Rediscovering Stanislavsky

An interdisciplinary approach to Stanislavsky's theatre practice in sociocultural and political contexts and its legacy in the twenty-first century.

Analysis through Action for Actors and Directors is a comprehensive view of an innovative and exciting process for making new theatre. As well as an understanding of how Analysis through Action has developed over time, this book also demonstrates how it can be put into practice in today’s theatre. The first part of this book traces the exciting genealogy from Stanislavsky’s unfinished experiments, through the insights of geniuses Maria Knebel and Georgii Tovstonogov, down to today’s avant-garde auteurs. The second part is a practical manual based on extensive field testing by the author and colleagues. Here, two key components of the process are elucidated: Text Actions – ten interwoven text analysis steps – to be twinned with the thrilling rehearsal process using focused and joyful improvisations called Études. Written for new or experienced theatre students and practitioners, this book will enrich the technique of any theatre artist and anyone else interested in the theatre and its future.

Stanislavsky and Race is the first book to explore the role that Konstantin Stanislavsky’s “system” and its legacies can play in building, troubling and illuminating today’s anti-racist theatre practices. This collection of essays from leading figures in the field of actor training stands not only as a resource for a new area of academic enquiry, but also for students, actors, directors, teachers and academics who are engaged in making inclusive contemporary theatre. In seeking to dismantle the dogma that surrounds much actor training and replace it with a culturally competent approach that will benefit our entire community, the “system” is approached from a range of perspectives featuring the research, reflections and provocations of 20 different international artists interrogating Stanislavsky’s approach through the lens of race, place and identity. Stanislavsky and ... is a series of multi-perspectival collections that bring the enduring legacy of Stanislavskian actor training into the spotlight of contemporary performance culture, making them ideal for students, teachers and scholars of acting, actor training and directing.

This book rediscovers a spiritual way of preparing the actor towards experiencing that ineffable artistic creativity defined by Konstantin Stanislavski as the creative state. Filtered through the lens of his unaddressed Christian Orthodox background, as well as his yogic or Hindu interest, the practical work followed the odyssey of the artist, from being oneself towards becoming the character, being structured in three major horizontal stages and developed on another three vertical, interconnected levels. Throughout the book, Gabriela Curpan aims to question both the cartesian approach to acting and the realist-psychological line, generally viewed as the only features of Stanislavski’s work. This book will be of great interest to theatre and performance academics as well as practitioners in the fields of acting and directing.

Stanislavsky and Pedagogy explores current thinking around the pedagogical implications of Stanislavsky’s work. The volume depicts the voices of a number of practitioners, teachers, and scholars who are themselves journeying with Stanislavsky, and who in his work find a potent instigator for their own pedagogical practice and study. This book outlines instances in which updated interpretations of Stanislavsky’s pedagogy are adapted to cater for contemporary needs and scenarios. These include the theatre industry, new digital technologies, the need to develop playfulness, application to a broad repertoire, performance as pedagogy, university managerialism, and interdisciplinary crossovers with dance and opera. The pedagogies that emerge from these case-studies are marked by fluidity and non-fixity and help to underscore the malleability of Stanislavsky’s system. Stanislavsky And... is a series of multi-perspectival collections that bring the enduring legacy of Stanislavskian actor training into the spotlight of contemporary performance culture, making them ideal for students, teachers, and scholars of acting, actor training, and directing.

Stanislavsky and Intimacy is the first academic edited book with a focus on how intimacy protocols, choreography, and theories intersect with the broad practices of Konstantin Stanislavsky’s ‘system’. As the basis for most Western theatre and film acting, Stanislavsky’s system centers on truthful performances. Intimacy direction and choreography insists on not only a culture of consent, but also specific, repeatable choreography for all staged intimate moments. These two practices have often been placed as diametric opposites, but this book seeks to dispel this argument. Each chapter discusses specific Stanislavskian principles and practices as they relate to staged sexually intimate moments, also opening the conversation to the broader themes and practices of other kinds of intimacy within the acting field. Stanislavsky And... is a series of multi-perspectival collections that bring the enduring legacy of Stanislavskian actor training into the spotlight of contemporary performance culture, making them ideal for students, teachers, and scholars of acting, actor training, and directing.

In the 21st century, actors face radical changes in plays and performance styles, as they move from stage to screen and grapple with new technologies that present their art to ever-expanding audiences. Active Analysis offers the flexibility of mind, body, and spirit now urgently needed in acting. Dynamic Acting through Active Analysis brings to light this timely legacy, born during the worst era of Soviet repression and hidden for decades from public view. Part I unfolds like a mystery novel through letters, memoirs, and transcripts of Konstantin Stanislavsky's last classes. Far from the authoritarian director of his youth, he reveals himself as a generous mentor, who empowers actors with a brand new collaborative approach to rehearsals. His assistant, Maria Knebel, first bears witness to his forward-looking ideas and then builds the bridge to new plays in new styles through her directing and influential teaching. Part II follows a 21st century company of diverse actors as they experience the joy of applying Active Analysis to their own creative and professional work.

This book focuses on the analysis and interpretation of the first volume of the book An Actor’s Work by Konstantin Stanislavsky. This volume is the only part of his planned major work on theatre art that he was able to finish and authorise before his death. Its highly edited variant has long been known as ‘An Actor Prepares’ in the English-speaking world. Tomasz Kubikowski explores Stanislavsky’s material not only as a handbook of acting but also as a philosophical testament of Stanislavsky, in which he attempts to contain his most essential experiences and reflections. This book explores the underlying theme of ‘survival’ in its various meanings, from professional to existential; and the mechanisms and actions we attempt to survive. This study will be of great interest to students and scholars in theatre and performance studies.