ABSTRACT
An important step for character development is reading and working with the script to discover the essence of the play. Improvisation inspires actor in training to face and deal with the challenges of the character by looking at the world differently, taking risks, and making spontaneous connections, all of which can lead to solutions that carve out a path toward the character. The author offers a Character Guide, which is a questionnaire or biographical data sheet that can be used to analyze any character. Spine is a term used by Method actors, directors, writers, and teachers to interpret plays and characters. The idea of substitution in acting was articulated by Yevgeny Vakhtangov and is a central motif in approaching the work on a character or scene. The departure point for beginning a Character Exercise may be a work of art, a piece of music, an Animal, Private Moment, or Need Exercise.
