Outline and assess what you consider to be the most important aspects of one practitioner's contribution to modern theatre.

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Outline and assess what you consider to be the most important aspects of one practitioner’s contribution to modern theatre.

Konstantin Stanislavski, the Russian theatre practitioner, revolutionised theatre by pioneering a new realistic approach to acting as opposed to the clichéd, declamatory style of overacting of his day. His work in Moscow involved setting up and directing the Moscow Art Theatre, and he was closely connected to the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Chekhov’s play ‘The Seagull’ was one of the first performances the Moscow Art Theatre ever had. Chekhov’s work fitted well with Stanislavski’s teachings as it aimed to be a realistic, and just as Stanislavski said, ‘a slice of life onstage’

Three methods from his ‘system’ which are crucial to Stanislavski’s contribution to modern theatre are; Emotion Memory, Magic If and Given Circumstances. These three methods are key for an actor’s realistic portrayal of a role and allow the audience to engage in the action onstage. Stanislavski felt that whenever an actor needed to portray an emotion onstage they’re should not try to invent or create an emotion that was alien to them or the performance looks false and stilted. This false emotion would get in the way of stage truth. The actor should look deep into their past to find similar feelings to that of which the character should be feeling. They then use these emotions to fuel the action onstage. “Just as your visual memory can reconstruct an inner imager of some forgotten thing…your emotion memory can bring back feeling you have already experienced.” He felt that it was key to success onstage, “To be without memory and to be an actor is inconceivable”

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        Emotion memory is used to bring back feelings you have already experienced. It requires the actor to open their emotional library and thus should not be treated lightly. It is an intensely personal activity that can take time; therefore it should be considered a private technique. The actor will get better results if they work on it unaided. Occasionally an actor won’t be able to summon a suitable emotion from their subconscious but there is always a certain emotion that can be emphasised and worked on to get close to the desired feeling. Having this realism in emotion is how ...

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