MODULE A

Developing skills for acting – getting started with Stanislavski

First Lesson: 16/09/2022. Teacher: Anne Higgins
Module A is all about you developing your skills as a performer, and in this work with me on Stanislavski,
how you can play a character truthfully.
You will need to keep a log book on your development as a performer whilst we are concentrating on the
work on Stanislavski. This can either be a written document OR you can record your reflections on film or
digital voice recording. You will need to show your response to the exercises and undertake research on
Stanislavski.
You always need to be REFLECTING on the work undertaken – describe the activity and consider how it
worked for you? What was the value of it and what knowledge or skill did you gain? For example, you
might say “I passed the paper bird around but didn’t feel ‘in the moment’. If I were to do this again I
might think about a specific bird and have that image in my head so that I can focus fully on the
improvisation. That would help me to believe more by using my imagination.”
Exercises on Stanislavski (so far!)
● Imagination – cooking in the house on your own and then again with a guest on their way
● Units and objectives – in bed, getting up and giving yourself an “I want”, i.e. I want to get to the
bathroom before one of my siblings does otherwise I’ll be late.
● Belief and Magic If: the paper bird exercise – “if” this paper was a bird, how would I feel? How
would I treat this bird? The letter exercise “If I was this person, receiving this news, how would I
feel?
This was also about giving a ‘truthful’ performance. How did this exercise work for you?

Stanislavski research
Find out who Stanislavski was and what his ideas meant at the time he was directing plays? What
other playwright did he work with? How is he viewed today and what influence has he had on actor
training? What is his System of Rehearsal?