Stanislavski's Shift: New Approach to Actor Training, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Acting

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THE STANISLAVSKI

SYSTEM

GROWTH AND METHODOLOGY

PERVIZ SAWOSKI

SECOND EDITION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION
• Stanislavski- The Early Years: A Brief Chronology
• Stanislavski’s Need for Change
• THE METHOD OF PHYSICAL ACTIONS (1934-1938)
• 1. Units and Objectives
• 2. Through line of Actions and the Superobjective
• 3. Analysis of Text through Action
• 4. Truth, Belief and the ‘Magic If’
• 5. Imagination
• 6. Subtext
• 7. Motivation
• 8. Concentration
• 9. Relaxation
• 10. Communion
• 11. Adaptation
• 12. Tempo-Rhythm
• 13. The Physical Apparatus
• Phase 1: Emotional Memory-- 1911 - EMOTIONAL MEMORY (1911-1916)
  • What is Emotional Memory?
• Phase 2: Limitations of Emotional Memory
• Phase 3: The American Method and Affective Memory: A Brief Chronology
• Some Assumptions of the American Method
• ENDNOTES
• REFERENCES

After trying to understand his own recent lifelessness on stage, Stanislavski wrote the first draft for his techniques in 1909. He observed creative and talented actors and tried to find common ground among them. From this, he started to formulate principles (including Emotional Memory) which he felt created these great performances. The MAT actors were initially resistant, but on Danchenko’s insistence, eventually agreed to apply some of Stanislavski’s techniques to their performances. Stanislavski therefore formed the First Studio in 1911, which became a laboratory for his new experiments. Among others, the First Studio trained Eugene Vakhtangov (Stanislavski’s brilliant pupil), Richard Boleslavsky (who first taught Stanislavski’s methods in the United States) and Michael Chekhov. For the next few years, Stanislavski continued to direct and work with his techniques on his actors, always trying to find the best methods of training for actors. After a while, even though the MAT was outwardly successful, Stanislavski felt a need to reformulate his techniques in order to renew the integrity of his System. Stanislavski’s Need for Change Stanislavski’s dissatisfaction with his earlier experiments in Emotional Memory, led him to develop a methodology that would change the way emotions were triggered. This methodology purported that emotions could be stimulated through simple physical actions. This was the basis of his new system. The suggestion by Stanislavski that there is a connection between internal experiences and their physical expression, has since been verified and substantiated by scientists such as Ivan Pavlov and I.M. Sechenov (Moore 17). While searching for the ultimate training system for actors, Stanislavski noticed a gap between the physical and mental behavior of the actor on stage, as well as between the physical and mental preparation in the actor’s work on the character. In other words, the actor spent long

days working internally and emotionally, and then tried to create a physicality in the character. By that time however, it was too late for organic physical work. This was due to the fact that the internal emotional choices of the actor had already found a physicality that was most likely to be small, unoriginal and lacking in theatrical form. Stanislavski realized that the physical life and psychological processes that the actor underwent, needed to be explored simultaneously, because they were interdependent. This led him to the simple, yet radical discovery that emotions could be stimulated through physical actions. This move from ‘Emotional Memory’ to his ‘Method of Physical Actions’ was an important shift in actor training at that time. It met with much resistance in Russia at the Moscow Art Theatre, and was resisted even more by acting students in the United States^2. Stanislavski constantly shifted his views, always trying to find more efficient ways for the actor to perform. This is why he was hesitant to publish his work for a long time. If he were alive today, it is most likely that he would have continued to change his views. Thus, while understanding his System, it is important to refrain from fossilizing his ideas. The System can be viewed as a process in actor training, a learning tool for the actor, and not as a dogma to be followed with blind faith. THE METHOD OF PHYSICAL ACTIONS (1934-1938) Stanislavski’s System proposed that a series of physical actions arranged in sequential order would trigger the necessary emotions in an actor’s performance. These emotions were based in the unconscious (or subconscious) and could not otherwise directly come to surface when needed. They would have to be brought out through indirect means. Hence his search for the ‘conscious means to the unconscious’ led him to create this ‘Method of Physical Actions,’ a physical map plotted out for the actor. This ‘conscious’ physical map of action would then arouse and bring out the ‘unconscious’ emotions of the actor.

