Building a Character

<P>Building a Character is one of the three volumes that make up Stanislavski's The Acting Trilogy.</P><P>An Actor Prepares explores the inner preparation an actor must undergo in order to explore a role to the full. In this volume, Sir John Gielgud said, this great director "found time to explain a thousand things that have always troubled actors and fascinated students."</P><P>Building a Character discusses the external techniques of acting: the use of the body, movement, diction, singing, expression, and control.</P><P>Creating a Role describes the preparation that precedes actual performance, with extensive discussions of Gogol's The Inspector General and Shakespeare's Othello. Sir Paul Scofield called Creating a Role "immeasurably important" for the actor.</P><P>These three volumes belong on any actor's short shelf of essential books.</P>