Introduction

This report summarizes and briefly reflects on each chapter of the book "An Actor Prepares",
written by Constantin Stanislavski, which narrates in a certain way the story of some students in
the process of learning the acting method proposed by this director.

Chapter I: "The Initial Test".

What I appreciate about this chapter is that it shows through Kostya's experience what happens to
you when you face one of your first experiences as a theater student facing acting.

It shows the eagerness to act and the desire to "do things right", showing the mistakes that as one
progresses through the book are corrected, such as removing the fixed ideas of acting, dialoguing
with the partner, stop trying to "impress" the audience, among others.

While I didn't learn a lot of new things in terms of acting technique with this chapter, I did identify
a certain empathy with the narrator of this story, as it shows the beginning of the process that one
is going through.

Chapter II: "When Performance is an Art".

As the title names it, this chapter defines in a certain way how Stanislavski understood acting as an
art, which is not very different from how we understand it now, and what I most appreciate is how
he puts special emphasis on what it is to "live the part": what it means for an actor to put oneself
in the disposition of a role, and (as I understood it) to lend one's soul to it, to be able to make a
new person really live on stage, without ceasing to be oneself:

"You can act right or wrong; the important thing is that you truly act."

There is also talk of "mechanical acting", "overacting" and acting as mere "representation" as
dangers that the actor must avoid, disqualifying him as an art and therefore leaving him
completely excluded from Stanislavski's school. But today they are simply understood as different
ways of acting and doing theater.

He also talks about "living feelings" and how we can work on them to make it easier and easier to
find them on stage. But this work must be constant, since the only way for inspiration to come to
us is for us to work on it:

"The more the moments of conscious creation in a part or role, the greater the occasion for
inspiration to flow."
 Chapter III: "Action

Here are basic notions of what we need to perform an action on stage. It is important that as
actors we know what we are doing when we act. We cannot be lost without knowing what to do
or why we do what we do and for this we need clear objectives and ideas, which will also help us
to be more comfortable in the scene.

But sometimes it is not easy to find these objectives, so that's where the "if" comes in, which is a
condition, as Stanislavski says:

"An "if" acts as a lever that lifts us from the world of reality into the realms of
imagination."

And the "if" is both constructed by the given circumstances, both tools that help us create internal
stimuli.

Chapter IV: "Imagination".

When I was in school and they asked me to paint something I felt I had problems with my
imagination and the truth is that I hated that concept a little bit. But what I didn't realize is that
imagination is not just coming up with abstract things or ideas to paint a picture. As human beings
we are constantly making use of it and in this chapter of the book we are suggested to be aware of
this and to keep exercising it. The way it narrates about the importance and the meaning of
imagination in an actor made me see that it is a very entertaining and beautiful process (I must say
that it is one of the chapters that, although it is easy to understand, took me the longest to read. I
couldn't help but do some of the exercises that are presented there).

The dramatic text most of the time suggests many of the circumstances given in a scene, but that
is not enough. We must contribute to them with our imagination and stop being passive about our
thoughts. Imagination, in both the playwright and the actor, provides the given circumstances.

Chapter V: "Concentration of Attention".

Apparently it is normal that in the initial stage of the learning process, an actor is tempted to
divert his attention to the audience, or even to himself but not within his role in the scene, but this
bad habit is one of those that according to Stanislavski we must know how to stop in time, and this
is not done in any other way than training our attention. For some it may be easy, but for others,
concentrating attention is a labor of great effort and perseverance, perhaps more than the
"training" of the imagination itself.

In this chapter a series of "techniques" to focus attention are presented, which can be quite useful
but at the same time generate some doubts in me, the main one is how is it that if I must fix my
attention on a particular object in the scene to avoid any distraction, the viewer will not be
confused with my gaze?

Of course, when reflecting on the constant work that an actor must do to keep his attention one of
the quotes that I keep coming back to is:

"If you've gotten the idea that the actor can rely on inspiration alone, you have to change
your criteria. Talent without labor is purely raw material without finish."

