KONSTANTIN STANISLAVSKI

THE STANISLAVSKI SYSTEM

An Acting Methodology

KONSTANTIN STANISLAVSKI
(1863 - 1938)
As founder of the first acting "system," co-founder of the Moscow Art
Theatre (1897- ), and an eminent practitioner of the naturalist school of
thought, Konstantin Stanislavski unequivocally challenged traditional notions
of the dramatic process, establishing himself as one of the most pioneering
thinkers in modern theatre.
Stanislavski coined phrases such as "stage direction", laid the foundations of
modern opera and gave instant renown to the works of such talented writers
and playwrights as Maksim Gorki and Anton Chekhov. Konstantin
Stanislavski's process of character development, the "Stanislavski System", was
the catalyst for "Method Acting" - arguably the most influential acting system
on the modern stage and screen. Such renowned schools of acting and
directing as the Group Theatre (1931- 1941) and The Actors Studio (1947- )
are a legacy of Konstantin Stanislavski's pioneering vision.
Like all pioneering thinkers however, Konstantin Stanislavski stood on the
shoulders of giants. Much of the thought and philosophy Konstantin
Stanislavski applied to the theatre derives from his predecessors. Pushkin,
Russia's original literary hero and the father of the native realist tradition wrote
that the goal of the artist is to supply truthful feelings under given
circumstances, which Stanislavski adopted as his lifelong artistic motto.
Konstantin Stanislavski was born Konstantin Sergeyevich Alexeyev in Moscow
on January 5, 1863, amidst the transition from the feudal serfdom of Czarist
Russia under the rule of Peter the Great, to the free enterprise of the Industrial
Revolution. More than one hundred years prior, Konstantin Stanislavski's
ancestor Alexei Petrov had broken the chains of serfdom that bound the
family and gained immediate status and wealth as a merchant. By the time
Konstantin Stanislavski was born, the Alexeyev business of gold and silver
thread production had made the family name well known throughout the
world.
Silver and gold were not the only interests of the Alexeyev family. While
Konstantin Stanislavski was still very young, the family organized a theatre
group called the Alexeyev Circle. Throughout his ascent to a major role on the
stage, Konstantin Stanislavski maintained obligations to his family business,
organizing shareholder meetings and keeping the accounts in order. However,
his preoccupation with all aspects of theatrical production eventually made
him a leading member of his family's theatre group. Reared by a wealthy and
generous father, Konstantin Stanislavski was never short of funding in his
early stage performances. Ultimately, in order to escape the stereotype of the
prodigal son and to be mindful of the reputation of his family, at the age of 25,
Konstantin Stanislavski took the stage name Stanislavski. In the same year he
established the Society of Art and Literature as an amateaur company at the
Maly Theatre, where he gained experience in ethics, aesthetics and stagecraft.
As he progressed independently, Konstantin Stanislavski began to further
challenge the traditional stage approach. In 1898, in cooperation with Vladimir
Nemirovich-Danchenko, Stanislavski founded the Moscow Art Theatre,
Russia's first ensemble theatre.
"The program for our undertaking was revolutionary. We protested against the
old manner of acting and against theatricality, against artificial pathos and
declamation, and against affectation on the stage, and inferior conventional
productions and decoration, against the star system which had been a bad
affect on the cast, against the whole arrangement of plays and against the poor
repertoire of the theatres." - Konstantin Stanislavski
Using the Moscow Art Theatre as his conduit, Konstantin Stanislavski
developed his own unique system of training wherein actors would research
the situation created by the script, break down the text according to their
character's motivations and recall their own experiences, thereby causing
actions and reactions according to these motivations. The actor would ideally
make his motivations for acting identical to those of the character in the script.
He could then replay these emotions and experiences in the role of the
character in order to achieve a more genuine performance. The 17th Century
melodrama Tsar Fyodor was the first production in which these techniques
were showcased. "How does an actor act? ... How can the actor learn to inspire
himself? What can he do to impel himself toward that necessary yet
maddeningly elusive creative mood? These were the simple, awesome riddles
Stanislavksi dedicated his life to exploring. Where and how to 'seek those
roads into the secret sources of inspiration must serve as the fundamental life
problem of every true actor' ... If the ability to receive the creative mood in its
full measure is given to the genius by nature", Stanislavski wondered, "then
perhaps ordinary people may reach a like state after a great deal of hard work
with themselves - not in its full measure, but at least in part."
Using this system, Konstantin Stanislavski succeeded like no producer or
director before him in translating the works of such renowned playwrights as
Chekov and Gorki, whose writings were aptly suited to his system. With their
social consciousness and emphasis on the importance of imagery and theme
rather than plot, they were blank canvasses on which Stanislavski could
exercise his artful hand.
Konstantin Stanislavski clearly could not separate the theatre from its social
context. Konstantin Stanislavski viewed theatre as a medium with great social
and educational significance. During the civil unrest leading up to the first
Russian revolution in 1905, Stanislavski courageously reflected social issues on
the stage. Twelve years later, during the Red October of 1917, Bolshevism had
swept through Russia and the Soviet Union was established. In the violence of
revolution, Lenin's personal protection saved Konstantin Stanislavski from
being eliminated along with the Czardom. The USSR maintained allegiance to
Konstantin Stanislavski and his socially conscious method of production and
his theatre began to produce plays containing Soviet propoganda.
"The revolution thundered in and made its demands on us. There began a
period of new explorations, of reappraisal of the old and the search for new
ways. At a time when the new for the sake of the new and the negation of
everything that had come before held sway in the theatre, we could not reject
out of hand all that was fine in the past ... This link with the past and the
eagerness to move to an unknown future, the searching quests of the new
theatre - all this helped to keep us from succumbing to the dangerous 'charms'
of formalism ... We did not succumb; instead we began our quest for new
ways, cautiously but doggedly." - Konstantin StanislavskiIn 1918, Konstantin
Stanislavski established the First Studio as a school for young actors and in his
later years wrote two books, My Life in Art and The Actor and His Work. Both
have been translated into over 20 languages. Through his earnest professional
and educational leadership, Konstantin Stanislavski spread his knowledge to
numerous understudies, leaving a legacy that cannot be overstated.
"It was with a feeling of deep emotion and joy that we entered Stanislavski's
house: a tall old man with snow white hair rose from the arm chair to greet us.
It was enough for us to converse with Stanislavski just 5- 10 minutes to come
away feeling like a new born person, cleansed of all that might be 'bad' in art."
- Khmelyov

In 1938, just before World War II, Konstantin Stanislavski died holding on to
the ideal of a peaceful, socially responsible world. A world completely engulfed
in the experiences and interchange of works of art that people of every nation
would identify with and cherish.

"Let the wisdom of the old guide the buoyancy and vitality of the youth; let the
buoyancy and vitality of the youth sustain the wisdom of the old." - Konstantin
Stanislavski

