Konstantin Stanislavski Profile/Research

Stanislavski’s real name was Konstantin Sergeyevich Alexeyev but he toook on the stage name of Stanislavski in 1884. He was born in 1863 a member of one of the most affluent families in Russia, he died in 1938 at the age of 75. He loved the theatre and he was able to indulge in amateur theatricals as a boy. But when he took a stage name it was to conceal his theatrical work from his family. However, in 1887 he had his father’s approval and eventually became an established figure.

He took the approach that the actors should really inhabit the role that they are playing. The actor shouldn’t only know what lines he needs to say and the motivation for those lines, but also every detail of that character’s life offstage as well as onstage. In this way we can establish Stanislavski as a director and practitioner whose productions are naturalistic.

Facts about Stan:

• He grew up in one of the richest families in Russia 
• He came up with a series of notes which was later put together as his famous method:

In this system, he believed that once you had achieved all of these things, you were then totally inhabited in the role. 

Stanislavsky believed through study of the play, analysis of the role, and referring to previous emotions, the actor could the actor could then reach the "inner truth"  by actually experiencing the emotions instead of pretending. Also, the actor must never lose control of their creation and must have the discipline to repeat these previously experienced emotions at every performance.

• In 1898 he co-founded the Moscow arts theatre
• He was acting by the age of 14
• The second play he directed at the MAT was his version of "The Seagull" which was a total success.
• He died in his city of birth in 1938