Constantine Stanislavski
Fact file: Biography:
Born: 17 January 1863, Moscow.
Occupation: Actor, Theatre director, theatre theorist. Wife: Maria Petrovna Perevostchikova (AKA Maria Liliana). Books: Building a character, My life in art, Creating a role, An actor prepares, An Actors handbook, Stanislavski; A life in letters. Extra: founded the Moscow Art Theatre. Died: 7 August 1938 (75) Moscow. |
Constantine Stanislavski, was born Konstantin Sergeyevich Alekseyev, into a group rich group of people that loved theatre. His grandmother was an actress and his dad built a stage on the families estate.
Stanislavski started acting when he was teen, and over time became very good at acting. He preformed with acting groups while working in his family's manufacturing company. In 1885 he gave himself the stage name of Stanislavski (which had been the name of an acting friend). He married teacher Maria Petrovna Perevostchikova, who joined him in the study and pursuit of acting. Stanislavski Reflection.
Stanislavski's main idea was that actors should learn the character from the inside out. This entails thinking about what the character wants to do, what they want to do in the future, past relationships that might effect the way they think, the way they say things. Over the past two weeks we, in small groups worked on little play exerts to try and experiment with Stanislavski's method. Tahnee and I work on an exert from the short play Lovers (Winners) It's about a couple that are engaged, and as the play progresses the it becomes clear through the narrator that the couple will die by the end of the day. We chose an exert where they are discussing the new flat they will move into when they are wed. Due to it being above a slaughterhouse it brings up a little role play of Joe (myself) getting old Kerrigan to sign the lease papers while he is slaughtering cows. They get carried away in the story and start fantasising about slaughtering cows that look like people they dislike.
I liked using Stanislavski's method, it made it easier to get lost in the part and feel as if these things really do effect me. It changed the way I said words, like when talking about people we disliked I imagined what they may have done to make me hate them. For example the poodle Tweeny, I imagined it had kept me up at night, stolen food out of my garden and just been a big irritation. This made it easier to talk unfavourably about it. I think Stanislavski's method is a great way to get into character. |
bibliography
Fact file: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin_Stanislavski
Stanislavsky and the Russian Theatre Video: Youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eheDFPvUhjs
Biography: Biography.com, http://www.biography.com/people/constantin-stanislavski-9492018
Images: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin_Stanislavski
Stanislavsky and the Russian Theatre Video: Youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eheDFPvUhjs
Biography: Biography.com, http://www.biography.com/people/constantin-stanislavski-9492018
Images: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin_Stanislavski