STELLA ADLER HANDOUT

 Acting is __________________
The actor must always do something on stage. He looks for actions in the script (for example, "to teach, to
confess, to beg", etc.) and finds the human __________________ in them. He must have a
__________________ for each action (know exactly why he is performing each action).

 Developing the __________________

An actor develops his imagination by first observing the world around him in very __________________
details. He can then create specific images in his mind in order to surround himself with things that are
__________________ to him on stage. If he succeeds, the audience will see through his eyes.

 Training the mind

Actors must have a real __________________ of the play in order to reveal its secrets to the audience.
They must study the text and its ideas but also research the __________________ situations of the play.

 Size
Actors need strong bodies and voices for the stage so they can bring size to their __________________.
Adler encouraged actors never to be __________________. Her students learned to always bring a
bigger __________________ to the text.

Stella Adler felt that a lot of actors confused being true and __________________ with being ordinary and
boring. Her approach to acting definitely helps actors break away from "boring".

2) What can you expect?

 A lot of __________________
Adler expected her students to __________________ for every single activity and action they
were going to have on stage. If you study her acting techniques, you will spend a lot of time
creating specific images for the circumstances of the play. For example, if you are working on
the 'Where am I?' in a scene, you will work out in your mind every minor detail of what
surrounds you.

 A lot of __________________
Stella Adler believed that an actor's most important tool is his __________________. She also believed
that an actor must completely understand the text of the play to be able to communicate it onstage without
faking. So expect to do a lot of __________________, script __________________ and
__________________ of the play to make it your own.

3) Sample Stella Adler Acting Exercises

 __________________ Exercise
Pick an object and describe it. The goal is to get very specific (shades of colors, texture, etc.) but to
communicate what the object looks like in a __________________ simple way that speaks to your
audience. The more you do this exercise, the more objects will speak to you and the quicker your
imagination will kick in onstage. Then take the exercise to the next level by letting your
__________________ run free (Adler calls that "traveling"). For example, a green couch can remind you
of emerald earrings a woman wore at a party you went to which reminds you of the music that was
playing and so on and so on.

 __________________
Pick a book and write down one idea from the book in your own words, then present it onstage to others.
Try to experience the idea so you can give it a live dimension on stage. To do that, you first need to
understand the idea, then respond to it and make it your __________________ until you feel a real need
to __________________ it.

 Inner justification
Randomly pick a simple line from a play you don't know and bring it to life by imagining in details the
reason why you're saying that line. Try to make a strong __________________, something that stirs you
and creates conflict. This exercise helps actors __________________ their lines instead of just saying
them.
4) Is the Adler technique for you?

Studying the Adler technique is a great way to study acting if you're a very creative person who feels limited by
the more structured acting techniques. Here are a few other things to consider.

 Stella Adler __________________ her students constantly. Getting the most out of her acting method
requires a lot of hard work and __________________.

 Adler's acting style is very relevant if you want to be a theater actor because she helped her students
build the high level of __________________ required for the stage. It's all about being bigger than life, so
if you're the kind of actor who's great at being natural and being yourself but not so good at
"__________________ the stage", study Stella Adler.

 This is a good acting method to pick if you find yourself often "__________________" or "indicating" as
an actor. Ms. Adler helped her students focus on creating true images for themselves so they wouldn't
have "to __________________" on stage. This method also helps with stage fright.

The development of independent actors

Stella Adler, herself a fiercely independent theater artist, understood that acting becomes vital, exciting,
and alive when actors do their own __________________ and bring a point of view or a sense of mission
to their work. One of her most frequently quoted statements is: “Your talent is in your
__________________.” At the Studio, the aim is to develop actors who think for themselves, respect their
own ideas and ideals, and use the theatre as a means to share those ideas and ideals. Such independent
actors are fully resolved to train their minds, bodies, voices, and spirits to achieve that end.

The power of the imagination

Actors’ imaginations are the most powerful source for them to draw on. To bring theatrical texts to life the
actor must be able to create a transforming, __________________ experience. To create such an
experience, students at the Stella Adler Studio are asked to use their imagination to locate the fullest
range of motivational force, rather than depending solely on their personal past and emotional memory.

The importance of action

Drama depends on __________________, not feeling; feeling is a by-product of doing. Our approach to
acting depends on connecting strongly to each other by way of actions and creating dramatic events that
take place between “I and __________________,” not between “me and myself.” These actions include
the subtle, creative, onstage choices to which actors __________________.

Script interpretation
A text, once the author has surrendered it, is an object in itself with its own life, its own meaningful
possibilities, and its own potential for impact. Another Stella Adler quote still used at the Studio is: “The
play is not in the words, it’s in __________________!” It is the actor’s responsibility to respect the script
with a willingness to read it deeply with a fertile imagination. This respect involves an understanding of
where the playwright is leading the character, including understanding the character’s environment and
investigating the full setting of the play.

