UNIT 4: Stanislavsky

 •When was he working?

He worked in 1880’s. After studying at the most prestigious school in business and languages in Moscow and not graduating, he continued to self-educate himself in libraries and museums all over Europe. Eventually, he joined his father’s company and became a successfull businessman and the head of his father’s business. He made a fortune during these years and he was awarded the Gold Medal at the World’s Fair in Paris.

 •What was occuring socially at this time?

During this time, bad living and working conditions, high taxes and land hunger gave rise to more frequent strikes and agrarian disorders.

 •Why did he develop the system?

Stanislavsky was the first in the West to propose that actor training should involve something more than merely physical and vocal training. His system cultivates what he calls the “art of experiencing” (with which he contrasts the “art of representation”). It mobilises the actor’s conscious thought and will in order to activate other, less-controllable psychological processes. In rehearsal, the actor searches for inner motives to justify action and the definition of what the character seeks to achieve at any given moment.
Thanks to its promotion and development by acting teachers who were former students and the many translations of Stanislavsky’s theoretical writings, his system acquired an unprecedented ability to cross cultural boundaries and developed an international reach, dominating debates about acting in the West. Stanislavsky’s ideas have become accepted as common sense so that actors may use them without knowing that they do.

 •Who were his contemporaries?

Stanislavsky’s contemporaries were:
-Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko
-Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
-Maxim Gorky
-Mikhail Bulgakov
-Maria Lilina
-Edward Gordon Craig

 •Why/How did he survive the Russian revolution?

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, his factory and all other business property was nationalized by the Soviet Communists, but he was allowed to own his mansion in Moscow. Stanislavsky wisely let go of all his wealth and possessions and expressed himself in writing and directing. He remained the principal director of Moscow Art Theatre for the rest of his life.