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Stanislavski’s System for Actors
Konstan'nStanislavski
• Russiantheatreprac..onerwholivedfrom1863-1938.
• Originallyanactorwhomovedontobecomeadirectorandteacher.
• Greatestinfluencewasinthedevelopmentofanewapproachtoac.ng.
• Ittookyearsofexperimen.ngtogettowhatisnowknownasthe‘StanislavskiSystem’.
Stanislavski'sSystem• Asanactor,Stanislavskisawa
lotofbadac.ng-whathetermedasar.ficial.
• Stanislavskiwantedactorstoworkoncharactersfromtheinside(insteadoftheoutside)andthuscreatemoreofa"true"or"real"(i.e.notar.ficial)performance.
• Stanislavski'sthoughtprocesstowardac.ngdifferedgreatlyfromthewayactorstradi.onallyapproachedtheirroles.
Whatisit?• TheStanislavskiSystemis
anintensecharacterdevelopmentprocessthatstrivestomakeaperformance"real"andnotar.ficial
• 1.Bringanactor'sexperiencesintotherole.
• 2.Expandanactor'simagina.on.
Cont’…• Stanislavskibelievedthatinorder
tomakeacharactertrue,thecharactermustbeapproachedfromtheinside.Thatmeansdrawingontherealinsidelifeoftheactor,mostspecificallydrawingonmemories.Theactoralsohastocreatetheinsidelifeofthecharacter:thecharacterhastohaveinnerthought,backstory,beliefs,andsoon,justasarealpersondoes.Whentheactoranswersques.onsaboutthecharacter,theyshouldspeakinthefirstperson."Iam...""Iwant..."
EarlyTeachings:Emo'onalMemory
• Emo.onalMemoryrequiresthatanactorrecreateaneventfromthedistantpastinordertoregeneratethe‘feelings’experiencedatthat.me
• Theactormustlivetrueexperiences,buttruestageexperiences.
• Theactoronstagelivesa“repeated”experience,nota“primary”one
• Theactorcans.rtheneededemo.oninhim/herselfbyrememberingaparallelsitua.onhavingasimilaremo.on.Thisemo.onwouldthenneedtobebroughtoutattheexactmomentwhencalledforonstage.This‘evoking’ofpastexperiencewascalled‘Emo.onalRecall.’
Limita.onsofEmo.onalMemory
• Felttobetooexhaus.ngforactors,producingnega.veresultsliketensionandhysteria
• Stanislavskirealisedthatunconsiousfeelingsneededtobecoaxedratherthanforcedout
• Hefoundasolu.oninthebody,an‘instrument’thatwouldrespondtotheactor’swisheswithoutthe‘ficklenessofemo.ons’or‘inhibi.onsofintellect’
• Thisledhimtothe‘MethodofPhysicalAc.ons’– TheStanislavskiSystem,Sawoski
TheMethodofPhysicalAc.ons• Thegivencircumstances• Unitsandobjec.ves• Throughlineofac.onsandtheSuperobjec.ve• Analysisoftextthroughac.on• Truth,beliefandthe‘MagicIf’• Imagina.on• Subtext• Mo.va.on• Concentra.on• Relaxa.on• Communion• Adapta.on• Tempo/Rhythm• ThePhysicalApparatus
GivenCircumstances• Thesecnginwhichthesceneis
situatediscalledthe‘givencircumstance’.
• Thisenvironmentcouldbeshownthroughset,propsorotherstagecrad.Itcouldalsobeshownusingthenon-naturalis.celementsofmime.
• Thegivencircumstancesaredetailsfoundinthescript:– Whathastheplaywrighttoldus?– Loca.onoftheplay?– Time/period/yearitisset?– Peopleintheplay?
UnitsofAc'on&Objec'ves
• Breakthescriptdownintounits(sec.ons).
• Aunit(akaBeat)isapor.onofascenethatcontainsoneobjec'veforanactor.
• Therecanbemorethanoneunitthatoccursduringascene.
• Everyunithasanobjec.veforeachcharacter.
• Anobjec.veisexpressedthroughtheuseofanac.veverb.
• Notnecessarilywhathappens,butthisiswhatthecharacterisstrivingfor
Objec.ve
• Objec.ve=Thegoalthatacharacterwantstoachieve
• Anobjec.veisexpressedthroughtheuseofanac.veandtransi.veverb,e.g.:‘toseduceher’or‘toannoyhim’
• Askyourself:“WhatdoIwant?”
ThroughLineofAc'on
• Whenalltheobjec.vesarestrungtogetherinalogicalform,athroughlineofac.oncanbemappedoutforthecharacter.
SuperObjec'veObjec'ves/Beats
SuperObjec've
• TheSuperObjec.veistheobjec.veforacharacterforthewholeplay
• EverythingdrivestowardtheSuperObjec.ve.