Chapter VI: "Relaxation and Resting of Muscles".

For me this chapter can be divided into two parts:

The first one is about becoming aware of our muscles and how we sometimes put them in
excessive tension (or relaxation) on stage. This is very important because at the end of the day we
work with our body, it is one more element that contributes to the narrative, and if we do not
have control over our body, it is likely that, in addition to being vulnerable to an accident at any
time, it will be much more difficult for us to live a scene.

This brings us to the second part of the chapter, where we establish the relationship between the
tension of our body with the given circumstances we use on stage. According to Stanislavski no
action or physical posture should be unjustified when we act, therefore, when we find ourselves
doing something without justification on stage, we must quickly look for some circumstance and
believe in it so that it is an act "endowed with life and with a true objective".

Chapter VII: "Units and Objectives

I had a hard time understanding this chapter, in fact, I was only able to understand it well after a
class in which we talked about the units.

The units of action are the map through which we must travel in the scene and, as mentioned
above, our actions must be endowed with objectives.

"The goal, that's what gives you security and faith in your right to get on stage and stay on
stage."

The quote, in my opinion, summarizes the usefulness and extreme importance of an objective for
the actor on stage, but we must also learn to differentiate the types of objectives, and above all,
which ones are really useful to us when acting.
 Chapter VIII: "Faith and Sense of Truth".

"An audience wants, more than anything else, to believe everything that happens on stage."

And if the public wants to believe, why don't we sometimes?

This chapter is quite important because of several things:

First, we ourselves must believe in the actions we perform, otherwise, it will be difficult for others
to believe them. But we must also be careful in our judgment of ourselves and our colleagues
when we speak of "falsehood" because "untimely criticism confuses the actor, and can drive him
mad to the point of reducing him to impotence."

Second, when we believe in something, this faith must be carried into the body and into our
actions, this will help us to further affirm our belief in action. As we take belief to actions, they will
become more and more precise or realistic and, if I understood correctly, the process is also
usually the other way around: detailing our actions will lead us to believe in them more.

Sometimes it is difficult to embrace a complete work, therefore, we cannot expect to understand

it all at once, we cannot expect to believe in such a wide action, the small physical actions are
those that help us to discover the truth in the dramatic action.

It is also very important to be calm. Sometimes you have too much anxiety when performing and
you are focused on nothing more than moving the viewer. But if we enter into calmness, and do
what we really have to do, the result will come by itself.

Chapter IX: "Memory of Emotions".

As one rehearses or repeats a role in a scene, it happens that emotions are "spent" and it is our
job to revive them, to find ways and impulses to achieve this goal.

We as artists are human beings, we cannot fight against the nature of our emotions and feelings,
but perhaps we can learn to use them to our advantage. Therefore, we must "take the best of
ourselves and transport it to the scene ."

Sometimes emotions arise accidentally in us and these small "incidents" are the ones we must
learn to fix, without falling into a "mechanical" performance as Stanislavski calls it.

Suddenly we may also find ourselves in roles that do not generate any "own" emotion, so to
speak, because as a human being we may never be able to experience all existing emotions, but
we are able to sympathize with situations and emotions experienced by other people. I took that
as "referents". It is important then to live and sympathize with references, whether they are
musical, film, images or even the people who surround us every day. So now we not only study
ourselves to know our material, but we must also strive to know and study our surroundings.
 Chapter X: "Communion".

We must never act alone. You are always in communication with something or someone. It can be
a partner, an object and even ourselves. That is why it is very important to always maintain a
dialogue. And how to do this? It is understood that dialogue is not only the words of the text that
one says, but also the "exchange of spiritual communication" that takes place on stage, and this
chapter presents several ways to put into practice this type of exchange.This chapter presents
several ways of putting this type of exchange into practice, from which I highlight the search for
the soul of our object, the importance of knowing how to listen, taking as renewed each stimulus
present on the scene, not focusing on the result of the flow of exchanges, simply letting it flow and
not underestimating the simplicity of acting.

