The Routledge Companion to Stanislavsky

R. Andrew White

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781136281846
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Theatre

Stanislavsky's system of actor-training has revolutionised modern theatre practice, and he is widely recognised to be one of the great cultural innovators of the twentieth century. The Routledge Companion to Stanislavsky is an essential book for students and scholars alike, providing the first overview of the field for the 21st century. An important feature of this book is the balance between Stanislavsky's theory and practice, as international contributors present scholarly and artistic interpretations of his work. With chapters including academic essays and personal narratives, the Companion is divided into four clear parts, exploring Stanislavsky on stage, as an acting teacher, as a theorist and finally as a theatre practitioner. Bringing together a dazzling selection of original scholarship, notable contributions include Anatoly Smeliansky on Stanislavsky's letters; William D. Gunn on staging ideology at the Moscow Art Theatre; Sharon Marie Carnicke and David Rosen on opera; Rosemary Malague on the feminist perspective of new translations; W.B. Worthen on cognitive science; Julia Listengarten on the avant-garde; David Krasner on the System in America; and Dennis Beck on Stanislavsky's legacy in non-realistic theatre.

Part I

STANISLAVSKY ON STAGE

1

STANISLAVSKYAS AMATEUR

The Alekseev Circle and the Society of Art and Literature

Maria Ignatieva

In the first chapter of My Life in Art Konstantin Sergeevich Alekseev (Stanislavsky) proudly informed readers about his genetic predisposition toward theatre: his maternal grandmother was the French actress Marie Varley, who came to Russia on a tour with a French theatre troupe. In St. Petersburg, Varley met Vasily Yakovlev, a very well-to-do merchant, and became his common-law wife. Later Yakovlev married another woman and legally adopted his two daughters with Varley; one of them was Stanislavsky's mother. Stanislavsky inherited from his mother her love of theatre and music, and her sensitivity to language (he spoke perfect French). Exactly like his mother (and unlike his father), he was prone, since his early years, to sudden emotional outbursts (some of which he described in My Life in Art). Although he was emotional by nature, his upbringing was balanced by the traditions of his father's solidly Russian family, which highly valued the strict observation of professional duties, social responsibilities, and self-restraint. The Alekseevs were descendants of noble merchants who were, in turn, descendants of hard-working serfs who had bought their freedom. The strong influence of his merchant forebears' cultural traditions, combined with the exquisite education in arts and literature, gymnastics, horse riding and social dance – previously available to the aristocracy only – shaped Stanislavsky's personality.

The clans of wealthy merchants were self-sufficient and closed to outsiders. The families of the Alekseevs, Tretiakovs, Mamontovs, Morozovs, Shchukins, Bostanzhonglos, and others were interconnected economically and socially, and allied through marriage. Placed on the strict hierarchical ladder of Russian society, they knew their place, yet steadily promoted themselves to official power through various reforms. Russian merchants (capitalists) were taking over land, the economy, and government positions, and ostentatiously displaying the power of money while doing so. The Russian merchant scholar Mikhail Briantsev mentions one significant consequence of this: “At the end of the 19th century, the impoverished aristocracy could not compete with the wealthy merchants, and the class distinctions began to disappear” (1999: 5).¹ Loyal to the Tsar, respectful of the official order, and devoutly religious, they believed that their children should continue and further improve their businesses and stay loyal citizens of the Russian Empire. The merchants generously supported numerous charities, including hospitals and orphanages; because they also highly valued art, music, and theatre, they invested heavily in Russian culture. These enthusiastic merchants created some of the best national museums and collections in Russia, such as the Tretiakov Gallery and the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum. As a scion of the Alekseev family, Stanislavsky inherited, observed, and promoted these fundamental principles.

The lives of young Konstantin Alekseev and his siblings were shaped according to the general standards of the upper echelon merchants, but surpassed them because of their parents' devotion to their well-being and support of their education. The Alekseevs created a truly heavenly environment for their children, channeling a lavish amount of money into their art education and entertainment and supporting many artistic interests that the children expressed.

As was the case in the best families, the Alekseev children were schooled at home until their adolescence, where their studies included languages, math and sciences, music, dancing, and physical education. Stanislavsky reminisces:

Our parents did not economize on us, and they decided to establish a whole gymnasium at home. From early morning and until late at night teachers appeared one after another; in-between classes, we practiced fencing, danced, went skating [ … ]. [My] sisters had Russian, French and German governesses.

(2003: 16)

Later passages describe how Stanislavsky and his siblings went through stages of infatuation with the circus, puppetry, opera, and ballet, every time re-enacting their favorite performances at home. They sang, danced, made costumes, and designed their productions, enlisting their friends, teachers, tutors, and relatives as appreciative audiences. The family money was available to the children to buy or rent costumes and props, musical scores, and anything else they needed for their performances. All the Alekseevs, including the mother and father, loved to act in vaudevilles and comedies at home.

