Stanislavski Technique
Constantine Stanislavski changed the tradition of the Russian theater. He created a technique that allowed an actor not to play a role but live it on stage, putting on the character's skin and becoming one with it.
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His Biography
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Constantine Alekseev (he took the pseudonym Stanislavski in 1885) was born in 1863 in Moscow. He performed in his first house play in 1877. Stanislavski cofounded Moscow Art Theater in 1897 (see References #1).
The Reason Behind It
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The founding of the new theater asked for a new school of thought. Stanislavski came up with a system that would allow for a constant perfection of performance, not just performances influenced by inspiration.
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The Basics
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Stanislavski taught that an actor didn't have to perform or represent a character, but to live it, to be one with it. He wrote that the actor needed to go through two steps to get to that level of performance (see References #2).
The First Step
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First of all, according to the system, an actor needs to work on himself, assisted by a director. He should train his memory, his imagination, his attention to details, his speech, and his plasticity.
The Second Step
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The second step of the system covers the work on the role, the character, in which the actor turns into the playing character. The director helps finish this merging.
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