Essay Objective: The essay investigates how a director should communicate and work with actors during rehearsals and on set to produce engaging performances. The essay investigates the different acting styles, the rehearsal process, directing on set and communication between actors and director. The essay assumes that the actor has formal training and basic experience. The essay therefore demonstrates that effective communication achievable through the "actor's vocabulary" is crucial in order not to over-direct and build trust with the actor. The hypothesis: If an engaging performance depends on effective communication between director and actor, then studying what an actor needs communicated to him or her by the director will ensure that the actor understands the director's vision and goal and will be able to deliver an engaging performance. Research trajectory to test the hypothesis: The essay aims to provide information on how actors and directors should communicate to ensure maximum efficiency. I will verify these results by directing the actors during a test shoot. I will use the suggested method I found in this essay and document my findings. Rehearsal and acting techniques. Stanislavsky Konstantin Stanislavsky's method is based on naturalistic and psychological acting. Use the "what if" technique. Stanislavski believes that actors should develop emotional triggers that they can call upon to create the desired emotional effect. Actors imagine themselves in a certain situation and feed on the emotions that the situation awakens in them. The actor then draws on a personal experience from his past that is similar to the situation required to invoke the same emotional response from the actor. This is often called “sensory memory” (Daw, K. 2004: 42). “An…… middle of paper……y, C. 1936. An Actor Prepares. New York: Theater Arts Inc. Weston, J. 1996. Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television. Illustrated edition. California: Wiese Productions. Unpublished: Taylor, J. 2001. An introduction to Stanislavski's method. [Online] Available from: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/3352 [Accessed 3 June 2009]. PERSONAL COMMUNICATION: Gabriel, I. 2009. [Interviewed by W. Labuschagne] 9 Jamieson st. Cape Town, South Africa. (Personal communication 05 May 2009, 1pm – 2pm).Van den Bergh, R. 2009. [Interviewed by W. Labuschagne] Telephonic. (Personal communication 03 June 2009, 15:40 – 16:00). Lecture Notes: Freeman, M. 2009. Master Class Notes. AFDA, AFDA Cape Town Lecture Theater 1 on 23 February 2009, 6pm.Williams, M. 2009. Master Class Notes. AFDA, AFDA Cape Town Lecture Theater 2 on 1 June 2009, 11:30.