There is no Stanislevski SFtm. There is only the authen-
tic, incontestlble one-the system of natue i$elI.
Artists who do not go fonwardgo backward.
STANIsl^vsxr
The difficult nust becornehabit, habit easy,and the easy
beautiful.
PRn.rcsSERGST VoLKoNsKI
Tbe System cannot be leamed by heart; it has to be assio-
ilated absorbed gradudly. To know the System means to be
able to use it, it nust be leamed as an unbreakable wholg
without dividing its various elenents. Isolated study of the
elenents can fragment the actor's behavior oD stage.
SraNrsLAVSKr
AND Hrs Sysrnpr
Art establisheethe basichuman truths which must serveas
the touchstonesoI our iudgment.. ..I look forward to an
America which will steadily raise the standardsof artistic
accomplisbmen3and which will steadily enlargecultural
oppomrnides for all of our citizene.
PR.ESIDENT 'OHN F. KENNEDY
Addrcssat Anherst College,October1963
\lV" h"o" -"rry talented young peoplewho want to be
in the theater. The nastery of professionaltechnique can
transforE them into artists. It is time we thought about ow
own tradition, andhow it will encourageour theaterto flour-
ish. kesident Kennedy's views about at echoedthose of
Konstantin SergeyevichStanislaviski,the great Ruseianac-
tor, director, and reformer of r:hetheater. For Stanislaveki,
theater was an institution oI cultural and moral education.
Theater, he believed, besidesbeing entertainment, should
developpeople'staste and raisethe level of their culture. To
servesuchtleater sbould be an actor's super-super-obiective,
he eaid.With this principle Stanislavski expressedthe aes-
thetic and ethical goals of theater art.
"Theater," saidStanislavski,"is a pulpit which is the most
powerful meansof inlluence." "With the samepower with
which theater can ennoble the spectators,it may corrupt
them, degradethem, spoil their taste, lower their passioos,
olfend beauty," "My task is to elevate the family of artistg
from the igrrorant, the haU-educated,and the profiteers, aod
to conveyto the youngergenerationthat an actoris the priest
of beauty and truth." "Some ectors and actresseslove stage
and art asfish love water," he wrote in his notebook."Thei
4 ll The StadslavskiSYstem
revive in the atmosphere of art. Others love not art itself
but an actor's career, success,they revive in the backstage
atmosphere. The first are beautiful, the others are abomi-
nable." "The habit of being always in public, of exhibiting
onesell and showing off, of receiving applause,good reviews,
and so on, is a Sreat temptation, it accustoms an actor to
being worshiped; it spoils him. His little ambitious person
begins to need constant ticklinS." "To be content with such
interests, one must be mediocre and vulSar. A serious artist
cannot be satisfied for long with such existence, but super-
Iicial people are enslaved by the temPtations o{ the stage,
and btcome corrupted. This is why, in our work more than
in any other, one must constantly keep onesel{ in hand' An
actor needs a soldier's discipline'" Without compromise or
exception and without mercy, Stanislavski imposed such
discipline. "I consider good manners as part of an actor's
creativity," he said. He also remarked, "If you must 9pit,
leam to do it before you enter the theater'"
Believing ethics to be of great significance in the success
oI the theater, Stanislavski said that even very talented ac-
tors should be sacrificed if they could not contribute to the
harmonious atmosphere of the group. Since the art of the
theater is collective work, it is essential that veryone in
the group work for the benelit of the whole performance and
not solely for himsell Ethics, high morale, and stem disei-
pline are indispensablein such a group. The reproduction oI
life on stage is, for actors, both a challenge and a responsi'
bility toward the people who come to see it. An actor's ex-
citing profession is one of responsibility, because it is he
who Lrtathes life into a written play, he who makes the play
tangible, alive, valid, and exciting. "The theater infects the
audience with its noble ecstasy," said Stanislavski.
Ethics impregnate all Stanislavski's teachings and are in-
divisible from his technology. He believed that an actor
without ethics is only a craftsman, and without professional
technique he is e dilettante. Ethics, profound knowledge,
and a highly artistic form of expression are the essenceof
the Stanislavski Svstem.
StanislavskiandHis Systen I 5
It became Stanislavski's goal to give an actor control over
the phenomenon of inspiration. When an actor is inspired
he is in the same natural and spontaneousstate that is ours
in life, and he lives the experiences and emotions of the
character he portrays. In such a state, Stanislavski thought,
an actor has the greatest power to affect the minds and feel-
ings of his audience. Stanislavski's aesthetic and ethical be-
Iiefs fonned the point oI deparnre in his work and the driving
force in the creation of his Svstem.
I was quite young when I won a highly competitive
entrance examination to the Third Studio of the Moscow
Art Theater, which was guided and directed by Stanislav-
ski's most celebrateddisciple, the brilliant EugeneB. Vakh-
tangov. Stanislavski said that Vakhtangov taught the
technique better than he did himself; in fact, he was some-
times coachedby Vakhtangov. To see such masters at work
was truly thrilling. Each one's inexhaustible creative source
was miraculous; both were unconditionally and tirelessly
demanding of themselves and of others in achieving truth
on the stage and in creating real characters.Never satisfied,
Stanislavski and Vakhtangov were continually striving for
better results.
It was understood that everyone in the Moscow Art Thea-
ter and its Studios would be present at rehearsals,whether
actually involved in them or not. Since Vakhtangov appeared
every night in a performance, he came to .our Studio after
eleven p.m., and our rehearsalscontinued until eight in the
moming. Even in my early yearsI was interested in directing
and during the yeats I was in the Studio I never missed one
of those rehearsals. Blessed with the giits of exceptional
imagination and impetuous ertistic temperament, Stanis-
lavski and Vakhtangov often stimulated the actors by in-
cluding themselves as charactets in a rehearsal.
When our Studio played Turandot in the Moscow Art
Theater itsel{, Stanislavski came backstagefor the express
purpose oI encouraging the young actors and actresses. The
excitement created by his malestic presence was tlemen-
dous.
6 ll The StanislavskiSystem
Having first studied the System iD the Studio and later
having closely analyzedhis teachings,I want to try to clarifu
what Stanislavski achieved with his indomitable logic, his
sensitive observation,his serious attitude toward actors, and
his love oI the theater. Becausehis scientific and artistic
teachings about the creative state on stage are vital for good
theater, and becausehe wanted simple books on acting tech'
nique, I wish to bring the knowledge of his teachings up to
date in the United States.
One cause of misunderstanding about the Stanislavski
System is the iact that various disciples of Staruslavski were
assimilating it during dilferent stagesoI its lormation; with-
out realizing that the System underwent constant changein
its development, they could not find a common language,
and their disagreement provoked confusion among those who
had not been in touch with Stanislavski. Another cause is
the insu{ficiency of material in English about Stanislavski's
conclusions and deductions. The Stanislavski System is the
science of theater art. As a science it does not stand still;
being a science,it has unlimited possibilities for experiment
and discoveries. Elements o{ the System have continually
evolved and been tested, much as new chemicals are tested
in a laboratory.
Before Stanislavski was bom in 1863, Mikhail Shchep-
kin (1788-1863) had already fouglrt against the artilicial,
declamatory style. This great actor of the Imperial Maly
Theater was called "the father of realism" becausehe was
the first to introduce truthful and realistic acting into the
Russian theater. Stanislavski, impressed by Shchepkin's
teachings and by his brilliant disciple, the actress Glikeria
Fedotova,beganto work on a technique which would enable
an actor to build a live human being on the stage. Stenis-
lavski's concepts were also geatly inlluenced by the plays
of Aaton Chekhov. The names of these two masters, along
with that of the playwright and director Vladimir Ivanovich
Nemirovich-Danchenko, becameinseparablefrom the Mos-
cow Art Theater. Chekhov wrote truthfully about ordinary
men and women; he searchedfor the inner beauty in people
St.ni8l.vEkirnd lIfu Sy8tem [ 7
and exposedtheir triviality and vice. Under Shchepkin,sand
Chekhov's inlluence Stanislavski strove to createan artisti-
cdly conceivedimage of life on the stage.
The Systemhas beenfound vitelly important not only for
beginnercbut also for experiencedactors.Stanislavskiproved
that an actor with great talent and subtle nuancesneedg
more technique than others, and thus emphasizedhis rejec-
tion of the widespreadlayman's opinion that a gilted actor
doesnot need any tecbnique at all.
Simplicity and scenictrutJrbecameimportantprinciples,
and the StanislavskiSystememergedas a vigorousweapon
against overacting, clich6s, and mannerisms. The Systen
has becomea creetive technique for the truest portrayal of
charactersin any play, comedy or tragedy,whether by Che-
khov or lbsen, Shakespeare or O'Neill, Beckettor Genet.
The Systemhasbeenrecognized asa revolutionarytheatrical
developmentand is usedtfuoughoutRussia,evenby actors
of tbeaterswith tendenciesentirely different from those of
the Moscow Art Theater.
The StanislavskiSystem,destinedto play an outstanding
role in tle developmentof twentieth-century theater, cami
to birth through Stanislavski's dedicatedsearchover {ony
yearsfor the answetsto problems of actorsand directors and
for laws of creativeness.Nowhere in the world oI theater
can directorial or acting problems be solvedwithout taking
Stanislavski's teachings into consideration. With the Sys-
tem's terminology-super-obiective,logic oI actions,given
circumst nces, communion, subtext, images,tempo-rhythm,
and so on-a common languagehas been created.
St-nislavskifiscoveredand formulatedlaws but &d not
havetime to developthem fully. Thoughthe System,ssci-
entific, aesthetic,and ethical foundation cannot be changed,
it can be further developed.
SinceStanislavski'sdsth his teachingshavebeensubiect
to enalysisand study by important actors,directors,scholan,
and scientists.Through the efforts of theseexpertsto pre-
sewe the Stanislavski teachingsfor world theater, the Sys-
tem becamemoreconcreteandsomeof its morecomplicated
E ll The StanislavckiSystem
demandseasierto realize.Their deductionsare important
not only {or actors and directors-for whom Stanislavski
was creatinghis System-but also for drametists,theater
scholars,critics, and even scientists."Theater and drama-
turgy ereone whole," saidstanislavski."only as a result oI
t*'o arts-thrt of the dramatist and that of the theatrical
goup-urill
- the new value,the performance,be bom."
BeforeStanislavski,&ame scboolseverywherein ttre world
taught only the physical elementsof an actor's training:
ballit, fencing voice, speech,diction, the importance of
which we shall discussfurther. There w^s no inner acting
technique.The historicalsignilicanceof Stanislavskilies in
his disiovery of laws Ior an actor'screativeness and his de'
velopment oI the first method of theatcr art.
Theater experts throughout the world agreettrat it is the
actors capableoI discovering the inner life of the man they
portray, actors capableoI building "the lile oI the human
ipirit," as Stenislavskicalled it, who will lead the the_ater
to ptogress.Not through specially built stagesand audito-
riums, not even through ditectors' inventions, but through
actorscapableoI creatingever-newhuman beings,with their
own unique inner worlds, will theeter advance.Facingagain
and againa new personality, panicipating in all that happens
around it, presentsinexhaustible possibilities for an actor.
"Artists of colorg,sounds,chisels,and wordschoosetheir
art in order to communicate througlr their works with other
people,"wrote Stanislavski.Thereforethe god of art is spir'
itual communication with people. The inner creative pro'
cessmust bconveyedto the audience."The mostimportaDt
thing is to build the life of the human spirit," Stanislavski
said, and he developeda technique with the help oI which
actors can build the soul of a role and incamate the inner
world of the personcreatedon the sta8e.
Stanislavski'steachingsare not the result of personal
guesswork:they form a sciencebasedon hunan functioning
according to laws of natwe. These laws are obligatory for
all people.The title that Stanislavskigaveto his System-
"Tbe ElementaryGrammarof DramaticArt"-emPhasizes
StanislavskiandHis System il 9
the universality of the laws for any actor building any char-
acter in any play. "What I write does not refer to one epoch
and its people, but to the organic nature of artists of all
nationalities and of all epochs," he said. The System there-
fore cannot be called a Russian phenomenon, and does not
have to be " ada:pted,"to American actors or to actors of any
nationality. Through the System, actors leam natural laws
and how to use them consciously in re-creating human be-
havior on stage.
Although there is no proof of his contact with the great
scientist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936), whose teach-
ings about conditioned reflexes became important in the
same era as Stanislavski's own teachings, the reformer of
the theater had an opportunity to study neurophysiology and
to give scientilic foundation to his System. Even scientists
were astounded by his discoveries.
Stanislavski saw that on stage an actor's sensesare olten
prone to paralysis because of the break in natural psycho.
physical behavior. The actor then loses the leeling of real
life and forgets how to do the simplest things that he does
natually and spontaneously in life. Stanislavski realDed that
an actor has to leam anew to see and not iust to pretend to
see,to hear and not iust to pretend to listen, that he has to
talk to his fellovy ectors and not iust to read lines. that he
has to think and to feel.
Stanislavski knew that an actor's mind, will, and emo-
tions-the three forces responsible lor our psychological
life-must participate in the creation oI a live human being
on stage. In the evocation of emotions Stanislavski Iaced a
dilficult problem. He discoveredthat there are mechanisms
in human beings which are not ordinarily subordinate to our
control. For instance, we cannot at will slow our heart,s
palpitation or dilate blood vesselsas easily as we can close
our eyes or raise a hand, nor can an actor who comes on
stage with no personal reason for experiencing emotions oI
Iear, compassion,ioy, or grief command them, becauseemo-
tional reactions also belong to such uncontrolled mecha-
nisms.
t0 ll The St.nisl.YEkiSystem
To these inner mechanisms Stanislavski gave the name
subconscious. The problem seemed to him insoluble until,
while watching great actors, he became aware that an actor,
although he has no real reason to suffer or to reioice on stage,
begins to have true emotions when he is inspired. This fact
brought Stanislavski to the idea that the subconscjous-the
uncontrolled complex of emotions-is not altogether un-
approachable,and that there must be a kind oI key which
would intentionally "tum on" this inner mechanism. He
began studying the possibility of deliberately arousing emo-
tions, of indirectly inlluencing the psychological mechanism
responsible for the emotional state of a human being.
During his many years of searching, Stanislavski experi-
mented with various "conscious means to the subcon'
scious." Each of these-including the forcing of emotions,
so popular among American actors-though Progressiveat
the time, brought Stanislavski disappointment until he de-
veloped his "method oI physical actions," which he called
the key to the emotional reactions oI an actor, the basis of
an actor's creativity, solution ol spontaneity on stage, the
essenceof the whole System,and his creative heritage of the
theeter. "The method of physical actiors," said Stanislavski,
"is the rcsult ol my whole life's work."
Thus Stanislavski found the "conscious means to the sub'
conscious," which he had been seeking for over forty years.
(A detailed explanation of the method of physical actions is
given in the chapter that follows.l Though it was at the end
oI his career that Stanislavski gave the name to this key to
the subconscious, it was not a late addition to his System.
His teachings on action impregnate the whole technique
from beginning to end, it is the leitmotiv of the whole Sys-
tem. The more fully Stanislavski understood human behav'
ior, which he called "action," the more the System progressed.
Since science has conlirmed that the method of physical
actions is based on physiological law, an actor's creative
state {when his whole psycho-physicalapparatusis involvedl
dependson it and cannot be neglected.With it, Stanislavski
rcverced the use of means by which he tried to bring an actor
StenislavskiandHis System 1 11
into a cieative state. He realized that an experience before
the actor's entrance could occur on.ly by accident. Now the
actor goeson stageto fulfill simple physical actions without
forcing an experience beforehand. In fulfilling the unique
physical actioq the actor involves the psychological side of
the action by reflex; this includes emotions.
The Stanislavski terms "conscious,, and,,subconscious,,
are really "controlled" and "uncontrolled.,, The actor,swork
is not a subconsciousprocess.The Stanislavski System does
not allow an actor to be subject to accidental intuition. In
fact, conscious activity has the leading role in the System.
But a{ter an actor has consciously prepared the pattem of
his role and approachesthe play's events as if they were
happening for the first time {following Stanislavski,s for-
mula, "today, here, now," which makes every perlormance
different), his contact with the audience may give birth to
true, spontaneous actions that are unexpected even by the
actor himselL These are moments of ,,subconscious,,crea-
tivity when an actor improvises although his text and the
pattem of his role are firmly fixed. Such creativity or inspi-
rational improvisation is the goal and essenceof the Stan-
islavski school of acting. All Stanislavski,s searchingswere
directed to finding means to "harness,, this phenomenon
and to subordinate it to an actor's conscious control. Actors
are rarely aware of these moments of subconsciouscreativitv
and have difficulty in keeping them; tJremoments die if an
actor tries to repeat them mechanically. Theater, being an
ertistic re-creation of life, according to Stanislavski, shares
one of li{e's great problems: the moments passedon the stage
cannot be repeated,as spent moments in real life cannot be
brought back. When actors try to repeat what they did the
night before, the theater stops being art becauseit stops being
alive. Every performance in a living theater is as different as
each day is different, and in order that the theater should be
alive, there must be living people on the stage.
Stanislavski determined the favorable conditions for sub-
conscious activity, or improvisation due to inspiration, which
is the goal of an actor's art. We find that it is bom through
12 The StanislavskiSvstem Stanislavskiand Hi6 Systm ll 13

