| The Given Circumstance
This forms the context within which the actor asks the 'magic if', the basis for an actor and their role. The actor must believe in the given circumstances and appreciate it as the truth. The circumstances are: the play's narrative; its facts, events, epoch, time and setting; conditions of life; interpretation by the actor and director; and, finally, the design element - costumes, lighting, sound, etc.
Imagination
A character does not have a full biography. The actor must find details of a character's life from hints within the text or invent them. Stanislavski demanded his actors to undergo a visual journey of motivation, including: who you are, where you came from, why, what you want, where you are going and what you will do when you get there. According to Stanislavski, speaking lines without fully realising the answer to these questions means not acting with your imagination.
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