Stanislavski(1863 – 1938)

1863 Born 5 January to possibly the richest family in Russia.

1877 When he was 14 his father transformed a wing of their

country house into a theatre for the entertainment of family and

friends. They later built a theatre in their family home too.

1884 He adopted the name Stanislavski in order to keep his activities secret from

his family (real name Konstantin Sergeievich Alexeiev).

1885 At 22 he enrolled at the Moscow Theatre School but left after 3 wks,

dissatisfied with the training.

1887 After staging a successful performance of the Russian premiere of The

Mikado at his family’s home and gaining a professional review, Stanislavski is given

permission by his father to continue his career as an actor.

1888 – 1898 He travels extensively, learning from companies around the world and

having considerable success as an actor e.g. as Othello.

1898 9 April he assumes the role of Principal Director of what becomes the Moscow

Art Theatre.

1904 Chekhov dies.

1917 The Russian Revolution.

1922 – 1923 The Moscow Art Theatre tour Berlin,

Paris and the United States to universal acclaim.

1937 He dies.

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Characteristics:

He believed that theatre was to be a

moral instrument to ennoble the mind and

uplift the spirit. It should civilize, increase

sensitivity and heighten perception.

‘Seek your examples in life’.

In choosing actors Stanislavski was heard to say: ‘She is a good actress but not for us…She does not love art, but herself in art.’Chose plays from the classical repertoire, but also encouraged new writing.

Treated actors with respect, but expected dedication and self-discipline.

Previously, many actors lacked punctuality and were often drunk. Experienced

actors spoke out front; old sets, props and costumes were merely reused.

Stanislavski’s legacy is a system of approaching the inexact

science of acting.

He tried in a systematic way to lay down ground rules for

approaching a character and for how an actor might employ

his/her body, voice and mind in such a creation. His own acting

was often too full of personal mannerisms or overblown

extravagance and his directors would then resort to ‘imitation’ as

a form of direction which removed the process.

Realism: a selection and distillation of the detailed

observation of life, not the life itself.

Subtext: What can be identified under the text – the

unspoken nuance that we as the audience

recognize and which gives a character more

depth or psychological realism. This gives us

insights into the character’s motivations often

denied to those characters themselves. The

subtext must, however, be acknowledged and

understood by the actor.

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STANISLAVSKI'S SYSTEM is a progression of techniques

used to train actors and actresses to draw believable emotions to their performances.

The method that was originally created and used by Constantin Stanislavski from

1911 to 1916 was based on the concept of emotional memory for which an actor

focuses internally to portray a character's emotions onstage.

Later, between 1934 and 1938, this technique evolved to a method of physical

actions in which emotions are produced through the use of these actions. The latter

technique is referred to as Stanislavski's system. The system is the result of

Stanislavski's many years of efforts to determine how someone can control in

performance the most intangible and uncontrollable aspects of human behaviour,

such as emotions and art inspiration.

The most influential acting teachers, including Richard Boleslavsky, Vsevolod

Meyerhold, Michael Chekhov, Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Harold Clurman, Robert

Lewis, Sanford Meisner, Uta Hagen, Ion Cojar, Andrey Vasilyev and Ivana Chubbuck

all traced their pedigrees to Stanislavski, his theories and/or his disciples.

1. ACTION – concerned with the meaningful and purposeful activity on stage.

This includes concentrated stillness or inner

intensity. Always act with a purpose.In other words it must have a ‘why?’

E.g. Why am I coming through that door, sitting

down, moving forward?

Activity: Enter a room for various reasons

Sit on a chair for various reasons

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2. IF – The ‘magic if’ opens up possibilities for the actor of creating a whole new life

for the character and stimulating new emotions. What would happen if…?- this was a real place

- the actor next to me was my mother/sister/brother.

Activity: Improvise – what would you do if the lights went out, a

murderer was behind the door, you found you were

adopted, you were saddled with someone else’s baby?

You or your girlfriend was pregnant? You had AIDS?

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3. THE GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCE – These are the basis for an actor and his/her

role. They are created by the playwright, director and designer.

E.g. *the story of the play

*facts, events, time and place of action

*conditions of life

*actor’s and director’s interpretation

*the production, sets, costumes, props

*lighting and sound effects

Activity: Develop a scenario using the above as a guide. Decide how best to

communicate the circumstances e.g. a family funeral; packing to leave

(holiday, emigration, bigger/better home; smaller poorer home). Create

an environment and act out a moment from the scenario.

