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Creating a Role by Constantin Stanislavsky
Constantin’s book is a guide into the process of creating a role. The book addresses the role of acting a play. When someone acts a role in a play, he or she assumes the position of the character in the play and acts as that character could. Chapter 1 of the book analyzes the period of study. It is the time the time when the person who should act the role of the character reads the book. Constantin calls the period “A preparatory period,” (3). The author explains that the stage begins with the first impression that the reader gets from the book. The author gives the characteristics of the first impression the actor gets from the book. The first impression is direct and unpremeditated (Constantin 3).
The chapter shows that it is important for the actor to avoid prejudice the period of study. Prejudice entails the emotions or feelings that the actor develops before, during, and after reading the play for the first time. The problem with prejudices is that they block the reader from understanding the role to play precisely. Opinions can also destroy the relationship that the actor establishes with his part. If someone develops a negative attitude towards his role as he reads the story, the attitude prevents him from understanding the role properly (4). However, after the first reading of the play, the actor can engage his emotions towards developing the feelings that shall him act the role correctly. The feelings that the actor develops towards the story or play should support his ability to act his role effectively (5).
Understanding the author’s angle or perspective on his work is also important. The actor should question the author’s intention towards the character that he emulates. Asking how the author wanted to portray the character helps the actor get the right picture about his role (6). The aim of the actor during the first reading of the play is to understand the book in a clear manner. The reader should try and understand the message that the play communicates (its essence) and how it begins (point of departure), develops, and ends. Understanding the issues determines the actor’s ability to imitate the character while considering how the circumstances of the story change (6).
The actor’s analysis of the play is different from literary criticism. At the level of analysis, the actor focuses on three objectives, which are: Understanding the play properly, searching for the spiritual or other materials for use in the play, and searching for some kind of material in the actor (8). Self-analysis is important because it enables the actor to understand his inner capabilities that shall assist him in acting his role c

orrectly.
It is important that actor also studies the external circumstances of the play. The external circumstances include the social, economic, and political circumstances that the author develops in the play (12). The actor should imagine how life should be under the circumstances that the author develops. The imagination leads the actor towards putting life in the play’s external circumstances (18). After understanding the external circumstances of the play and their effects on the lives of the characters, the actor conducts a personal reflection to create the inner circumstances. The inner circumstances are the situations in the mind of the actor that enable him to perform his role effectively (25). At the end of the preparatory or study stage of creating a role, the actor must appraise the facts that he has developed. Appraising the facts entails revisiting the ideas that the actor has developed in summarized form and understanding them appropriately (34).
In conclusion, the study period is an important period in role-creation. It is the period when the actor reads the book to understand the story and the characters in it. At the study period, it is important to avoid biases that can prevent the actor from understanding the play. The actor also analyzes the play, studies its external circumstance, internalizes the circumstances, and performs an appraisal of the study.
Works Cited
Constantin, Stanislavski. Creating a Role. Routledge: Chapman and Hall, Inc. 1989. Print.
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