1st Edition

The Routledge Companion to Stanislavsky

Edited By R. Andrew White Copyright 2014
    368 Pages
    by Routledge

    368 Pages
    by Routledge

    Stanislavsky’s system of actor-training has revolutionised modern theatre practice, and he is widely recognised to be one of the great cultural innovators of the twentieth century. The Routledge Companion to Stanislavsky is an essential book for students and scholars alike, providing the first overview of the field for the 21st century.

    An important feature of this book is the balance between Stanislavsky’s theory and practice, as international contributors present scholarly and artistic interpretations of his work. With chapters including academic essays and personal narratives, the Companion is divided into four clear parts, exploring Stanislavsky on stage, as an acting teacher, as a theorist and finally as a theatre practitioner.

    Bringing together a dazzling selection of original scholarship, notable contributions include:

    • Anatoly Smeliansky on Stanislavsky’s letters
    • William D. Gunn on staging ideology at the Moscow Art Theatre
    • Sharon Marie Carnicke and David Rosen on opera
    • Rosemary Malague on the feminist perspective of new translations
    • W.B. Worthen on cognitive science
    • Julia Listengarten on the avant-garde
    • David Krasner on the System in America
    • and Dennis Beck on Stanislavsky’s legacy in non-realistic theatre

    R. Andrew White is Associate Professor of Theatre at Valparaiso University, where he annually directs productions. He has an MFA in Acting from Carnegie Mellon University and the Moscow Art Theatre School, and has worked as an actor at a variety of theatres in the United States. In addition, his scholarship has appeared in edited works published by Routledge and Palgrave Macmillan, as well as in top American journals including Theatre Survey, TDR/The Drama Review, and New England Theatre Journal.

    CONTENTS

    Illustrations and tables viii

    Acknowledgements x

    Abbreviations xii

    INTRODUCTION

    R. Andrew White 1

    PART I

    STANISLAVSKY ON STAGE

    1 STANISLAVSKY AS AMATEUR: THE ALEKSEEV CIRCLE

    AND THE SOCIETY OF ART AND LITERATURE 13

    Maria Ignatieva

    2 "A SEAGULL FLEW TO US FROM YALTA": STANISLAVSKY’S

    LIFE IN CHEKHOV 41

    Valleri J. Hohman

    3 THE ORGANIC AND THE POLITICAL: STANISLAVSKY’S

    DILEMMA (IBSEN, TOLSTOY, GORKY) 62

    Anna Muza

    4 "BACK TO OSTROVSKY!" AND FORWARD TO SOCIALIST

    REALISM: STANISLAVSKY’S ARDENT HEART (1926) AND

    THE STAGING OF IDEOLOGY AT THE MOSCOW ART THEATRE 90

    William D. Gunn

    5 STANISLAVSKY AND THE AVANT-GARDE 121

    Julia Listengarten

    6 SILHOUETTE OF A DESTINY: THE LETTERS OF

    STANISLAVSKY 149

    Anatoly Smeliansky (translated by Arch Tait)

    PART II

    STANISLAVSKY THE ACTING TEACHER

    7 STANISLAVSKY ON VOICE AND MOVEMENT: CONTEXTS,

    CONCEPTS, AND CONTENT 182

    Lissa Tyler Renaud

    8 A SINGER PREPARES: STANISLAVSKY AND OPERA 218

    Sharon Marie Carnicke and David Rosen

    9 STANISLAVSKY’S SYSTEM AND WOMEN: A FEMINIST

    READING OF NEW TRANSLATIONS 254

    Rosemary Malague

    PART III

    STANISLAVSKY’S IMPACT ON THEORY

    10 THE JOURNEY OF THE MOSCOW ART THEATRE AND ITS

    DISCIPLES THROUGH EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES

    (1906-1937): DISSEMINATION OF AN ACTING THEORY AND

    WORK METHOD 281

    Marie-Christine Autant-Mathieu (translated by Elizabeth Wautlet)

    11 STANISLAVSKY, TOLSTOY, AND THE "LIFE OF THE HUMAN

    SPIRIT"

    Daniel Larlham 315

    12 STANISLAVSKY’S SYSTEM, SENSE/EMOTION MEMORY,

    AND PHYSICAL ACTION/ACTIVE ANALYSIS: AMERICAN

    INTERPRETATIONS OF THE SYSTEM’S LEGACY 346

    David Krasner

    13 THE LEGACY OF STANISLAVSKY’S IDEAS IN

    NON-REALISTIC THEATRE 379

    Dennis Beck

    14 STANISLAVSKY AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE 415

    W.B. Worthen

    PART IV

    STANISLAVSKY’S IMPACT ON PRACTICE

    15 THE EFFECTS OF RUSSIAN AND SOVIET CENSORSHIP ON THE

    PRACTICE OF STANISLAVSKY’S SYSTEM 442

    Sharon Marie Carnicke

    16 DECODING THE SYSTEM: FIRST STEPS 472

    Katerina Kamotskaia and Mark Stevenson

    17 IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH: STANISLAVSKY AND STRASBERG 506

    Yasen Peyankov

    18 STANISLAVSKY AND RAMACHARAKA: THE IMPACT OF YOGA

    AND THE OCCULT REVIVAL ON THE SYSTEM 514

    R. Andrew White

    19 MY LIFE IN STANISLAVSKY 547

    Austin Pendleton

    20 "ACTIVE ANALYSIS—MORE ACTIVE THAN YOU KNOW":

    STANISLAVSKY AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE 552

    Rhonda Blair

    21 THREE ROADS CONVERGING: STANISLAVSKY, SUZUKI,

    AND SITI 552

    Will Bond

    22 "HERE, TODAY NOW": ACTIVE ANALYSIS FOR THE 21ST

    CENTURY 576

    Bella Merlin

    Contributors 611

    Index page number

     

    Biography

    R. Andrew White is Associate Professor of Theatre at Valparaiso University, where he annually directs productions. He has an MFA in Acting from Carnegie Mellon University and the Moscow Art Theatre School, and has worked as an actor at a variety of theatres in the United States. In addition, his scholarship has appeared in edited works published by Routledge and Palgrave Macmillan, as well as in top American journals including Theatre Survey, TDR/The Drama Review, and New England Theatre Journal.

    "White (Valparaiso Univ.) and Camicke (USC School of dramatic arts) bring together 22 thorough essays of about 20 pages, each with a bibliography...it is fascinating to read how each contributor discovered Stanislavsky's work and interprets it.  Combining scholarly research and professional theater experience, this book reveals an intriguing account of, and debate about, the past and present and also projects into the future. Summing Up: Recommended." - J  Toma/in, San Francisco State University in CHOICE