Preface.
I. UNDERSTANDING ACTING.
1. What Does an Actor Do?
2. Action in Life and in Performance.
3. Internal and External Action.
4. Understanding Emotion and Character.
5. The Actor's State of Mind.
II. PREPARING YOURSELF TO ACT.
6. Tension, Effort, and Relaxation.
7. Creating Together.
III. PREPARING TO REHEARSE.
8. Dramatic Function.
9. The Character's World.
10. The Elements of Characterization.
IV. REHEARSAL.
11. The Character's Needs.
12. The Character's Mind.
13. Objectives and Actions.
14. Beats, Scene, and Play Structure.
15. Through-Line and Superobjective.
16. Final Rehearsals.
Afterword: Your Sense of Purpose.
Appendix A: Sample Scenes.
Appendix B: Useful Plays and Scene Anthologies.
Glossary.
Index.