Editing Stanislavski's system (section)

==Stanislavski before his system==
Having worked as an [[Amateur theatre|amateur]] actor and director until the age of 33, in 1898 Stanislavski co-founded with  [[Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko]] the [[Moscow Art Theatre]] (MAT) and began his professional career. The two of them were resolved to institute a revolution in the staging practices of the time. Benedetti offers a vivid portrait of the poor quality of mainstream theatrical practice in Russia before the MAT:<blockquote>The script meant less than nothing. Sometimes the cast did not even bother to learn their lines. Leading actors would simply plant themselves downstage centre, by the prompter's box, wait to be fed the lines then deliver them straight at the audience in a ringing voice, giving a fine display of passion and "temperament." Everyone, in fact, spoke their lines out front. Direct communication with the other actors was minimal. Furniture was so arranged as to allow the actors to face front.<ref>Benedetti (1989, 5).</ref></blockquote>

Stanislavski's early productions were created without the use of his system. His first international successes were staged using an external, [[Theatre director|director]]-centred technique that strove for an organic [[Gesamtkunstwerk|unity of all its elements]]—in each production he planned the interpretation of every role, [[Blocking (stage)|blocking]], and the ''[[mise en scène]]'' in detail in advance.<ref>Benedetti (1989, 18, 22—23), (1999a, 42), and (1999b, 257), Carnicke (2000, 29), Gordon (2006, 40—42), Leach (2004, 14), and Magarshack (1950, 73—74). As Carnicke emphasises, Stanislavski's early prompt-books, such as that for [[Moscow Art Theatre production of The Seagull|the production of ''The Seagull'' in 1898]], "describe movements, gestures, ''[[mise en scène]]'', not inner action and [[subtext]]" (2000, 29). The principle of a unity of all elements (or what [[Richard Wagner]] called a ''[[Gesamtkunstwerk]]'') survived into Stanislavski's system, while the exclusively external technique did not; although his work shifted from a director-centred to an actor-centred approach, his system nonetheless valorises the absolute authority of the director.</ref> He also introduced into the production process a period of discussion and detailed analysis of the play by the cast.<ref>Milling and Ley (2001, 5). Stanislavski and [[Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko|Nemirovich]] found they had this practice in common during their legendary 18-hour conversation that led to the establishment of the [[Moscow Art Theatre|MAT]].</ref> Despite the success that this approach brought, particularly with his [[Naturalism (theatre)|Naturalistic]] stagings of the plays of [[Anton Chekhov]] and [[Maxim Gorky]], Stanislavski remained dissatisfied.<ref>Bablet (1962, 134), Benedetti (1989, 23—26) and (1999a, 130), and Gordon (2006, 37—42). Carnicke emphasises the fact that Stanislavski's great productions of Chekhov's plays were staged without the use of his system (2000, 29).</ref>

Both his struggles with Chekhov's drama (out of which his notion of [[subtext]] emerged) and his experiments with [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]] encouraged a greater attention to "inner action" and a more intensive investigation of the actor's process.<ref>Benedetti (1989, 25—39) and (1999a, part two), Braun (1982, 62—63), Carnicke (1998, 29) and (2000, 21—22, 29—30, 33), and Gordon (2006, 41—45). For an explanation of "inner action", see Stanislavski (1957, 136); for [[subtext]], see Stanislavski (1938, 402—413).</ref> He began to develop the more actor-centred techniques of "[[Realism (theatre)|psychological realism]]" and his focus shifted from his productions to rehearsal process and [[pedagogy]].<ref>Benedetti (1989, 30) and (1999a, 181, 185—187), Counsell (1996, 24—27), Gordon (2006, 37—38), Magarshack (1950, 294, 305), and Milling and Ley (2001, 2).</ref> He pioneered the use of theatre studios as a laboratory in which to innovate actor training and to [[Experimental theatre|experiment with new forms of theatre]].<ref>Carnicke (2000, 13), Gauss (1999, 3), Gordon (2006, 45—46), Milling and Ley (2001, 6), and Rudnitsky (1981, 56).</ref>

Throughout his career, Stanislavski subjected his acting and direction to a rigorous process of artistic self-analysis and reflection.<ref>Benedetti (1989, 1) and (2005, 109), Gordon (2006, 40—41), and Milling and Ley (2001, 3—5).</ref> His system of acting developed out of his persistent efforts to remove the blocks that he encountered in his performances, beginning with a [[Konstantin Stanislavski#European tour and artistic crisis|major crisis in 1906]].<ref>Benedetti (1989, 1), Gordon (2006, 42—43), and Roach (1985, 204).</ref>

[[Image:Gorky and I studio MHT 1914.jpg|thumb|right|[[Maxim Gorky|Gorky]] (''seated, centre'') with [[Yevgeny Vakhtangov|Vakhtangov]] (''right of Gorky'') and other members of the First Studio, an institution devoted to [[Practice research|research]] and [[pedagogy]], which emphasised [[Experimental theatre|experimentation]], [[improvisation]], and self-discovery.]]

Stanislavski eventually came to organise his techniques into a coherent, [[system]]atic methodology, which built on three major strands of influence: (1) the director-centred, unified aesthetic and disciplined, [[Ensemble cast|ensemble]] approach of the [[Meiningen Ensemble|Meiningen company]]; (2) the actor-centred realism of the [[Maly Theatre (Moscow)|Maly]]; and (3) the Naturalistic staging of [[André Antoine (actor)|Antoine]] and the independent theatre movement.<ref>Benedetti (1989, 5—11, 15, 18) and (1999b, 254), Braun (1982, 59), Carnicke (2000, 13, 16, 29), Counsell (1996, 24), Gordon (2006, 38, 40—41), and Innes (2000, 53—54).</ref> Stanislavski's earliest reference to his system appears in 1909, the same year that he first incorporated it into his rehearsal process.<ref>Carnicke (1998, 72) and Whyman (2008, 262).</ref> [[Olga Knipper]] and many of the other MAT actors in that production—[[Ivan Turgenev]]'s comedy ''[[A Month in the Country (play)|A Month in the Country]]''—resented Stanislavski's use of it as a laboratory in which to conduct his experiments.<ref>Worrall (1996, 185).</ref> At Stanislavski's insistence, the MAT went on to adopt his system as its official rehearsal method in 1911.<ref>Milling and Ley (2001, 6).</ref>[[File:Moscow Art Theatre production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull 1898.jpg|thumb|[[Moscow Art Theatre production of The Seagull|Stanislavski's production of Chekhov's ''The Seagull'' in 1898]], which gave the [[Moscow Art Theatre|MAT]] its [[emblem]], was staged without the use of his system; [[Konstantin Stanislavski|Stanislavski]] as Trigorin (''seated far right'') and [[Vsevolod Meyerhold|Meyerhold]] as Konstantin (''on floor''), with [[Olga Knipper|Knipper]] (''behind'').]]