Stanislavski System

The Stanislavski System is an approach to acting developed by Konstantin Stanislavski, a Russian actor, director, and theatre administrator. The System is the result of Stanislavski's many years of efforts to determine how a human being can control, in performance, the most intangible and uncontrollable aspects of human behavior: things such as emotions, and artistic inspiration.

Other approaches

There have been a number of competing systems at work. They are thought of as different entities largely because they have different names. Their genealogy is complex and will not be taken up here, nor will their merits, nor essential differences. Suffice it to say that the most fully-formed systems are often practiced with much more rigor in training than in paid, professional performance. It is realistic to say that in 'real life', as it were, most actor use an amalgam, a 'personal approach' of some kind (whatever that means), or 'no system': that is, they just learn the lines, and perform them. A radical thinker might even suggest that there are no systems, just ways of performance; but that idea is not taken up here.

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There exist, besides the System and the Method, and the MPA, several other ways. The Meisner technique, associated with Sanford Meisner and the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York (still around). The Atlantic Theatre Company, also in New York, espouses a technique that prides itself on straightforwardness and plain talk; this technique has been much promoted by David Mamet and his circle of actors. (Purchasing a copy of the official handbook was (and might still be) a prerequisite for interviewing at the Atlantic Theatre Co for a place in the two-year program.) Further, there exists the Viewpoints Technique, espoused by director Anne Bogart, which emphasizes six different categories of performance on which an actor must focus. Also there is the Suzuki Method of Actor Training, developed by Tadashi Suzuki, a strenuously physical approach. Finally some creatve personalities are associated with distinctive approaches to theatre: Vsevolod Meyerhold, sometime friend of Stanislavski, spent many years trying to expand the possibilities of performance. Jerzy Grotowski is credited with taking Stanislavski's work to radical new heights (there is something called the 'Grotowsky system', a term somewhat in contention). Antonin Artaud developed a theatrical concept all his own, as did Bertolt Brecht. Viola Spolin popularized the concept of the game, and the importance of (and technique behind) improvisation, both for rehearsal and performance. Augusto Boal has gone further than anyone in developing a system of theatre, called the Theatre of the Oppressed, that transforms acting into a social 'action' rather than the vehicle of emotional catharsis from 'action' which Bertolt Brecht so wished to stop.

Related Topics:
Meisner technique - Sanford Meisner - Anne Bogart - Vsevolod Meyerhold - Jerzy Grotowski - Antonin Artaud - Bertolt Brecht - Viola Spolin - Augusto Boal

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