• Thinkwhatisthemaingoalfortheen.replay.
• ‘Inaplaythewholestreamofindividual,minorobjec.ves,alltheimagina.vethoughts,feelingsandac.onsofanactor,shouldconvergetocarryoutthesuperobjec3veoftheplot.Thecommonbondmustbesostrongthateventhemostinsignificantdetail,ifitisnotrelatedtothesuperobjec3ve,willstandoutassuperfluousorwrong’(Stanislavski,AAP:271)
Analysisoftextthroughac'on
• Thishelpstheactorunderstandtheaimorthemainideaoftheplay.
• Inanalysinganac.on,theactoranswersthreeques.ons:
• WhatdoI(thecharacter)do?
• WhydoI(thecharacter)doit?
• HowdoI(thecharacter)doit?
It’sallinordertoachieveASenseoftruth
• Learningtotellthedifferencebetweentheorganicandthear.ficial.Stanislavskibelievedthattherewerenaturallawsofac.ng,whichweretobeobeyed.
TruthandBelief
• Truthonstageisdifferentfromtruthinlife
• Beliefmeansthatanactortreatsthingsorpersonsasiftheywerewhathewantstheaudiencetobelievetheyare
• Theabilityofanactortomakehisaudiencebelievewhathewantsittobelievecreatesscenictruth
MagicIf…• Inrealismwheretheaimofthe
actoristocreatetheappearanceofrealityor‘truth’onstage.
• Yourcharacterisinaspecificsitua.on.TheMagicIfanswersthefollowingques.on:"WhatwouldIdoifIwereinthesamesitua.on?“
• The"If"isveryimportant.Thisaboutyourreallifeexperiences,incombina.onwithyourimagina.on.
• Thesitua.onisnotreal,andthesystemdoesn'tassumeyouhaveeverbeeninthatsitua.on.Butknowingyourself,whatwouldyoudo?Howwouldyouact?
• Taketheimaginarysitua.onandmakereallifedecisionsastohowyouwouldbehave.
• It'scrucialtodeterminethe"do"intheques'on.Whatac'onwouldyoutake?
…MagicIf• IFIwastobeinthis
situa.onwhatwouldIdo?...Thus,thecharacter'sobjec.vesdrovetheactor’sphysicalac.onchoices.
• Exercise:Youareinaplaythattakesplaceatabank.Asyourcharacterisfinishingupwiththeteller,abankrobberentersandshootsagunintotheair.
• Ifyouwereinasimilarsitua3on…
• Whatwouldyoudo?• Wouldyoubeacowardora
hero?• Wouldyouyell?• Wouldyouhidebehind
someone?• Wouldyourunout?• Howwouldthisinforma3on
helpinyourcharacterdevelopment?
Imagina'on• Themorefer.letheactor’s
imagina.on,themoreinteres.ngwouldbethechoicesmadeintermsofobjec.ves,physicalac.onandcrea.ngthegivencircumstancesaroundthecharacter.
• ‘There is no such thing as actuality on the stage. Art is a product of the imagination, as the work of a dramatist should be. The aim of the actor should be to use his technique to turn the play into a theatrical reality. In this process the imagination plays by far the greatest part’ (Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares: 54).
Subtext
• Subtextreferstothemeaninglyingunderneaththetext/dialogue.
• Thesubtextisnotspoken,butisinterpretedbytheactorthrough,gesture,posture,pausesorchoicesintheac.on.
• Thereisaclearrela.onshipbetweensubtexts&dialogueandbetweensubtextandobjec.ve…
SubtextCont’
• “JaneaccidentallyrunsintoTom,whomshefindsextremelyannoying.Socialnecessi3esobligehertobepleasanttohim,whileunderneathshewantstogetasfarawayfromhimaspossible.”
• What’sthesubtext?• What’stheobjec.ve?
…Answer
• Givencircumstance:apoliteandpleasantexchange• Subtext:Janeisconflictedbyherfeelingsunderneath.
• Objec.ve:togetawayfromTom.
A) That’s nice. B) Do you think so?
Silence A) Well it’s got a certain…
style Pause
Don’t you think? B) Do you want to know
what I think? A) God Forbid B) I think it’s terrible! A) Do you?
whispering and then leaves
B) Oh, I like it
Look at this scene. Can you identify the subtext?
Mo'va'on• Stanislavskiinsistedthatan
actorwaseitherdrivenbyemo.onsorbythemindtochoosephysicalac.ons.
• Thisinturnarousedthe‘will’oftheactortoperformthegivenac.ons.Thus,the‘will’becameac.vatedindirectlythrougheitheremo.onsorthemind.
• The‘will’ormo.va.onisinthesubconscious.