In analyzing an action, the actor answered three questions, ‘ What do I (the character) do? ’ ‘ Why do I (the character) do it? ’ and ‘ How do I (the character) do it? ’ This helped the actor understand the aim or main idea of the play. Earlier, Stanislavski would spend long months around the table with his actors, analyzing the text and breaking it into small parts. Later he changed this practice because he felt it led to a separation of emotion and behavior. Stanislavski, at this later time, started rehearsals almost immediately after discussing the main idea, analyzing the psycho- physical behavior of actors on stage in action.

4. Truth, Belief and the ‘Magic If’ Stanislavski stated that truth on stage was different from truth in real life. This was an important factor in acting, especially so in realism where the aim of the actor was to create the appearance of reality or ‘truth’ on stage. In Stanislavskian technique^3 , as in most other theatre training techniques, an actor does not actually believe in the truth of the events on stage, only in the imaginative creation of them. Indeed, an actor who honestly believed himself to be Hamlet would be deeply deluded and in need of psychiatric help. This then posed the problem of creating the appearance of reality for the spectator. Stanislavski’s answer to this problem was in the creation of the ‘Magic If.' The actor tried to answer the question, “ If I were in Macbeth ’s position, what would I do?”^4 Thus, the character’s objectives drove the actor’s physical action choices. Through the stimulus of the powerful ‘if,' an actor could make strong theatrical choices that would appear to the audience as real, true and believable. In Stanislavski’s opinion, the actor who had the ability to make the audience believe in what he/she wanted them to believe, achieved ‘scenic truth.' Stanislavski defined ‘scenic truth’ as that which originated ‘on the plane of imaginative and artistic fiction.' This he differentiated from truth that was ‘created automatically and on the plane of actual

fact’ (Stanislavski, AAP 128). The success of this scenic truth, according to Stanislavski, then constituted ‘art’ on stage.

5. Imagination Stanislavski likened the study of his ‘Method of Physical Actions’ to a study of the grammar of a language. He cautioned however, that just as knowledge of grammar alone does not guarantee beautiful writing, knowledge of his techniques was only useful to an actor if accompanied by a fertile imagination. Stanislavski reiterated the use of the ‘theatrical’ and ‘imaginative’ faculties rather than trying to copy reality by rote: There is no such thing as actuality on the stage. Art is a product of the imagination, as the work of a dramatist should be. The aim of the actor should be to use his technique to turn the play into a theatrical reality. In this process imagination plays by far the greatest part. (AAP 54) Obviously, all the different aspects of the Stanislavski System required the actor to posses a rich source of imagination. The more fertile the actor’s imagination, the more interesting would be the choices made in terms of objectives, physical action and creating the given circumstances around the character.

intonation, glances or pauses in speech. This leads to another observation regarding subtext -- Subtext makes the audience complicit in the behavior of the actor displaying subtext. The spectator and the character share a secret that the other character in the scene does not. This increases the spectator’s involvement, holding the spectator’s interest much more than just a superficial interpretation of the text would. An important point to note is that subtext and text/dialogue may or may not be consistent with each other^5 , but subtext must always be consistent with the objective.

7. Motivation Motivation or ‘will’, as Stanislavski called it, was part of a triumvirate, the other two members being ‘feelings’ and ‘mind.' In his earlier techniques, he considered these three to be ‘masters’ or ‘impelling movers in our psychic life’ (Stanislavski, AAP 247). Stanislavski insisted that an actor was either driven by emotions or by the mind to choose physical actions. This in turn aroused the ‘will’ of the actor to perform the given actions. Thus, the ‘will’ became activated indirectly through either emotions or the mind.^6 The implication here was that the ‘will’ or motivation was in the subconscious. Richard Hornby, in distinguishing motivation from objective offers a plausible explanation. He posits that ‘motivation’ looks backwards into psychology and the past, while ‘objective’ looks forward towards an action. Motivation then becomes extremely important in psychological realism which is based on subtext and hidden meanings. Interestingly enough, theatrical styles before realism (and before psychology), Hornby notes, did not use motivation in characterization.(166). Shakespeare’s characters, for instance, did not exist before the play, i.e., they had no history prior to the script. Hence, they did not use motivation. The same can be said for certain avant garde and post realistic drama. In Beckett, for instance, characters have no ‘motives,' but they do have objectives. Motivation therefore, is a product of modern psychological influence in acting.