the conscious effort of the actor who has mastered his tech' audience in every way. An actor with deficient speechor an
untrained voice and body will not be able to convey the
nique. Inspiration is the rasult of conscious hard work; it is
ttoi a po'n'er that stimulates work. As Stanislavski said, subtle nuances o{ inner life and will bore his audience.Stan-
islavski insisted on the continual polishing of an actor's
"There are no accidentsin art-only t}re fruits of long labor."
physical apparatus. Stanislavski's belief about the incarna-
The first scientific book to make an analysis of the Stan-
tion of the inner life is in accord with what Leonardo da
islavski System from the point of view of neurophysiology
Vinci said to his disciples: "The soul does not like to be
is entitled The Method of K. S. Stanislavski and the Phys'
without its body becausewithout the body it cannot feel or
iology of Emotions by P. V. Simonov, prominent physiologist
do anything; therefore build a figure in such a way that its
and member of the Academy of Science of the USSR. Si'
pose tells what is in the soul of it." And Feodor Chaliapin,
monov doesnot believe that an actor must study physiology
the great singer and aciol said "A gesture is a movement
in order to act convincingly; the important fact is that phys-
not of a body but of a soul." Before Stanislavski, an actor's
iology has scientifically proved the correctness of the Stan'
training consisted mainly of leaming intonations and ges-
islavski System. Not to study the Stanislavski System, says
tures. This resulted in artificial posesand flat declamations.
Simonov, is as dangerous for actors as it is dangerous for
But correcting this does not mean neglecting vividness of
writers not to study the des of language. Simonov, how-
speech."Every punctuation mark has its own intonation,"
ever, wams that he is attempting not to teach actols but to
Stanislavski said. "Treasure the spoken word." Through the
leam from Stanislavski for his own field.
Russian scientists, helped by important theater exPerts, Stanislavski technique actors leam to "enrich the ground,"
have found in the Stanislavski System an invaluable soulce which makes their intonations expressive.
o{ observation conceming physiology and the problems of Stanislavski's demand for profound truth, simplicity, and
controlled and uncontrolled reactions. They realize that the naturalness does not mean merely an extemal presentation
Stanislavski motto "Subconscious through conscious means" of naturalness. Stanislavski lought with determination the
has a direct connection with actual problems of human neuro- new clich6 "naturalness," used by actors who did not under-
physiology. Simonov says, "Modem rational psychotherapy stand him. His imponant deman4 "Go from yoursell, " which
we shall consider in the chapter "Work on the Role," has
doesnot have at its disposal the concrete means oI conscious
been sometirnes oversimplified. Good theater is theater of
inlluence on neuroseswhich cannot be inlluenced by firect
profound thought and profound spiritual experience.In good
effort of will....The more is our loss, becausea system oI
theater an actor creates the inner experiencesof the char-
such means exists, it has been thorouglrly developed and
acter, incamates them, and makes this creative processun-
checked a thousand times in practice. The system we have
'method oI physical actions."' In derstandable to the audience. Actors who play only
in mind is Stanislavski's
themselves are absurd. A character is a new human being,
his analysis, Simonov concludes that it is indisputable that
bom oI the elements oI the actor himsell united with those
the rules formulated by Stanislavski are the Iaws for an ac-
of the character conceived by the play'wright.
tor's creativity. And Simonov confirms the Stanislavski rule,
The apprehension of some people that the Stanislavski
"Emotions cannot be stirred directly."
System will bring actors to "a level o{ uniformity" has
Believing firmly that to build the life of a human spirit is
no ground. The System, on the contrary, encourages the
most important in an actor's art, Stanislavski never tired of
flowishing oI the actor's individual traits. The laws {or
repeating that an actor must incamete the behavior of the
character to make it seen and heard-to be clear to the the organic behavior of all actors are the same, but each
14 I The StanislavskiSystem
reincamation will be different, and the personality o{ each
actor will always stamp his stage creetions with his own
distinctive mark.
The Stanislavski System, besidesPresenting laws obliga'
tory for every actor and every director, also offers a concrete
method of work on a play and on a role. With it, an actor
builds a live and typical character on the basis o{ the organic
nature of a human being.
The System also preparesthe actor for an ensemble-the
logical, truttrlul, purposeful mutual behavior of all charac-
ters. Just as human behavior in life dependson relationships
with other people, in an ensemble each role is conditioned
by all roles. "Collective creativeness, on which our art is
based, necessarily demands ensemble," said Stanislavski.
"Those who violate it commit a crime...against the art
which they serve."
The Stanislavski System is not a seriesof rules for staging
a naturalistic play or any other play. These teachings are
bevond the limits oI one theatrical direction in their his-
torical signilicance. Stanislavski believed not in naturalism.
whi.ch presents the surface of life, but in realism, which is
truth of content. The System, by "tuming on" the subcon-
scious mechanisms, helps an actor to live the experiences
oI a character es if they were his own. This is even more
import nt in an unconventional production where sets/ props,
lights, and sounds do not help to convince the audience of
events on sra8e.
Emotions are stirred in en actor in order to stir the spec-
tator's emotions in tum. When an actol's emotions do not
flow, his inJluence on the spectatorweakens. Even the most
imeginativ directorial invention will be empty of sense iJ
an actor/s behavior on stage does not af{ect the sPectators.
There is no contradiction between unconventional staging
and an actor who lives the inner experiencesof the character.
The sets and props do not have to be naturalistic. It is the
truth of the actor's behavior that will keep the audience's
attention. Though the means oI expressionwill be dillerent
from those necessaryIor Chekhov, Gorki, or O'Neill, actors
St niElavski.nd Hb SyEtem ll 15
must also use Stanislavski's laws in tragediesby Shakespeare
or Schiller and in plays by Brecht or Genet. If a director
respects the dramatist, he will find the style of the play.
Stanislavski encouragedany style of staging that a director
found necessaryto expressthe play in question. But he was
egainst directors who were interested only in their own in-
ventions, without respect for the author. "I salute every di-
rection in our art," he said, "if only it helps correctly and
anistically to transmit the life of the human spirit.,,
Though Stanislavski used to rehearse a play lor several
months, his technique, if properly understood and leamed,
will prove extremely useful in the American theater, where
a play is rehearsedfor only a few weeks. The System teaches
an actor to work independently and therefore to accomplish
what the director demands oI him. In a theater where the
director on occasion has time only to demand results, it is
especially valuable to know how to achieve these quickly
and effectively.
It is indisputable that there is a great deal of dilettantism
in the theatet and Stanislavski fought it through the System.
He considered even an accidental inspiration a form of di-
lettantism. His System teaches pro/essionalsm, and through
professionalism theater becomes art. The widespread opin-
ion that the actor's work is something mysterious which
cannot be leamed consciously was consideredby Stanislav-
ski to be a preiudice and, like all preiudices, harmful to
culture and progress.Stanislavski regardedit as an alibi lor
an actor's laziness.
It is wrong to think that gifted actors never work. Biogra-
phies of great actors prove the contfff; these artists searched
constantly for a conscious technique, and worked on every
inner and outer motion, on that mestery of every word which
makes theater the strongest expression of the creative arts.
AII that is valuable in art is achieved through persistent
work. The geat Italian actress Eleonora Duse was known
as a hard worker. Talma, the famous French actor of the
eigbteenth century, said that an actor needstwenty years to
master his profession. And the celebreted nineteenth-century
16 [ The Strnisl.YskiSystem
Russianast(essGlikeria Fedotovasaidthat actorswerewast'
ing tleir time waiting for the god Apollo to send them in-
spiration from heaven; Apollo was too busy with his own
TnE MerHoD oF
affsirs, she said, and she advisedactors to work hard to be
able to evokeinspiration.
PHyslcAL AcrroNS
ln ottrer arts the audience sees the rcsult of a creative
process.ln theaterthe audienceis presentduring that pro-
iess. Thus we cannot overemPhasizehow inportatt it is for
the actor to master his means of expression.Through the
StanislavskiSystemactorsleam to make conscioususe oI
the laws of their organic natute, they leam their means of
exp(ession and become true professionals.The System
teachesthem to function on the stageautomaticallyas live
human beings.In mastering this technique, actors will not
haveto dependon chance.For chance,asevery artist knows,
is tle enemyof art. n
Llisappointed in theresultsof his earlierdevelopments,
Stanislavski continued his searchfor the "consciousmeans
towards the subconscious"-that is, a consciousmeang
which would stir the actor's emotions.
It is not clear whether Stanislavski studied the work of
the neurophysiologist Ivan Pavlov or whether his final dis-
covery was the logical and natural result of his forty-year
study of human behavior.There is proof, however,ttrat Stan-
islavskistudiedthe work of the neurophysiologist I. M. Sech-
enov.
Stanislavskidiscoveredthat intemal experiencesand their
physical expressionareunbreakablyunited. "The first fact,"
said Strnislavski,"is that the elementsoI the human soul
andtheparticlesof a humanbodyareindivisible." The thesis
of Stanislavski,that human psychologicallile-moods, de.
sires,feelings,intentions,ambitions-is expressed through
simple physical actions, has been conlirmed by such sci-
entistsas Ivan Pavlovand I. M. Sechenov.
There is no inner experiencewithout extemal physical
expression;our bodies transmit to others our inner experi-
ences.Sciencehas conJirmedthat neural patiways connect
our physicalactionswith the inner mechanismoI emotions,
t7
lE ll The Stanishvski SYstem The illethod of PhysicalActions lt 19

