Download How did Stanislavski contribute to the development of realism in

Essay Question: How did Stanislavski contribute to the development of realism
in theatre?
Konstantin Stanislavski1 was a wealthy Muscovite man born in the early 19th century.
He is who is responsible for creating the method of acting called realism. Stanislavski as a
director during the late 19th century disliked the idea of the costumes and the general
genre of acting. He therefore experimented with methods and created his own system.
The system entailed the actor grabbing a hold of the emotive side of their character then
expressing it within their performance. This created a lot of work for the actors in order
for them to imitate the role of their character in a correct realistic manner. This system
consists of three parts to create a final role. Konstantin Stanislavski c during the early
parts of the 20th century not too long ago created three books2 explaining the three
different parts of the system. This method of acting has affected many people whom are
involved with theatre and acting. It has changed the way some communities look at a
piece of theatre as this system creates another type of genre called realism.
The historical context of the realism within theatre is very important. Within the 19th
century a period broke out in theatre when experiments were done with realism and
naturalism. Not only Konstantin Stanislavski experimented with this genre of theatre,
though the truth of the matter is that Stanislavski developed the concept of realism for
the new theatre. The language and style of this new theatre type portrayed a more
natural and real life picture."One of the elements [of the spiritual culture of the
humanity] is the theatre which is distinctly Russian, whose objective is not to entertain
the audience with plays, but to affect directly the viewer's very soul with naturally
created life of the human spirit." 3During this time social and political playwritings
were produced which helped bring out the developed realism to theatre. Stanislavski's
system went another level to make this happen. He went into depth with the topic this
entailed the actor or actress having to search for the emotive and physiological sense of
the character they study. This system created stage directions other than the usual
stereotypes, heroes and heroines, they treated their characters as individuals as in real
1 Sometimes spelled Constantin Stanislavsky.
2 The second and third books were published posthumously from Stanislavski's
essays, articles and notes. Only the first book was published during his lifetime.
3 Lawrence Sacharow. “Method of acting and stanislavsy” Method Acting. Web. 21
Oct. 2010.<http://method.vtheatre.net/stanislavsky.html>.
life. The aim of the theatre in the early 20th century was that within the theatre more
sophisticated and graphic kinds of realism were experimented with. Also the theatre
forms such as symbolism and non-illusionistic forms were advised
The methodology of a style is crucial for a piece of drama to succeed. All actors and
actresses must know this methodology and apply this in their piece whether it is on a sage
or on a film set. Physical action leading from the facial expression of a character or a
distinct movement like the tapping of a foot are two expressions that are put together
the facial expression would be the internal experience showing through the physical
expression in the face. Stanislavski took this into consideration and created a technique
called ‘the method of physical actions'4. This method eliminated the possibility of
spontaneous reactions. Stanislavski composed this technique to help actors and actresses
create the desired emotive responses. This is done by composing a physical movement to
trigger the emotive emotion which would cause for instance crying. These responses do
not come straight away it takes actors or actress's weeks to months to master their
personal physical actions that work for them that then trigger a psychological response.
Stanislavski used a trick here by reversing the natural responses of a human being.
Usually it would be an emotion which determines the action although in this case the
action determines the emotion.
The character in my monologue is played as a Russian woman during the 1860. It is said
that this woman Katerina Kabanova has found herself caught in an adulterous affair. In
this scene where she performs her monologue she walks slowly in a state of distress not
being able to say goodbye to her lover after her husband had found out. This is when
Stanislavski's method comes in handy. The way my character walks, could trigger various
emotions within myself as the actress performing it. The very simple action of placing two
hands before my eyes could create and trigger an emotion of my past which could cause
me to cry. These are very key things that could and should be combined into a realism
monologue like such in order to create a worthy performance. The audience whom are
watching this performance should feel engaged with the emotive side of the character
which is combined with the physical movement. If this aspect of the performance is
missing it will not run smoothly causing the audience to be bored and detached with the
entire performance.
Stanislavski developed various different techniques in order to accomplish his idea of
realism theatre. There are many steps the actor or actresses have to follow before having
a truthful realistic performance. Analyzing a character is the most crucial part of his
system. The actor has to understand and know the character in and out. When
4 "Stanislavski's System." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 21 Oct. 2010.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislavski's_system#The_Method_of_Physical_Acti
on>.
analyzing the character the actor has to answer three questions, ‘What do I (the
character) do?'‘Why do I (the character) do it?' and ‘How do I (the character) do
it?'5This analyzing helps the actor find the physical and physiological behavior of the
character. In Stanislavskian technique6, Stanislavski made clear to his actors and
actresses that the truth that is within a play is not the same as the truth of real life. This
is a very important key for the actors. If an actor were to truthfully believe they were
the character they might be in need of psychiatric care. To solve this problem
Stanislavski came up with the solution of the ‘Magic if'. This ‘magic if' created a
question for the actor in which they have to answer, ‘if I were in my characters position
what would I do?' Through the word ‘if' the actor could create strong physical action
which would seem to an audience as real. There are three more important points of
technique that is needed for this system, concentration, motivation and imagination.
The actor must have the imagination to go into depth with what is asked of the script.
Also adding to imagination is motivation if the actor has the will power to imagine their
performance could be successful. Though without the last step which is concentration
the entire hard work of the actor may fall through. The actor must concentrate on who
they are and the things they will be doing in character.
Analyzing a character is a very wise technique as you as an actor or performer goes into
depth, knowing every emotion of the character and what they would do. Without this
the performance would be filled with the actor's personal body language, speech etc.
The actor would not be in character and would just be repeating lines. This in itself
would detach the audience from the performance again and would not be taken
seriously. Going into depth with the character from my monologue, Katerina would
benefit me in the sense that I know how she feels, the struggles she is going through
and pain she is caused. By knowing all of this I could ask myself questions. How would I
react if I were in Katerina's position and does it connect with her reaction. The
techniques of Stanislavski's system happen to be very theoretical which involves a lot of
writing other than the usual expected acting. Though is very beneficial when it comes to
realism drama especially when dealing with monologues.
Stanislavski viewed “theatre as a medium with great social and educational
significance”7. Stanislavski as a courageous man decided he would incorporate the idea
of social issues into the arts of theatre. This reflected the happening during the Russian
revolution in 1905 on stage. He wanted his actors to ignore the social issues around
then by ironically acting a relating situation.
5 Stanislavski.pdf.22 Mar. 2006.PDF
6 Stanislavski maintained that his techniques transcended style. His company the
MAT performed many different styles, from Moliere to Shakespeare. In America
however, he is mainly associated
with psychological realism. Stanislavski.pdf.22 Mar. 2006.PDF
7 "Stanislavski." Untitled Document. Web. 28 Oct. 2010.
<http://www.kryingsky.com/Stan/Biography/bot.html>.
In conclusion Stanislavski is one of the very people who contributed to develop the
idea of realism in theatre. This directly involves Konstantin Stanislavski due to the fact
that he was the very person whom created the system. This system is the very system
actors of all ages use when dealing with realism theatre. Stanislavski went into depth
when dealing with the idea. He created a system that not only involved acting but the
theoretical aspect of it too. This makes the system in itself a very powerful one. The
system created by Stanislavski has not only impacted the actor’s way of acting but has
also impacted the way the audience looked at theatre.