• Mo.va.onbecameimportantinrealism,itisbasedonthesubtextandanyhiddenmeanings.
Will
FeelingMind
This is the motivation of the character
Motivation or ‘will’, as Stanislavski called it, was part of a triumvirate, the other two members being ‘feelings’ and ‘mind.' In his earlier techniques, he considered these three to be ‘masters’ or ‘impelling movers in our psychic life’ (Stanislavski, AAP 247). Stanislavski insisted that an actor was either driven by emotions or by the mind to choose physical actions. This in turn aroused the ‘will’ of the actor to perform the given actions. Thus, the ‘will’ became activated indirectly through either emotions or the mind. The implication here was that the ‘will’ or motivation was in the subconscious.
Mo.va.onvs.Objec.ve
• Mo.va.onlooksbackwardsintothepsychologyofacharacterandthepast
• Objec.velooksforwardtowardsanac.on
Concentra'on• Stanislavskiwasconcernedwith
actorsgecngdistractedbytheaudiencewhileperformingonstage.
• Hesoughtwaystocounteractthisdistrac.on.
• Hedidnotadvocatethattheactorforgettheaudience,becausetheaudiencewasanimportant‘co-creator’oftheperformance.
• Hefoundawayfortheactor.Headvisedthattheactoristofindinterestinsomething(forexample,anobject)onstageastonotfindthepresenceoftheaudienceacripplingfactor.
Concentra.onTheCirclesofAmen.on
• Hetaughtthattherewere3circlesofamen.on
• Small-TheActorandrightaroundhim
• Medium-TheActorandthestageandtheotheractors
• Large-Thewholetheaterandtheactor
• Stanislavskibelievedthatwhenanactor’samen.ondridedtotheaudience,heshouldbringitbacktothesmallestcircleofamen.on.
Relaxa'on
• Stanislavskithoughtthatrelaxa.onisvitalinordertocontrolbodyandmind.
• Onlywhentheactorisrelaxed,cantheperformancebeanygood.Butnottotallyrelaxed.
• Forexample:Ballet-Ahighlydisciplinedartform.Whenballerinasappeartoeffortlesslyglide,leaporpiroueme,theyarenotcompletelyrelaxed,theyareinfactusingmanymuscles.Iftheyweretotallyrelaxed,theywouldloseenergy,couldn’tbalanceetc.
Communion• Stanislavskicalledforan
unbrokencommunionbetweenactors.
• Hedifferen.atedbetweencommunica.onwitharealpersonandanimaginaryperson.
• Witharealperson,oneisawareoftheother’spresenceandwouldcommunicatewiththeminanaturalandrealis.cway.
• Anactorwouldanswertheques.on;‘Whatif(--)werereallyhere?’
• Theactorshouldstrivetoobtainadefinitephysicalresultinthepartner,forinstance,alaugh,ashrug,woulds.rimagina.onandcreatestrongcommunica.on.
Adapta'on• Adapta.onrequiresthe
actortoanswertheques.ons:– What?(ac.on)– Why?(aim)– How?(adapta.on)
Withrespecttoanac.on.• Thefunc.onofadapta.on
istoallowtheactortotransmit‘invisiblemessages’thatcouldnotbeputintowords.
• Dependsontheotheractors.
• Adapta.oncouldbeusedtocommunicatethesubtext.
• Meansthe‘innerandouterhumanmeansthatpeopleuseinadjus.ngthemselvestooneanotherinavarietyofrela.onshipsandalsoasanaidineffec.nganobject’(Stanislavksi,AnActorPrepares,p225)
Tempo-Rhythm• Tempo-rhythmcanactasa
powerfulbridgebetweentheinnerexperienceandthephysical.
• ‘Tempo’referstothespeedofanac.onoranemo.on.Tempocanbeslow,mediumorfast.
• ‘Rhythm’dealsmainlywiththeinternal,theintensityoftheemo.on.
• Stanislavskibelievedthatthetempo-rhythmwasextremelyvitalinordertoexecutephysicalac.onsinaconcreteandtruthfulmanner.
ThePhysicalApparatus• Stanislavskibelievedthatan
actor’sbodyandvoiceisthephysicalapparatusthatisneededinorderfortheactortofullyexpresseverynuanceandsubtleshadeofcharacter.
• Hesawthebodyandvoiceas‘instruments’thatcouldbetrainedandcouldhelptheactorgiveshapetoanactor.
• Thebodyneedstobetrained,improvepostureandmakemovementssuppleandgraceful,withpurposeandtruth.
MuscularMemory• Ishowourbodyremembers
andrefinesbody-movement.Stanislavskibelievedthatourbodycouldrecallspecificac.onplaywhetherwehadthepropsornotandcreatetheac.onbelievablyforouraudience.