1. Konstantin Stanislavski 1863 - 1938

2. Who is he and what did he do?
An actor and moved on to become a director and teacher
He co-founded the Moscow Arts Theatre
He developed a brand new approach to acting
It took years of experimenting to get to what is now known as the Stanislavski System
‘MANY OF THE PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE HAVE THE SAME FEELINGS & THE SAME PROBLEMS I WANTED TO TALK TO THEM DIRECTLY & CONFRONT THEM’

3. Why did he develop a system?
As an actor, Stanislavski saw a lot of bad acting - what he termed as ‘artificial’ Stanislavski wanted actors to work on characters from the inside - create a more real or naturalistic performance
This was a new way of thinking at the time
He wanted to show true life on stage that the audience could relate to and empathise with

4. The System
The Stanislavski System is an intense character development process that strives to make a performance "real" and not artificial.
When Stanislavski was creating his system the theatre was dominated by melodramatic, ‘over-the-top’ acting – often just showing the un-relatable lives of the upper classes
He believed that actors should draw on their own memories and experiences to create their character
He also believed that actors should create a back story, beliefs and inner thoughts as a real person
He thought that characters should be created from the inside out.

5. So how does it work? Given Circumstances (GC)
Given circumstances are features of a character that you are given by the playwright that cannot change.
For example: Age, sex, class, likes, dislikes, location, employment
Often all of the above can be deciphered from a script – when devising, your character’s GC should be the first thing you decide.

6. So how does it work? Emotion Memory
Emotion memory is a difficult and dangerous skill.
Actors are required to recall how they felt at certain times in their life to help them give a naturalistic and believable performance.
E.g. If your character is having their heart broken, you are required to take yourself back to a time when it happened to you or when you felt a similar way.
How could this be dangerous for an actor?

7. So how does it work?
Magic If...
The Magic if is a skill which requires imagination.
“I am me, but IF I were in this situation, how would I feel and what would I do?”
It is essential that the actor believes in what they are doing!
However,
“The actor must believe they are Hamlet, but they should never ACTUALLY become Hamlet” – Why do you think this is?