing. The class teacher John had a distinct style with grey hair and jagged teeth. The bald character was easy to recognize, as was the grandmother. But there rest were hard to make out, even when it was a man and a woman! Drnaso could have added a few more features to each character to help out.
October 10, 2022
I don't read as many graphic novels these days as , apart from the mainstream superhero stuff it seems to be mainly a vehicle for solipsistic memoirs.
But every once and a while a good one crops up. Nick Drnaso's earlier books and were excellent and I think this could be his best yet. Another unsettling story about a group of people who join an evening acting class where their acted out scenarios start to impact their real lives. Highly recommended
But every once and a while a good one crops up. Nick Drnaso's earlier books and were excellent and I think this could be his best yet. Another unsettling story about a group of people who join an evening acting class where their acted out scenarios start to impact their real lives. Highly recommended
August 26, 2022
My interview for Chicago Magazine:
Few artists capture the mundane brutality and brutal mundanity of American life with the gimlet accuracy or muted affection of graphic novelist and Columbia College grad Nick Drnaso. His 2016 debut Beverly explored the wastes of suburbia through the eyes of its disenchanted teens, and his 2018 follow-up Sabrina took readers down the queasy rabbit holes of conspiracy theory.
In his third graphic novel, the disquieting Acting Class, the Chicago-based Drnaso once again depicts the disconnection and desperation of his everyday characters with visual and verbal aplomb. Released by the Montreal-based Drawn & Quarterly in August, Drnaso’s latest book evokes a Daniel Clowes-meets-David Lynch vibe, unfurling in a flat and affectless Chicago-area setting. Panel by panel, ten lonely people drift into a community center workshop run by a mysterious and manipulative man who gives his name as “John Smith� and who warps their lives in dreamy and disturbing ways.
In Acting Class, Rayanne says to her 3-year-old son Marcus, “You don’t know it, but you have something that adults waste their lives looking for: total presence. Being alive isn’t that complicated.� Part of what art offers its practitioners is a connection to a certain child-like consciousness. When did you realize you wanted to be an artist and writer?
This sounds naive saying it as an adult, but as a very young kid, just (being) the person who could create things that couldn’t really be explained, they could be written about and dissected, but the mystery of it � there was a lot of intrigue in that. I’ve still hung onto that, even though the curtain has been mostly pulled back and it’s a lot different when you’ve gone through art school and you have more perspective on the life of an artist. It becomes a lot less mysterious. But luckily, it hasn’t taken away from the day-to-day enjoyment of that process, though that’s always a worry. There’s an arc and things don’t last forever.
You grew up in the southwest suburb of Palos Hills. How did your childhood and youth in that landscape inform your choice of topics now?
There’s a strong visual influence. I don’t really know how to manage space in another way. I just went to the UK and I was thinking as I was walking around and looking at the winding hilly roads and the alleys and things that I wouldn’t really know how to interpret that into a comic if I had to. The perspective is very obvious in a grid kind of place like Chicago. The houses are all mostly in a line and you can follow the perspectives as you’re walking around the streets, and that led into the way that I depict things.
Culturally, I guess with my first book, there was a conscious decision when I was in my early 20s. My memory of this place hasn’t been diluted by nostalgia or selective editing and memory. So, I should try to do this thing that depicts a certain world that I know because I don’t have enough life experience to write about anything else yet. That was my decision, at least for my first book, Beverly. Since then, I keep trying to branch out, but it circles back to that world, and maybe it would feel false to pretend that it’s not a part of my life experience.
Your work has a cinematic atmosphere in terms of the dialogue, all you have the characters leave unspoken, and in the way you frame your shots. You feel as much like a director as you do an author or an illustrator. What films do you consider as influences, if any?
Visual language seeped into my sensibilities when I was a kid more than books or comic books or static visual art did, even animation. When I look at my approach to composition from panel to panel, it does feel like someone holding up a camera.
I forget how impactful The Shining was, which I saw when I was probably too young. But even from the earliest age, that kind of clear approach to storytelling, slowly moving through space, was appealing. The clear depth of field and the stark perspectives that Kubrick is known for were also really appealing to me. As an adult, Kelly Reichardt is probably my favorite. I come back to her movies all the time, just because as I get older, a lot of movies just seem too bombastic or too macho for me. It’s amazing that her movies exist. They feel more like books or something; it seems hard somehow to get that kind of thing up on a screen.
