Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Growing Up - Going Back to Stanislavski 10 Years Later

So before I was 'SomeAudioGuy' I was 'SomeTheatreGuy'.
One of my biggest influences came my freshman year of college while studying with an incredible acting professor. After a gruelingly intense scene study, focusing on character motivations, we were turned on to Constantin Stanislavski, and my attitude towards performance changed forever.

I read everything he wrote in a period of about 5 months.

His ideas behind emotional imagination, context, and physical action were a personal thought revolution for me. Before reading Stanislavski, I was a firm believer in transference, or substitution.
My characters couldn't experience an honest emotion unless I had experienced something similar.
Constructing the emotional context would often be a more painful experience, but was incredibly effective. Studying the physicality behind characterization (I also studied a lot of dance in college) helped establish a two front attack on any character analysis. These were tremendous tools to add to my repertoire, and really laid the foundations for not only my performance career but also my current directorial career.

It's been ten years since I've picked up Stanislavski.

I've been feeling a little stale lately.
For no good reason I picked up 'My Life in Art' and started paging through it. It's sort of incredible, and there's so much I didn't fully understand reading it in college. It's not only taking me back to one of the most creative, explorational periods of my life, but it's also showing me how far I've come, how much I've grown.
Anyone needing a shot in the arm should seriously take a look.

I'm probably headed for another Stanislavski binge.

It's just so easy to be motivated by those that have led incredible lives.

3 comments:

  1. SAG, thank-you for this reminder, and a very thought-provoking post. Reading Stanislavski is on my list!

    Take care,

    MCM

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  2. Thanks Mary!
    I think Stanislavski should be mandatory for any acting student. Regardless of which acting technique you subscribe to, it is incredibly insightful writing.

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  3. I agree about Stanislavski. Made me want to reread it also. Now where the heck is that book.
    Cheers,

    Chris Fadala

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