Drama Strategy: Stanislavski's Three Circles of Attention

As all teachers working in secondary drama well know, Konstantin Stanislavski was a Russian theatre director whose system is the foundation of naturalistic theatre styles and of various offshoot systems including modern method acting techniques used religiously by actors such as Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep.

Stanislavski rose to fame in helping actors to make their performances more truthful and less showy. If the actor feels the character's emotions, the performance is more genuine. If, for example, you're playing Romeo or Juliet then you need on some level to feel genuinely in love with that other character show after show. However, if the other actor is just the worst type of person off stage and you can't bear to be with them, how do you see the character and not the actor? This is where some of Stanislavski's techniques can make a significant difference.

Emotional memory is ideal for the above scenario, as the actor substitutes their feelings for the other actor for the genuine emotions of love they have for their partner, family, friends, pets, and so on. Many of the techniques in Stanislavski's system are very psychological like this, but many more are physical and technical, designed to enable the actor to manipulate the voice and body to heighten and strengthen their performance.

One such technique, which is perfect for anyone who has to speak in front of an audience (such as teachers, conference speakers and salespeople), is his ‘three circles of attention’, which requires an actor to think about the radius around them that they are taking in when speaking, or even to which they are giving their attention when silent. Imagine that you are standing in a space, with three circles drawn around you on the floor:

Circle #1: Talking to the self

It's like being on the London Underground – you're crammed in like sardines with no personal space, yet you do not engage or communicate with those around you. Instead, you keep your thoughts and your energy to yourself within a tight little bubble of imaginary solitude! You see actors on screen use this all the time to show when their character is in deep contemplation, confusion or stress – they talk to themselves without engaging others around them.

Circle #2: Conversational – you and one or two others

Having a conversation with one other person whereby your energy is focussed on that person or those persons, and nothing else. It engages the other person, drawing them into your circle of attention, making them feel special and respected.

Circle #3: The whole world

This is the most powerful and energy-demanding of all Stanislavski's circles, as you need to engage the whole world in your every thought and spoken word. Actors playing Hamlet will use this circle in many of their long speeches, talking directly to every member of the audience, to God and the Devil.

These circles are important because they demonstrate that it is not always what you have to say which engages an audience, it is the way you say it which makes them hang on your every word. By sending your focus out into the space, and seeing your audience as one, you will be more able to engage with them.

In practice

Once students have explored the three techniques individually, try working through a speech and identify when to change the circles to emphasise a point, explore a thought, convince someone of something, and so on. Encourage them to play with it and see how changing the circles affects the meaning or sub-text of the speech.

Teachers need to engage their whole audience and probably use the third circle most of the time, but to make a point will perhaps use circle two with individual students or small groups. Over-use of circles one and two can alienate and bore an audience.

These are great techniques to use with any student, whether they study drama or not. Employers and universities want to take people on who at least appear confident, who can talk to people, make eye contact and so on, so they're great for confidence boosting, and public speaking training for interviews or spoken presentations and assessments.

Try it out on your next class, lecture or meeting and see how your audience engages with you.

You can learn more about Stanislavski and his system online, in his book An Actor Prepares, or by booking one of Theatre Workout's specialist workshops in your school or as part of your next theatre trip.