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Spotlight! E-news from Theatrefolk

Issue 17 - The Stanislavsky System

Welcome!

This month, Spotlight looks at the Stanislavsky Acting System.

In this issue:

INTRODUCTION
Warming up to the subject.
WHO IS STANISLAVSKY
Who is Constantin Stanislavsky and what is the System?
THE PROCESS
A closer look at the process.
PRACTICAL PROCESS
Put the System into practice using a short play.
STANISLAVSKY SPEAKS
What does Stanislavsky say?
BOOK REVIEWS/BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books to read on the Stanislavsky System.
DOWNLOADS OF THE MONTH
Read the play used in Practical Process, as well as the accompanying worksheets.
WHAT'S NEW
What's new at Theatrefolk!
CONFERENCE ALERT
Meet us in person.
IN THE NEXT ISSUE
What you can expect next.
STAY IN TOUCH
Contact Info/Read Our Blog.

Introduction

Technique [tek-neek]
The manner and ability with which an artist, writer, dancer, athlete, or the like
employs the technical skills of a particular art or field of endeavor.

When we first start acting, technique is usually the farthest thing from our minds. We do it because it's fun, or because our friends are doing it, or because we want to meet new friends, or because we want to be in the spotlight and so on.

However, when the time comes that we want to improve as actors, there are a number of approaches and techniques to explore. The right technique is something that can be used whatever the role, whatever the play, whatever the situation.

I was introduced to the Stanislavsky System in high school. Even though I no longer act it's something I actively apply to my playwriting and teaching. Certainly it's not for everyone - only the individual actor can determine what's going to work best for them. But as an form of character development, this approach to acting goes a long way to building a three-dimensional human being on stage.

Who is Stanislavsky?

Constantin Stanislavsky (or Konstantin Stanislavski) was born in Moscow, Russia in 1863. He started out as an actor (Stanislavsky is actually his stage name) and moved on to become a director and teacher. He co-founded the Moscow Art Theatre in 1898; the company was the first to produce Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. This is where he developed a new approach to acting, using the company as a lab and trying ground. It took years of experimenting to get to what is now known as the Stanislavsky System.

As an actor, Stanislavsky saw a lot of bad acting - what he termed as artificial. Stanislavsky wanted actors to work on characters from the inside (instead of the outside) and thus create more of a "true" or "real" (i.e. not artificial) performance.

He also wanted to address how actors can keep a role fresh performance after performance after performance. It's not something an actor can leave to luck - there has to be some sort of technique involved.

Stanislavsky's thought process toward acting differed greatly from the way actors traditionally approached their roles. In fact, it changed actor training forever.

Stanislavsky developed a number of processes such as Emotional Memory, Objective and Super Objective, and the Magic If. All of which are taught in drama classes and theatre schools to this day. They have also found their way into other techniques such as Method (Stanislavsky's System is often confused for Method Acting) and Meisner.

Stanislavsky developed his program over a period of years. It was forever changing; aspects such as Emotional Memory, which were important in the beginning, became less so as the process evolved.

The System is outlined in three books: An Actor Prepares, Building a Character, and Creating a Role. Stanislavsky also wrote his own biography: My Life in Art.

The Process

What is it?

The Stanislavsky System is an intense character development process that strives to make a performance "real" and not artificial. In order to achieve this realism, the system is used to:

Bring an actor's experiences into the role.
Expand an actor's imagination.

Stanislavsky believed that in order to make a character true, the character must be approached from the inside. That means drawing on the real inside life of the actor, most specifically drawing on memories. The actor also has to create the inside life of the character: the character has to have inner thought, back story, beliefs, and so on, just as a real person does. When the actor answers questions about the character, they should speak in the first person. "I am..." "I want..."

The use of the imagination is very important: the system is not about working out your problems on stage as therapy! Stanislavsky always focuses on the art of the process: "Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art."

How do I use it?

The System has a set vocabulary of terms. These terms represent specific exercises to be used as the actor works on the script. The exercises are appropriate for any character and any script.

The Terms

There are many, many more components to the process than what we will go through here. If you or your students want to learn more, see the bibliography in the Book Review Section.

GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES

The given circumstances are the character details in the script - the facts the playwright gives the actor. They are unchangeable. Focus attention on the Geographical, Social and Historical elements in the script.

Sample questions to ask:

Where am I?
What is my specific location?
What year is it?
What relationships do I have?
What has happened before the play begins?

Click Here for a Given Circumstances Worksheet.

SUPER OBJECTIVE

This is also referred to in some books as the SUPER TASK. The Super Objective is the main theme of the play. The subject of the play. Everything drives toward the Super Objective.

Some examples:

The Glass Menagerie: True Escape is impossible
Hamlet: Revenge
The Crucible: Good vs Evil

OBJECTIVE

This is also referred to in some books as the TASK. Once the overall theme of the play is established, break the script down into sections. The objective is the goal for your character in each section. It's what the character would like to see happen at the end of the section; what they want.

This is not necessarily what happens, but this is what the character is striving for. It is the actor's job to focus on the objective and strive to complete it, no matter what stands in the way.

Click here for an Objective Worksheet.

The Objective Worksheet is divided up into Section (Opening line/Closing line), Objective (complete the sentence "I want...", use verbs), and Action (define what you're going to do).

For each section you should know what your character wants and what action they are going to take to get that want.

MAGIC IF

Your character is in a specific situation. The Magic If answers the following question: "What would I do if I were in the same situation?"

The "If" is very important. Again, this about your real life experiences, in combination with your imagination. The situation is not real, and the system doesn't assume you have ever been in that situation. But knowing yourself, what would you do? How would you act? Take the imaginary situation and make real life decisions as to how you would behave.

It's crucial to determine the "do" in the question. What action would you take?

Exercise: You are in a play that takes place at a bank. As your character is finishing up with the teller, a bank robber enters and shoots a gun into the air.

If you were in a similar situation, what would you do? Would you be a coward or a hero? Would you yell? Would you hide behind someone? Would you run out? How would this information help in your character development?

EMOTIONAL MEMORY

This is also called AFFECTIVE MEMORY. In the system, the actor does not "act" emotions. You don't act sad, or happy, or mad. With Emotional Memory the actor remembers a situation when he/she felt the same, or similar, emotions as their character. Recalling the situation leads to emotion.

What's important about this exercise is that the actor must not force a memory, or bring up something hurtful. It's a play, not therapy. It's important not to, as Stanislavsky says, "assault the subconscious." Past memories are used (as opposed to present situations) because they are more controllable.

The actor can also use situations they were not directly involved with - it could be a something they saw, read about or heard about.

Sense Memory is an offshoot of Emotional Memory. The actor recalls a memory, and tries to put all five senses to the memory. What did you see, hear, taste, touch, smell?

If you're working on a play and haven't done this type of work before, I would suggest choosing one moment. How can emotional memory help you develop your character at this moment of the play?

Exercise:

Choose a two person scene. Determine the emotion in the scene. For example, Envy.
Recall a memory from your own life where you felt Envy. Write the memory down. Be specific. Try to use the five senses in your description. For example: "My best friend and I tried out for the same part in the school play. She got it and I didn't. I tried to be happy for her, but I wasn't. I couldn't look her in the eye. I made my voice sound happy, but I knew I was exaggerating and I think she did too. My stomach hurt and I had to hold it. I thought I was going to throw up."
Do an improv involving Envy. It does not have to be the scenario of your memory. But, keep your memory in your mind. Remember how you acted.
Do the two hander scene.

INNER MONOLOGUE

Also referred to as SUBTEXT. These are the character's thoughts. What's going on inside the character during a scene? Creating the subtext is part of developing the inner life of the character.

Exercise: Take a scene, preferably a two-hander. Have the two actors in the scene face each other. A third person sits with the script and reads out the lines for both characters. After they hear their line, the actor speaks aloud the subtext for the line. To do that, the actor completes the sentence, "I want to..."

Practical Process

Put the Process into Practice.

See the Download section for my short play My Father went to Switzerland and all I got was This Lousy T-shirt. It's going to be a part of an upcoming Theatrefolk Duets collection.

In the same file, there is a completed example for one of the characters, for each term presented in this newsletter, including the Objectives Worksheet and the Given Circumstances Worksheet.

Have your students prepare a character in this play following the Stanislavsky System.

