Konstantin Stanislavsky Response

Konstantin Stanislavsky Response

Konstantin Stanislavsky searched for what a lot of actors strive for; truth.  He wanted to know the what, why, where, when and who of every character he pursued. He searched for this truth his whole life. I believe the system he followed will help me on my own journey to find the same truth he sought.

My first encounter with Stanislavsky’s system was affective memory. This part of his system draws on one’s own experiences in similar situations to the character one is portraying. Many actors prepare for a role in this way and many roles are improved both mentally and physically by an actor attempting to share their characters experience- they are truly making an attempt to become one with the character. As soon as acting becomes a lie, the truth Stanislavsky and all actors search for, is lost. To be a good actor, requires you to not act at all; you have to truly feel and understand your character. By experiencing first-hand what your character experienced, you are adding truth to your performance that makes it much more believable. I believe, by literally putting myself in my characters shoes, I am allowed a personal insight into their journey, for it consequently becomes my journey too.

The given circumstances is a key part of Stanislavsky’s system and a crucial component of any character development process. The given circumstances establishes firstly the basic elements of your characters circumstance that act as a support when you go on to work in more detail. Establishing the location of your character is one of the initial steps of understanding your given circumstance. Knowing the basic who, what, where and when of your character allows you to enter their world, giving you a new found purpose on stage. Being able to work with a given circumstance and being flexible by taking into consideration the given circumstance of others and how it affects mine, requires an awareness of both your own character and the rest of the cast. This part of Stanislavsky’s system will help me because it will allow me to lay the foundations of my character which I will then be able to build on.

Objectives are something I am familiar with and therefore already had an understanding of why they were so important as a part of Stanislavsky’s system. Objectives give an actor a purpose on stage. Without a purpose there is no meaning behind the actions one performs, meaning the whole performance becomes meaningless. The play itself would cease to exist; it will not be alive and will not be actively engaging the audience. However, objectives allow you to have a purpose and a voice without speaking dialogue. You can say so much by the way you move, what you do with your hands, the level you sit or stand and not a single word has to be spoken- objectives help accomplish this. I will always need objectives to help me create an atmospheric performance and know, from experience, that mastering objectives will take a long time, and perhaps I never will. However actively using them already brings me a step closer to creating a character and performance in the moment.

I believe Stanislavsky’s idea of communion is one of most simple ideas, yet crucial and extremely effective. When connecting with your audience, the only way you can do that is to first connect with your other actors. If you do not do this you have no chance of connecting on any level with your audience, leaving them excluded from the action and emotion taking place on stage. Every glance, every breath, every movement, must be in accordance with the other characters on stage. You have to build a connection which consists of a mutual give and take. The connection you have with your fellow actor will speak to the audience as loudly as any dialogue.

When I read about Stanislavsky’s production plan, I was confused. I believed that the truth he seemed to look for, relied heavily on actors making their own artistic choices on their journey of character development. Therefore controlling actors in such a way seemed to destroy everything he stood for. However when he then implemented his idea of inner motive forces I could see the process and style of training that I personally associated with Stanislavsky. Allowing actors to discover for themselves the character they are portraying and how they go about doing it is a vital yet delicate process. You cannot be afraid to fail as both an actor and director. As soon as you let this affect you, the discovery process is no longer truthful, as a process without mistakes is fake. Mistakes are the best teacher; you can reflect on what you did wrong and in doing so, understand what you need to do to overcome a particular obstacle. I believe that his method of inner motive forces is something I would work well with instead of production plan. Although I respect entirely the opinion of my director, they will not understand the process I am undertaking, for it is a unique process for every individual. In the same way, I would not understand their process. Therefore if they start dictating what I must do onstage, my personal take on the character is lost and the truth with it- something I believe Stanislavsky would not encourage. 

In conclusion I believe Stanislavsky’s determination to seek the truth all actors seek is inspiring. As an actor, I want to be able to understand my character, so I can truly see through their eyes. If I do not I am not giving the audience an accurate representation of their thoughts and feeling and am in no way doing the character justice. Stanislavsky’s system is so effective because it involves work in rehearsal, outside the classroom and on stage. He opens up the possibilities that I as a young actor can achieve. My thoughts and feeling become valid on stage and I can put them to good use by channelling them to finally understand that all important truth.