The word theatre comes from the Greeks. It means the seeing place. It is the place people come to see the truth about life and the social situation.
Stella AdlerRead
The actor has to develop his body. The actor has to work on his voice. But the most important thing the actor has to work on is his mind.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Actors must cultivate their physical and vocal skills, but mental development is paramount.
Stella Adler emphasizes that while an actor needs to be physically fit and capable in terms of voice, the most crucial aspect of their training is the development of their mind. This reflects the importance of intellectual and emotional depth in acting, suggesting that understanding and interpreting roles requires a well-trained mind to convey authenticity and complexity effectively.
Themes
ActingMindDevelopmentPerformanceSkills
In practice
Example use cases
In a workshop focused on performance techniques, a facilitator might quote Stella Adler to highlight the importance of mental work in acting.
More from Stella Adler
All quotes βThe ideas of the great playwrights are almost always larger than the experiences of even the best actors.
Stella AdlerRead
One way we can enliven the imagination is to push it toward the illogical. We're not scientists. We don't always have to make the logical, reasonable leap.
Stella AdlerRead
The actor cannot afford to look only to his own life for all his material nor pull strictly from his own experience to find his acting choices and feelings.
Stella AdlerRead
The play is not in the words, it's in you!
Stella AdlerRead
When you stand on the stage you must have a sense that you are addressing the whole world, and that what you say is so important the whole world must listen.
Stella AdlerRead
Similar quotes
A lot can be said with just a look, or the way the body moves. Each song is a different character. So each song takes on a different movement of the body. And the body has to go with the subject and the attitude that you have toward that subject.
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Life is short and art is long.
Seneca The YoungerRead
No matter how many times people say it - 'Oh, I'm just writing this for myself' 'Oh, I'm just doing this for myself' - nobody's doing it for themselves! You're doing it for an audience. So whether I'm performing or writing a book or playing music, it's definitely to be put out there and to be received in some way, definitely.
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If you have a story that seems worth telling, and you think you can tell it worthily, then the thing for you to do is to tell it, regardless of whether it has to do with sex, sailors or mounted policemen.
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With age, art and life become one.
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If you just love movies enough, you can make a good one.
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