Acting Under the Circumstances

Variations on a theme of Stanislavski, a step-by-step approach to playing a part

Brestoff, Richard

• Publisher: Smith and Kraus
• Year: 1999
• eBook ISBN:
  9781684763696
• Print ISBN:
  9781575251875

From the author of The Great Acting Teachers and Their Methods, Under the Circumstances details a step-by-step approach to playing a part. Based on the work Constantine Stanislavski was using near the end of his life, we follow two actors as a teacher guides them through their parts in Henrik Ibsen's great play, A Doll House. Then we learn how techniques are used for monologues and cold readings. We learn how analysis stems from instinct, from experiencing the character's circumstances without becoming them or speaking their dialogue. Actors memorize "events" and not lines. This approach, never before so clearly explained or engagingly taught, gives actors, from novices to professionals, a reliable, creative, and innovative method for playing a part. Under the Circumstances is a book you will put to immediate use.