762 Pages
by Routledge

762 Pages
by Routledge

Stanislavski’s ‘system’ has dominated actor-training in the West since his writings were first translated into English in the 1920s and 30s. His systematic attempt to outline a psycho-physical technique for acting single-handedly revolutionized standards of acting in the theatre. Until now, readers and students have had to contend with inaccurate, misleading and difficult-to-read... Read more

Introduction Declan Donnelan Translator's Foreword Jean Benedetti Preface Konstantin Stanislavski Year One 1. Amateurism 2. The stage as art and stock-in-trade 3. Action 4. Imagination 5. Concentration 6. Muscular release 7. Bits and tasks 8. Belief and the sense of truth 9. Emotion memory 10. Contact and communication 11. Adaptation 12. Psychological drives 13. Psychological drives in action 14. The Actor's creative state 15. The Supertask, through-action 16. The subconscious and the Actor Year Two 17. Transition to physical embodiment 18. Physical education 19. Voice and speech 20. Perspective 21. Tempo-rhyth 22. Logic 23. Physical characteristics 24. Finishing touches 25. Charisma 26. Ethics and discipline 27. External creative state 28. General creative state 29. The system Appendices Glossary of Key Terms Afterword Anatolij Smelianski

Biography

Konstantin Stanislavsky (1863-1938) was a Russian actor and theatre director. He was the co-founder (with Nemirovich-Danchenko) of the Moscow Art Theatre, which took the international theatre world by storm when he began producing the plays of Anton Chekhov in 1898.  

'A lively new translation by Jean Benedetti… Stanislavksi was provocative, controversial - and, as An Actor's Work confirms, a genius' - The Times

'A volume that clearly communicates the entire system … it should be made required reading. -The Guardian

'Getting the system straight from the horses mouth … An Actor's Work should be a manual not just in drama school, but but on any course where students are taught to assess texts and arugments critically' - Times Literary Supplement