The cultivation of a rich humanity

The actor’s __________________ is the actor’s own body and brain but if the dramatic arts are to avoid
shrinking to a self-referential, self-enclosed, detached, and isolated unit of a larger world, then the psyche
upon which the actor calls must not be the actor’s own, but the character’s. Therefore, an actor needs to
develop resources of information and experience that connect with the rest of the world — socially,
culturally, historically, and politically — thereby enriching the actor’s instrument that is required to perform.
This is why, in addition to world class faculty and well structured curriculum the Stella Adler Studio
presents the Harold Clurman Arts Series which includes theater and dance theater, lectures and
symposia, poetry readings and play readings, jazz and classical concerts. This is why we have created
the Stella Adler Outreach Division whose mission is to bring free actor training to young people who can’t
afford tuition while providing our tuition based students of social engagement.

Each of these principals permeates all of the Studio’s courses as the general teaching philosophy at the
Adler Studio.

S AM P L E AC T I N G E X E R C I S E S B Y S T E L L A AD L E R

1. (ACTIONS) Planned Entrance. Office: hold the mail while coming in; put eyeglasses
away; drop your keys. Bedroom: take off scarf; put key into purse; read name and
address on letter. Classroom: take off coat; take off gloves; arrange class papers.
2. (ACTIONS) Five Preparations. For e xample, “to hide” – he’s looking for me so I better
hide: Do something as you enter the room and finish it on stage . That way the
audience can tell what you were doing before you entered.
3. (ACTIONS) Pain – a headache: Imagine “as if” a) someone were pushin g in your
eyeballs. b) I were sticking a needle in your eye. Toothache: locate the tooth and
imagine “as if” someone were scraping your gums with a razor. Do not anticipate the
pain.
4. (W ORKING ON THE STAGE) Props: a) personalize them – in reading a magazine , tear
out a page; in counting money, put some of the change in your pocket; in going through
letters, look for a specific one and throw it away. b) endowment – in pinning a flower
on your dress, shake off the water or take off a thorn; in putting away a s weater, fix a
loose thread first; in drinking a glass of water, wipe off the lipstick mark first.

T H E T E C H N I QU E ON A C T I N G B Y S T E L L A AD L E R

(CHARACTERIZATION/OBSERVATION)

1. The Actor’s Goals – rid self of outside opinions; begin with self -awareness; body,
speech, mind, emotions; discipline.
2. Beginning the Technique – energy, be heard, eliminate tension, physical control,
speech control, muscular memory, animal movement .
3. Imagination – collective consciousness, seeing imaginatively, seeing and describing.
4. Circumstances – the truth of the place, living the circumstances, building the larger
circumstances, mood in circumstances.
5. Actions – do-able and in VERB form. Action is something you DO (to read; it has an
end (reading newspaper); it is done in circumstances (in the subway); it is justified (to
follow the stock market).
6. Justification – 1st comes the action, then the reason for doing it. Instant, creative, in
the circumstances (physicalize props), inner.
7. W orking on the Stage – Props, Smartening up the Action, Personalization, Planned
Accidents.
8. Character – Start with circumstances the playwright gives you.
9. W orking on the Text – Verbing, Units, Study Script, Tell the Story, Actions 1st – W ords
2nd; words come out of actions.

CH APT ER ONE - T HE ACT OR' S GO ALS

 1st job of actor: rid self of outside opinions.

 Make lists of assets and faults: only with true awareness of both, can you begin to
learn to break out of your mid-class defensiveness .—JOURNAL ENTRY
 Cannot hold back anything; begins with self-awareness.
 Actor has only her body as an instrument; work on body, speech, mind, emotions.
 Must have a core made of steel and a will to survive.
 Entails a special strength, a new discipline.

CHAPTER TWO - BEGINNING THE TECHNI QUE

 Energy: find the energy you need for your words; start with vocal.
 Reaching the Audience: all must hear you!
  Tension: enemy of acting; prevents truth; reduced when concentration is given to
action; locate tense areas ; relax.
 Physical Controls: principle - 1st you must achieve your norm and understand your
body.
 Controls for Speech: understand yours; lips, accents, etc.
 Muscular Memory: sensory truth of movement; touch object & then re -create when not
there.
 Animal Movement: purpose - rid actor of social mask and free from inhibitions. 15
min/day; learn to use body and voice differently.