A serious change in their theatrical home-practices occurred when Sergei Alekseev, Stanislavsky's father, built a professionally equipped theatre at the family country estate in Lubimovka during the summer of 1877; the new stage called for new and thorough preparations of the performances. On September 5, 1877, the name day of Elizaveta Alekseeva, Stanislavsky's mother, the newly built theatre was officially opened. A special train brought guests to Lubimovka, and after dinner and desserts the guests were offered entertainment. The troupes, which consisted of the Alekseevs and their cousins the Bostanzhonglos, performed four short comedies (without the names of the authors in the programs), two of which Konstantin performed in: The Old Mathematician and A Cup of Tea. According to the 14-year-old actor's record, he played the old mathematician with “no particular talent;” however, in the second play, he copied the gestures and intonations of the Maly Theatre actor Muzil, his favorite actor at the time, with great success (SS I 1988–99: 190).

This performance was the beginning of the family theatrical venture called The Alekseev Circle, which became a popular form of family entertainment of the day. The first public performance also marked the beginning of the custom that the then 14-year-old Stanislavsky would continue throughout his life: his performance diary, in which he described and analyzed his and others' acting. Stanislavsky would continue to be very systematic with his post-performance diaries all his life, and his notes would serve as a source for the development of his future theory.

The Alekseev Circle was one of many Moscow amateur theatre groups which entertained friends and relatives with operettas, comedies, and vaudevilles. Vladimir Alekseev, Stanislavsky's older brother and his lifelong companion in various theatre ventures, wrote that “all the attention was paid to performance skills. An endless amount of rehearsals and vocal practices were conducted, and only when everything was performed smoothly, was the play considered ready” (Gurevich 1948: 57). The Alekseev Circle's goals were to amuse and entertain their spectators with skilfully acted and well-made comedies; it is important to remember that Stanislavsky, the future advocate of internal acting in theatre, learned and perfected the external presentation technique very successfully. He observes:

We, the actors, lived all together in Lubimovka [ … ]. Because of that we could rehearse endlessly, and we used every occasion to play. We would wake up in the morning, swim a little, and then play a vaudeville. Then we would have breakfast, and then – play another one. Then we would go for a walk, and then would repeat the first one. In the evening, someone would drop by, and we would ask him, “Would you like us to give a performance?” The visitor would say, “Yes.” Then we would light the lamps – the set was on stage all the time – bring the curtain down, put on our costumes – a blouse or an apron, or a bonnet, or a cap – and start the show for one spectator. For us, these were rehearsals, and every time we pursued new goals for self-improvement.

(Vinogradskaia I 2003: 50–1)

Young Stanislavsky's life was divided between the all-male Lazarev Institute, to which he was transferred from the all-male Gymnasium in 1878, and the theatre. Throughout the school year he used every opportunity to attend performances at the Bolshoi and Maly theatres, admiring the great variety of theatre genres, from ballet and opera to vaudevilles, comedies, and tragedies. The summers of 1880 and 1881 were filled with opportunities for the Alekseev Circle to perform. Stanislavsky thoroughly documented the productions: every entry included the program of the show, his notes, and sometimes the descriptions of funny incidents that took place during the performances. He had a chance to play a wide variety of character parts, such as the German teacher August Fish in a vaudeville-joke, A and F, the French student Megrio in The Secret of a Woman, the poor relative Zhilkin and the landowner Bardin in Victor Krylov's comedy A Tasty Bit, and the philosopher Califourchon in the vaudeville The Weak Link. In the summer of 1881, Konstantin besought his father to allow him to quit the Lazarev Institute and to start as a fulltime employee at the family factory. His wish was granted; but with the completion of his formal education, he instead began a life-long process of self-education in a variety of areas, from physiology and psychology to engineering and philosophy.

As soon as the 18-year-old Konstantin joined the family business (a gold and silver thread factory), he took a stage name: Stanislavsky. In the family business, he would always be known as Alekseev; in the theatre, he would forever be Stanislavsky. His first performance as Stanislavsky took place at an amateur production in the Sekretarev Theatre in Moscow on November 25, 1881 (Vinogradskaia I 2003: 50–1). He played the comic parts of the landowner Bardin and philosopher Califourchon – roles that he knew very well.

