An Actor Prepares

Front Cover
Taylor & Francis, 1989 - Performing Arts - 313 pages
This work is the first volume of Stanislavski's trilogy on the art of acting; it explains the art of acting in semi-fiction form. Fusing psychological realism and expressionism, his exploratory exercises teach actors to evoke past emotions that draw out their vulnerability. Stanislavski here introduces such concepts as the "magic if," "emotion memory," the "unbroken line" and many more now famous rehearsal aids. This classic manual is written from the viewpoint of fictional actors taking lessons from a director (based on Stanislavski). Through the student's mistakes, questions, revelations, and struggles, Stanislavski teaches the actor about the stage, truth, and life itself.

From inside the book

Selected pages

Contents

The First Test
1
When Acting Is an Art
13
Action
35
Imagination
59
Concentration of Attention
79
Relaxation of Muscles
103
Units and Objectives
121
Faith and a Sense of Truth
139
Communion
209
Adaptation
241
Inner Motive Forces
263
The Unbroken Line
271
The Inner Creative State
281
The SuperObjective
293
On the Threshold of Subconscious
303
Copyright

Emotion Memory
177

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Bibliographic information