Konstantin Sergejewitsch Stanislavski

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Konstantin Sergejewitsch Stanislavski
Konstantin Stanislavski

Konstantin Stanislavsky , actually Konstantin Sergeyevich Alexeyev ( Russian Константин Сергеевич Станиславский / Алексеев , scientific. Transliteration Konstantin Stanislavsky Sergeevič / Alekseev * 5 . Jul / 17th January  1863 greg. In Moscow , †  7. August 1938 ) was a Russian / Soviet actor , drama teacher, director , theater reformer and proponent of naturalism .

life and work

Konstantin Sergejewitsch Alexejew was born into a wealthy family. He took the stage name Stanislavski so as not to endanger his family's reputation.

Stanislawski founded the " Moscow Art Theater " (MChAT) with Vladimir Nemirowitsch-Danchenko . In contrast to the theater habits of his time, Stanislawski put through a very long rehearsal period for his productions . This made it possible to move away from the old roles of actors and to design each role individually. Stanislawski's production of Anton Pawlowitsch Chekhov's Seagull in 1898 became the model for his atmospheric acting style. The numerous theater actors who embodied Stanislawski's theories include, for example, Michael Chekhov (with patronymic: Mikhail Alexandrowitsch Chekhov), a relative of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.

Stanislawski strived for a like-in-life style on stage, even at the beginning of the 20th century when he was drawn to symbolism . At the beginning of his career, he took the view that an actor should largely identify with his role based on his own experiences and feelings ("emotional memory") . After he himself had failed with this claim, he introduced the "method of physical actions", through which an inner experience should be made possible through external actions. Later he combined inner experience and outer expression into "psychophysical action".

Successful on tours abroad, but only recognized with reservations in the Soviet Union , Stanislavski led a secluded life and avoided confrontation with those in power.

With reference to Stanislavsky and in the place of his earlier work, the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre was opened on Tverskaya Street in Moscow in 2015 . The earlier interior was reconstructed. In addition to the classical theater, the concept of the artistic director Boris Yuhannanov also provides for an interaction with music, visual arts, contemporary literature and an educational program.

Theory and methodology

Stanislawski with his later wife Maria Lilina as Ferdinand and Louise in 1889 in Schiller's Kabale und Liebe

The “Stanislawski System”, the result of his lifelong work as an acting teacher and director, had a formative influence on Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg's “Method” ( Method Acting ). It should be a kind of compass for budding actors and actresses. Stanislawski left behind numerous unsystematic writings. He could not finish the exercise book "Training and Drill". His manuscripts were summarized and published after his death.

The discussions about the relationship between “I” and “role” continue to this day. At the moment, the prevailing doctrine at GITIS in Moscow is that the actor's “I” is a kind of playful child, an “artistic I” who empathizes with the various circumstances independently of the actor's “private I”. This subtle difference between self-portrayal and personal artistic approach has provided material for discussion for decades.

The best-known term from Stanislawski's theater theory is “As if” or, in another translation, “What if”: At the same time, the actor should find situations from his own experience in order to credibly embody what has not been experienced.

For Stanislavski, practical work with the prop was important. In essence, the point is that no theater evening can be the same in terms of the actor's feeling - with the help of a prop or a related "small action", the situation can be represented identically, even without the prevailing feeling on that evening.

An example of Stanislawski's playing methodology is an exercise with tennis balls. Here, the actors do not speak a text during the scene, but shape the message to be conveyed through the type of ball throwing towards the interlocutor.

Acting concept: "The inner experience of the role"

The Moscow Art Theater (1947)

Konstantin Sergejewitsch Stanislawski developed the acting concept of the inner experience of the role. He is considered a supporter of naturalism, where he tried “to bring the stage play closer to real human expression and communication behavior, be it through observation and imitation, be it through memory.” His performance is about the interaction of body and soul. The basic concept is that people can make their inner feelings, emotions and emotional movements externally visible through their appearance by means of their posture, appearance, behavior, as well as facial expressions and gestures. This acting concept is also formulated in Stanislawski's work "The Actor's Work on Himself: A Student's Diary". In his textbook on the art of acting he is aimed at experienced theater professionals and conveys methodical, aesthetic and ethical views and images.

“He demanded that the actor be true to reality, completely truthful and identify with the role. Stanislawski developed psychotechnical acting methods and propagated the actor's inner experience, the identification theater. ”Identification is seen as an essential part of this. Stanislawski refers to the two relevant key points, which are of great importance for him and his remarks and in this sense he speaks of the " art of experiencing [...] and this truly creative moment". From this point of view, it is important not to think how you feel and what you do, but rather intuitive action is in the foreground and the actor should "not only experience the role internally, but also embody what he has experienced externally." Inner things work together on one level, influence one another and are in an alternating relationship. In his acting theory, the actor should not only express the feeling to be represented, but also feel it internally and experience it truthfully.

