Who Was Konstantin Stanislavski, And What Was His ‘System’ - Studio Ferrera
by Liz Seyi Digital marketing managerIf you have landed on the Studio Ferrera website having asked yourself the question, “how can
I find a private
acting coach near me?”, there might be much that you wish to learn
about the various conventions and traditions of the acting craft.
One acting ‘technique’ or ‘system’ that you might
have heard of is that of the Russian theatre practitioner, Konstantin Stanislavski
(1863-1938).
Born in what was then the Russian Empire as
Konstantin Sergeyevich Alekseyev, Stanislavski – his name also sometimes spelt
‘Stanislavsky’ – is widely considered as no less than the father of modern
acting.
With Stanislavski’s belief in the importance of
‘living’ a role – not merely ‘performing’ it – having influenced every acting
technique you are likely to encounter today, it is well worth educating
yourself on the fundamentals of the ‘Stanislavsky technique’ even before
reaching out to someone like me about acting classes.
What is the ‘Stanislavsky technique’ or
system?
In order to properly understand the ‘Stanislavsky
technique’, it is crucial to account for the historical context in which he
developed this system in the early 20th century.
As the 19th century gave way to the 20th century,
notions of what the craft of acting was, and what it required, began to change
significantly. Acting had been, up until Stanislavsky’s era, largely
‘presentational’ in nature. There was an emphasis on broad, mechanical gestures
and a contrived theatricality.
By contrast, Stanislavski developed a method that
centred the notion of creating believable characters and more ‘natural’
performances. While he acknowledged that effective acting required technical
skills such as vocal projection, he greatly disliked what he considered to be
artificial movements and unnatural voices.
In other words, he wanted to truly believe in
the characters that his acting students attempted to portray – that they were
their characters, as communicated through a suitably natural acting
approach reflecting the patterns and idiosyncrasies of actual human
behaviour.
What are the key planks of the ‘Stanislavski
method’?
I could talk to you all day on this one. But to
give you some foundations for understanding what the Stanislavsky system
prioritises, let’s take you through just two of them.
- Reading
through other sources of information about Stanislavski, you are likely to
come across reference to given circumstances. This refers to
the importance, as far as Stanislavski was concerned, of understanding the
world of a given character before you will be properly equipped to
give a believable performance. In your position as an actor, this might
manifest in you researching all the information you can find about your
character, including going through a script and writing down all the facts
you discover about them. This will help you construct acting performances
allowing you to embody your character as far as possible.
- Further
related to all this, is what is known as the magical if.
Being well-informed on the given circumstances of the character, will also
help you imagine how this character might react to any other given
situation that may arise. So, if you discover that a certain thing happens
to your character in the script, you will hopefully already know so much
about the world they exist in, that it won’t be too difficult for you to
envisage their likely response.
Understanding the ‘given circumstances’ and
‘magical ifs’ for your character will provide the foundations for you to then
consider your character’s ‘tasks’ or ‘objectives’. These are the given things
that a character will be motivated to do, as should emerge in the script.
I could say much more about the ‘Stanislavsky
technique’, and if you join me – Joe Ferrera – for a class, I can!
The most important thing for you to take away from
this blog post, though, is that the Stanislavsky technique, or system, or
whatever you wish to call it, absolutely retains its relevance to actors today.
It may seem ‘old’, but it is far from outmoded for any actor who wishes to
produce the most believable performance, as all of us in this profession surely
do.
Get in touch with me today about my acting classes,
and I will be delighted to play my own part in helping you unlock those crucial
skills, so that you can realise your potential in the field.
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Created on Sep 13th 2022 06:11. Viewed 105 times.