Chapter XI: "Adaptation

As human beings, we have the capacity to adapt to different circumstances, whether they are of
place, time, space, etc. For the same reason, we must apply this capacity as actors in the scene
being able to modify ourselves to the facts and circumstances.

In this chapter we discuss the different ways of adaptation we have (intuitive adaptations,
semiconscious adjustments and motor or mechanical adjustments) defining them and applying
examples about them. In addition, the technical means with which this type of adaptations can be
stimulated are discussed.

In addition to emphasizing how important these adaptations must be for us, at the end of the
chapter another series of concepts are raised (internal Time and Rhythm, internal characterization,
control and purpose, discipline and internal rules, dramatic spell, logic and coherence), most of
which cannot yet be defined by the director, which is important to reflect on, because although
we have learned quite a lot so far about the internal elements necessary in the creative process,
there is still a long way to go.It is important to reflect that although we have so far learned a great
deal about the internal elements necessary in the creative process, there is still a long road of
discovery ahead.

Chapter XII: "Internal Driving Forces".

Here we summarize what has been learned throughout the text including a so-called "triumvirate"
formed by feelings, mind and will. These will be the "masters" that will guide the creation of a
part: "only when these forces cooperate harmoniously can we create with freedom".

It is said that some actors find it easier to activate one force more than another, and the work is to
find the balance between these concepts so that we can put into practice the large number of
elements to be employed in the creation of the life of a human soul in one part.
 Chapter XIII: "The Unbroken Line".

Now that, according to Stanislavski, our "internal instrument" is in tune, we can take it to the stage
in the creation of a part, but even before executing it we must clarify several things regarding the
play, since the playwright only exposes fragments of the characters' lives. Clarifying these "non-
existent moments", so to speak, is our task, and is called creating an unbroken line. Stanislavski
compares it to our own life: we are human beings who have a past, present and future; and the
same must be true of these characters to whom we give life.

As I understood it, we create from our experience a new life on stage, too, and share an unbroken
line with it.

Chapter XIV: "The Internal State of Creation".

Now that we can create an uninterrupted line and we already know the internal elements of
creation, we can put them into practice, return to the triumvirate of feelings, mind and will.

It is very beautiful everything that implies the "internal state of creation", that which according to
the text takes us to a state of exhibitionism but at the same time of feeling alone in front of an
audience. What I would like to emphasize is that at this point of creation one must give the best of
oneself as an actor and put into practice everything one has learned without letting things such as
not having clear objectives, lack of will, worries outside the scene, etc., contaminate our creative
process.

Chapter XV: "The Super-Objective".

It is clear at this point that we cannot act without clear objectives, but as we progress in a work we
not only discover "mini-objectives" for which we strive, but they themselves lead us to an even
bigger one: the "super-objective", in which we can put our point of view on the work or the
character. This super-objective is carried by the line of action, which if interrupted, will make it
impossible for us to reach what we desire.

At this point Stanislavski summarizes his "system" in three important points:

-Capacitation or internal power of attorney

-Main line-axis or intermediate line of the action

-Super-objective
What is raised at the end of this chapter is very important. We should not get frustrated if we do
not find inspiration through the system. In my opinion, inspiration is not something that we simply
find, it comes to us but not in a magical way, but through our own effort and perseverance in our
work. We can remember this idea through Picasso's phrase:

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working."

Chapter XVI: "At the Threshold of the Subconscious".

This last chapter summarizes each part that has been learned in the book, arriving at a main idea
that, as I understood it, is like this:

We cannot forcibly enter our subconscious, but we can approach it, try to know it through all the
techniques already learned, this is possible because there is no exact line that separates our
conscious from our subconscious.

It is necessary to trust the nature of our subconscious. Without this confidence we are likely to
become frustrated and lose our way to true performance.
"An actor prepares himself",
Constantin Stanislavski
Summary and reflection of the book