the innumerable nuances in human experience. The most ical actions," which is the solution to spontaneousbehavior
profound processes o{ one's inner lile are expressed through on stage.lnstead of forcing an emotion beforegoing on stage,
physical jctions. A shrug of the shoulder, a movement of the actor fulfills a simple, concrete, purposeful physical ac-
tion which stirs the psychological side of the psychophysical
the spine, a complete immobility exPressthe mental pro'
act, thus achieving psycho-physical involvement.
cesses.Sechenov said that our bodies express what we are
It must be clearly understood that Stanislavski does not
thinking and experiencing before we are aware of it. It is
mean that the actor goes on staSe to fulfill any physical
impossiLle to separate an experience from its physical
movement. Physical movement is a mechanical act. Phys-
expression.Stanislavski realized that when an actor on stage
ical action has a purpose; it has a psychology. Human ac-
executes only physical movements, he violates the psycho'
tion-an act of human behavior-is conditioned bv the
physical union and his performanceis mechanical, dead.And
environment. The circumstances created by the playwright
if the actor does not expresshis thoughts and feelings phys-
add nuance and color to the scenic action. Science estab-
ically, he is equally dead. It is impossible to understand a
person or a character without comprehending the person's lished that every nuance of emotion is connected with a
particular physical action. Therefore, that action must be
or the character's thoughts and emotions.
carehrlly selected on the basis of the play's circumstances.
It is impossible to build a character only with the body.
It must be the indispensablephysical action connected with
Thoughts and emotions are essential in building a function-
the emotion which the actor must bring out. Only when the
ing individual. But we cannot underestimate the importance
actor finds dre correct physical action will he achieve psycho.
oflraining aD actor's body. The body provides a Sreat deel
physical involvement. The building ol the character's logic
of inlormation through visual transmission.
Stanislavski realizes that to be natural the actor must be oI physical actions is simultaneously the building o{ the
character's logic and consecutivenessof emotions. All the
capable of grasping every reaction on stage in a psycho-
physical way. He realizes that there is a break between the elements of the system, which were important in their own
intellectual and the physical preparation in the ector's work right at the time when Stanislavski was developing them,
on the character. He concludes that from the very beginning now contribute to the truthful execution of a physical action.
The processby which an actor finds such physical action
the performer must include the physical life-his body-in
is as complex as that by which a composer{inds the correct
the psychological process in order to make this break dis-
harmonious sound for his chord. It requires a great deal of
appear.
experimentation through improvisation. But when the actor
bue to this break between the mental and the physical
finds such an action, he achieves psycho-physical involve-
behavior of the actor and owi't to the scientilic fact that
ment. Through a great deal oI preparatory work, the actor
emotions respond only when there is a real reason, Stanis-
can achieve spontaneity. Then, during the performance, he
lavski faced great difficulty in stirring t}re actor's emotions.
is in an improvisational state when none o{ the preparatory
There is nothing real on stage. He understood the mutuel
work is seen,becausehe behavesas in life. With the method
inlluence of psychological and physical behavior and began
of physical actions, Stanislavski reverseda human process:
to think about starting the actor's crstivity on stage from
in life, we experience an emotion, and the body expresses
the physical side of the psycho-physicalprocess.Stanislavski
it. Stanislavski achieves the experience of an emotion through
found his point of departure in a process which without fail
a physical action. He supersededthe system of "expressive
leads r:he actor from the "conscious to the subconscious."
He developed his ultimate technique, "the method of phys- movement" formulated by FrangoisDelsarte{18ll-1871},
20 | The StanislavskiSystem
who suggestedthat an emotion could be expressedwith a
"prescribed" gesture established beforehand.A human ges-
ture dependson numerous factors, such as individual traits,
the tempo-rhythm in which the individual is acting at the
given moment, and other circumstances.
The only man in the theater world who studied theater
through science and who studied the creative work of the
great actors of his time, Stanislavski determined laws by
means of which an actor restirs in himself at every perfor-
mance the true emotions o{ the charactershe portrays.
In life, people olten conceal what they experience.In thea-
ter, real experiencesmust be expressed.The great Russian
singer Chaliapin was known to have his voice tonality con'
ditioned by the gestures which he found. It "flowed" from
the gestures of his body in his roles. The gestures of the
actor's body expressingmental experiencessuch as thoughts,
emotions, evaluations, decisions, are a glft of genius. Stan-
islavski made them possible for all capable actors. The ac-
tor's body must "speak" where there are no words, proiecting
in silence the inner monologue and other mental processes
and creating an uninterrupted flow of liJe on stage.
Obviously, words are very important elements in theater,
but equally important are gesturesof the body and the mise
en scdne. Stanislavski said, "Verbal action depends on the
physical action." Words alone cannot project everything,
Human relationships are expressed by gestures, poses,
glances, silences. Gesture is an integral part of the action
and gives the spectator visual informetion. It expresses,dur'
ing pausesin the actor's own lines or while others are speak-
ing, what words cannot express.Every gesture of the actor's
body must be absolutely essential and easily understood.
Everytlung else must be cut as superfluous. Through the art
o{ the actor, the logic of the body reflects the logic of emo-
tions. In theater, there must be a mutual influence of words
and pantomime.
G. A. Tovstonogov, the eminent Russiandirector, has said,
"The method of physical actions is now the only one and
there is nothing in the world theater to equal it in the field
The Method oI Physicrl AcriosE lt 21
of the actor's art." Most important in the actor's art is achiev-
ing the experienceof a true emotion. The method of physical
actions gives the actor the possibility of such an achieve-
ment.
Stanislavski's linal conclusions are constantly studied by
Russian scientists. Dissertations on creetivity are written
not only by theater scholars but also by psychologists and
physiologists.
ln addition to giving the actor the posslbility of achieving
lifelike behavior on stage,"the method of physical actions"
is the most subtle means of analyzing a play. The period of
analysis while sitting around the table has not been entirely
abandoned,but it has been shortened. Now actors continue
analysis of the play through improvisations on actions. It is
impossible to select an action without a thorough analysis
of its motivation. To understand the motivation, the actor
must study the play and re{er to his own associations.The
search for the logic and consecutiveness of actions is the
most subtle analysis of the role, in which the actor's mind,
his senses,his intuition, the muscles of his body-his whole
spiritual and physical nature-participate. Such analysis is
invaluable for actors and directors and is vital for theater
critics. In other arts, critics in their evaluations rely on the
laws of the art they evaluate and on the reputation of the
great works of the past. Their evaluations are the result not
only of their emotional reactions and intellectual conclu-
sions but of their exposue to the best examplesoI world art
and culture. In theater, great works of the past disappeared
and there were no laws Ior stage creativity. Thus, criteria
have not been developed.When we look at a work of art, we
may like it or we may not like it. It is a matter of personal
taste. But the critical evaluation of a work of art must be
substantiated. An authoritative review must include the
critic's expression of his views, aesthetic taste, literary tal-
ent, knowledge of the complex world of life, knowledge of
theater creativity and of its laws and difficulties. It must
include a consecutive analysis which has a scientilic basis.
Only such analysis is impartial and constructive.
22 ll The Steniclaveki System
There is only one way to preserve a great performance for
future generations: by means of a knowledgeable review.
Even film cannot preserve a stage performance- A Iilmed
perlormance often differs completely from ttre stage perfor-
mence. A film director must use different means to make it
effective. Therefore, the drama critic must be able to speak
about the actor's work and about ttle director's work. He
must be able to tell whether the sets, lighting, and music
composed {or the performance have contributed to t}re emo-
tional content of the action on sta8e. He must know the
creative process that goes into the Preparation of a perfor'
mance and be able to tell whether the actor has transformed
himself into the character or was pretending, faking. Such
reviews will be material for building a history of theater art.
Without them, the history and science oI theater art cennot
exist or develop.
St-anislavski'sultimate technique teachesthe laws of ctea-
tivity on stage. It teaches playwrights the construction of
t}te mechanism of the play, and it provides criteria for judg-
ment and appreciation of theater art.
Exercises and Inprovisations
An analogous emotion in your own life should be, as much
as possible, the basis for the situation in any improvisation.
Before executing an improvisation, concentrate and build in
your imagination the circumstances in which the action
takes place, why you do it, where it takes place, when. Thinl
of all the possible details in each situation. Be yourself, but
in different circumstances.In your imagination, picture peo-
ple you know in real lile. After you have built ttre situation,
find physical behavior that will expresswhat you want to
proiect. Searchfor the unique physical action which is con-
nected to the emotion you want to stir. The action will
trigger the emotion and you will behavein a psycho-physical
u/ay.
Instructions: before aod alter physical actions, the student
must use gestures oI the body in order to proiect mental
The Method oI Phvsic.l ActionE tt 23
processes,such as thoughts, feelings, decisions,evaluations,
attitud$. The body must "speak" in silences, when there
are no words on stage.Resistanceof the body must be over-
come. The muscles oI the actor's body must become in-
tensely responsiv to the inner processes.Students must
strive to achieve psycho-physical involvement in every ex-
ercise and improvisation. The physical state must be pro-
iected.
Most exercisesshould be done to music.
l Sit, stand, walk. |ustify everything you do. For example,
sit at a window in order to see what is happening in the
house opposite. Sit in order to rest.
2. Stand to be photographed. Stand in order to see better.
3. Walk to pass the time. Walk to annoy the people who
live in the apartment below.
4. Clean your bureau drawers.
5. Count the numbers of oblects on a table.
6. You have to leave school because you cannot afford to
pay tuition. A ftiend wants to help you but she has no money.
She brings you a valuable brooch. You refuse the gi{t but
your friend insists, lays it on a dresser,and leaves.You walk
with your friend to the door. When you come back, you find
that the brooch has disappeared.Can anyone have taken it
while you weren't looking?
7. Burn a letter. First, think why you do it. Then, think
what you may have done in a real situation when you had
to bum a letter.
In all improvisations the ector must think in three steps:
beginning {exposition), development, and end. Think of your
actions, not of your feelings. Do not try too hard, but do not
be nonchalant or careless.Be concrete in what you do. Do
not do anything "in general." "In general," said Stanislavski,
"is the enemy of art."
Always have an imporEnt objective. "Purposefulnesscon-
nects the simplest {physical) action with the most complex
{psychologicall 4ction. This connection was discovered for
24 | ltc Stentdevrll $yrtem
the fust tine by Stanislavski as the oblective nature of the
actor's work, which from beginoing to end in its beet or ErEmnNTs
worst manifestatiom, is the art of action" {P. M. Ershov,
D ecting As kactioal Psychologyl, OF AN ACTTON

Th" degcribedir this section are importairt

"1"-*t, out the truthful, logical, concrete ection;
aids in carrying
therefore the "tumirry on" of an actor's subconscious,so
that he will creete intuitively, subconsciously,dependson
ttem.

