The Circle of Light

[Guest guest]

In the circle of light on the state in the midst of darkness, you have

the sensation of being entirely alone . . . . This is called solitude

in public . . . . During a performance, before an audience of

thousands, you can always enclose yourself in this circle, like a snail

in its shell . . . . You can carry it wherever you go.

 

—Constantin Stanislavski,

An Actor Prepares

(translated by Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood)

 

via Blonde Joyce Carol Oates