Constantin Stanislavski Essay

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Constantin Stanislavski – His Influence on Theatre Constantin Stanislavski was born on 17th January 1863 in Moscow and died 7th August 1938 at the age of 75 in Moscow. He was a Russian actor and theatre director. He designed the Stainislavski’s System of Acting which was later acknowledged internationally. He treated theatre-making as a serious endeavour requiring dedication, discipline and integrity. He evaluated his own acting skills and work through a process of self-analysis and reflection. His development of a theorized process identifies him as the first great theatre practitioner. He described his approach to theatre as “Spiritual Realism” which was based on his work consisting on a wide range of influences and ideas, including his study of the modernist and avant-garde developments of his time. This also included naturalism and symbolism, constructivism, Russian formalism, yoga, and Pavlovian behavioural psychology. This psychology uses human behaviour to study an individual’s characteristics and personality. Stanislavski grew up in one the richest families in Russia. His last name was a stage name he adopted in 1884 to hide his performance activities from his parents as actors back then had the lowest social status in Russia. His family manufactured gold and silver braided decorations for military uniforms. Stanislavski was an amateur actor and director till the age of thirty three. Stanislavski had many influences on theatre as we know it today. However, before he made his contributions, he was himself influenced by various factors and people which eventually led him to create Stanislavski’s System. As a young aspiring actor, he was interested in “living the part”. He often disguised himself as a tramp as part of an experiment to achieve authenticity. He later converted this experiment into a comedic play. Since he believed good acting can only be

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