Creating a Role

Constantin Stanislavski died in 1938 and is the most influential person in actor training to date. As co-founder of the Moscow Art Theatre, he developed his theories of acting.John Gillett is the author of Acting on Impulse - Reclaiming the Stanislavski Approach (Methuen Drama, 2007); the second edition, Acting Stanislavski - A practical guide to Stanislavski's approach and legacy (Bloomsbury, 2014); and Voice into Acting - Integrating voice and the Stanislavski approach (Bloomsbury 2014, and now in a second edition, 2021). He has also written articles on acting and the preface for a new edition of Stanislavski's Creating a Role (Bloomsbury Revelations, 2013). John trained as an actor in the approach of Stanislavski and Michael Chekhov and has worked widely in theatre, radio, film and television. He has taught and directed in many drama schools, including RADA, LAMDA, CSSD, and GSA, and was Head of the Post Graduate Acting Course at East 15. John has run acting workshops here and aboad, is a member of Equity and has had a prominent role in the writing of recent arts policy documents for Equity and the Creative and Leisure Industries Committee of the TUC.

Creating A Role is the third book - alongside the international bestseller An Actor Prepares and Building A Character - in the series of influential translations that introduced Stanislavski's acting 'system' to the English-speaking world. Here Stanislavski describes the elaborate preparation that an actor must undergo before the actual performance itself. Now published in the Bloomsbury Revelations series to mark the 150th anniversary of Stanislavski's birth, the book includes the director's analysis of such works as Othello and Gogol's Inspector General.

Following An Actor Prepares and Building A Character, Stanislavski here guides the actor through practical preparations for playing a role.

Includes a new preface by John Gillett, author of Acting on Impulse

Foreword by Robert Lewis Translator's Note Part I: Griboyedov's Woe from Wit 1. The Period of Study 2. The Period of Emotional Experience 3. The Period of Physical Embodiment Part II: Shakespeare's Othello 4. First Acquaintance 5. Creating the Physical Life of a Role 6. Analysis 7. Checking Work Done and Summing Up Part III: Gogol's The Inspector General 8. From Physical Actions to Living Image Appendices A. Supplement to Creating A Role B. Improvisations on Othello Index.