Stanislavsky Exercises for actors
Konstantin Stanislavsky, one of the first directors, emphasized the psychological involvement of an actor in his book An Actor Prepares,. The Russian director was noted for his work with Anton Chekhov’s plays.
Given Circumstances: The actors imagine events and circumstances that occur offstage. E.g.: For Desire Under The Elms: Improvise the scenes of the brothers on their way to California. Improvise the scene where Abbie kills the child.
Translation Improvisation—try to replay specific scenes, but instead of following text, improvise using language that is familiar/comfortable to you.
The Magic “If”—Improvise events that don’t happen in the script. Try to keep the characters consistent with what you know. E.g.: Cabot comes back from courting drunk. Eben and Abbie try to pin the murder of the child on Cabot.
Emotional Memory Exercise: Search your own memory for experiences that caused you to feel emotions that are similar to what the actor is probably experiencing. E.g.: Simeon and Peter think that though they deserve the farm, they’ll never get any of it for themselves. Actor should try to recall a great desire that goes unrequited.