T\e "ItfragicIf
Staaislavski did not think thet an actor could honeedy be-
lieve in the mrth aod redity of events on stage,but he seid
that an actor can believe in the possibility of events. An
actor must only try to answer the question, "What would I
do ff I were in King Lear's position?" This "magic if," as
Stanislaveki called it, transforms the character's aim iato
the actor's, It is a strong stimulus to inner and physical
ectioDs.
Il carries the actor into the inaginary circumstences.In
asking, "What would I do if I wete..." en ector does not
have to force hirngglf 1e believe that he ie euch a personin
such circumstancee.I/ is a supposition,and it doesnot inply
or aosertanytting that existe,Through it an actor can create
problems for himself, and his effon to solve them will lead
26 ll The StanislavskiSystem
him naturally to inner and extemal actions. If is a powerful
stimulus to imagination, thought, and logical action. And,
we have sen, a conectly executed logical action will stir
the actor's inner mechanism of emotions.'
Improvisations (see instructions on poges 22-24)
1. You are dressingfor an important reception. What would
you do if the lights suddenly went out?
2. You have made all the preparations to go on vacation
{tickets, hotels, and so on). What would you do if someone
at your o{{ice called and told you that you must postpone
your tripl While building the circumstances,see in yow
mind real persons whom you know in life.
3. You are on a train going to an important conference.What
would you do i{ you suddenly realized that you were on the
wrong train? Do you know where you are going whom you
are going to see, what for? What if you were a king; a spy;
a teacher?
Given Circumstances
Given circumstances include the plot of the play, the epoch,
the time and place of the action, the conditions o{ life, the
director's and the actor's interpretation, the setting, the prop-
erties, lightinS, sound effects-all that an actor encounters
while he createsa role. A person'spsychological and physical
behavior is subject to the extemal influence of his environ-
ment, and an action makes clear whet a certain character
doesin the given circumstances of the play and why he does
it. The character is built with these actions in the giyen
circumstances. The actor must become so familiar with the
environment of the play that he becomes part of it. The
nuances and the color of the action will depend on the cir-
cumstances which provoke it. Only after the actor has stud-
'ln l93l Charlie chaplin wrote in an anicle that he was usint the "magic
t" for all his creative work.
Elementsof an Action ll 27
ied the play, the events, and rhe given circumstances will
he be able to select the actions which will involve his errio-
tions and other inner experiences.
Improvieations (see insfiuctions on pages 22-24)
l. Put on a clean shirt after a day,s work in a mine. Take
your time to build the imaginary circumstances. You may
be going to a party, or there might have been a serious ac-
cident in the mine.
2. Pack to go on vacation.
3. Pack to leave for war. Think oI people you know in real
life whom you would leave behind. Think hard and build
the imaginary circumstences which could arise in re:l li(e.
4. Enter your apartment after a, pany.
I-agtnation
Since the imsgination plays a dominant role in the actor,s
task oI transforming the story of the play into an artistic,
scenic realitn an actot must be sure that it functions prop-
erly. The imagination must be cultivated and developed;it
must be alert, rich, and active. An actor must leam to think
on any theme.He must obsewepeopleand their behavior,
try to understandtheir mentality. He must be sureto notice
what is aroundhim. He must learn to compare.He must
Ieam to dreamand with his inner vision createscenesand
take pan in them.
A playwright rarely describesthe past or the future of his
characters,and often omits details oI their present lile. An
actor must completehis character'sbiographyin his mind
from beginning to en4 becauseknowing how the character
grew up, what influenced his behavior, and what he expects
his future to be will give more substanceto the presentlile
oI the characterand will give the actor a perspectiveand a
feeling of movementin the role. II an actor doesnot fill in
all thesemissing eventsand movements,the lile he portrays
will not be complete.
28 ll The StanislevshiSystem
A rich imagination will also contdbute when an actor
interprets the lines and fills them with the meaning that
lies behind-the "subtext." The lines of the author are dead
until an actor analyzes and brings out the sense that the
author intended. A simple phrase such as "I have a head-
ache" may mean various things; the percon who says it may
be alraid that the headacheis a symptom of a serious illness,
he may want a pretext to $o awa/; he may be hinting to
Suests who will not leave. The meaning, the thought, the
intention, and the gestures of the body a(e dl imPortant-
not simply the words. If an actor with the help of his imag'
ination finds interesting meaning behind the words and his
body "speaks" belore and after the words, his intonations
also will be expressiveand interesting. "Spectators come to
the theater to hear the subtext," said Stanislavski. "They
can read the text at home."
Every word and movement of an actor on stage must be
the result of a well-functioning imagination. Everything you
imagine must be precise and logical. Always know who you
are, when your imaginary scene is happening, where, how,
and what for. All this will help you to have a definite picture
of an imaginary life. Creative imagination will help an actor
to execute ections naturally and spontaneously-this is the
key to his emotions.
Improvisations (see instructions on pages 22-24)
|' In your mind, go through a walk from class to home.
Imagine being at home cleaning your room. Follow your
logic and closely watch the work of your imagination. You
will gradually stop being an observet and merge with the
"you" you are ]r'atching. You will be in the state which
Stanislavski calls "I am," which means "I live," "I exist."
2. Describe a person whom you have met recently and who
impressed you. Try to guess his interests.
3. Look at a picture of an unknown person. Explain who
this could be. Try to guess the person's profession, what his
family is like, what his tastes are, leam to iudge from his
Elementsof an Action ll 29
ettire, eyes,hair, and so on. Look at a picture of a landscape;
then close your eyes and tell of its mood and of everything
you saw in minute detail. Repeatt}is exerciseseveraltimes,
gradually diminishing the time you allow for examining tie
prcture.
4. In your imagination, travel around the world.
5. Quickly make up aoswers to the most unexpected ques-
tlons.
6. You ere a member of a scientific expedition. Your plane
is out of order. Decide where the forced landing takes place.
Use your imagination to develop this accident in the greatest
possible detail.
Do not imagine anything vaguely. Use all possible concrete,
consecutive details. Logic and proper sequencewill make
what you imagine red. As you work on a role, your words
will becomeyour own when you have your own vision, your
own picture of the events and of the people. You have to
achieve a continuous, logical chain of images in your mind,
related to the given circumstances.
In trying to make decisions, you will be led to actions.
Ald a truthful action is the "key" which tums on your
emotlons.
Concentration of Attention
Severaldecadesago, when actors of the Moscow Art Theater
beganto study the Stanislavski System,they would spendten
orfilteen minutes in complete silence in order to concentrate.
Awell-known actressusedto put a shawl overherhea4 and no
one dared to approachher lest he interfere with her "concen-
tration." At that time, Stanislavski believed that concentra-
tion was the key toachieving the creative state on stage.
Following scientific laws, Stanislavski said that an actor
must concentrate his attention on stageobjects sufficiently
attractive to oflset the distracting factors beyond the stage.
He must not, however, try to forget the audience. For the
actor to try to force himself into believing that he is alone,
that he does not see anybody or hear anytiing in the audi-
30 ll The StenislavskiSystem
ence, would also be contradictory to the art of the theater.
The audience is an important co-creator of t}re perfortnance.
But it is possible to be without fear, to feel at ease,to forget
one's worries and everything that interferes with stage cre-
ativeness, and to achieve what Stanislavski called public
solitude.' This is possible if an actor gives maximum at-
tention to the physical action and to all that his imagination
is able to build around it. A concrete thought, a body ex-
pressing it, and a concrete physicd action will hold the ac-
tor's attention. Fully concentrated attention dependson the
thorough execution oI the physical action.
On stage an actor has to learn anew to see, to hear, and
to think, becausethe natural psycho-physical union is bro-
ken and this produces paralysis of his faculties. Actors fre-
quently only pretend that they see or hear or think. If an
actor is to be a live human being on stage,his laculties must
function as ttrey do in life. An actor's eye that really sees
attracts the spectator's attention and directs it where he
wants. An actor's eye which does not see takes the specta-
tor's attention away from the stage.An actor can make him-
sel{ actually see anything on the stage-a vase, a picture, a
book-by building around it some imaginary details which
will make it attractive to him. The more an actor exercises
his concentration, the sooner it will become automaticr fi-
nally, it will become second nature to him.
At the start of training, it is necessaryto practice with an
oblect nearby. The actor must examine it in every detail. He
must be relaxed and not make too great an effort. It is his
imagination, not his body, that must make the effort to see.
There must be no physical tension while he is concentrating
his attention on the obiect. Every action must be executed
with the amount of concentretiori that it would require in
life. An inexperienced actor always feels that he does not
give enough. "Cut ninety-five per cent," said Stanislavski.
An actor need not try to amuse the audience. If with the
'some distort public solitude into
"private moments," which would have
shocked stanislavski.
Elementsol an Action I 3l
help of his imagination he seesthe obiect and his body, the
spine, proiects his thoughts and Ieelings, the audience will
also be interested.
To facilitate concentration of attention on execution of
physical actions Stanislavski introduced,circles of attention.
An actor must limit his attention to separateparts of the
stage,which he establisheswith the help of objects on stage.
A small ctcle of attention is a small area that includes
the actor and, perhaps,a nearby table with a few things on
it. The actor is the center of such a small areaand can easily
heve his attention absorbedby the obiects inside it.
The medium circle of attention is an areathat may include
several persons and groups of furniture. An actor should
examine this gradually, not trying to take it all in at once.
The large circle of attention is everything an actor can see
on stage.The larger the circle, the more dilficult it is to keep
the attention from dissipating.
When an actor feels that his attention is wandering, he
should immediately direct it to a single object and concen-
trate on it. When he succeedsand surmounts the difficulty,
he can redirect his attention-first to a small circle, then
to a medium one, then to a large one.
As well as leaming to concentrate on things he sees on
the stage, an actor must learn to concentrate on sounds he
hears and on objects in his mind.
Exercisesand Improvisations
(see insfiuctions on pages 22-24)
The Stanislavski System follows the laws of nature. In life,
concentration is not isolated ftom the human act. Therefore,
concentration should not be practiced separately from an
action. Fulfill an action with adequate concentration. Al-
ways build the circumstances in which actions are fulfilled,
possibly basedon an analogoussituation in your life. Know
what you do, why you do it, where, when.. . .
1. Examine any obiect that is close. Notice its form, lines,
32 ll The stanislavskiSystem
color, and any other detail. Thery without looking at it, tell
what you remember. Gradually cut down the time allowed
for absorbing the obiect. Build the circumstances. Do the
same with an obiect at a moderate distance; with one far
away,
2, Listen to the sounds in the street in specific circum-
stances. Tell what you hear.
3. Concentrate on an obiect in given circumstances. Grad-
ually direct your attention to the small, to the medium, and
to the large circles of attention and then bac.kto the obiect.
For a group:
4. Count together to thirty. Clap your hands once when a
number includes or may be divided by three. Then repeat
the exercise,but clap twice when a number includes five or
may be divided by five. If the number may be divided by
both three and five, clap three times. Do the same counting
ln tum.
5. All stand. Move the right arm forward, then up, out to
the side, and down. Then do the same with both arms, but
keep the left one movement behind the right. Then do the
same while walking in a circle. After each movement, evoke
an image in your mind of what you are doing and adiust
your body. The body must express mental processes,thus
achieving psycho-physical involvement.
6. Try to identily sounds behind you {someone sweeping
the floor, putting a letter into an envelope, for examplel.
While the student actor is leaming to fuliill a psychophysical
action/ his concentration develops.Observe and concentrate
on people and nature. Enrich your impressions with music,
paintings, literature. Penetrate into another person's inner
world. Trv to understand the reasonslor his behavior. Prac-
tice this in lile and do it on stage.
Truth and Belief
Truth on stageis differentfrom truth in life. In a play there
are no true facts or events,everythingis invention. To be-
Elements
o[ rn Action ll 33
lieve, on stege,does not mean that an actor must practice
self-hypnosis or Iorce himsell to have hallucin.tions. An
actor who believesthat he really is King Learis emotionally
ill. Belief means that an actor treats things or personsas iI
they were what he wants the audienceto believe they are.
An actor knows that his {ellow actor is not his father or an
emperor,but he can treat him ashis father or asan emperor.
He cen treat an oblect as iI it were a fluttering bird. The
ability of an actor to make his audience believe what he
wants it to believecreatesscenic truth. The moments in
which he succeedsin this constitute art on stage.
If an actor while carryingout an action useslogical con-
ssutiveness, iustifieseverythingwith thehelpof the "magic
il," and thinks of the given circumstances,he will not
overact and his behavior will be truthful. Without Iorcing
himself, he will believe in what he is doing becausehe will
be doing it as in real life. Physical actions without the help
of any obiects("with air") developan actor'sconcentration,
imagination, feelings of truth and belief, feeling oI the right
measure.Suchexercisesteachan actorto achievethe max-
imum of truthlulnessin his action. Stanisl.vskiconsidered
them asimportent asscalesand vocalismsarefor the pianist
and the singer.
A well-executedphysicalaction is.especially impoltant to
an actor during tragicmomentsin a play.While concentra-
tion on an inner tragic action may leadhim to overactand
to forcehis emotionsland emotionsarettek^id" of forcing),
a truthfully executedsimplephysicalactioniustifiedby the
givenmoment and connectedwith the neededemotionwill
involve his psychophysicalapparatusand make his faculties
function: his truthlul emotionsin the givencircumstances
will appear,and he will be introducednaturally into the
inner experiences of the characterhe portrays.
When an actor brings everything he doesto the maximum
of truthfulness, connects his mind and his body, and feels
asif he weredoingit in real life, he entersx stateof "I am,"
wherehe mergeswith his role. Evena small untruth in the
executionof a physicalaction destroysthe truth of the psy-
34 ll The Stenislavski Systen
chological life. Truthful execution of a small physical action
helps an actor's belief in what takes place on stage.
But in trying to make his actions truthful, an actor must
remember that there are varieties of truth. There is unin-
teresting truth as well as interesting or unusual truth. In
executing his actions, inner and physical, an actor must al"
ways look for the unexpected and the true at the same time.
His actions must be free Irom unattractive details. They
must be real but in good taste. Actions will be impressive
iI they are unusual, different. To find such unusual forms
oI truth, an actor must see and watch, absorbingall possible
impressions.
Inprovications (see instructions on pages 22-24)
l. Treat a chair as a vicious dog; as a throner as a seat in a
space ship.
2. Drink a liquid as a poison; as a cocktail; as hot tea.
3. Find a hidden oblect; then repeat your search after you
know where it is hidden.
4. Stab yourself with a letter opener. Treat it as if it were a
dagger.
Without obiects:
5. Put a sheet of paper into an envelope. Thread a needle.
Raise a pail full of \ rater, raise an empty pail. Put a book on
a shelf.
6. Dress for work. Take time to concentrate on building the
given circumstances.
7...Dress for a party. Do it concretely. Use consecutive de-
tails.
8. Undress in a hospital; at home.
Specialattention must be given to the size, shape,and weight
of imaginary obiects. Do these exercisesat home with real
obiects, watching carefully the movements and positions oI
your body, hands, fingers.
To make those who watch you believe in.what you are
Elementsof .n Action ll 35
doin6 you must achieve perfection in your actions. The
exerciseswill teachyou to do everyphysicalaction preciseln
clearln and logically.
Corntttunion
To make the meaningandlogic of his actionsunderctandable
to the spectators,an actot must comrnunicate wit}| them
indirecdn tfuough his communion with other actors. Stan-
islavski showed that lexcept in special cases,such as com-
media deLl'artel when an actor has direct contact with
spectatorshe becomesmerely a reporter instead of a live
character.This relationship disrupts tfie truth oI the perfor-
mance and distracts the audience from the play itself. An
honest, unbroken communion betweenactors,on the other
hand holds the spectatots' attention and makes them part
oI what takes place on stage.
The actor must be in communion with his real partner,
not with an imaginary person. As our behavior in lile de-
pendson peoplearoundus,the actor'sbehaviorasa character
is related to that oI the peoplearound him; he has different
relationships with those, Ior instance, who are friendly and
with ttose who are hostile. His use of the "magic i/" and o{
his imagination will help him to developthe properattitudes
toward each of his fellow actors.The actor dependsupon
the onstageevents-conllicts, sympathies,antipathies,and
other relationships amongthe characters;theseevents hap-
pen through the efforts of the entire group.
To be in communion with another personon stagemeans
to be awarcof tlnt person'spresence,to make surethat he
hearsand understandswhat you tell him and tfiat you hear
andunderstandwhat he tells you. That meansmutual inllu-
ence.fust asin life we seeimagesbeforewe speak,the actor,
in orderto inlluence his audience,must seeimagesandtrans-
mit them to his fellow ectors, and through active transmis-
sionof his linesan actorwill impresson his fellowactorwhat
he wants him to seeand to hear.II he knowshis action and
energeticallycommunicatesit to the otheractor,he will be
36 ll The StatrislavskiSystem
" canied away" by the experienceof the characterhe ponrays.
If he communicates with determination even to a bad actor,
the other will respond.An actor must absorbwhat othet per'
sons tell him; their words, actions, and thoughts must come
to him as if he were hearing them for the lirst time. During a
didogue, thoughts, proiects, memorieg or decisions must {low
through the minds ol the one who talks and oI the one who
listens. Their reactions must be physical and psychological
and should not be internrpted when another actor speaks,or
during silences and pauses.If an actor, while trying to influ'
encehispanner, strives to obtainadefinite physicalresult (for
instance, a smile, a shrug ol a shoulder, a movement of the
spine|, his aim becomes concrete; his imagination will be
stirred and his attention concentrated, and he will achieve a
strong communion. The gesturesof the body before and alter
the words must proiect what words cannot project. Verbal ac-
tion dependson physicalaction.
But sometimes an actor talks to himself on stage.A mon-
ologue is a concentrated processof thinking aloud, express-
ing the character's mood-his thoughts and feelings. Without
ollering this as a part oI his System, Stanislavski described
how he himsell behavedin order to be in communion with
himself . He made the brain and the solar plexus, which are
two centers of out nerves' life, "talk" to each other. He felt
as if he had two I's which established a steady dialogue
between themselves as if they were two actors.
To communicate with an imaginary obiect {for instance,
the ghost of Hamlet's iather), an actor must use the "ma8ic
il," telling himsell honestly what he would do I he saw a
ghost. The actor can also inlluence the audience through his
contact with oblects on stage,of which he must be properly
aware.
An actor should not practice a dialogue without another
person, otherwise he can become accustomed to receiving
no rsction and might have difficulty in communicating on
stage with a person who does react. An ector must leam to
respond to his fellow actor, for it is what happens between
the characters that is important and interesting to the au-
Elementso[ an Action n Z7
dience..True communion takes place when a slight change
in intonation of one evokes a change in intonation in an-
other; changein the expressionof a face of one will provoke
change in another. Intonation, movement/ and gesture are
valuable if they arise lrom communion with the partner.
In mass scenesan actor mav communicate with various
people in the crowd. He may be in communion with one
personor with all of them. Stanislavski demandedfrom each
actor-not only the principals but even those who took part
only in the mass scenes-a detailed biography o{ the char-
acter he v/as portraying. Actors without a single word to say
created charactersfull o{ inner content and brought individ-
ual li{e to t}re stage.
The actor must make sharp use of his sensesin order to
achieve a strong senseof communion. When an actor with-
out any physical tension seesintensely, hearsintensely, and
when his body expressesthe mental processes,he has a com-
plete "grasp," as Stanislavski called it.
Improvisations (see instructions on pages 22-24)
l. Two persons are sitting in an opera house listening to a
performance. A person next to them finds that one of his
neighbors is familiar to him. Trying to remember where he
could have met this person, he disturbs the others. Think
oI real parties, or other places, of people you know in real
life. Be aware of each other's behavior and react to it as you
would in life, in a psychophysical way.
2. Two secret agents meet in a public place (a restaurant,
an airport, etc.f, and one has to hand the other an important
document. There is a detective in the same place watching
them. Try to passover the document without being caught.
You must attract your partner's attention. Be sure that he
understands you and that you react appropriately to his be-
havior.
Evaluate your partner; make certain that you succeed in
transmitting your images to him. Use your body.
3E ll Th Stdslavski SyEtcm
Adaptation
An adaptation, or adiustment, is really the overcoming of
a physical obstacle in achieving an aim. Once the actor
has his aim in mind, and has evaluated the qualities of
the person with whom he has to deal, he will think of an
adaptation. To execute an action which answers "What do
I dol" and "Why do I do itl" an ector will use various
adaptations. An adaptation answers the question "How do
ttWhyl." and
I do it?" All three-"Whatl" "How?" (action,
aim, and adaptationl-are parts of the scenic task. While
the action and the aim may be determined beforehand,the
adaptation will depend on the partner's behavior and on
other obstacles that are encountered. In life we may know
beforehand what we want to ask another person and why
we want to do it, but how we do it often comes unex-
pectedly. Adaptations must be sought in the process of
executing an action.
Adaptation is an especially effective meaos of commun-
ion between actors on the stage. To adiust oneself to an-
other, one must be well aware of that person's presence
and personality. For example: you have an important ap-
pointment at five o'clock. It is four forty-five and your
employer is still dictating to you in his office. The necessity
for evaluating the circumstances in relation to your em-
ployer, for inventing an ingenious reason to leave and to
be on time for your appointment, requires you to find an
adiustment for the situation and to overcome the obstacle
to your alm.
Actors must adiust to one another on the stage,as people
in lile do when they meet. A human being's behavior de-
pends on his relationship with people around him: this law
must be the basis of every scenic action. If you talk to a
stupid person, you will try to adiust to his mentality and
talk in a simple way so that he can understand you. If you
are with a shrewd person, you haye to act cautiously and
look for subde adaptations so that he does not see through
you and does not guess what you have on your mind.
Elementsof an Action li 39
New conditions oI life, a new atmosphere, a new place,
the time of day or night-all require appropriateadaptation.
People behave differently at night and during the day. In a
foreign country one adiusts oneself to local conditions. The
quality and variety of adaptation are extremely important
on stage. To be interestin& an adaptation must be imagi-
native, in good taste, strong, and sharp.
Contrasting and unexpected adaptations are impressive.
II, according to what is happening on stage, the audience
expects an actor to scleam at anothel actor, but instead oI
screaming he speaks softly, the effect can be very strong. II
such an idea comes to an actor during a performancebecause
he realizes suddenly that he will accomplish more that way
with the man with whom he is angry, it means that it has
come intuitively, subconsciously-at a moment of inspi-
ration. He must not, however, repeat it dudng his next per-
{ormance without {irst analyzing and understanding what
made him behave in such an unexpected manner. Once he
Iinds the reason, he may use it as the stimulus to this be-
havior every time he performs the same role.
Adaptations should not be transformed into an aim of
intentional eflct on the audience, lest the truthfulness and
logic of physical actions be disturbed and the actor be led to
perlorming tricks for the spectators' amusement. Adapta-
tions should be logical in terms of the play's given circum-
stances.Too much preoccupation with fiow, beforethe actor
knows what he is doing and why, leads to superficial ad-
aptations.
When an actor fulfills truthJully a logical concrete action
he achieves involvement of his psychophysical apparatus,
his faculties function, and his inner mechanism of emotional
reactions is involved. During such a qeative processhe may
have brilliant ideas for adaptations which will come intui-
tively, subconsciously. But whether the actor observes an
adaptation in life which he considers characteristic of his
role or receives a suSgestionfor one from his director, he
should bring it to the stage only alter he has made it his
own.
40 1l The StanislavskiSystem
Improvisations (see\nstructions on pages 22-24)
Before choosing actions, build the circumstances.
l. You want a iavot ol the person you meet Ior lunch. Try
to achieve your purpose by means which would be most
effective in the case.Take your time to build all the possible
circumstances in which this could happen.
2. Your children will retum home from school at any min-
ute. You do not want them to notice the effect o{ tragic news
on vou.
3. You meet a man you were trying to avoid becauseyou
owe him an explanation. What will you dol Everything you
imagine must be logical and concrete. Use all possible ad-
eptations to achieve your ain'.
4. Meet a person you do not know.
5. Take leave of an important person.
Tempo-Rhythm
Tempo-rhytbm is an important condition for concreteness
and truthlulness in the execution of physical actions. During
every minute of life there are tempo {speed)and rhythm
{varying intensity of experiencefwithin us as well as outside
us. Every movement/ every {act or event takes place in a
corresponding tempo-rhythm. We go to work and come home
in different tempo-rhythms. There are di{ferent tempo-
rhythms inside us when we listen to music and when we
listen to a fire siren. We also look at a beautiful landscape
and at a traffic accident in different tempo-rhythms. Every
action on stage must be executed in the tempo-rhythm re-
quired in life.
According to physiologcal laws, the correct tempo-rhythm
contributes to concentration and consequently keeps the
actor/s attention from distractin8 factors. It plays an impor-
tant role in mastering the logic and consecutivenessof ac-
tions.
Tempo-rhythm must correspondto the given circumstan-
ces.An actor cannot act sluggishly when energyis necessary.
The truthfulness of actions will be lost, even when they are
Elernenteof an Action 4l
logical, il they are too slow or too fast.
The building of struggles in a role inlluences the rhythmic
pattem. The rhythm changeswhen the obfectsof a struggle
change, and dilferent means are used in the sttuggle. Tempo-
rhythm reflects the degree of inner involvement and depends
on physical readinessto fullill an action.
There is an individual right rhnhm in every person. An
actor must find it for the character he portrays. It will help
him to feel correct in his role, and it is as important to him
to find it as it is Ior a director to find the right rhythm for
a whole performance.
Correct tempo-rhythm, by helping to make the action
truthful, helps to stir the actor's emotions. It creates com-
munion and ensemble work. Rhythm is a bridge between
the inner experience and its physical expression. The wrong
tempo-rhythm in one actor unbalancesthe other actors, and
the audience then does not believe in what they say or do.
Exercises and Lnprovisations
(see insfiuctions on pages 22-24)
l. You are havlng breaklast and you are late for work. Find
the corect tempo-rhythm.
2. Write a letter to a person you love and write one to a
creditor. Find a correct tempo-rhythm for each.
3. Move with music. fustifu inwardly the different tempo-
rhythms. Your physical state must profect the psychological
state.
Emotional iVlemory
Stanislavskiwasconstantlytrying to increasehis knowledge
of all facetsoI man'sinner life. He studiedpsychology,phys-
iology, and eestheticsas well as historical and theoretical
writing on the theater.He conlerredwith scientistsand in-
tellectualsin variousspecializedfields, and was especially
interestedin ttreworks of the FrenchpsychologistTh6odule-
Armand Ribot {1839-l9l5l, whose term "a{fective mem-
42 [ Th. Stmislavski Syetem
ory" he used. Lete& in the 1.930s,he reiected this name and
replaced it with "emotional memory."
An experience oI the actor on stage is different from an
experience in lile. The difference lies in the fact that the
actor lives on stage as the character and also as the actor
who creates the character. The experiences of the actor-
character inlluence one another end acquire a speci{ic qual-
ity. The actor's own experience,transformed into that of the
character, is as sincere and deep on stage as in liJe. The
quality of the actor's performance depends upon the sincerity
o{ his experience.And yet the quality of the experience on
stage changes,as Stanislavski said, into a "poetic reflection
of life's experience." He said, "Time is an excellent filter,
an excellent purilier of memories of emotions once experi-
enced. Moreover, time is an excellent artist. It not only pur-
ifies but is capable of poeticizing the memodes."
The Actor must live true experiences, but true stage ex-
periences.The actor on stagelives a "repeated" experience,
not a "primary" one, as Stanislavski said. Every actor knows
the difference betweefl a real{iJe experience and an experi-
ence on stege if he ever achieves an experience on stage.
Indeed, if actors lived the same experiences as in life, there
would be lunatics and murders on stage alter every perfor-
mance in which a character loses his mind or a murder is
committed. It would be impossible for an actor to survive
many performances in which he went through experiences
and shocks as they are in real life. On the contrary, we know
that suffering on stagegives the actor who achievesit a true
iov.
theta stageemotionis not
It shouldbeobvious,therefore,
the same as an emotion in life, Iirst of all becauseit does
not arise from an actual cause.The actor is capableof stirring
a neededemotion within himself only becausehe has often
experienced an analogous emotion in his own lile. Every
experience in life leaves a trace on our central nervous sys-
tem, and thus the nerves which pdticipate in a given ex-
perience become more sensitive to such a stimulus. Every
adult h'as experienced most emotions, though perhaps not
Elemmtcol m Action ll 43
for exactly the gamereasonthe actor must experiencethem
on stege.Peoplemay go through different leelings of love,
for instance: love for a person,a dress,an animal, sunshine.
We have dso hated someone,or an ingect, or war. There is
something common in all these cases:that is why they are
all called love and hate.
According to scientific data, emotional memory not only
reteins an imprint of an experiencebut dso synthesizesfeel-
iags oI a different nature. If e person has experienced for
instance, the leeling of envy becausehis friend has a better
iob, or wins a lottery, or receivesa goodrole in a plan and
if he hasexperiencedsuchleelings many times, the common
element in all these caseswill have left a deepimprint on
his memory. Stanislavskisaid, "From many preservedtraces
of what wag experienced one great condensed,magnilied
and deepenedmemory of emotions of the same nature is
formed. There is nothing superlluous in such a memory;
there is only the essence.This is the synthesis of all the
emotions of t.he same kind. It does not refer to a small,
sepdate, private instance, but to all those of the same na-
ture," The actor must be capableof bringing out the imprint
of a past experieDceand of making it respondto the con-
ditioned stimulus on staSe at the moment he needs it.
Through reheersds,the actor developsa conditioned reflex
in which his emotion is stirred through the stagestimulus.
A re-createdemotion is diflerent ftom the //primary" emo-
tion also becauseit doesnot absorbthe actor entirely. Re-
living a real-life experience,the personalsolives the present
time, and this influences the experience.When a tragedy
@curs,we arecompletelyabsorbedin the rnoment,but when
we remember this tragedy later, other interests penetrate
the experience.Though our grief is sincere, it acquires a
dilferent quality. Suchis the actor's st te on stage.The actor
who sincerely lives the lile of the character never forgets
that he is the actor who performs.
Stanislavski believed in two soruces of material for an
actor's creetive work: the inner life of an actor himself and
his observations of the outside world-an inexhaustible
44 ll The StanislavskiSystem Elementsol an Action | 45