CH APT ER T HREE - I MAGI N AT I ON

 99% of what you see and use on stage comes from it.
 Collective Consciousness: tap in to all you’ve experienced .
 Seeing Imaginatively.
 Seeing and Describing.
 Facts vs. Actor’s W ay: pg. 21; in your CHOICE is your talent.

CH APT ER FOUR - CI RCUMST ANCE S

 The Truth of the Place : before go to text, imperative to physically move around in new
circum. and use them; complete absorption.
 Living the Circumstances: pg.32; don’t take self and put i nto.
 Hamlet; truth of character is not found in YOU, but in CIRCUMSTANCES of royal
position of Hamlet. THE TRUTH IS ALW AYS THE TRUTH IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF
THE CHARACTER.
 Building the Larger Circumstances: Details!; build place for self and live in it.
 Mood in the Circumstances: Mood comes from the circum; church, bar, hospital has a
mood; light or dark.

CH APT ER FI VE - ACT I ONS

 Aim of your approach to acting is to find the actions in a scene or play; must be do -
able; expressed by using verb form.
 Action is something you DO (to read); it has an end (reading newspaper); it is done in
circumstances (in the subway); it is justified (to follow the stock market ).
 Strong & W eak Actions: must have an objective .
 Explanation of an Action: KNOW - what you do, where you do it, when you do it, why
you do it; the action does NOT include “how” which should be spontaneous and
unexpected.
 Nature of an Action: it’s truth; with some actions you DO physical things or “activi ties”;
do each and it will result in an overall.
 Overall Action (Ruling Idea): sum of all other actions (goal); 3 activities per step.
 Physicalizing: do something physical; takes the burden off the actor .
 Completing and Not Completing Actions: if can’t com plete, change it to another; if can
complete, do so, then go to another.
 Actions W hich Do Not Use Text: they provoke you to use circumstances; pg.43 -to read
on veranda you must move chair, shoo bees, arrange book etc. (4 actions are good).
 Preparation and Covered Entrances: helps you start your action; keeps you from
tightening up; prop keeps you truthful (take off coat when enter room).
 Pain and Death: Need “as if...” (stuck needle in eye=headache).
 Emotion: all can be found thru imagining in the circum. i n the play; go to similar
ACTION in own life that produces needed emotion ; remember what you did, recall the
place.

CH APT ER SI X - JUST I FIC AT I ON

 1st comes action, then reason for doing it (justification ).

 W hat you choose for just. Should agitate you; as a r esult of agitation you will
experience the action and the emotion. Talent consists of how well you do this.
 Instant Justification: awakens ability to experience activity; drink water to take pills;
each just. Must have logic; deal only with circum. in fron t of you.
 More Creative Justifications: use imagination; more personal to you then more
interesting and vivid to audience.
  Justification in the Circumstances: use the circum and physicalize the props if
possible.
 Inner Justification: what the actor contri butes to the lines of the playwright; lies behind
the words; author gives lines and actor justifies .
 Answering factually: boring so Just. Turns facts into experience.

CH APT ER SEVEN - WORKI NG ON T HE ST AGE

 Props: use imagination when working with props; know life of prop; understand each.
 Smartening Up the Action: can’t afford to be boring on stage; what you do on stage
also needs a certain economy - can’t do all so choose parts (put on make-up - only
lipstick and blush).
 Personalization: put own truth into every prop; be original (mirror is dirty); add detail;
talent is how one chooses, handles and personalizes each prop; practice with them;
adjust to them.
 Planned Accidents: practice so no unplanned occurs!
 Costume: action & costume go together; personalize for character; helps create inner
self.

CH APT ER EI GHT - CH AR ACT ER

 Acting is largely based on differences between characters.

 Start with circum. that PW gives you.
 [Social Situation, Class, Playing a Profession, Background of Character (who, what,
when, where, why), Character Elements, Attitude Toward Partner, Dialogue (indicate on
app. pg: actions, moods, activities), Attitude, Building a Plot (character revealed thru
it), Background (of family & beliefs), Levels (light comedy, medium, dark drama); only
1.]

CH APT ER NI NE - VOC ABUL ARY OF ACT I ON

 Verbs

CH APT ER T EN - ACT OR ' S FI RST AP PRO A CH T O T HE ACT OR

 Paraphrase play in actor’s words so they belong to you .

 Break play into sequences; units.

CHAPTER ELEVEN - WORKING ON THE TEXT

 Discuss it and its ideas; tell the s tory!

 study script, lift idea, realize the play .

CHAPTER TWELVE - ACTOR'S CONTRIBUTION

 Lose dependency on words and go to the actions of the play .THIS IS WHY WE WILL
MEMORIZE SCENE BEFORE YOU START REHEARSING
 Actions 1st, words 2nd; words come out of the actions.
 Read the play several times .