Preface by Marlon Brando -- First steps on stage -- The world of the stage isn't your world -- Acting is doing -- The actor needs to be strong -- Developing the imagination -- Making the world of the play your own -- Getting hold of acting's controls -- Learning actions -- Making actions doable -- Building a vocabulary of actions -- Instant and inner justifications -- Complicating actions -- Giving actions size -- Understanding the text -- Character elements -- Dressing the part -- Learning a character's rhythm -- Actors are aristocrats -- Making the costume real -- The actor is a warrior -- Stanislavski and the new realistic drama -- Portraying class on stage -- Afterword.