The Contributions of Konstantin Stanislavsky to the Development of Acting

Konstantin Nemirovich-Danchenko (1863-1938), popularly known by his stage name Konstantin Stanislavsky was a Russian actor-director and actor trainer at Society of Art Literature Moscow. He is known for his attempt to perfect an approach to acting.

He was influenced by Saxe-Meiningen's example of ensemble acting, where each element - property, set, scenery etc - were carefully selected because of its contribution to the final effect of the production. 

His major view holds that the actor should live the life of the character on stage. This view helped foster the development of techniques and training methods which would help the actor perform the character's action in minute psychological detail and also feel the same way the character would feel to the point that he can become oblivious of the presence of an audience.

His ideas can be concisely outlined thus:

·         Training of the actor's body and voice to respond efficiently to all demands;

·         Schooling actors in stage techniques for contrivance free character projection;

·         Actors must possess skill in observing reality which would help them in building a role;

·         Actors must seek inner justification or motivation for everything done on stage;

·         Actors must make a thorough analysis of the play and work within its given circumstance;

·         When on stage, actors must focus attention on the action as it unfolds;

·         Actors should continuously strive to perfect understanding and proficiency.

His system, known as Stanislavsky System emphasized verisimilitude, psychological realism, naturalism and internal motivation for actors. This made more use of costume, makeup, dialogue, accent, gestures and movements instead of masks which conceal the actor's face. 

Stanislavsky always undertook a long study of each play before rehearsals began. He insisted upon careful attention to details from each actor and he sought to recreate the milieu only after an extensive research.

His Method Acting technique discouraged the star system. His experiments with non-realistic acting did not accept any marked departure from realism - because to him it all tended to dematerialize the actor.

He also pointed out the spiritualism of acting in his book My Life in Art (1948) when he said "There was the necessity not only of a physical makeup but of a spiritual makeup before performance...its aim was to give practical and conscious methods for the awakening of subconscious creativeness."

He co-formed the Moscow Art Theatre in 1898 with Vladirmir and First Studio in 1911 where he taught his principles. Those principles were also taught in Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome. They were incorporated into actor training in England and they penetrated academic departments in the US and Canada by late 1950s. They were also popular in Poland and in Western Drama and influenced the likes of Jerzy Grotowsky, Shingeki, and the Group Theatre in US. His methods were further popularized through the teachings of Richard Boleslavsky (1889-1937) in the book Acting, The First Six Lessons.

"The Stanislavsky System is the most important modern concept of acting. It is realistic in its assumptions...and it works best for realistic play" (Western Theatre, 1984).

Stanislavsky is a true director of realism. He worked out such concepts as angle of setting to the audience, the degree of authenticity of props, matters of accent and the vocal quality of the actors, level of light, casting and so on. He provided strength and modernism for the acting tradition.