source. The material an actor finds in the lile around him rectly and organically the simplest physical actions. The
he must make his own. To enrich the emotional memory, logic and consecutivenessof these actions will evoke in you
the actor must observe what is happening around him; he the entire complicated, subtle scale of inner experiences.
must read, listen to music, go to museums, watch people. Carrying out the logic of a physical action will bring you to
Well-developed emotional memory is the most important the logic of emotions, and this is everything for an actor."
requirement Ior the actor's work in the theater of living
experience.It is the storageol past experiencesand the only
source for emotions on stege.
ln the early stages of the System, actors ttied to bring
tfiemselves into the creative state when their emotions were
stirred, with the help of its separateelements. But that state
would not always come, and they v/ere "acting" their emo-
tions. Moreover, Stanislavski felt that forcing emotions from
the emotional memory brought actors to inner hysteria.
Stanislavski feared that such a tendency could ruin the ac-
tor's mental health and art. Experience also showed that
isolated study and use of the elements of the System dis-
urembered the System into separateparts which were later
difficult to reassembleinto one whole. Students mav be vir-
tuosos on exercises in "concentration, " "relaxation," or
"without obiects" but remain unable to fulfill an action that
includes these organic elements. Thus the principal objec-
tive oI the System-involvement of the psycho-physicalap-
paratus oI the actor when his emotions are stiffed-is not
achieved.
With his method of physical actions Stanislavski revolu-
tionized tJre use of means bv which an actor achieves the
creative state. Emotional memory stores our past experi-
[cs; to relive them, actors must execute indispensable,
logical physical actions in the given circumstances. There
are as many dillerent nuances of emotions as theie are dif-
ferent physical actions.
A few yearsbeforehis death Stanislavski organizeda group
of young actors and asked them to stageMoliEte's Tartuffe,
experimenting with the method of physical actions. Stan-
islavski said to the members of the Moscow Art Theater, "I
am not going to live long. It is my duty to transmit to actors
my expedence and my knowledge. Leam to carry out cor-