"Einlebung" means the psychological identification of the actor with the emotional situation of the dramatic character, the actor should experience every scene as "as if" [...] he himself were the person. "The" as if "plays an important role Role, which should be used as an aid, as well as a relevant condition for credibility, whereby the actor should find his own, experienced situations in order to embody the artificially created, "experienced" situation truthfully. Experiencing and embodying is also associated with the “if” in the “as if” situations, whereby the “if” can be seen as a switching point.

"All organic elements of your own soul" have to be connected to the role in order to embody it truthfully and realistically. In order to feel the role internally and thus to express it visibly from the outside, Stanislawski also goes into memory, whereby the actor should remember similar circumstances and situations in his life parallel to his role, which are merged with the role. What is also of great importance when experiencing the role internally, however, turns out to be that “trained vocal and physical means” are required to reproduce the inner being precisely. Please note: the expression of the sensations has nothing to do with imitating, copying or aping. It becomes obvious that, according to Stanislawski, the only true art is the true and actual experience of feelings and the “as if” situations. He describes the craft as the opposite of it, whereby the creative experience ends inside. In addition, it is made clear that the experience on the one hand with the inwardness plays a major role and on the other hand there is the externally visible embodiment. Both sides behave reciprocally. Stanislawski's “ideal is a lifelike depiction of reality on the stage, art as mimesis.” Stanislawski differentiates between three forms: handicraft, demonstration and experience, whereby he only describes the inner experience as credible. It becomes tangible that great, authentic power and a true, credible meaning is ascribed to inner experience.

The term "emotional recall" is also mentioned in this context, which also evokes emotions in connection with an event from memory, which are linked to the role and projected into it, so that the role appears credible in its final representation. The term "emotional recall" "belongs, like the related" sense memory "and" repetition ", to the basic procedures of the teaching and learning technique for actors that has become known as method acting ." Lee Strasberg, the developer of this method, has is based on the acting theories of his role model Stanislawski.

criticism

Stanislavski was a child of the 19th century and only got on to a limited extent with the Soviet rulers after the October Revolution . Above all, he resisted bold social criticism, which earned him the reputation of a decadent bourgeois artist. The criticism of his pupil Wsewolod Meyerhold , who considered himself a Soviet theater maker, also influenced Bertolt Brecht .

Brecht later took the view that the actor had to keep a critical distance from the portrayed and deliberately remove the illusion of his play so that the socially critical statement was in the foreground ( V effect ). However, he was neither able to take note of Stanislawski's own writings (which had not yet been translated at the time), nor could he see any of his directorial works. When he received the first genuine information about Stanislavsky shortly before his death, he began to revise his opinion. His decided rejection of Stanislawski mainly revolved around the term “ empathy ”, which Brecht strictly rejected. What Brecht called “empathy”, however, was not far removed from what Stanislavski called “hysteria” and no less condemned it.

honors and awards

Fonts

The classics of the acting training of the great teacher Stanislavski are The Actor's Work on Himself and The Actor's Work on the Role .

  • together with Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko: Memories of Chekhov. Chekhov or the birth of modern theater. 2011, ISBN 978-3-89581-252-1 .
Stanislavski's personal memories of life, work, the person of Chekhov and the creation of the Moscow Artistic Theater. Alexander Verlag Berlin / Cologne, 2011.