You’re deft at balancing text and image in your work, but have you ever done, or thought about doing, a book that is either all text or all images?
I play out certain scenarios probably too much in a nervous, anxious way. I’ll often think about what’ll happen if I lose the ability to draw or the ability to see or if there’s some hindrance and I have to rethink what I do. I would probably be more likely to write a novel then write a completely wordless comic or to become a painter or something. I think I’m realizing that I enjoy the drawing day to day, but the story is really—I have to land on something that I’m invested in narratively.
All of the characters in Acting Class are searching for something. What are you searching for? What do you hope to find in your life?
I think this is maybe like a, not a midlife crisis kind of book, but I think there was a sense when I was younger that art and making art was all I needed and that was going to be the main purpose of getting up in the morning and not succumbing to depression or just to inaction. Now, it feels like that might be changing a little bit. My wife and I don’t have kids. I have a circle of friends, but there are vague themes of religion in the book or just finding your tribe. I think it’s a little weird not to have that, to just feel very disconnected from a community.
Few artists capture the mundane brutality and brutal mundanity of American life with the gimlet accuracy or muted affection of graphic novelist and Columbia College grad Nick Drnaso. His 2016 debut Beverly explored the wastes of suburbia through the eyes of its disenchanted teens, and his 2018 follow-up Sabrina took readers down the queasy rabbit holes of conspiracy theory.
In his third graphic novel, the disquieting Acting Class, the Chicago-based Drnaso once again depicts the disconnection and desperation of his everyday characters with visual and verbal aplomb. Released by the Montreal-based Drawn & Quarterly in August, Drnaso’s latest book evokes a Daniel Clowes-meets-David Lynch vibe, unfurling in a flat and affectless Chicago-area setting. Panel by panel, ten lonely people drift into a community center workshop run by a mysterious and manipulative man who gives his name as “John Smith� and who warps their lives in dreamy and disturbing ways.
In Acting Class, Rayanne says to her 3-year-old son Marcus, “You don’t know it, but you have something that adults waste their lives looking for: total presence. Being alive isn’t that complicated.� Part of what art offers its practitioners is a connection to a certain child-like consciousness. When did you realize you wanted to be an artist and writer?
This sounds naive saying it as an adult, but as a very young kid, just (being) the person who could create things that couldn’t really be explained, they could be written about and dissected, but the mystery of it � there was a lot of intrigue in that. I’ve still hung onto that, even though the curtain has been mostly pulled back and it’s a lot different when you’ve gone through art school and you have more perspective on the life of an artist. It becomes a lot less mysterious. But luckily, it hasn’t taken away from the day-to-day enjoyment of that process, though that’s always a worry. There’s an arc and things don’t last forever.
You grew up in the southwest suburb of Palos Hills. How did your childhood and youth in that landscape inform your choice of topics now?
There’s a strong visual influence. I don’t really know how to manage space in another way. I just went to the UK and I was thinking as I was walking around and looking at the winding hilly roads and the alleys and things that I wouldn’t really know how to interpret that into a comic if I had to. The perspective is very obvious in a grid kind of place like Chicago. The houses are all mostly in a line and you can follow the perspectives as you’re walking around the streets, and that led into the way that I depict things.
Culturally, I guess with my first book, there was a conscious decision when I was in my early 20s. My memory of this place hasn’t been diluted by nostalgia or selective editing and memory. So, I should try to do this thing that depicts a certain world that I know because I don’t have enough life experience to write about anything else yet. That was my decision, at least for my first book, Beverly. Since then, I keep trying to branch out, but it circles back to that world, and maybe it would feel false to pretend that it’s not a part of my life experience.
Your work has a cinematic atmosphere in terms of the dialogue, all you have the characters leave unspoken, and in the way you frame your shots. You feel as much like a director as you do an author or an illustrator. What films do you consider as influences, if any?
Visual language seeped into my sensibilities when I was a kid more than books or comic books or static visual art did, even animation. When I look at my approach to composition from panel to panel, it does feel like someone holding up a camera.
I forget how impactful The Shining was, which I saw when I was probably too young. But even from the earliest age, that kind of clear approach to storytelling, slowly moving through space, was appealing. The clear depth of field and the stark perspectives that Kubrick is known for were also really appealing to me. As an adult, Kelly Reichardt is probably my favorite. I come back to her movies all the time, just because as I get older, a lot of movies just seem too bombastic or too macho for me. It’s amazing that her movies exist. They feel more like books or something; it seems hard somehow to get that kind of thing up on a screen.
