Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Acting I: Building Character
Prelude to a Kiss
, Photo Courtesy of Florida Studio Theatre;
The Dancing Thief
by Meng Vue
At the turn of the 20th century, Russian actor Constantin Stanislavski—the father of modern
acting—discovered how an actor could access human emotion and express it onstage to
an audience. He found that when preparing to build a character, one must fi rst develop the
inner life
—the emotions, thoughts, and gestures—that makes that specifi c character become
alive and real to the audience. Therefore, Stanislavski developed a method, called the
Theory
of Psycho-Physical Action
, through which an actor could create the inner life, or emotional
core, of any character by employing two elements:
• The Psychological Mind
• The images in our brains that create emotion
• The Physical Body
• The gestures and movements that refl ect the images in the psychological mind
By utilizing these two elements you will be able to think, feel, and move like your character;
and eventually, you will be able to make stronger, more emotionally active choices that
reveal the character's development in your story.
