1st Edition

Stanislavsky and Race Questioning the “System” in the 21st Century

Edited By Siiri Scott, Jay Paul Skelton Copyright 2024
    208 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    208 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Stanislavsky and Race is the first book to explore the role that Konstantin Stanislavsky’s “system” and its legacies can play in building, troubling and illuminating today’s anti-racist theatre practices.

    This collection of essays from leading figures in the field of actor training stands not only as a resource for a new area of academic enquiry, but also for students, actors, directors, teachers and academics who are engaged in making inclusive contemporary theatre. In seeking to dismantle the dogma that surrounds much actor training and replace it with a culturally competent approach that will benefit our entire community, the “system” is approached from a range of perspectives featuring the research, reflections and provocations of 20 different international artists interrogating Stanislavsky’s approach through the lens of race, place and identity.

    Stanislavsky and … is a series of multi-perspectival collections that bring the enduring legacy of Stanislavskian actor training into the spotlight of contemporary performance culture, making them ideal for students, teachers and scholars of acting, actor training and directing.

    1. Re/Gaining Trust: The "System" and the System of Actor Training

    Sylvan Baker, Zuri Eshun and James Palm

    A Reflection on Re/Gaining Trust: Revelation and Responsibility

    Joe Wilson, Jr

    2. Black British Perspectives, Pedagogy and Power: Addressing the Canon through S.P.H.E.R.E.

    Gemma Crooks and Erica Jeffrey

    3. Logunedé in Salem: Making Sense of Stanislavsky’s Last Experiments in Contemporary Brazil 

    Diego Moschkovich

    4. Emotion Memory versus Physical Action: Towards Anti-racist Pedagogies that Make Way for Critical Praxis

    Evi Stamatiou

    5. Breaking Away: Latinidad and Moving Beyond the "System"

    Marissa Chibás, Michelle Jasso and Tlaloc Rivas with Siiri Scott

    A Reflection on Breaking Away: Looking through All Kinds of Windows

    Sandra Marquez

    6. A Jewish Journey: Stanislavsky’s "System" to the American Method

    Conrad Cohen

    7. The Intracultural Project: Creating an Inclusive Rehearsal Room Beyond Stanislavsky

    Kristine Landon-Smith and Dominic Hingorani

    A Reflection on The Intracultural Project: Mabuhay as an Act of Resistance

    James Cooney

    8. Stanislavsky, Rose McClendon and Reparations: Whiteness, Professionalization and Reframing Amateurism in the Theater of the United States

    Amy Steiger

    9. I Ain’t Studyin’ Stanislavsky: We Are the Key to Reimagining 21st-Century Actor Training 

    Monica White Ndounou

    Biography

    Siiri Scott is a Chicago actor/director and serves as the Head of Acting and Directing and a Professor of the Practice in the Department of Film, Television and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame, USA.

    Jay Paul Skelton is a lecturer on the MA/MFA Actor Training and Coaching programme at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, UK, and has taught at RADA, Rose Bruford, Kingston University and the University of Notre Dame London Global Gateway.