ABSTRACT
An actor must forever be preparing himself for a higher degree of excellence. He must be always struggling toward achieving, as soon as he can, a mastery over all roles, not just the present one he is to study. Every great and meticulous actor should at certain intervals return to his studies. He needs to clear out his creative being from accumulated dross such as vanity, self-adulation and he must constantly, day by day, increase his cultural value as an artist; that is an actor should take six months or more off every five years or so and go back to school. The art of the (Moscow) Art Theatre is such that it requires constant renewal, constant persistent work on itself. It is built on reproducing and conveying true organic life. Our theatre would fall beneath the level even of the ordinary cliche theatre. It cannot tolerate the stagnation of traditions even in beautiful forms. This is an artistic technique.