literature

  • Sabine Koller: The memory of the theater. Stanislavskij, Mejerchol'd and the Russian contemporary theater Lev Dodin and Anatolij Vasil'evs. (= Mainz research on drama and theater. Volume 31). Narr-Francke-Attempto, Tübingen 2005, ISBN 3-7720-8097-9 . (also Diss. phil. 2002)
  • Wassili Toporkow: Stanislavski at the rehearsal. With a foreword by Andreas Poppe. Henschel Verlag, Leipzig 2013, ISBN 978-3-89487-737-8 .
  • Stanislavsky Reader . Compiled and commented by Peter Simhandl . 1990, ISBN 3-89404-901-4 .
    The reader presents the most important original texts by Stanislawski, arranged according to didactic criteria and supplemented by important documents from Stanislawski's reception. Even beginners are competently introduced to the difficult subject of Stanislawski's theory.
  • Dieter Hoffmeier: Stanislawski - In search of the creative in the actor , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-87838-674-5 .
  • Stanislawski-Reader - The work of an actor on himself and on the role . Compiled and commented by Bernd Stegemann . 2007, ISBN 978-3-89487-574-9 .
    In the reader, Bernd Stegemann has clearly structured and commented on the topics “The actor's work on himself” and “The actor's work on the role”. Since Stanislawski's works are rather tedious to read, the material in the “Stanislawski Reader” is leaner and more accessible.
  • Karin Jansen : Stanislawski - systematic theater work. Critical Studies on a Legend . 1995, ISBN 3-631-49166-2 .
    This book gives an illuminating summary of the theory and practice of Stanislawski's theatrical work. A special feature of this book is the critical examination of Stanislavski's reception in East and West. It addresses problems that were also discussed at the international symposium Le siècle Stanislavski in Paris in 1988 and works with them.
  • Günter Ahrends (Ed.): Konstantin Stanislawski. New aspects and perspectives . (= Forum Modernes Theater series of publications. Volume 9). 1992, ISBN 3-8233-4029-8 .
    This collection of writings, in which Stanislawski experts have their say, some of whom also gave lectures at the international Stanislawski symposium in Paris, provides a differentiated picture of the main points of contention and discussions about Stanislawski's work.
  • Christoph Kammertöns : Konstantin Stanislawski , in: Elisabeth Schmierer (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Oper , Volume 2, Laaber, Laaber 2002, ISBN 978-3-89007-524-2 , pp. 621-624.
    Stanislawski's opera reference with the focus on "understanding opera as a school for rhythm, musicality and diction" and the "healing compulsion to be made fruitful for the drama, impossible to practice consistently realistic representation in the sung word".

See also

Web links

Commons : Konstantin Stanislawski  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ electrotheatre.com ( Memento from April 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), accessed April 22, 2017
  2. ^ A b Hans Jürgen Wulff: Naturalism. In: Lexicon of film terms. October 19, 2012, accessed December 28, 2014.
  3. ^ A b Julia M. Schrinner: Konstantin Sergejewitsch Stanislawski (1863-1938). 2006, accessed December 28, 2014.
  4. ↑ KS Stanislawski: The actor's work on himself. Diary of a student. Volume 1: Working on yourself in the creative process of experiencing. P. 5.
  5. ^ Imke Haack: Biography research: analysis of the professional career of actors. University Press of the Technical University of Berlin, Berlin 2009, p. 10.
  6. ↑ KS Stanislawski: The actor's work on himself. Diary of a student. Volume 1: Working on yourself in the creative process of experiencing. 2002, p. 24.
  7. ↑ KS Stanislawski: The actor's work on himself. Diary of a student. Volume 1: Working on yourself in the creative process of experiencing. 2002, p. 25.
  8. ↑ a b c K. S. Stanislawski: The actor's work on himself. Diary of a student. Volume 1: Working on yourself in the creative process of experiencing. 2002, p. 28.
  9. ↑ Herta Schmid: Stanislavskij and Mejerchol'd. In: Günter Ahrends (ed.): Konstantin Stanislawski: new aspects and perspectives. Narr, Tübingen 1992, p. 67.
  10. ↑ a b K. S. Stanislawski: The actor's work on himself. Diary of a pupil. Volume 1: Working on yourself in the creative process of experiencing. 2002, p. 50.
  11. ↑ KS Stanislawski: The actor's work on himself. Diary of a student. Volume 1: Working on yourself in the creative process of experiencing. 2002, p. 54.
  12. ↑ KS Stanislawski: The actor's work on himself. Diary of a student. Volume 1: Working on yourself in the creative process of experiencing. 2002, p. 27.
  13. ↑ KS Stanislawski: The actor's work on himself. Diary of a student. Volume 1: Working on yourself in the creative process of experiencing. 2002, p. 384.
  14. ↑ KS Stanislawski: The actor's work on himself. Diary of a student. Volume 1: Working on yourself in the creative process of experiencing. 2002, p. 32.
  15. ↑ KS Stanislawski: The actor's work on himself. Diary of a student. Volume 1: Working on yourself in the creative process of experiencing. 2002, p. 35.
  16. ↑ Natalia Kaninskaia: Postmodern Grotesque - Grotesque Postmodern? An analysis of four productions in contemporary theater. LIT Verlag, Münster 2012, p. 53.
  17. ^ Andreas Kotte: Theater Studies. An introduction. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne / Vienna et al. 2005, p. 173.
  18. ^ A b Ludger Kaczmarek: emotional recall. In: Lexicon of film terms. July 20, 2011, accessed December 28, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Stanislavski, Konstantin Sergejewitsch
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alekseev, Konstantin Sergejewitsch; Станиславский, Константин Сергеевич (Russian); Stanislavskij, Konstantin Sergeevič; Alekseev, Konstantin Sergeevič
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Soviet actor, director, theater reformer and proponent of naturalism
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1863
PLACE OF BIRTH Moscow
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 1938
Place of death Moscow