KONSTANTIN SERGEYEVICH STANISLAVSKI

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KONSTANTIN SERGEYEVICHSTANISLAVSKI

• 1863 - 1938

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WHO WAS HE?

• Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski (Russian
  ?????????? ????????? ?????????????) was a Russian
  actor and theatre director

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RUSSIA
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Why is he so important to Theatre?

• He provided a rehearsal system that allowed
  actors to create characters in which they an
  audience could believe. This is known as The
  System

• Stanislavski was the first person to develop a
  cogent practical system of acting He remains
  one of the most important influences on actor
  training today

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In Context

• Since its infancy at the beginning of the 19th
  Century, Russian theatre had been controlled by
  placing it under censorship the police, in the
  provinces, theatre was little regarded or even
  known
• By the time Stanislavski came to work in the
  professional theatre, standards were haphazard,
  punctuality was poor there was often
  drunkenness backstage this behaviour took a lot
  of time to deal with

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Rehearsals in 19th Century Russia

• Rehearsals when they occurred were often
  performed mechanically with physical movements
  superficially repeated
• Actors would simply inhabit the stage deliver
  the lines, downstage centre front
• The dominant forms at the time were opera, farce
  melodrama which relied on Stock Characters
• There was hardly any exploration of character

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The Art of Acting

• Despite this Stanislavski was fascinated by the
  Art of Acting
• His early life privileged background allowed
  him to create alternatives for theatre

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Key Texts

• Stanislavskis search for a new style of acting
  is well documented, he wrote 3 books as a guide
  to his system
• An Actor Prepares, Building A Character
  Creating A Role
• Each is clearly structured easy to read

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1897 Moscow Arts Theatre

• Stanislavski founded the Moscow Arts Theatre
  established a clear set of ideals the style of
  performance had to be clear, sensitive, detailed
  truthful, the highest standards were expected
  at all times

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The Texts
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The Desire to Create

• The books are written from the perspective of the
  young fictitious actor, Kostya who is trying to
  improve his skill. He attends classes with the
  fictitious Director, Tortsov who leads him
  through a range of experiences that help him
  understand the art of acting

• This teacher-student format is effective
• It allows Stanislavski an endearing medium for
  presenting common mistakes or obsessions without
  sounding patronising or judgemental

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So what is The System?

• There are no formulas.on how to become a great
  actor, or how to play a part.it is made up of
  steps towards the true creative state of an actor
  on the stage
• (Stanislavski..An Actor Prepares)

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The System

• To achieve a normal living state.an actor
• has to be
• Physically free, in control of free muscles
• Attention must be alert
• Must be able to listen observe on stage as in
  real life, be in contact with the person playing
  opposite him/her
• Must believe in everything that is happening on
  stage that is related to the play

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(1) ACTION

• Everything that happens on the stage must happen
  for a PURPOSE
• On stage you must act WITH A PURPOSE

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(2) The MAGIC IF

• In working on a role you should ask yourself
  What would I do if I was in this situation? The
  magic if acts as a lever, lifting us from the
  plane of reality into the world where it is
  possible to create the world of imagination
• AS IF doesnt ask you to believe something is
  real you all know it isnt You simply act AS IF
  you were in those circumstances
• AS IF LEADS US TO ACTION
• What would happen if...........

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(3) GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES

• The MAGIC IF can only be sustained in the
  context of THE GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES
• The Given Circumstances are the basis for an
  actor his/her role, created by the playwright,
  director, designer form the context for an
  actor to ask WHAT IF?
• These are

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The circumstances are
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(4) IMAGINATION

• The Actor needs imagination
• Before you speak any lines or do anything you
  need to know
• WHO you are
• WHERE you came from
• WHY you are there
• WHAT you want WHAT other people say about you
• Without this knowledge, you will be acting
  without your imagination

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Lets Try this practically, REMEMBER.
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(5) CIRCLES OF ATTENTION

• Designed to help actors relax focus on stage
• Actors attention on stage can be scattered
  too aware of the audience
• Public Solitude
• 3 Different Circles

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(6) UNITS

• Actors must break down a play into smaller
  sections called UNITS
• How do you define a unit?
• Look for where a new action begins
• Find a title that captures the essence of each
  unit
• For each unit ask yourself, What happens here?
• Look at some examples from a text.

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(7) OBJECTIVES

• In every unit there is a creative objective a
  purpose or goal
• Therefore you need to define your characters
  objective in each unit
• An objective should be believable should make
  you want to carry it out
• Every physical action contains a psychological
  element

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A PATHWAY

• When you have divided a role into units defined
  the characters objective in each unit, you have
  a kind of channel or pathway through the play

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(8) EMOTION MEMORY

• Our own lives offer a rich store of experiences,
  memories, observations insights
• Actors need a broad point of view to interpret
  different plays create the life of people from
  different places times
• Nobody has sufficient material for all roles, so
  you must observe other people closelyobserve
  draw on your past emotional experiences

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(9) COMMUNION

• Actors sometimes dont listen to their partner in
  a scene they switch off wait for their cue
• Stanislavski always maintained that if actors
  want to hold the audiences attention, they must
  concentrate on uninterrupted exchange of thoughts
  feelings with other actors
• If your feelings are conveyed to the other actors
  affect them the audience will be carried away
  if they cant reach your partner standing next
  to you, they wont reach the audience

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(10) SUPEROBJECTIVE- The Ruling Idea

• As you create your characters objectives, you
  can begin to get a sense of an overall goal a
  line running through the play a superobjective
• I want to kill the king or I want to make her
  love me the ruling idea of the play
• When you have found the superobjective it acts
  like a magnet as all the other objectives fall
  into place. THIS IS THE CRUX OF THE SYSTEM

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You now have the basic elements of Stanislavskis
System

• Stanislavski argued that
• his System is based
• on Natures Laws
• The Actors natural creativity cannot be
  forced. The elements of the system are designed
  to create the conditions that help the actor to
  live on stage