Libro: An Actor Prepares

An Actor Prepares is the diary of a fictional 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 theatre director addresses the many assumptions they have formed that do not coincide with good acting. Stanislavski relates his message with examples. He argues that his system for good acting 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.