8. Concentration Stanislavski was concerned with actors getting distracted by the audience while performing on stage. He sought ways to counteract this distraction. He however did not advocate that the actor forget the audience, or tries to believe it did not exist. That, he felt, would be contradictory to the art of theatre, because the audience was an important ‘co-creator’ of the performance. Stanislavski’s main need was in finding a way to get the actor sufficiently interested in something (for example, an object) on stage so as to not find the presence of the audience a crippling factor. He felt that if his actors observed the object intensively enough, a desire would arise in them, to do something with it. This would, in turn intensify the observation and help develop an action with it. Importantly, Stanislavski realized that actors lost control of their basic faculties on stage, and had to be re-taught how to achieve this in public. According to Sonia Moore, on stage an actor’s ‘natural psycho-physical union’ is broken, causing ‘paralysis of faculties’ 30). This is especially apparent in beginning actors. Stanislavski realized this early on in his experiments: All of our acts, even the simplest, which are so familiar to us in everyday life, become strained when we appear behind the footlights before a public of a thousand people. This is why it is necessary to correct ourselves and learn again how to walk, move about, sit or lie down. It is essential to re-educate ourselves to look and see, on the stage, to listen and to hear. (AAP 77) Believing rightly or wrongly that concentration was the key to ‘re-educating’ the actor, Stanislavski created ‘Circles of Concentration’(of attention). These circles varied in size and had different

9. Relaxation Stanislavski’s thoughts on relaxation were based on the premise that in order to achieve control of all motor and intellectual faculties, the actor needed to relax his muscles: ‘Muscular tautness interferes with inner emotional experience’ (AAP 96). However, his line of reasoning on this was somewhat unclear. On one hand he quite rightly identified muscular tautness as the cause for several constrictions in performance. Some of these constrictions could be loss of fullness of voice, a ‘wooden’ physical appearance, or the blockage of creativity. These concerns were valid because actors have been known to ‘clam up’ through muscular tension. However his suggestion that only when an actor was totally relaxed, could the performance be any good, is problematic. Let us consider his statement for a moment, with regard to ballet, a highly disciplined art form. When ballerinas appear to effortlessly glide, leap, pirouette, they are not completely relaxed, but hold certain abdominal muscles tightly in. They also stretch or contract other muscles in order to achieve that fluidity of motion. In fact, if they were totally relaxed, they would lose energy, form and not be able to achieve their high level of artistry. Instead, an opposition in contraction and elongation of muscles helps achieve that look of effortlessness. 10. Communion Communion for Stanislavski was communication with the audience indirectly through communion with other actors. Stanislavski called for the unbroken communion between actors which would hold the attention of the audience. He differentiated between being in communion with a real partner and in communion with an imaginary person. With a real partner, to be in communion, one had be aware of the other’s presence, see images and actively transmit them through spoken words with energy. To strive to

obtain a definite physical result in the partner, for instance, a laugh, a shrug, would stir the imagination and create strong communion. With an imaginary, unreal, nonexistent object, Stanislavski felt it was futile to delude oneself into thinking that one could really see it. Instead, the actor had to ask the question, ‘ What if (--) were really here? ’ Stanislavski offered an interesting image in discussing communion during the performance of a soliloquy. Borrowing from Yoga, he identified a vital energy, called Prana by the Hindus. This Prana was located in the solar plexus and was a radiating center of energy. Stanislavski suggested that this energy center or the seat of emotion could commune with the brain, (which is generally accepted as the nerve and psychic center of our being.) So during a soliloquy, the brain held ‘intercourse with feelings, thus providing a ‘subject’ and ‘object’ that could be in communion with each other. Stanislavski stressed the importance of external equipment for communion. To illuminate this importance, Stanislavski, as an experiment bound successively, the hands, feet and torso of a student. Then he asked the student which part he would like back so that he could express himself. Surely enough, the student could not decide which physical part was more important because he realized he needed all parts in order to effectively communicate. This reiterated the importance of physical apparatus of the actor in achieving communion and stressed the importance of training this apparatus.

