An Actor Prepares

"An Actor Prepares" was first published in 1936 and is the first volume of the translations of Constantin Stanislavski's books on acting, which were published as a trilogy in English, though originally meant to be published as two books in Russia. "An Actor Prepares" was initially meant to be the first half of a volume on the inner preparation of an actor, while the second half (later published in English as "Building a Character") was meant to cover the outside work on the actor. The English volumes also include "Creating a Role".

The book takes the form of the diary of a student named Kostya during his first year of training in Stanislavski's 'system'. Kostya and his fellow students have little to no experience in acting. As they go through the class, Tortsov, their teacher and director, addresses the many assumptions they have formed that do not coincide with the 'system'. The book endeavours to teach the 'system' indirectly, through example. It also argues that the 'system' is not a particular method, but a systematic analysis of the 'natural' order of theatrical truth.

The 'system' that he describes is a means both of mastering the craft of acting and of stimulating the actor's individual creativeness and imagination. It has influenced the majority of performances we see on the stage or screen.

The book is autobiographical and deals with many different areas of acting skills, including action, imagination, concentration of attention, relaxation of muscles, units and objectives, faith and a sense of truth, emotion memory, communion, adaptation, inner motive forces, the unbroken line, the inner creative state, the super-objective and the subconscious mind. Tortsov, the Director, explains all this art forms in great detail, and thereby transforms "An Actor Prepares" into a type of textbook.

The book begins when Kostya and his fellow students are waiting for their first lesson with the Director. They are excited and nervous at the prospect of meeting, and are surprised when he tells them that their first exercise is to put on a few scenes from a play. Kostya and two of his friends perform scenes from "Othello", with Kostya taking the leading role. Afterwards the Director tells them their mistakes.

At the end of the book the students remember back to this first exercise and Kostya reflects on how much they have learnt since then. They remember sitting in a chair in a way which interests an audience, and looking for a brooch convincingly. The exercises are designed to teach them the topics mentioned above and also to teach the reader.

Unfortunately, due to the complications in manuscript acquisition which occurred during the Second World War, the volume covering the outside work of an actor and thus completing Stanislavski's basic analysis of the Actor was not published until more than a decade after "An Actor Prepares", leaving many English speaking actors and directors to assume it as a stand alone volume.

"An Actor Prepares" deals with the imaginative process, techniques of relaxation and concentration, and the inward preparation an actor must undergo to explore a role to its full. Stanivslavski introduces concepts such as the "magic if", "affective memory", "unbroken line" and many more now-famous rehearsal techniques.