ANervsrs rHRouGH
EvENrs AND AcrroNs
A Stanislavski changed this practice. He said that these long
Actors must project the main idea o{ the play. Since it
is much easier to understand an immediate purpose than a
distant ong the long-range aim will be discovered through
important events, the consecutive actions revealing each
event. By determining the actions, the actor is able to build
a logical, consecutive performance and to assimilate his
role-and this practice will also be exceptionally helpful to
him in memorizing the part.
Every human action has a definite aim, and answers the
question, "What do I do?" "Why do I do it?" and "How do
I do it?" An actor must remember that his reason for being
on stage is to convey what he does and why he does it at a
given moment.
Senislavski recommended beginning the analysis of a play
with tte determination oI events, or, as he said, the "active
facts," which dictate the actions. It is essentialto understand
the important events and not to dwell on secondary ones.
Important events lie at the root of a good play and move its
action as well as that of each character. Determination of
those events involves the circumstances and is the shortest
way to the understanding of the play.
Each event has a main action; Ior example, a friend comes
46
AnalysisthroughEvents.od Actions lt 4Z
to help a married couple to settle a difference. His main
action is to help. In trying to help he may want to persuade
the husband to pay more attention to his wife, he rnay rc-
proach the woman for not being serious enough about her
duties, and so on. By striving energetically to carry out these
actions, which are really adaptations or means to achieve
the aim, the ector reveals the event on stage.
While searching Ior a method of analysis which would
fully disclose the essenceol a pley, Stanislavski for many
years taught and applied the processof breaking up the play
into its various episodes,analyzing and discovering the ac-
tions by having the director and the actors sit around a table
with their scdpts and pencils. He loved this preparatory pe-
riod, which precededrehearsalsand which lasted a long time.
ln the last years of his dirctorial and pedagogicalcareer,
sessionsaround the table led to serious errors becausethey
divided spiritual and physical behavior. So Stanislavski
started rehearsalsalmost immediately alter discussing the
main idea. Actors analyzed the events end investigated the
psychophysicalbehavior of the characterson stage,i n action .
In order to understand what his action is at a given mo-
ment, an actor must analyzethe essenceof an event. Actions
must be strongly related to the idea of the play. Everything
an actor does on stage must contribute to this. If the actor
fulfills his action, he will convey it to his audience;by being
truly active in a psychophysical way he will involve his
entire apparatusand his emotions will be stirred.
Every important event should be given a care{ully selected
name; it should not be a verb and should be so characteristic
that the single term gives the actors the essenceof the event.
The name of the event is the same for all characters, but
their reactions to it, and therefore thet actions, will be di{-
ferent. As the actors and the director learn more about the
play, they may change the names of some events.
To define an action an active verb should be used; it should
express precisely and logically the end an actor ryants to
achieve.If, in the processo{ his work on a role, an actor feels
48 | The StanislavskiSvstem
that he should change the action, he must do so and change
Its name,
Determining the actions makes the charactr's behavior
iustified and purposeful. And as a result oI understanding
the actions, an actor will come to understand the subtext.
In order really to understand the actions, an actor will have
to an lyze the play, the character, the epoch in which the
play takes place, and other given circumstances. Not intu-
ition alone, but the actor's penetration into the intention of
the play'wright, his ability to choose what is most typical
for the character, will determine the conect delinition oI
actions for the role. The necessity oI verbally expressingthe
actions lorcs the actor to think and to study his role and
the whole play.
There is usually something that opposes the action. An
actor must find these obstacles which the character must
try to overcome. For instance, in the example of the friend
who comes to settle the di{ference between a husband and
wife, the "counteraction/' mav be the fact of the friend's love
for the young woman. Striving honestly to help the marriage,
he must hide the fact of his love. There may be other ob-
stacles, such as the husband, who might not want to listen
to his well-meaning friend. Overcoming such obstacles keeps
an actor from becoming carelessand makes him carry out
his action more vividly, with more energy and strength.
Each character in a play always has his own main obiect
of struggle.
THE Supnn-Onlncrrvn
AND THE THROUCH
LINE or AcuoNS
St"oi"l"urki stated over and over that without geat
playwrights there would not be theater, that the Iirst duty
of the theater is toward the playwright, and is to prolect his
idea dynamicdly. A written play is transformed into a per.
formance by the actors and the director, who must transmit
to the public the author's main idea, his reason Ior having
written the play. To carry acrossthe main idea, or the super-
obiective, as Stanislavski called it, is the final goal of every
perlormance and is tlie point of departureIor the Stanislavski
System.
The super-oblective,which is the essenceoI the play, must
guide the director end the interpretation of characters and
events. With the super-obiectivean actor weaves the idea of
the author into the theatrical perfonnance. The superobjec-
tive is the basic stimulus of a creative process;the theatrical
form and the written play should unite tfuough a continual
fertilization of each other in t}te processof building a per-
formance.
The super-oblectivecontrols each character,slogic of ac-
tions, which makes the theme concrete. While an actor is
preparinS his role the super-obiective must be clear in his
mind from the beginning tfuough its very end. To forget it,
50 il The StanislavskiSystem The Supcr-Obiectivernd the Through Linc ol Actions lt Sl
as Stanislavki said, is to break the line of liJe portrayed on To interpret his role, an actor must filld its super-obfective.
stage. Every detail, every thought, every action, must be Conllict in a play is developed by the through line of actions
closely related to it. and the counteraction of the characters.
An actor should give a proper and expressivename to the The search for the super-obfectiye, for the through line of
super-obiective, which should be an active verb. The inter- actions, and for the theme of a role was called by Stanislavski
pretation of the play dependson it. "the reconnaissanceof the mind. "
For an actor's performance to have logical order and per- Just as he has a super-obiective and the through line of
spective, he should mentally trace a line which will run actions in a role, an actor must have them in everv exercise
through his role. Stanislavski called this the through line of or improvisation.
actjors. This is the active execution o{ the super-obiective,
the profound organic tie uniting the independent parts of
the role. The through line of actions leeds an actor to the
main purpose of his activities and prevents him from being
distracted by secondary events; it is the consecutive incar-
nation of the super-obiectivein scenic actions. It is ttle un-
dercurrent of the play, the inner content of events expressed
in action. The super-obiectiveand the through line of actions
are the aims to which the building oI a role is subordinate.
Every element of the Stanislavski System is subordinate to
them.
An actor must continually check his through line of ac-
tions to make sure that he has the right activity, order, logic,
color, contrast, and that all these elements contribute to the
proiection of the super-obiective.
Determination of actions must be guided by the through
line of actions. To be consecutive and logical, each action
must depend on the previous one and on the {ollowing one.
The through line oI actions is all the character's actions
interwoven logically, having the same purpose oI expressing
the main idea.
Every character has some basic, main purpose in ttre cir-
cumstances given by the playwright. Such a purpose could
be cdled central action, and reflects the character's most
important strivings. This aim through the role is the char-
acter's own super-obiectiveand his through line of actions.
It is the movement of the inner world of the character. The
aim toward which a character is striving in an act, a scene,
or an episode, is called the main action of these sections.