Stanislavski believed that tempo-rhythm was extremely vital in order to execute physical actions in a concrete and truthful manner. His research on tempo-rhythm must have begun from his frustration with opera singers^7 : Why is it that opera singers have not grasped this simple truth? Most of them sing in one rhythm, in a certain tempo, walk in another, move their arms in a third and live their emotions in a fourth. Can harmony, without which there is no music and which has a fundamental need for order be created out of this disparity? (Stanislavski BAC) As early as 1918, Stanislavski understood the importance of physically and emotionally giving richness to a character through the understanding and creation of tempo-rhythm. He likened the tempo-rhythms of action to those of music. Just as music had various movements like legato, staccato, andante or allegro in a continuous line, so should stage action and speech. This would not only make the action organic, but also help stir the actor’s emotions.

13. The Physical Apparatus The quality of the actor’s performance depended on, not just the creation of ‘inner life’ but also the ‘physical embodiment’ of it (Moore 52). An actor’s body and voice were, in Stanislavski’s opinion, the physical apparati that were needed in order for the actor to fully express every nuance and subtle shade of character. Stanislavski saw the body and voice as ‘instruments’ that could be trained and could help the actor give shape to an action. Stanislavski expressed impatience for actors with incomprehensible speech. He felt they showed disrespect for the audience who would find this speech tiresome. He insisted on training the actor’s voice just like that of a singer’s, identifying ‘resonators’ located in the ‘masque.’

The body needed to be trained, to improve posture, and make movements supple and graceful. There was no room for mechanical gestures or mannerisms in the theatre. For Stanislavski, a gesture needed to reflect inner experience. It then became purposeful, logical and truthful. The physical technique, he felt, would train an actor’s feelings for truth and form.

In order to facilitate the discussion of Emotional Memory, I have divided it in three areas. The first area examines how it was discovered and practiced by Stanislavski from 1911-1916. The second area examines Stanislavski’s rejection of Emotional Memory due to its limitations and impracticality. The third is a brief chronology of the evolution of the ‘Method’ with its emphasis on Affective Memory. Phase 1: Emotional Memory-- 1911 - 1916 In his pursuit of discovering all facets of man’s inner life, Stanislavski conferred with various intellectuals and scientists in specialized fields. He was particularly influenced by the works of French psychologist Theodule Armand Ribot (1839-1916) who coined the term ‘Affective Memory’ adopted by Stanislavski. Later Stanislavski changed the term to ‘Emotional Memory.' What is Emotional Memory? Emotional Memory requires that an actor recreate an event from the distant past in order to regenerate the ‘feelings’ experienced at that time. These feelings thus regenerated are then used in the current acting situation in order to fill out the role with ‘human depth and personal involvement’ (Benedetti 66). The necessity of the event being from the distant rather than recent past is because Stanislavski felt (at that time) that time distilled events and feelings, acting as a ‘splendid filter for remembered feelings.’ Stanislavski believed that the quality of the actor’s performance depended upon the sincerity of his experience. This sincere experience went through a ‘time filter’ that transformed the quality of the experience into a ‘poetic reflection of life’s experience’ (Stanislavski quoted. in Moore 42). On stage the actor lived, not a real life, but a true stage experience. From this, one can gather that stage emotion is not the same as emotion in life, because as Stanislavski put it, on

stage it is a ‘repeated’ experience, not a ‘primary’ one. The actor can stir the needed emotion in him/ herself by remembering a parallel situation having a similar emotion. This emotion would then need to be brought out at the exact moment when called for on stage. This ‘evoking’ of past experience was called ‘Emotional Recall.’ Thus, through rehearsal and training techniques, the actor developed a conditioned reflex. Phase 2: Limitations of Emotional Memory Stanislavski’s techniques underwent a radical change in the last five years of his life (1934- 1938). Even though outwardly successful with his System, Stanislavski felt that the System was losing integrity and needed to be re-established. The technique of emotional memory that had been the mainstay of his earlier System, was now felt to be too exhausting for actors, producing negative results like tension and hysteria. The ‘unconscious’ refused to be commanded, the mind often closing up rather than giving out its secrets. Stanislavski realized that unconscious feelings needed to be coaxed, ‘lured’ and ‘enticed’ gently, rather than forced out. This pushed Stanislavski to look elsewhere for ways to explore a role, and he found a solution in the body -- an ‘instrument’ that would respond to the actor’s wishes without the ‘fickleness of emotions’ or ‘inhibitions of intellect’ (Benedetti 67). This led him to develop the ‘Method of Physical Actions’ discussed earlier in this chapter.