You’re deft at balancing text and image in your work, but have you ever done, or thought about doing, a book that is either all text or all images?
I play out certain scenarios probably too much in a nervous, anxious way. I’ll often think about what’ll happen if I lose the ability to draw or the ability to see or if there’s some hindrance and I have to rethink what I do. I would probably be more likely to write a novel then write a completely wordless comic or to become a painter or something. I think I’m realizing that I enjoy the drawing day to day, but the story is really—I have to land on something that I’m invested in narratively.
All of the characters in Acting Class are searching for something. What are you searching for? What do you hope to find in your life?
I think this is maybe like a, not a midlife crisis kind of book, but I think there was a sense when I was younger that art and making art was all I needed and that was going to be the main purpose of getting up in the morning and not succumbing to depression or just to inaction. Now, it feels like that might be changing a little bit. My wife and I don’t have kids. I have a circle of friends, but there are vague themes of religion in the book or just finding your tribe. I think it’s a little weird not to have that, to just feel very disconnected from a community.
December 11, 2022
Acting Class was a deeply unsettling read. I’m not sure I completely “got it�, but I also tore through it in one sitting. I think this is one I’ll want to keep on my shelves to revisit in a few years, to see if I get any new/different insights from it.
My full review of Acting Class appeared first on .
My full review of Acting Class appeared first on .
September 17, 2022
I almost stopped reading when the first full spread was revealed to be a bunch of small, drab, and nearly static panels.
It was a bumpy start, but the large number of pages with their large number of panels started to fly by relatively quickly as the cast of troubled characters revealed their inner lives in the acting class that draws them together. And the oddness of the class slowly sucked me in too, just as it did the characters. The weird exercises and the bizarre teacher were constantly shifting between compelling and repulsive especially as magical realism began to take root and the stakes seemed to go up.
In the end I was hoping the slow-burn psychological thrills would dwell on breakthroughs for the characters, but the story seemed content to take a Twilight Zone jaunt through the dangers of instead.
It was a bumpy start, but the large number of pages with their large number of panels started to fly by relatively quickly as the cast of troubled characters revealed their inner lives in the acting class that draws them together. And the oddness of the class slowly sucked me in too, just as it did the characters. The weird exercises and the bizarre teacher were constantly shifting between compelling and repulsive especially as magical realism began to take root and the stakes seemed to go up.
In the end I was hoping the slow-burn psychological thrills would dwell on breakthroughs for the characters, but the story seemed content to take a Twilight Zone jaunt through the dangers of instead.
September 8, 2022
…M…G�
⚠️⚠️⚠️
⚠️⚠️⚠️
September 9, 2022
This must be the best Indie comic of the year? It's incredible!!
Read
February 21, 2025Still hoping to write about this one some day, but not today. I reread it for comics club but then hell weather prevented me from attending so I am sort of off-schedule with processing because I didn't get to dialogue. Gonna have to rig another read up . . . maybe for library comics club?? Idk we'll see. God DAMN I love this guy's work though.
February 28, 2023
2.5, rounded up.
This is my third book by Drnaso after his controversially Booker-nommed and - and though this was probably my favorite, I just have to admit the author/illustrator is not for me. I always find his drawings really ugly, and I never QUITE get where he is going.
This concerns a group of 10 random people attending a free community - you guessed it! - acting class and it leads them to some rather psychotic insights/breakdowns. Since my field is theatre, I thought I should give this a shot - but it really didn't work for me. Aside from this, he makes abrupt 'jumps' between scenes, so I am always thinking I inadvertently skipped pages - and a married couple (presumably intentionally) look so much alike I was never sure which was which - and it took me an inordinate amount of time to get the other 8 characters straight too.
This is my third book by Drnaso after his controversially Booker-nommed and - and though this was probably my favorite, I just have to admit the author/illustrator is not for me. I always find his drawings really ugly, and I never QUITE get where he is going.
This concerns a group of 10 random people attending a free community - you guessed it! - acting class and it leads them to some rather psychotic insights/breakdowns. Since my field is theatre, I thought I should give this a shot - but it really didn't work for me. Aside from this, he makes abrupt 'jumps' between scenes, so I am always thinking I inadvertently skipped pages - and a married couple (presumably intentionally) look so much alike I was never sure which was which - and it took me an inordinate amount of time to get the other 8 characters straight too.
