Global InformationKonstantin Stanislavski information
Konstantin Stanislavski Константин Станиславский | |
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| Born | Konstantin Sergeyevich Alekseyev 17 January [O.S. 5 January] 1863[a] Moscow, Russian Empire |
| Died | 7 August 1938 (aged 75) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Resting place | Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow |
| Occupation | Actor Theatre director Theatre theorist |
| Literary movement | Naturalism Symbolism Psychological realism Socialist realism |
| Notable works | Founder of the MAT Stanislavski's system An Actor's Work An Actor's Work on a Role My Life in Art |
| Spouse | Maria Petrovna Perevostchikova (stage name: Maria Lilina) |
Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski[b] (Russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, IPA: [kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj]; né Alekseyev;[c] 17 January [O.S. 5 January] 1863 – 7 August 1938) was a seminal Soviet Russian theatre practitioner. He was widely recognized as an outstanding character actor, and the many productions that he directed garnered him a reputation as one of the leading theatre directors of his generation.[3] His principal fame and influence, however, rests on his "system" of actor training, preparation, and rehearsal technique.[4]
Stanislavski (his stage name) performed and directed as an amateur until the age of 33, when he co-founded the world-famous Moscow Art Theatre (MAT) company with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, following a legendary 18-hour discussion.[5] Its influential tours of Europe (1906) and the US (1923–24), and its landmark productions of The Seagull (1898) and Hamlet (1911–12), established his reputation and opened new possibilities for the art of the theatre.[6] By means of the MAT, Stanislavski was instrumental in promoting the new Russian drama of his day—principally the work of Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, and Mikhail Bulgakov—to audiences in Moscow and around the world; he also staged acclaimed productions of a wide range of classical Russian and European plays.[7]
He collaborated with the director and designer Edward Gordon Craig and was formative in the development of several other major practitioners, including Vsevolod Meyerhold (whom Stanislavski considered his "sole heir in the theatre"), Yevgeny Vakhtangov, and Michael Chekhov.[8] At the MAT's 30-year anniversary celebrations in 1928, a massive heart attack on-stage put an end to his acting career (though he waited until the curtain fell before seeking medical assistance).[9] He continued to direct, teach, and write about acting until his death a few weeks before the publication of the first volume of his life's great work, the acting manual An Actor's Work (1938).[10] He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the Order of Lenin and was the first to be granted the title of People's Artist of the USSR.[11]
Stanislavski wrote that "there is nothing more tedious than an actor's biography" and that "actors should be banned from talking about themselves".[12] At the request of a US publisher, however, he reluctantly agreed to write his autobiography, My Life in Art (first published in English in 1924 and in a revised, Russian-language edition in 1926), though its account of his artistic development is not always accurate.[13] Three English-language biographies have been published: David Magarshack's Stanislavsky: A Life (1950) ; Jean Benedetti's Stanislavski: His Life and Art (1988, revised and expanded 1999).[14] and Nikolai M Gorchakov's "Stanislavsky Directs" (1954).[d] An out-of-print English translation of Elena Poliakova's 1977 Russian biography of Stanislavski was also published in 1982.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Constantin Stanislavski Biography. Biography.com. A&E Television Networks. 2 April 2014. Updated 21 May 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ Sonia Moore. "Konstantin Stanislavsky." Encyclopedia Britannica. Updated 3 August 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ Benedetti (1999b, 254), Carnicke (2000, 12), Leach (2004, 14), and Milling and Ley (2001, 1).
- ^ Carnicke (2000, 16), Golub (1998a, 1032), and Milling and Ley (2001, 1).
- ^ Benedetti (1999a, 59), Braun (1982, 59), Carnicke (2000, 11–12), and Worrall (1996, 43).
- ^ Benedetti (1999a, 165), Carnicke (2000, 12), Gauss (1999, 1), Gordon (2006, 42), and Milling and Ley (2001, 13–14).
- ^ Carnicke (2000, 12–16, 29–33) and Gordon (2006, 42).
- ^ Bablet (1962, 133–158), Benedetti (1999a, 156, 188–211, 368–373), Braun (1995, 27–29), Roach (1985, 215–216), Rudnitsky (1981, 56), and Taxidou (1998, 66–69).
- ^ Benedetti (1999a, 317) and Magarshack (1950, 378).
- ^ Benedetti (1999a, 374–375) and Magarshack (1950, 404).
- ^ Carnicke (1998, 33), Golub (1998a, 1033), and Magarshack (1950, 385, 396).
- ^ From a note written by Stanislavski in 1911, quoted by Benedetti (1999a, 289).
- ^ Benedetti (1989, 1) and (1999a, xiv, 288), Carnicke (1998, 76), and Magarshack (1950, 367).
- ^ Benedetti (1999a) and Magarshack (1950).