Active Analysis in Rehearsal: A Documentary Learning Resource

“Like a gardener who is weaving ivy round a trellis, I train the ivy of the actors round the trellis of the play.”

Bella Merlin leads a rehearsal of a scene from Emily Mann’s Mrs Packard using Konstantin Stanislavsky’s Active Analysis technique. Merlin guides the actors through a few simple steps which include reading, discussion and improvisation, and intertwines the line of thought and the line of action to create the world of the play.

This invaluable learning resource and teaching tool was produced by the Theatre, Film and Digital Production Department at the University of California, Riverside.