This is an approach to exploring chapters 1, 2, 3 & 5 of An Actor Prepares. Many salient elements of the Stanislavsky system can be covered by exploring portions of chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, & 9.
Chapter 1: The First Test
Read chapter 1 (or chosen excerpts) as a class.
In chapter one, Kostya is asked to choose a character for his first performance test. He chooses Othello and becomes stuck in the external focusing on a) use of a mirror b) props c) pulling faces and creating stereotypical poses d) costume. His performance and delivery of his lines become automatic. Kostya speaks often of his automatic delivery.
Key Questions for Discussion:
- Why does Stanislavsky write the book from the point of view of a student?
- What is your impression of Tortsov? What kind of comment is Stanislavsky making about himself as a teacher?
- Can you identify with Kostya?
- What elements of his rehearsal led to Kostya being ‘stuck in the external”?
Exercise
Outline for students some ‘theatrical’ improvisation scenarios such as
- a person expressing undying love
- a person expressing fierce hatred of another
- a person expressing outrageous jealously
Students will have fun with these scenes and undoubtedly turn to theatrical poses such as a hand on heart representing love, an angry fist and screaming voice to represent hatred etc. Discuss. Ask students why they made the physical choices they did.
Return to the discussion of chapter one and Kostya’s scene performance. The final moment of Kostya’s scene sees him scream “Blood, Iago, Blood” with great force and theatricality.
Discussion Questions:
- To what extent do you think his scene choices and the description of the performance sound successful?
- Why did Kostya feel so successful in his performance?
Chapter 2: When Acting is Art
Begin reading chapter 2 as a class, stopping at the following points for discussion
Key Questions for Discussion:
- Why does Tortsov suggest that Kostya’s performance was forced acting?
- What is the difference between playing a role TRULY and playing a role with AIM?
- Discuss the differences in Paul’s vs. Kostya’s approach to performance. Which is more effective and why? (this will lead to a discussion regarding inside out vs. outside in techniques)
- What is a rubber stamp?
Exercise:
Students spread out throughout the room and represent physically a variety of emotions including: love, hate, anger, lust, rage, jealously etc… Notice and highlight the movements of the students. They will tend to be large representations and be very similar – hand over heart for love, twisted angry faces for rage, etc. Have students sit down and discuss the difference between the ‘art of representation’ and ‘living the part inwardly’ as explored in the chapter.
Volunteers help the teacher create a theatrical scene. E.g. In front of the class, two students improvise a scene where a couple is breaking up; the woman has cheated on the man and he wants to leave, the woman wants him to stay.
The scene will inevitably be very large with a great deal of yelling, perhaps begging, throwing of things etc…
Take the two students aside privately and provide for them a greater sense of the interior of the character. Provide them more background, context and personal info and encourage them to perform the scene much smaller, saying less.
The scene will inevitably be more emotive, smaller and allow for more tension.
Key Questions for Discussion:
- Discuss what Stanislavsky refers to as ‘rubber stamps’ and the ‘art of representation.’
- In which scene did you feel the conflict was more real? Why?
- Did you see any ‘rubber stamps’ in scene one?
- What are the effects of rubber stamps on an audience?
- How do we represent a character vs. become a character?
Reflection
Students reflect in their portfolios/journals regarding their own performance experience and approach to performing. Have they used ‘rubber stamps’ in their own performances? Why? What is the benefit or drawback of a rubber stamp?
Chapter 3: Action
Exercise:
After a physical warm up, students spread out throughout the room and respond to the teacher’s cues for performance. Students pretend they have lost their keys and they are late for a really important exam. They search and search, getting more and more upset and concerned about the time.
Freeze the students and ask if that is in fact how they personally would look for their keys if they were late. Elicit some responses and see if asking them personally creates a physical difference in performance.
After a few scenes, ask students to sit and begin reading Chapter 3, portion 2. Read the ‘brooch exercise.’
Key Questions for Discussion:
- What is the lesson Tortsov is trying to teach here?
- What did he do to create a different, more methodical approach from Maria in the second example?
- Thinking of the ‘key’ improvisation moments ago, can anyone draw any comparisons from their own experience?
- Were you demonstrating the emotion or the completing the goal of the scene?
- Do we ‘act for the sake of acting’ as Tortsov suggests?
Reinforce that in example two, Tortsov made the experience ‘real’ for Maria and in turn her search for the ‘brooch’ became painstaking, meticulous and much more real. In example one, she was ‘acting’ like she was looking but in fact was not. She was concerned with the effect, look and impact of her performance on the audience. Tortsov teaches us in example two to perform with PURPOSE, that ‘all action in the theatre must have inner justification.’
Introduce to students the technique of the ‘magic if’, the technique of making things ‘real’ for each and every actor. The key is to eliminate the word pretend and begin by asking yourself how I would feel ‘if’ I had lost my keys on an important day. Stanislavsky says the ‘magic if’ takes us out of the realm of imagination and ‘arouses an inner and real activity.’
Exercise - Madman Activity (Chapter 3):
Students pretend that they are standing with their backs to a door and that behind that door is a ‘madman’. Your safety is in danger. Watch some examples as a class.
A few students demonstrate the first scene. Ask the students “what would you do if there was a madman behind your door?” Ideally, the two scenes are different and each student responds in their own personal way. Some performers in the class may be more courageous; many students may remain completely still.
Key Questions for Discussion:
- Ask students how their performance changes with the elimination of the word ‘pretend.’
- Does asking a student ‘if’ allow for a more purposeful approach to the physical action within a scene?
NOTE: After the initial exploration of techniques in Chapters 1, 2 & 3, assign a scene and character to which the students can apply the theory they have learned so far in the unit.
Chapter 5: Concentration of Attention
Depending on your lighting capability, you can create a mock up version of the ‘circles of attention’ exercise from the chapter in An Actor Prepares. Students are rehearsing or working within a scene framework in order to complete this exercise.
Exercise:
The actors position themselves on stage in their scene and concentrate their attention in their small circle, then a medium circle and then a larger circle. Demonstrate this initially with lights. They move from one circle to another only when they feel more and more focused and in role. Encourage them to use any props or stage pieces that occur within the circles to help focus.
The students rehearse the scene. Encourage them, despite the blocking (where possible) to move only when they feel focused, and if they become unfocussed to return to the smaller circle and begin again. Slowly increase the lighting from spots to a wash on stage.
Repeat the rehearsal of the scene with regular stage lighting and encourage them to continue the focusing exercise.
Students often respond that the use of lights is helpful; for instance being in a small circle (spotlight), it is easier to focus their attention and forget the audience. Moving to larger circles of light becomes less focusing (as they can begin to see the audience) etc.
Discussion/Reflection
This exercise is useful mainly as a tool for students to discover how they focus themselves and block out the audience. Provide them an opportunity to reflect on this in their portfolio, commenting on the usefulness of the exercise.