THr AcroR's
Pnvsrcar AppARATUS
An must make sure that in creating a character
he does "",o.
not lose a single nuance, or any physical or psycho-
logical means which would help to expresshis inner expe-
rience. A slight movement of the spine, a change in the
direction of a look, can tell something about the inner life
of the cheracter and proiect his thoughts.
The quality o{ an actor's performance depends not only
upon the creation of the inner life of a role but also upon
the physical embodiment of it. Stanislavski said that im-
perfection in the extemal expressionof a role can disfigure
a profound conception oI the playwright. ln order to embody
the subtle inner life of a charactet en actor must have at
his command responsive and sensitive physical means. An
actor's own organism is his instrument. Actions are his ma-
terial. ln order to build favorable conditions for creativeness,
the instrument of the actor's organism must be prepared.
Bad enunciation indicates a lack of elementary respect for
the audience. It is tiresome for the spectator to listen to an
actor whose speechis not precise and comprehensible. De-
Iects in speec\ of course, will distort a performance. To
"paint a picture" with vivid colors, an actor rnust use the
whole scale of his voice. An actor's voice must be trained
52
The Actor's PhyricalAppararus lt 53
like that of a singer and be placed in the "masque," the front
of the face, where there are resonators. Speechon stage is
as important an art as singing {or a singer. When an actor
has well-developed respiration, good clear diction, and a
trained voicg he will not have to force, but instead will be
able to speak naturally and softly, and even his whisper will
be heard everywhere in the theater.
Muscular tension, the reaction to an audience,interferes
with the actor's execution of natural physical actions and
therefore with the correct inner state and the inner experi-
ence.To copewith muscular tension an actor needsa trained
responsive body and control over his muscles. Even the
slightest tension of muscles can paralyze an actor's creative
state. Through systematic work, an actor will develop an
"observer" inside himself, who will watch and instantly find
the spot of unnecessarytension and as instantly eliminate
it. This will become a natural, automatic habit. Concentra-
tion on a specilic thought and gesture oI the body will elim-
inate tensioh.
Stanislavski believed in training the body to improve pos-
ture and to make movements supple, graceful,and linished.
An actor must, however, bear in mind that there is no place
in the living theater for mannerisms or mechanical gestures.
An actor should not use a gestrne becauseit is graceful or
plastic. A gesture must reflect an inner experince.It \,yill
then become a purposeful, logical, and truthful movement.
"As a creative, artistic force, you do not differ from pianists
and singers,and must practice every day," Stanislavski said
to his actors. The actor's body and voice must be cultivated
and trained to be able to express extemally, instantly and
precisely, the delicate inner experiencesof the creative pro-
cess.The inner and physical apparatus of an actor must be
trained simultaneously. While the inner technique culti-
vates an actor's ability to evoke the proper state without
which creativity is impossible, and which depends on an
action executed with the help of all the elements o{ Stan-
islavski's inner technique, the physical technique will make
an actor's physical apparatuscapableoI expressinginner pro-

TrtE SusrExr oF
BEuevroR
Th" ,.r- subtext came to birth during the Moscow
Art Theater's productions of Chekhov's plays. It has usually
been understood as a means of helping the actor to compre-
hend and to project what he is to say. For Stanislavski and
Nemirovich-Danchenko it made possible the subtle expres-
sion of the character's emotions and thoughts. The subtext
became an instrument of conscious creativity {or the actor.
In order to expresshis interpretation of a play, the director
must reveal its subtext, words which the mise en scine and
sets alone cannot express.The subtext will vary with every
director, since each director may have a dilferent interpl-
tation. Selection of the subtext is a powerful means of treat"
ment o{ the play and, when conectly chosen, is an impulse
for purposeful action. Subtext reveals the character's rela-
tionships, his behavior, and the meaning of his words and
actl0ns.
Without the subtext even a truthlully executed action re-
mains flat and will not involve the spectators,who must be
concemed with the developing causeso{ the characters' be-
havior, causesof their emotions and thoughts. Assimilation
of the profound causes and of the inner reasons {or action
and expressionis decisive in the creative processof the actor.
68
The Subtexto{ Behavior | 69
To make an action effective, the actor must master the sub-
text, which is often in contrast to a superficial interpretation
of the text.
When a play has strong dramatic collision, it has an artistic
subtext. In order to understand it, actors and directors must
study the play and the interrelationships of the characters;
they must depart from the play,s super-oblective and the
through line of actions and assimilate the super-obiective
and the through line oI actions of the character thev will
build, and their particular inner world and individualitv.
Whcn the actor, from his own point of view, has a profound
understending oI the character,smotivations for his actions.
as well as an understanding of his own attitude toward the
character, then he will understand the subtext.
A good perlormance cteates a confrontation between text
and subtext-that is, between what the character says and
what he really thinks and feels but for some reason cannot
say directly. It creates a conlrontation between the charac-
ter's real striving and what he says. This makes the subtext
the principal means of drematurgy in the theater.
Psychologistsuse the phrase subtext of behavior to reler
not only to verbal action but also to what a person means
by his behavior. It is usedin interpreting the behavior,mean-
ing, and significance of the obiect which servesas motiva-
tion, it is used in interpreting the inner conditions of an
action in relation to the intent as a whole and to the char-
acter's entire life. Therefore, it is obvious that the subtext
of the lines is only a part oI the subtext of the whole behavior
ot a Person.
The words spoken by an actor cannot alone exoress the
depth, conllict, and striving of the character.The aito, -urt
searchfor contrasts between text and subtext. Contradiction
between text and subtext makes the unexpectedword vivid
and sigrificant. Stanislavski said, .,Life,s direct actions. when
it is easy to foreseewhat is takrng place, are not interesting
and should not be used on stage....Avoid the clich6s oI
directness of your objectives and of your adaptations.,, For
example, Stanislavski told of a woman who almost beat her
70 The StaniolavskiSYstem
child to death becausehe was nearly kiiled by a troliey. To
iustify herself, she said to the passersby,"He is my only
child." A correctly chosen subtext creates contradictions
within the text and expressesthe text's depth
In real life, people cannot always find words for what they
wish to express. The assimilation of words is even more
dilficult on stagethan in life becausethey are spoken before
an audience, because they must be projected, and because
they belong to the character and have been written by an
author who has a particuler style. The noted theater scholar
and critic P. Markov writes that Chekhov's dialogue resem-
bles a lyrical poem whose true meaning is revealednot only
through the words. Shakespeare'sspeech is even more dif-
ficultlo assimilate. The striving of the actor-creator and of
the character must be strongly united. Words become verbal
actions when they ate iustified by the inner need of the
person who speaks them and are directed toward another
character.
A word is assimilated when it is inlluenced by the subtext.
Subtext makes the word unique. The same words can have
di{ferent meanings depending on the individual who speaks
them and on the situation in which he speaks them. DiI-
ferent subtexts make the words sound different. Stanislavski
said, "The value of the words is not in the words themselves
but in the subtext contained in them.'..The meaninS of
stagecreativity is iD the subtext, without which words have
nothing to do on stage."
Staniilavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko disagreedas to
whether lines should be leamed by the actor {rom the be'
ginning of work on the role. Russian theater scholars today
luppon the opinion of Nemirovich'Danchenko, who thought
thai lines must be leemed by the actor ftom the very begin'
ning in order for him to understand and penetrate the dram-
atist's languageand style-his unique peculiarities. Even if
the actor understands the character's actions and motiva-
tions, v/ithout the text he will not understand the relation'
ship between text and subtext. Thoughts will not arise
indeDendentof the text.
The Subtextof Behavior l 7l
In current studies of subtext, important changesoccur in
the understanding of the use oI the inner monologue. The
idea acceptedsometime ago that a thought is always ver-
balized has now been reversed.We all know that it is often
dif{icult to find words to expressa thought. The actor needs
other means to expressmental processesduring silences on
stage or in the pausesoccurring in his own lines. Inner ex-
periencesmust reach the spectator before the words are said.
lnner monologue is important becauseduring silencesit con-
tinues the flow of the action on stage.But since the words
which are spoken do not incamate thoughts, the inner speech
is condensedand amorphous, not fluid but broken up.
It is important to remember that drama by its very nature
is dialogical; therefore, it includes inner dialogue. In-
ner speech,although condensed,is always diaiogical; it is a
kind of polemic with oneself. According to the scientist
D. Dubrovski, the character's ,,I,, is also a,,you,, with
whom he is in dialogue. Today, Russian psychologists find
that the term irr er monologue is not satisfactory becauseit
obscuresthe dynamic and inner polemic which reflect the
struggle of a character's motivations during the processes
of making a decision. Every response is at least a micro-
decision. Therefore, it is more correct to say inner dia-
ogue.
The actor's body must be trained to extreme sensitivity.
Subtle internal processescan be prolected only through the
actor's sensitive body. To be able to expressthe subtext the
actor must be capableof executing a psycho-physicalaction.
He must be capable of achieving the psycho-physical state.
An action is not artistic without a subtext.
In theater, in contrast to what happensin li{e, the expres-
sion of the subtext through nonverbal meansmust be sham-
ened, it must inlluence t}te actor's partner and the spectatois.
The inner lile oI the charactermust be seenby the spectators.
The actor must understand the most important subtext of
the lines lthe key subtextl during silences on stage. The
coruectgesture/ the correct intonation do not olten happen
spontaneously on stage. With the help of conscious calcu-