An Actor Prepares

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Constantin Stanislavski was an actor and director. He was born in 1863 and died in 1938. Early in his acting career, Stanislavski began remaining in character outside the theatre. This trait was to become his hallmark. In 1897, he along with Vladimir Nemirovich, he started the Moscow Art Theatre over lunch. This theatre group is where he directed actors with his system. Stanislavski and Checkov rose to fame together, as Constantin brilliantly directed several of Antons plays. By 1906, his system began to coalesce. He struggled with making his system complete and all encompassing while at the same time providing a technique that could be taught and readily understood.

The book itself is first person point of view from one of his students. It is a fictional diary. The fictional author describes the rehearsals and exercises he is taught by the director Tortsov. The imaginary Tortsov is in fact the real Stanislavski. There is reflection by the author and we see his is progression in skill. The text teaches by example. The first day of instruction begins with the students performing Othello. They are then critiqued on their performances.

The basis for the system is emotional memory. Actors are encouraged to relive emotions they have experience in real life and use those feelings on stage. In addition, actors are taught to use concentration and imagination to bring emotional reality, if they lack personal experiences. Emotional memory and method acting make use of psychology. Acting techniques such as relaxation, concentration, substitution and the magic if appear within the volume. There are exercises an actor can perform to increase his or her skill with each technique.

Lee Strasburg studied the teachings of Stanislavski and developed Method Acting from them. Stella Adler also contributes to Method Acting, having studied with Stanislavski. Method Acting differs from the System, but both use emotional memory as a focal point. They also share relaxation, concentration, and substitution.

Click Here for a Free Course on
Method Acting.
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an actor prepares