Anniversary of Stanislavsky's death
Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski (né Alekseyev; Russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский; 17 January [O.S. 5 January] 1863 – 7 August 1938) was a seminal Soviet and Russian theatre practitioner. He was widely recognized as an outstanding character actor and the many productions that he directed garnered him a reputation as one of the leading theatre directors of his generation.His principal fame and influence, however, rests on his "system" of actor training, preparation, and rehearsal technique.
Stanislavski (his stage name) performed and directed as an amateur until the age of 33, when he co-founded the world-famous Moscow Art Theater (MAT) company with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, following a legendary 18-hour discussion. Its influential tours of Europe (1906) and the US (1923–24) and its landmark productions of The Seagull (1898) and Hamlet (1911–12) established his reputation and opened new possibilities for the art of the theatre.By means of the MAT, Stanislavski was instrumental in promoting the new Russian drama of his day—principally the work of Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, and Mikhail Bulgakov—to audiences in Moscow and around the world; he also staged acclaimed productions of a wide range of classical Russian and European plays.
Bertolt Brecht says about Stanislavski and his system:
"Stanislavsky's system" can be called progress only because it is a system; Because his suggested method "absorbs" the viewer by a certain method and program, and therefore it is not a coincidence or the result of the actor's ingenuity or momentary moods. The progressiveness of this system is especially evident when the absorption takes place in roles that have not played a role in the theater until now, that is, in the role of workers.It is no coincidence that currently some American theaters are trying to lighten the style of Stanislavsky's system.
Even in cases where Stanislavsky Theater had to stage naturalistic plays to satisfy the taste of the time, he gave them a poetic element with his direction.His theater never stooped to the low level of pointless reports
Stanislavski always reminded the actors of the social importance of playing in the theater.He did not consider art as the ultimate goal of the theater; But he knew that no goal can be achieved in the theater except through art.
Stanislavski taught that the actor must know himself and the people he portrays exactly.Because both complement each other.No point for the viewer will be worth watching if the actor did not gain it through observation or his observations did not put it on the stage.
Bertolt Bresht
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