Stanislavski's An Actor Prepares: Let's Read the Damn Thing!
Stanislavski's An Actor Prepares (also translated as An Actor's Work) gets talked about a lot in acting circles. Everyone's heard of it, most of us have heard bits and pieces about Stanislavski's system, but how many of us have actually sat down and read the damn thing?
The idea is simple. We'll work our way through Stanislavski's book, try out the exercises and ideas in practice, and have a chat about what we make of them.
I'm not a professional actor or acting teacher, just an enthusiastic amateur who's interested in learning more about acting. This isn't a class where I'll be teaching you Stanislavski. It's a group of people getting together occasionally to explore his work and hopefully learn something from each other.
Session 1: Action and the Magic If
For our first session, we'll look at two of Stanislavski's basic ideas: action and the "magic if".
We'll start with a warm-up and an overview of the topic, then get into some practical exercises. We'll finish with a short discussion about what we noticed, what worked, what didn't, and anything else that comes up.
Nothing too intimidating, and you don't need any previous knowledge of Stanislavski.
The reading
We'll be working from An Actor's Work by Konstantin Stanislavski, translated by Jean Benedetti.
The suggested reading for this session is Chapter 3: Action, 'If', Given Circumstances.
The older translation, An Actor Prepares by Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood, is also readily available. If that's the version you have, Chapter 3 (Action) covers similar ground.
Don't worry if you don't get the reading done. It's a suggestion, not homework. We'll cover the ideas in the workshop, so you can turn up without having read a word and still take part.
The details
- Duration: 2 hours
- Cost: €10 per person — this goes towards covering the room hire and the cost of running the Meetup group.
- Experience: All levels welcome
- Frequency: Occasional workshops, rather than a regular weekly class.
This is a peer-led group, not a professional acting class. There'll be a bit of trial and error, and I certainly don't claim to have all the answers.
Hopefully we'll have a bit of fun, learn something about acting, and find out whether Stanislavski knew what he was talking about!
