Introduction PART ONE: TECHNIQUE Simple Technique Perfectly: The case for Meisner Fear: Eliminating this inhibiting emotion Working 'With': Collaborative directing and acting Acting is Doing: Living truthfully in the moment Hearing is not Listening: Listening - the essence of good acting Beyond Language: Perception of the other's state The Pinch and the Ouch: Reacting instinctively Imaginary Circumstances: The actor's substitution Who's That Knocking?: Reacting to what's actually happening Études: Improvisation of relationships Mad Sad Glad: Vocabulary of emotions No Such Thing as a Monologue: Acting based on objectives It's Just an Illusion: The 'character' is you Take it Personally: The three forms of 'personalisation' A Director Prepares (a nod to Stanislavski): The director's interpretation of the script In Search of the Character: Working up a character in monologue format Taking Sides: An organic approach to rehearsal Launching the Canoe: First rehearsal - discovering one's character via the relationship with other characters The Nitty Gritty: Second rehearsal - identifying your character's objectives Acting the 'As-If': Improvisation for Meisner-trained actors It's Bits, not Beats: Breaking down the scene into bite-size bits Digging Deeper: Second phase of rehearsal - further analysis and improvisation Fusion of Life and Role: Final phase of rehearsal The Real World: Prioritising to fit the given rehearsal schedule PART TWO: PERSPECTIVES The Director as Renaissance Man/Woman: Skills of a film director More than Meets the Eye: The actor's preparation Faking It: Mechanisms for 'imbuing' reality in fake situations What's Love Got to Do with It?: Fight or flight? How we read emotions Psychophysiological Mechanisms: Relationship of emotions to physiology Indicating: 'Representational' vs. 'organic acting' Clips: Learning by watching actors 'act' The Case Against Actioning: A distortion of Stanislavski's concept of 'action' Cast the Actor, not the Character: Applying Meisner principles to casting Unblocking the Writer: Using Stanislavski/Meisner in writing Kids and Non-Pros: How to work with children and non-actors Silence: The absence of words is not the absence of meaning Surprise: The primacy of surprise in good drama The Case for Realism: Finding subtle beauty in realism Conclusion Bibliography Index.