Bits of Konstantin Stanislavski

Last school year, in my GCSE course, I studied briefly the life and methods of Constantin Stanislavski, a Russian actor and theatre director (17 January 1863- 7 August 1938).

Stanislavski's system is a progression of techniques used to train actors to draw believable emotions to their performances, as he believed throughout his life the dictum that an actor should approach a role as directly as possible and then see if it "lives."  He helped them put life into the imagined circunstancies and actions until they have completely satisfied their sense of truth and awakened a sense of faith in the reality of their own sensations.In this sense, the actor does not so much become someone else as he becomes himself.I see his "System" as a term for naming what I think is "natural acting" being rules or tactics for an actor to get to KNOW his characters thoughts, so that the proper vocal and bodily expressions will naturally flow.
His Quotes

"When we are on stage, we are in the here and now."


"All action on the stage must have an inner justification, be logical, coherent, and real."

"When an actor is completely absorbed by some profoundly moving objective so that he throws his whole being passionately into its execution, he reaches a state we call inspiration."

"Bring yourself to the part of taking hold of a role, as if it were your own life. Speak for your character in your own person. When you sense this real kinship to your part, your newly created being will become soul of your soul, flesh of your flesh."

"The actor must believe in everything that takes place on the stage - and most of all - in what he himself is doing - and one can only believe in the truth."

I have personally always been a big fan of his, as during my years as a drama student, I have gotten the opportunity to practice and learn from his methods, such as that of emotional memory, which is a fantastic method used for the actor to "Recall" his past and most personal memories in character. However, only 2 days ago in my IASAS rehearsals, I got to use another of his methods which was unknown to me, and which I think is very useful for everything. 


STANISLAVSKI'S CIRCLES OF ATTENTION


Stanislavski Circles of Attention is a theory devised by Stanislavski to help actors feel less tensed on stage. It comprises of three circles that an actor can focus concentration on. An actor is supposed to focus on a small circle, extend focus to the medium circle and eventually extend focus on the larger circle.

Actors were challenged to use the circle of attention to create the illusion of “solitude in public” (an oxymoron coined by Stanislavski to describe the actor’s ability to be “alone” on stage while on the other side of the footlights thousands of spectators watch).

The small circle of attention (3 foot radius) is the easiest circle in which the young actor can maintain focus, the medium circle of attention (10 foot radius) is more difficult, and the large circle of attention (30 foot radius) is the hardest.

PUTTING IT TO USE

My partner Daniel and me were asked to devise a romantic scene, in which two people who share the same profession and passions realize they are attracted to each other. We had to look at each others faces for a while and end the scene with a kiss, symbolizing what was supposed to be "love at first sight", however, although we did what we were told and kissed, it didn't look real, therefore it didn't transmit emotion to the audience. As Stanislavski would say I thought, there can't be short cuts when creating a real feeling such as love or admiration, therefore in order to really transmit truth, you need to manage to really admire the other person. For that, we narrowed down our circle of attention and focused on little details we liked about each others facial features. We  incorporated touch to really explore each other through the senses. I remember my teacher telling me: "If you feel like you are loosing focus, concentrale on his left pupil, examine its color and form, and when you feel confortable with it, it is then when you may start looking at his whole eye, and so on".

At first, I found it unconfortable, but I started getting curious as to how I could actually make it work, and what would happen if I did? Would she believe us? By the end of the session, I felt like I could do it all over again easily, and I believe i have learned a valuable skill, which I will use in future performances.