Stanislavski's Method

Performer’s (Imagery and Action) Concept and Technique

Constantin Sergeievich Alekseiev

January 5, 1863(1863-01-05) Died August 7, 1938 (aged 75)
Moscow, USSR / Occupation Theatre director • Actor • / Theatre theorist /Founder of the Moscow Art Theatre

Influences: Meiningen Ensemble • André Antoine • Russian formalism • Yoga • Ivan Pavlov • Théodule-Armand Ribot • Alexander Pushkin • Nikolai Gogol • Leo Tolstoy • Mikhail Shchepkin • Anton Chekhov • Vissarion Belinski • Maurice Maeterlinck

Stanislavsky (Alexeyev) wasn't an artist, but a craftsman. His method is not an invention but a discovery of what was used from the beginning of time. "Psychological realism" makes sense because only feelings are the reality. The only material I, the spectator, can use -- my own feelings, memories, experiences. So, Stanislavsky advises actor to do the same.

System
– is a means of manipulating levels of consciousness to achieve certain specific effects on the body especially the illusion of spontaneity
– Process of adaptation is continuers
– That an “inner dialogue” runs with in us without interception- a stream of consciousness sustained and constantly redirected by subconscious impulses and sensory stimuli;
– Thus the life that the actor attempts to emulate by “: Living the role.”

Perezhivanie – living/experiencing/living through/experiencing through

2 Principles:

1. The actor has to draw on all of her/his experiences in creating a role

2. Breaking down a rule into a series of units that chart the character’s movement

3 parts/levels: Stanislavski concepts.

1. Emotional
2. Recall
3. Suppression.