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Understanding Stanislavski’s Concept of Inner Action: On the Basis of the Chain Structure of Action

  • The Journal of Korean drama and theatre
  • 2026, (88), pp.121~162
  • DOI : 10.17938/tjkdat.2026..88.121
  • Publisher : The Learned Society Of Korean Drama And Theatre
  • Research Area : Arts and Kinesiology > Other Arts and Kinesiology
  • Received : February 28, 2026
  • Accepted : May 16, 2026
  • Published : May 31, 2026

Lee Eunhyang 1

1성균관대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This article clarifies the notion of “inner action” in Stanislavski’s acting theory, a concept that remains ambiguous and has been interpreted with different emphases in previous Korean studies, by explicating the organic process through which action is generated within the actor and by defining what inner action is within that process. To do so, this article analyzes the key passage and related descriptions of inner action in Part 1 (Woe from Wit) of Stanislavski’s An Actor’s Work on a Role, including the case of an actor performing the role of Sofia in the same part. The findings are as follows. The organic process of action is formalized as a four-stage chain structure: creative desire/aspiration → impulse → inner action → outer action. Creative desire and aspiration constitute the originating motive and energy of the organic process of action; they are concretized as a creative objective that evokes impulse and directs subsequent action toward convergence with that objective. Impulse consists of two essential aspects: energy and object. Its energy is a natural energy that activates the actor’s means of execution, while its object refers to the concrete physical and fundamental-psychological tasks that the actor must prepare in order to realize the creative objective. The integration of impulse’s activating energy and its directedness toward these tasks enables the transition to action. Inner action is defined as action in a state of potentiality, where the actor, embodying the role, perceives the means of execution (tasks) formed by the impulse and strategically selects a feasible action appropriate to those tasks. Outer action then emerges as the action in its actuality by physically embodying inner action within the actor’s own bodily conditions. Consequently, the creative desire and aspiration function as the internal condition and starting point, impulse as the pivotal turning point toward action, inner action as the point at which action is initiated, and outer action as the culminating point where action is realized.

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