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This article examines the different methods of leading the actor, presumed to be the most crucial aspect of a director’s craftsmanship. In exploring and creating a role’s thoughts, emotions, and behavior, certain points are of critical importance. They are as follows:
1. Appropriate casting is the first major directorial step taken to ensure a smooth flow of rehearsals for creating the role.
2. Thorough analysis is of and familiarization with the play, the characters, and the story during the “preliminary readings” are of utmost importance.
3. Implementing the text and “key words” during the improvisational stage of rehearsals in order to remind the actors of the author’s “intention” and the play’s “basis” can be of great help.
4. Discovering the “subtexts” and doing improvisatory work with to build the emotions and the behavior of the character may prove to be quite helpful.
5. Additional appropriate practices to bridge the actor’s emotions and perceptions with those of the character are necessary
6. When appropriate, “impersonating” animals by the actors whose roles bear resemblance to certain animals are helpful in further shaping the character.
7. And finally, discovering and summarizing the “beats” and the “sections” of the text and doing additional improvisations on these “identified” elements are necessary so that further and deeper understanding may be achieved.