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4. THE IMAGINATION – The actor must believe in the

given circumstances using the imagination –

suspend disbelief, function at a high degree of

involvement.

When you begin to study each role, you first gather

all the material that will have a bearing on it and

then supplement with your imagination.

Actors often rely on visual stimulus: who you are,

where you came from, why, what you want, where you are going and what will you do when you get there.

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Activity: After preparing your characters, get the cast to question each other as

above in character. [‘Hot seat’] By research, find out what the character says about him/herself and

what other characters say about that person. Finally analyse actions of

the character.

Use photographs, paintings, music to come to terms with the character.

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5. CIRCLES OF ATTENTION – This leads the actor to relax and focus on stage

(called ‘solitude in public’). Slowly, like ripples in a pond, it radiates

outwards until it embraces the entire stage.

Activity: Draw the audience’s attention by the intensity of your own focus.

(Stillness or action can do this.) How do you extend it – looking at

someone/something else?

Or use a hoop, then remove it.

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6. UNITS AND OBJECTIVES

Units of action, dominated and controlled by the objectives within

them. A unit ends with the end of the objective.

Likened to buoys in a channel, guides for an actor on his voyage

(helps with learning lines too!).

Describe with verbs: “I wish to…” e.g. obtain power over,

apologise, impress, learn, find out ...

Activity: Do this for the plays we have studied this year

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7. SUPER-OBJECTIVE AND THROUGH-LINE OF ACTION

What is the overarching objective in the play? (In explanation, often used for

Hamlet.)

Through line – the main current that galvanizes all the small units and objectives

(‘what is my motivation?’)

Activity: For the three texts you have studied this year find the super-objective

of the play and for each character. Find out how they create a through-

line for themselves that drives their character forward.

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8. EMOTION MEMORY – Just as your visual memory can reconstruct an inner

image of some forgotten thing, place or person, your emotion memory can

bring back feelings you have already

experienced. This can be triggered by a sound,

smell or touch.

Actors were encouraged to create a reservoir of

memory/stored experiences from which to draw

and on which to build to help create a character.

Activity: Use a picture/photograph; a piece of music; a smell to trigger a

memory. Devise an improvisation to express your feelings from that

time. Try and link that to a text.

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9. TEMPO-RHYTHM IN MOVEMENT – Each character has his/her own

rhythm/tempo according to his/her circumstances and personality. The inner

rhythm may differ from the outer rhythm that conforms to

the tempo of the overall scene as influenced by the other

characters.

Wherever there is life there is action; wherever action,

movement; where movement, tempo; and where there is

tempo there is rhythm.

An inner turmoil could be identified through its outer manifestation, or

concealed by a show of calm. Two rhythms are created, the one contradicting

the other, leading to interesting dramatic tensions within the performance.

It is important that rhythms are kept distinct. All too easily a group of actors

can pick up each other’s rhythms, creating a generalised beat, which all too

often is the slowest.

Activity: Work out a rhythm for the characters in the

plays you have studied or the scenes you are presenting

for your prac exam. Who is still, who is faster, and how

does the tempo of the overall scene increase or drop?

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Nephew of Anton Chekhov

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10. THE METHOD OF PHYSICAL ACTION – Towards the end of his life, with An

Actor Prepares all but published, Stanislavski increasingly placed emphasis on

physical expression as a way of training. There was more emphasis on

improvisation as a way of unlocking aspects of both the text and the role.

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“THE METHOD”When the Moscow Art Theatre toured America in 1923-24 they left behind two

actors: Richard Boleslavski and Maria Ouspenskaya who formed a school called the

American Laboratory Theatre.

Among their students were Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg who later formed The Actor’s Studio which relied on Stanislavski’s ideas to create The Method. This

relied heavily on Emotion Memory. Method actors analysed and utilised their own

personalities extensively and produced very emotionally based performances.

The Method has provided a sound training for actors in the American theatre and film

industry, where value is placed on intense psychological realism in the construction

of character.

Notable actors who used the Method to great acclaim are Marlon Brando, Marilyn

Monroe, James Dean, Jane Fonda, Daniel Day-Lewis and Al Pacino.

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