Quote • CONSTANTIN STANISLAVSKI • Working Methods

Stanislavski in 1936 [Wikipedia]

‘A certain pilot was asked how he could ever remember, over a long stretch, all the minute details of a coast with its turns, shallows, and reefs. He replied: “I am not concerned with them; I stick to the channel.”

So an actor must proceed, not by a multitude of details, but by those important units which, like signals, mark his channel and keep him in the right creative line…

Always remember…that the division is temporary. The part and the play must not remain in fragments. A broken statue, or a slashed canvas, is not a work of art, no matter how beautiful its parts may be. It is only in the preparation of a role that we use small units. During its actual creation they fuse into large units. The larger and fewer the divisions, the less you have to deal with, the easier it is for you to handle the whole role.

Actors conquer these larger divisions easily if they are thoroughly filled out. Strung along through a play, they take the place of buoys to mark the channel. This channel points the true course of creativeness and makes it possible to avoid the shallows and reefs.’

Constantin Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares