Fear your admirers! Learn in time to hear, understand, and love the cruel truth about yourselves!
Constantin StanislavskiRead
The actor must use his imagination to be able to answer all questions (when, where, why, how). Make the make-believer existence more definite.
Interpretation
An actor's imagination is crucial for fully embodying their character.
This quote by Constantin Stanislavski emphasizes the importance of imagination in acting. It suggests that to create a convincing performance, an actor must envision the circumstances surrounding their character and respond authentically to various contextual questions, allowing for a more believable and nuanced portrayal on stage or screen.
In practice
In a drama class, a teacher might quote this to inspire students to use their creativity.
Fear your admirers! Learn in time to hear, understand, and love the cruel truth about yourselves!
A true priest is aware of the presence of the altar during every moment that he is conducting a service. It is exactly the same way that a true artist should react to the stage all the time he is in the theater. An actor who is incapable of this feeling will never be a true artist.
The main factor in any form of creativeness is the life of a human spirit, that of the actor and his part, their joint feelings and subconscious creation.
When an actor is completely absorbed by some profoundly moving objective so that he throws his whole being passionately into its execution, he reaches a state we call inspiration.
Stage charm guarantees in advance an actor's hold on the audience, it helps him to carry over to large numbers of people his creative purposes. It enhances his roles and his art. Yet it is of utmost importance that he use this precious gift with prudence, wisdom, and modesty. It is a great shame when he does not realize this and goes on to exploit, to play on his ability to charm.
The person you are is a thousand times more interesting than the best actor you could ever hope to be.
[Short Talk on Sylvia Plath] Did you see her mother on television? She said plain, burned things. She said I thought it an excellent poem but it hurt me. She did not say jungle fear. She did not say jungle hatred wild jungle weeping chop it back chop it. She said self-government she said end of the road. She did not say humming in the middle of the air what you came for chop.
People love talking about writers as storytellers, but I hate being called that: it suggests I got it from my grandmother or something, when my writing really comes out of silence. If a storyteller came up to me, I'd run away.
What makes a good book? Scholars and critics have been debating that question for decades. I like books that touch my head and my heart at the same time.
You must give birth to your images. They are the future waiting to be born.
Jazz comes from our way of life, and because it's our national art form, it helps us to understand who we are.
The drama is complete poetry. The ode and the epic contain it only in germ; it contains both of them in a state of high development, and epitomizes both.
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