After dropping out of the Lazarev Institute, and thus no longer overwhelmed by homework, Konstantin spent his evenings in the theatres. As a child, he loved the circus; as a teenager, he loved ballets; and, as a young adult, he started to appreciate tragic theatre – the Moscow Theatre repertoire included brilliant performances from the Imperial Maly Theatre stars Maria Ermolova and Alexander Lensky, as well as various foreign artists. In April 1882, Stanislavsky was spellbound for life by the Italian actor Tommasso Salvini – “the king of tragedians,” as he liked to call him (Vinogradskaia I 2003: 52). If anyone can claim to have made a life-shaping impression on Konstantin Alekseev, it would be Salvini – not only because Konstantin was enthralled by the genius of the actor, and not only because he started to dream of playing Othello once he saw Salvini as Othello, but mostly because, from that point on, Stanislavsky would try to get to the meaning of acting, its rules, and the sources for its inspiration. Even in 1882, with his tendency to systematize, he was trying to find similarities between the great actors whose masterful performances he had witnessed: “But while watching Salvini, I remembered Rossi, and the great Russian actors of the day [ … ]. I felt that there was something in common among them, something that I recognized and observed in great actors [ … ]. What was that?” (Stanislavski 2003: 210–11). He would search for the answer to this question throughout the rest of his life.

As a result of his intensive attendance at various theatre productions, Stanislavsky started to look for ways to improve the skills of the Alekseev Circle actors. Trying to reach ensemble-like acting, he began to work with the group as a director: “[W]e needed a director, but there was none; I was dying to act [but needed someone to direct], so I was forced to become a director myself. Life made us learn and arranged practical (theatre) schooling” (Vinogradskaia I 2003: 53).

In April 1883, Sergei Alekseev finished the construction of the new theatre at the family's Moscow home near the Red Gates, and it opened on April 28. Its first performance was the comic opera Javotte (Cinderella) by Emile Jonas. Konstantin had brought the score from Vienna, translated the libretto himself, and adapted it for the Alekseev Circle. As was his custom, he did not treat the texts with any particular piety, often editing and “improving” them to fit the needs of the performers. Besides acting, Stanislavsky was a full-time director and very proud of the patience and persistence he demonstrated. After the dress-rehearsal of Javotte, he discussed some changes in his mise-en-scène and gave his notes about acting, costumes, and props. The working habits and ethics of the Alekseev Circle were becoming more and more like those of a professional theatre. Starting with Javotte, followed by Louis Herve's operettas Mam'zelle Nitouche (1884) and Lili (1886), then Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert's comic opera The Mikado (1887), the Alekseev Circle made the whole of Moscow talk about their most extraordinary productions, which were performed to a packed auditorium.

In Mam'zelle Nitouche, Stanislavsky played the shy organist Floridor, who was in reality the composer Celestin. Character parts that required complete transformations were Stanislavsky's forte. Copying his favorite actors had always given Konstantin a lot of confidence, but in the later 80s he gradually stopped doing so. For example, in Hercules, Konstantin, who completely changed the text of his part, played Hercules as a foreigner and built the character on the repetitions of “yes” and “no,” portraying him in the extravagant farcical manner. In Lili, Konstantin, who was also the director of the production, played Plenchard in three age groups: first, as a young soldier; second, as a decorated officer; and finally, as an old, rheumatic general. Hours and hours of musical rehearsals were spent on polishing various aspects of the show, which premiered on January 9, 1886. In the Courier review of the production, Stanislavsky was described as “very successful in his make-up and [ … ] acting, without any caricature [ … ]. He undoubtedly possesses an inordinate talent” (Vinogradskaia I 2003: 70). But the Alekseev Circle's greatest triumph was still ahead – The Mikado.

The Mikado was not known in Russia. The Alekseev sisters had seen the opera in Paris, and brought the score and libretto to Moscow. Konstantin, infatuated with it, started to work on it immediately. Vladimir Alekseev prepared the translation. Sergei Alekseev, the head of the family, wrote to his wife that their household had “the Mikado craze” (Poliakova 1977: 53). The Alekseevs were trying to learn about the real Japanese, and to copy their manners to the best of their ability. Stanislavsky's comments show how absorbed they were:

A whole family of Japanese gymnasts working at a local circus spent days and nights at our place [ … ]. They taught us all their customs: how to walk, talk, hold oneself, bow, dance, and to gesticulate with a fan [ … ]. Upon coming home in the evening, we would put on our Japanese rehearsal costumes, and we would wear them long into the night. On holidays we would wear them all day [ … ]. We had Japanese dance classes, and the women learned the manners of geishas.

(Vinogradskaia I 2003: 76)

Konstantin and his brother Vladimir led intensive rehearsals in March and April 1887. The brothers and sisters Alekseev cut, dyed, and sewed the costumes for choir members. Konstantin Korovin, who was known to the Alekseevs for his intense work on Savva Mamontov's operas, created the set for The Mikado – the rainbowcolored fairy city of Ti...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Illustrations and tables
• Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• PART I Stanislavsky on Stage
• PART II Stanislavsky the Teacher
• PART III Stanislavsky's Impact on Theory
• PART IV Stanislavsky's Impact on Practice
• Index