September 3, 2022
Loved Sabrina so I gave this a shot. Interesting concept but none of it ended up working for me. It even took longer to read because of the boring paneling and uninteresting compositions that give it a littered look, rather than intentional. Honestly, it kind of seems like some program that generates the panels and the characters are so bland, it all feels like it was phoned in on MS Paint or something. Which wouldn’t be a problem if it was actually interesting (see Sabrina), but it never really gets going or lands a significant plot beat. My faith was not remotely rewarded in proceeding with it despite qualms from the beginning.
July 16, 2023
Drnaso kojarzył mi się z zabaw subtelnościami, nie niestandardowymi załamaniami oraz zakrzywieniami rzeczywistości, i muszę przyznać, że takie jego oblicze podoba mi się jeszcze bardziej. Chylę czoła.
November 24, 2024
Insanely good stuff.
If you wanna see my Nick Drnaso collection, click here :)
November 12, 2022
Eerie is an understatement 🫣
September 19, 2022
so unbelievably sick
January 2, 2024
This was so deliciously disturbing. Like a slow boil or a smile that doesn’t reach the eyes. I liked this much more than Beverly and Sabrina (which I got bored of pretty early and didnt finish). Weeeeird but gooood
February 1, 2024
This is brilliantly bizarro.
February 3, 2023
To say this is about a bunch of earnest people who take an acting class and begin to slowly lose touch with reality is true but so reductive!!
The characters are so recognizable and creepiness is so excellently parceled out. Nick drnaso is probably the best writer I’ve read on the aching desire to connect, and how profoundly alienating those attempts can be.
How much everyone wants to be special but also conform at the same time.
There’s such a great marriage of art and theme here too. the extra blank faces he draws are like aggressively normal and kind of uncanny so when people start to act strange or scary it’s alarming and unsettling in a horribly effective way. Also features an excellent nice guy villain.
A feel bad read in many ways but soooo good. Maybe not Sabrina good but still. (4.5)
The characters are so recognizable and creepiness is so excellently parceled out. Nick drnaso is probably the best writer I’ve read on the aching desire to connect, and how profoundly alienating those attempts can be.
How much everyone wants to be special but also conform at the same time.
There’s such a great marriage of art and theme here too. the extra blank faces he draws are like aggressively normal and kind of uncanny so when people start to act strange or scary it’s alarming and unsettling in a horribly effective way. Also features an excellent nice guy villain.
A feel bad read in many ways but soooo good. Maybe not Sabrina good but still. (4.5)
August 24, 2022
unbelievable. totally unnerving and engrossing and absurd. nick drnaso is a genius.
September 25, 2022
I didn’t know books could still make me feel this way. I think this book may have altered the way I see the world.
July 12, 2023
Nie od razu była ekscytacja, bo Drnaso chyba jeszcze bardziej niż poprzednio opiera fabułę na „gadających głowach�. Z jednej strony jest to początkowo uciążliwe, z drugiej czyni ten komiks podatnym na realizację w innych dziedzinach sztuki. Łatwo sobie wyobrazić „Lekcje aktorstwa� jako słuchowisko lub przedstawienie teatralne.
Autor rzuca czytelnika w sieć skomplikowanych mechanizmów i psychologicznych pułapek, z których niektórzy uczestnicy zajęć próbują się wyplątać, a inni przeciwnie � pokornie się im poddają . Widać wiele wypływających na wierzch, a skrywanych wcześniej obaw, frustracji i lęków, ale jest też perspektywa alternatywnego życia i stawania się kimś innym - wizja optymistyczna, choć często niemożliwa do realizacji. Sporo tu podskórnego napięcia i niemal wścibskiego wchodzenia odbiorcy w intymny świat bohaterów z ciekawością i zażenowaniem jednocześnie. Przy tym nic nie jest jednoznaczne i brak czysto łopatologicznej narracji, która dosłownie wyjaśniałaby wszystkie psychologiczne motywy zachowań. Ta otwarta forma, plastyczność, podatność na interpretacje oraz cała masa pytań, jakie zostają po lekturze, stanowią o jej sile. „Lekcje aktorstwa� to dzieło wielokrotnego użytku, w którym pewne jest tylko jedno � wszyscy jesteśmy na tym świecie cholernie samotni.
