Science And The Stanislavsky Tradition Of Acting

Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Actingoffers new insight into the well-known tradition of acting. Rooted in practice this is the first book to contextualize the Stanislavsky tradition with reference to parallel developments in science, it presents an alternative perspective based on philosophy, physics, romantic science and theories of industrial management. Working from practical sources, historical and archive material Jonathan Pitches traces an evolutionary journey of actor training from the roots of the Russian tradition, Konstantin Stanislavsky, to the contemporary Muscovite director, Anatoly Vasiliev. The book explores two key developments that emerge from Stanislavsky's system - one linear, rational and empirical, while the other is fluid,organic and intuitive. The otherwise highly contrasting acting theories of Vsevolod Meyerhold (biomechanics) and Lee Strasberg (the Method) are dealt with under the banner of the rational or Newtonian paradigm; Michael Chekov's acting techniqueand the little known ideas of Anatoly Vasiliev form the centerpiece of the other Romantic, organic strain of practice.Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition of Actingopens up the theatre laboratories of five major practitioners in the twentieth and twenty first centuries and scrutinizes their acting methodologies from a scientific perspective.

Jonathan Pitches is Principal Lecturer in Contemporary Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University.