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Finding Subtext
A Theatrical Model
for the First-Year Experience
© 2005 Barbara Harris Clayton. All Rights Reserved
Konstantin Stanislavski, 1863-1938
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Moscow Art Theatre
Director, actor, teacher
“Method” acting
My Life in Art, 1924
An Actor Prepares, 1936
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Building a Character,
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1949

Creating a Role, 1961
The Cast

18-year-old adults
The Cast

18-year-old adults ?
The Cast

18-year-old adults ?
 Academic
Preparation and Skills
 Time Management Skills
 Balance
of study, activities, work, and relaxation
 Respect for schedules and deadlines
 Money
Management Skills
 Healthy Living Skills
 Diet,
exercise, sleep, laundry, medications, alcohol,
and drugs
 Social engagement and maintaining connections

Guidance about when and where to seek help
Stanislavski: Breaking Down Habits
in the Theatre
“He was directing an opera with young
students, and he was trying to break down
the cliché gestures and grimaces that had
been taught them by singing, dancing, and
diction teachers. It was a battle of egos,
constant complaining by the actors that they
could not sing if they were forced to take this
or that position, insistent encouragement by
Stanislavski—’Go on! You can do it! Make
the tone! Sing!’”--Joshua Logan
Breaking Down Habits in the
Classroom
Non-academic writing
style
 Desire for correctness,
certainty, not
understanding
 Glib interpretation
without thoughtful
analysis
 Passive reception of
teaching, not active
engagement in learning

Specific expectations for
writing, practice exercises,
opportunity to write drafts
or ungraded diagnostic
assignments; the Writing
Center
 Multiple interpretations,
readings, and stagings
 Importance of evidence for
all interpretive choices
 Rewards for curiosity,
initiative, and
engagement; extra credit

Stanislavski: Learning the “Given
Circumstances” in the Theatre
The factual structure of a role (the plot of
the play, the time, place, historical
context) and the director’s interpretation.
Given circumstances are the structure
within which the actor works
imaginatively.
Learning “Given Circumstances” in
the Classroom

Don’t know to look for
structure in the
assignments,
activities, and
concepts of a class

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Tell students to read the
syllabus
Explicitly relate
assignments and
activities to course goals
and objectives
Ask students to reach
back as they move
forward, incorporating
what they have learned in
their current work
Stanislavski: Achieving Communion
in the Theatre
Actors must really hear, see, and sense what
is happening on stage. They must listen
to the words, read the body language,
meet (or not meet) the eyes of other
actors.
Actors must adapt what they do to what
they receive.
Achieving Communion in the
Classroom

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Don’t follow directions for class
assignments
Assert opinion rather than
engage in discussion
Reach conclusions based on
emotions, not sound argument
and evidence
Insensitive to other people or
points of view
Plagiarize, not understanding
the value of free and
responsible exchange of ideas
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Written assignments and
grading rubric attached to
paper; revisions
Discussion guidelines: make
point only once; students
address each other, not the
instructor; paraphrase
exercises
Evidence exercises
Value multiple points of view;
awareness of others;
“politeness tips;” collaborative
teams
Research and writing as a
fundamental way of engaging
with the academic community
Stanislavski: Finding Subtext in the
Theatre
“Subtext” refers to the meaning that underlies the
written text.
“Please, do remember what I told you, and don’t
open the script until I decide you should. You
must first spend a great deal of time getting to
know the subtext for the character as it
develops, and making it secure. The actual
words must only serve the action, they are one
of the external means by which you give
physical expression to the inner essence of a
role.”
Finding Subtext in (and out of) the
Classroom

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Seemingly unconnected
requirements, fragmented
learning
Contradictory expectations in
different classes
Lack awareness about
individual learning style
Apparent lack of connection
between classroom and life
learning
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Seek connections within a
single class and among
classes; FIG program
Engaged advising; expect and
value different methods for
different disciplines and
instructors
Build a variety of learning
experiences in a single course;
repeat experiences; University
resources
Integrate and reflect on
experiences in and out of the
classroom; outreach activities,
service learning, residential
learning communities
Stanislavski: The Actor’s Journey
Stanislavski taught actors to seek the
“through-action” of a role by breaking a
play down into component parts and
analyzing each part for the character’s
needs or desires and what s/he does to
fulfill that need or desire.
This “through-action” provides coherence
and logic to the imaginary character.
Finding the “through-action” takes time,
often the entire rehearsal process.
The Student’s Journey
Course selection, declaring a major,
determining a career goal can be viewed
as component parts of a student’s
academic “through-action”
 Discovering curricular logic and coherence
takes time and effort
 For the first-year student, no “throughaction” yet

A Theatrical Model for the First-Year
Experience
Break down habits that inhibit academic success
 Understand “given circumstances,” the
structures within which academic success occurs
 Achieve a spirit of community both in and out of
the classroom
 Find a subtext, the meanings that underlie and
connect the complicated “text” of the first year
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The End