It's a short play so there won't be a lot to work with, but it will allow them to practice all the elements before diving into something on a larger scale.

Stanislavsky Speaks

Here are a few quotes from Stanislavsky himself about acting and creating a character.

"In the creative process there is the father, the author of the play; the mother, the actor pregnant with the part; and the child, the role to be born."

"Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art"

"What does it really mean to be truthful on stage? Does it mean that you conduct yourself as you do in ordinary life? Not at all. Truthfulness in those terms would be sheer triviality. There is the same difference between artistic and inartistic truth as exists between a painting and a photograph: the latter produces everything, the former only what is essential; to put the essential on canvas requires the talent of a painter."

"Put life into the imagined circumstances and actions until you have completely satisfied your sense of truth."

"If you know your character's thoughts, the proper vocal and bodily expressions will naturally follow."

"When we are on stage, we are in the here and now."

"One must not confuse the 'theatrical' with what is truly theatrical. The theatre undoubtedly demands something special that is not to be found in life. So the task is: to bring life to the stage, while avoiding the 'theatrical' (which destroys life) but at the same time respecting the nature of the stage itself."

"Imagination creates things that can be or can happen."

"Create your own method. Don't depend slavishly on mine. Make up something that will work for you! But keep breaking traditions, I beg you."

AND...

"There are no small parts. Only small actors."

Book Reviews and Bibliography

Stanislavsky has written a number of books about the system and so have many others! Here is a bibliography of books about the Stanislavsky System.

Books by Constantin Stanislavsky

An Actor Prepares: First book on the System. Introduces the system and its concepts.
Building a Character: Second book on the System. Looks at how to physicalize a character and discusses the need to be able to control the body.
Creating a Role: Third book on the System. Talks about preparation before performance and uses specific roles as examples.
My Life in Art: An Autobiography.

Short Reviews

The Technique of Acting
Stella Adler
1988
Bantam Books, New York

Stella Adler is one of a handful of American actors who studied with Stanislavsky directly. This book is extremely practical with pages and pages of easy-to-follow exercises.

Stanislavsky in Rehearsal
Vasil Toporkov (translated by Jean Benedetti)
2004
Routledge, New York

"You've saddled yourself with something you have worked out in your head and it's preventing you from responding to what's going on around you as a living person. You're playing a character type and not a living human being."

p. 16 - Stanislavsky to Toporkov during rehearsals for The Embezzlers.

Toporkov spent 11 years working with Stanislavsky at the Moscow Art Theatre. It's a personal account of one actor's journey to learn the system. I found this book easier to read than some of Stanislavksy's books. There is a description given by Stanislavsky of how Toporkov should approach a certain character, which is a vivid and clear picture. It shows how to start the character development process using the system. Great example.

Stanislavski: An Introduction and Stanislavsky and the Actor
Jean Benedetti
Routledge, New York

Stanislavski: An Introduction does just that: it acts as an introduction to the man, Stanislavski. It's an interesting read on how the system developed, but not a lot of practical application.

I found Stanislavsky and the Actor a much easier and comprehensive read, with many exercises to try out.

And some more books...

Stanislavski for Beginners
David Allen, Writers & Readers Publishing, 1999
Stanislavski's Legacy
Constantin Stanislavsky, ed and trans by Elizabeth Hapgood, Routledge, (1987)
Acting Under the Circumstances: A Step-By-Step Approach to Playing a Part
Richard Brestoff, Smith and Kraus (1999)
Acting : A Handbook of the Stanislavski Method
Toby Cole (ed) Three Rivers Press, (1995)
Working on the Play and the Role : The Stanislavsky Method for Analyzing the Characters in a Drama
Irina Levin, Igor Levin. Ivan R Dee, Inc (1992)
Stanislavski Revealed : The Actor's Guide to Spontaneity on Stage
Sonia Moore. Applause Books, (1991)
Stanislavsky Technique : Russia
Mel Gordon. Paperback (November 1988)
The Stanislavski System : The Professional Training of an Actor
Sonia Moore. Penguin Books, (1984)

Downloads of the Month

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In the Next Issue

In March we're going to look at a play specific workshop to deal with mid-rehearsal blahs.

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