Constantin Stanislavski

Constantin Stanislavski

He was born January 17th 1863 in Russia. He grew up in one of the richest families in Russia. He was born with the name Constantin Sergeyevich Alexeyev but used the name 'Stanislavski' so he could hide his performing identity from his parents. It was unusual to see someone of his social class becoming a professional actor as it was more of a lower class thing to do in Russia.


Early influences
He was highly interested in the idea of living the part. He looked into the ability to maintain a character in real life. He tried the idea by dressing as a homeless person and visiting a train station. He was also very interested in the performances performed at Maly Theatre. This was the home of physiological realism in Russia. Another group of people who influenced him were the foreign star actors who came to Moscow during Lent. In particular Ernesto Rossi who performed Shakespearean tragic protagonists in Moscow in 1877.

Stanislavski's system
This is his approach to training actors. The areas they study is voice, physical skills concentration, dramatic analysis and observation. His goal was to find a university approach that could be of service to all actors.

Emotion memory
His system focused on the development of artistic truth onstage by teaching actors to actually experience the part while performing.