Stanislavsky's system and its principles

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky is the man who founded the Moscow Art Theater and created a fundamentally new concept of acting art. He devoted more than one volume to his ideas, and to this day his books are studied by representatives of the theatrical professions. The Stanislavsky method at the time of its creation was fundamentally new, and now not a single acting school can do without it. He is considered the "base" needed by any artist, even if he plays in a different style.

So, what is the Stanislavsky system? This is a series of exercises and principles that an actor should be guided by in order to understand and penetrate the essence of his role. On the basis of Stanislavsky's system, the so-called "school of experiencing" was created, which does not tolerate "senseless inaction" on stage. The system teaches not to play, but to live the life of a character, immersing yourself in the proposed circumstances and believing them. Every line, every movement on stage must be justified and come from within.

The Stanislavsky system offers a series of exercises to develop acting skills and imagination. Most of them are based on how you can "deceive" your mind and believe in the proposed circumstances. Actors often have to thinkthe life of characters and events not covered in the play. For example, if a person enters a room, then he must know where and why he enters. The viewer will not see it, but the actor must be aware of it. Did he enter from the street? What was the weather like? What did he do before entering? Why did he come in? And so on. This helps to achieve naturalness on the stage and give the action the meaning that is needed in the "experience school".

Stanislavsky's system requires full dedication and presence from the actor. And this is not so easy to achieve. Also in the book "Ethics" by Stanislavsky, he explains the basic principles of relations within the theater, which will help create the most favorable atmosphere for work.

In the process of creating the system, Stanislavsky had to solve a number of psycho-emotional problems. How to justify this or that remark? How to get rid of acting clichés and tunes? How to learn to ignore the audience?

The first two problems were solved with the help of internal motivation - the actor needs to evoke in himself that emotional state that will generate the desired body reaction. It is best to observe the behavior of people in life and remember how they act in a given situation. How does a mother meet her son? How does a girl confess her love? How does a man hold back laughter? Stanislavsky solved the problem with the auditorium by introducing a "fourth wall" - an imaginary barrier separating the stage from the audience. It is, as it were, a continuation of the already existing scenery.and closes the space.

The Stanislavsky system also tries to solve the problem with the relationship between characters and actors. After all, if the response emotions must be true, then this means that they must be caused by no less truthful impulses from the partner. Therefore, the system has a number of exercises on interaction on stage.

The Stanislavsky system is a complex multi-level resource for developing actors. Of course, one cannot learn to play based on the system alone, but everyone should have an idea of it, so as not to turn the theater into a demonstration of clichés and reading aloud.