Stanislavski Summary: My

Techniques: Additional
thoughts:
A series of physical Used in
Physical Action actions arranged in Movement For
sequential order in Actors, simple
attempt to trigger the but effective in
necessary emotions in think as an actor
an actor's how physicality
performance. These can communicate
emotions were based innermotive
in the and forces and
could not otherwise relationships.
directly come to
surface when needed.
Stanislavski asked the Improvisation, is
Active Analysis actors to get up onto crucial to
the floor from the very exploring
beginning of character by
rehearsals and to enabling
discover for experimentation.
themselves, via a
series of exploratory
improvisation.
Active Analysis is a
sequence of
improvised dramatic
situations.

Stanislavski referred Adaptation is part

Adaptation to being in the of analysing text
moment as adaption. and using given
He said, “On stage we circumstances to
adapt our behaviour, explore
voice, mannerisms, character.
etc. in response to a
situation. So, an actor
therefore had to adapt
to the character’s
situation to give a
realistic performance.
In every moment of a Changes in the
Bits: play Stanislavski and his character
audience asked. throughout the
What is the character play, what they are
doing? doing physically
and emotionally
What action does the
 and how this
character need to relates to their
enact to do the task? objectives.

Why does the

character do that
particular action to
accomplish that
particular task?

Why is that task

important to that
character? What is
the character’s
objective?

What is getting in the

way of your character
reaching that
objective? What’s the
obstacle?

What decisions would

the actor make “if”
the actor was in the
character’s
circumstances? (This
is the premise behind
the famous “magic if”
principle)

Stanislavski called
these moments of
action “bits” therefore
it is a collection of
techniques.

Information about the Help to build a

Given character that you backstory for the
Circumstances start off with as a play character and
understand their
as a whole. Facts
: about the character past experiences.
and actor can use to
build their
characterisation.
Emotional memory is when Emotional memory is how the
Emotional the actor finds a real past character reacted to their
experience where they felt a
 similar emotion to that
Memory demanded by the role they
are playing.
Subtext is the meaning and
Subtext motivation behind the text and
actions. Changing how the actor
says a line changes the
connotation it has.
The actor asks “What would I
Magic If do if I were in this situation?”
This can help the actor explore
the character’s motivations
therefore giving a more realistic
performance.
Units of physical action are
Units of Physical sections of text where the
Action character is having carrying out
a different literal physical
action.
Units of emotion are sections of
Units of Emotion text where the character is
experiencing different
emotions.
What the character wants, the
Objective reason behind their actions.
The actor should say “I
wish/want to”
An over-reaching objective,
Super-Objective linked to the overall outcome of
a play.
Achieved through focus and
Circle of attention. The first circle
Attention “solitude in public” is where the
actor focuses solely on them
self. The second circle is where
the actor focuses on the other
actors. The third circle is when
the actor is addressing the rest
of the production.
given circumstances and how
they influenced their
personality
Subtext changes with the
delivery of the actor, tone,
pitch, volume and facial
expressions.
This technique slightly
contradicts Stanislavski’s
theory of “Life Of The Human
Spirit” and completely
embodying a character
because the actor incorporates
their own feelings and
reactions.
Blocking out these physical
actions helps to visualise the
setting of the scene and the
characters behaviour based on
activity and location.
Units of emotion is similar to
units of physical actions,
except the progression of the
characters emotion is
recorded, to help the actor
portray the emotional
development of the character
within the scene.
The objective often has a large
part to do with the characters
emotion and physical action it
is a driving force of all the
characters actions in the play.
The overall objective often
influences the smaller
objectives of the character in a
scene.
Circles of attention are
important to convey the
relationship between
characters and the inner
motive forces of the character
as well as whether they are
innately introvert or extrovert.
 Stanislavski wanted the actor to Improvisation personally is
Improvisation reach far into themselves in important for me as an actor to
creating the roles. Improvising experiment with different
is when the actor or actors play artistic choices that I can make
their characters in an to best convey my character.
unplanned situation with no
written text.
A sequence of dramatic Active analysis helps to explore
Active Analysis situations that are improvised. the characters objectives,
Stanislavski said that, “The best personality, physical and
analysis of a play is to take emotional action.
action to given circumstances.”
The actor uses the given
circumstances to inspire their
artistic choices. In Active
analysis Action and Counter
Action are emphasised.
This is an early-stage exercise, it This exercise could help
Counter works well for scenes where portray the inner motive forces
Objective the obstacle to the characters
getting what they want is the
of characters and how this
affects their relationship. It
other character onstage. could also explore who or what
Take each actor aside and give is limiting a character in doing
two simple, but conflicting or achieving what they want.
objectives. Each actor can’t
know the other’s objective.
Then the actors will run the
scene pursuing their individual
objective, the contrast between
the two character’s objectives
will be apparent.
Actions are the various artistic This could be explored in active
Action choices an actor makes in order analysis through improvisation
for their character to achieve alongside counter action.
their objectives. Actions can be
internal or external. Actions are
essential for an actor to bring a
character to life.
Counter action is the force This could also be explored in
Counter-Action working against the main action Active analysis through
of the scene creating conflict. improvisation alongside action.
Counter-action is rooted in
motivation, when motivation
and instinct are in conflict a
character might do something
that contrasts their motivation
because of an external force.
 (to please someone else.)
Stanislavski recognised the This is almost warm up
Creative importance of a creative exercises as an ensemble to
Atmosphere environment to work well as an
actor. He practices various
prepare the space for working
in.
psychological exercises with the
actors to get them into the right
mind set of devising and
inhabiting a character, and to
increase their overall attention
and focus.
Used by Chekhov, creative Contrasts Stanislavski’s
Creative individuality starts by the actor techniques and theory of “The
Individuality recognising that that acting is a
performance. There is no
Life of The Human Spirit.” An
example is that the practitioner
pressure for the actor to merge Nadia Fall lets the actors in
the character’s personality with “Home” have creative
their own. Chekhov encouraged individuality, however Alecky
the actor to draw on their Blythe in “The Girlfriend
imagination and higher creative Experience” wants the actors
mind. The aim is to create a to completely recreate the
believable character and not character.
necessarily