Autor rzuca czytelnika w sieć skomplikowanych mechanizmów i psychologicznych pułapek, z których niektórzy uczestnicy zajęć próbują się wyplątać, a inni przeciwnie � pokornie się im poddają . Widać wiele wypływających na wierzch, a skrywanych wcześniej obaw, frustracji i lęków, ale jest też perspektywa alternatywnego życia i stawania się kimś innym - wizja optymistyczna, choć często niemożliwa do realizacji. Sporo tu podskórnego napięcia i niemal wścibskiego wchodzenia odbiorcy w intymny świat bohaterów z ciekawością i zażenowaniem jednocześnie. Przy tym nic nie jest jednoznaczne i brak czysto łopatologicznej narracji, która dosłownie wyjaśniałaby wszystkie psychologiczne motywy zachowań. Ta otwarta forma, plastyczność, podatność na interpretacje oraz cała masa pytań, jakie zostają po lekturze, stanowią o jej sile. „Lekcje aktorstwa� to dzieło wielokrotnego użytku, w którym pewne jest tylko jedno � wszyscy jesteśmy na tym świecie cholernie samotni.
August 29, 2022
omg, this is a masterpiece imo! i’m gonna be thinking about this for a long time, everything nick drnaso does is amazing
May 1, 2023
Nick Drnaso is slowly becoming one of my favourite graphic novel writers - his work is really striking in that it’s creepy, addictive and has a sense of unease and dread which runs through the story and I feel like all of his graphic novels would make amazing A24 films.
Acting Class is about a group of people who decide to enrol on a 4 week acting class which is led by an overly-charismatic and controlling acting coach. The people who are in the class are there for a number of different reasons but they have all got some sort of problem with their life, that being loneliness, mental health problems or trouble in their relationship. The further the group goes along with the classes the stranger it becomes as the lessons start affecting their everyday life and how they are interacting with each other and other people outside the class.
It really discusses identity in such a new a refreshing way and causes us to ask at what point does the ‘acting� cross the boundary into real life. Where do we draw the line between the real and the fake self? It had such an unsettling vibe which is what Drnaso does so well in his stories and I am really excited to see what he comes out with next.
Acting Class is about a group of people who decide to enrol on a 4 week acting class which is led by an overly-charismatic and controlling acting coach. The people who are in the class are there for a number of different reasons but they have all got some sort of problem with their life, that being loneliness, mental health problems or trouble in their relationship. The further the group goes along with the classes the stranger it becomes as the lessons start affecting their everyday life and how they are interacting with each other and other people outside the class.
It really discusses identity in such a new a refreshing way and causes us to ask at what point does the ‘acting� cross the boundary into real life. Where do we draw the line between the real and the fake self? It had such an unsettling vibe which is what Drnaso does so well in his stories and I am really excited to see what he comes out with next.
May 13, 2024
A few months into the covid pandemic, I began to wonder what kind of art would be created by artists during the pandemic, how living through the pandemic and lockdown might influence what creative people make. While Acting Class isn’t explicitly about covid at all, Nick Drnaso wrote this during that time. Maybe he would have made this regardless, but to me it is an example of something really innovative and original that came out of that isolating covid time period. I’ve never read anything quite like it. It’s probably best to go into it knowing as little as possible, but I think it’s also good to know it is unnerving and disturbing at times.
August 22, 2022
At first, I was unsure what to make of this graphic novel with its many small panels, curiously sparse backgrounds, and unusual, androgynous-looking characters. However, the story of a community acting class that is not what it seems and themes of blending acting and reality so there is no demarcation between the two really drew me in. I could imagine this being filmed as a modern genre-bending drama. It's a truly unique and startling story.
August 24, 2022
Drnaso follows up his highly acclaimed Sabrina with another subtle, layered, powerful, and arresting graphic novel. This one centers on an unusual acting class that may be something more than it seems. His ultra-clean, deadpan visual style works as a nice counterbalance to the dark psycho-social corners explored here. Acting Class is a truly masterful exploration of group dynamics, fragile psychologies, power, creativity, the human need for meaning and belonging.
April 8, 2024
Drnaso is incredible at pinpointing collective psychological instabilities and magnifying them into uncanny scenarios. Sabrina was masterful and so is this. Gave me a similar buzz on the final panel as Perfect Blue's final scene did on the first viewing. I don't say that lightly. Reading that Aster is due to adapt this sends an electrical current through my veins; potential for an absolute barnstormer there.
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