Konstantin Stanislavski:
“Live the Part”
(Arranged by Carmichael Phillips)
(Konstantin Stanislavski)
“In our art you must live the part every moment that you are playing it, and every time.”
The following is an excerpt from An Actor Prepares, by Konstantin Stanislavski. In the voice of fictional instructor, Tortsov, Stanislavski explains the importance of “living the part” and the critical role that intuition must play in an actor’s performance.
“The very best that can happen is to have the actor completely carried away by the play.”
“The very best that can happen is to have the actor completely carried away by the play.”
“Then regardless of his own will he lives the part, not noticing how he feels, not thinking about what he does, and it all moves of its own accord, subconsciously and intuitively.”
Salvini said:
“The great actor should be full of feeling, and especially he should feel the thing he is portraying.”
“He must feel an emotion not only once or twice while he is studying his part, but to a greater or lesser degree every time he plays it, no matter whether it is the first or the thousandth time.”
“He must feel an emotion not only once or twice while he is studying his part, but to a greater or lesser degree every time he plays it.”
“You may play well or you may play badly; the important thing is that you should play truly,” wrote Shchepkin to his pupil Shumski.
“To play truly means to be right, logical, coherent, to think, strive, feel and act in unison with your role. If you take all these internal processes, and adapt them to the spiritual and physical life of the person you are representing, we call that living the part.”
“To play truly means to be right, logical, coherent, to think, strive, feel and act in unison with your role.”
“In our art you must live the part every moment that you are playing it, and every time. Each time it is recreated it must be lived afresh and incarnated afresh.”
Explore these Acting Magazine articles to deepen your understanding of Stanislavski and his groundbreaking system:
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What Are Stanislavski’s Core Principles of Acting?
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Who Created the Idea of the Magic If?
7 Basic Facts About Konstantin Stanislavski
What Is Konstantin Stanislavski Best Known For?
Did Stanislavski Say There Are No Small Roles?
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Konstantin Stanislavski: “Live the Part”
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