What relaxation exercises are used by the actors in 'An Actor Prepares' What are the benefits of learning to relax while performing? 

 

An exercise not only used in acting is about relaxing your whole body while lying down. You have to relax every muscle in your body. Think of every muscle that is unnecessarily tense and relax it. You will most likely find that the only muscles left tense will be your shoulder blades and the base of your spinal cord. This is because you are bearing the weight of your body. If you manage to even relax these muscles then staying in this position for up to an hour will completely refresh you just as good as a night sleep would. It is commonly used with people who don't have the time to sleep as long as they may need. If an actor is having a very busy period they will use this technique to ensure when on stage they are focused and refreshed. The benefit of this is to ensure you are relaxed and refreshed.

 Another exercises which the director uses makes the actors aware of the fact that on stage there are three moments they go through.

'first: superfluous tenseness which comes necessarily with each new pose taken and with the excitement of doing it in public'

'second: the mechanical relaxation of the superfluous tension, under the direction of the controller'

'third: justification of the pose if it in itself does not convince the actor'

 

A final exercise is when the director insists that each pose should be controlled by self observation but also be based on an imaginative idea and strengthened by given circumstances. You have to believe in the fiction and immediately a lifeless pose will become real with an actual objective. You need to feel the truthfulness of what your doing.  The benefit of this exercise is it will get rid of superfluous tension and when performing you will be able to use this technique without the interference of thinking about it.

 

The benefits of learning to relax while performing is it will enhance your performance if you can start from a point of relaxation and calmness. It also makes the whole practising and performing period much easier and less stressful if you can lay all your other problems aside using these technique's and just focus of your acting.

 

 

What sensory exercises does Stanislavsky use? Why is it important not to rush when working through sensory exercises?

 

A sensory exercise he uses is about your 5 senses. Sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. He gets you to imagine something like a place or an object. He then gets you to go through things like how big is this object, or what does this place smell like. By going through your senses it gets you to create a much more realistic look and imaginable performance.

 

Its important not to rush when working on sensory exercises because they are very important details. To get to the big conclusion you need all the little details and these are the sensory things. If your on stage acting like your in snow you wont be able to just do this immediately and it look and feel real. You need to take time to work on the small details.

 

What are the Given Circumstances of a play? Why is it important that an actor understands the Given Circumstances in a play? 

Given circumstances in a simple explanation are the details that make up a situation. They are decided by the playwright and told to the actor to ensure the actor gets across exactly what they want. This will tell them details including the 5 senses which will ensure their performance is believable to an audience.
 
Its important an actor understands the given circumstances in a play because they will make a huge difference in the way you may perform something. If the playwright has written out and decided things like the setting and what can see and smell then you  HAVE to go along with this. If the playwright has asked you to play this character as if your in a boiling hot desert then you cant come on stage and create the character in a freezing condition country. It will effect the story and ruin the character the playwright has created.