Constantin Stanislavky's Renowned Work in Naturalistic Theater

In ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ a non-naturalistic performance style is used to allow the audience to make sense and develop their understanding of the present characteristics of the characters. Flashbacks of the main character are portrayed in non-naturalistic form as we see Anna’s friend Catherine playing out the role of ‘young Ana’. This is evident in Act 1 Scene 10 and Act 1 Scene 16. All three scenes require the Catherine to transform into a new character called ‘Young Ana’ as we flashback into the past scenes of Ana’s imagination; this is evident in the texts stage directions ‘ARTUR speaks to CATHERINE now, as though she is the young ANA. The real ANA steps slightly away’ to show the transformation of ANA into CATHERINE. However the scenes are set within the setting of the present time, for instance, the text stating ‘Ana’s home transforms into Hungary’ shows the non-naturalistic setting of the scenes. Both performance techniques are elements of the Non-naturalistic performance style and highly reflect the non-naturalistic nature of the performance.

To portray these characters and make them real to the audience, as a group we had to use various theatrical techniques, including the Stanislavskian realistic acting methods and we explored and used a variety of different Brechtian techniques. Our chosen form of "Tragedy" was “War Stories", and

Michael Hoffman’s 1999 film version of Shakespeare's midsummer night’s dream was able to modify the audience experience of the play. Michael Hoffman had successfully turned the play into a film and was able to show a visible expression of the characters to the audience. He had also made some changes, like the settings and made his version modernized. Though the film was based on the Shakespeare’s play, the audience’s experience is still different.

I’ll start with Constantin Stanislavski. Stankislavski draws on a point that he liked to see what was going on within the actor, rather than what he was seeing on the outside. He believed that this is what gave the play its life. “To me as a spectator, what was going on inside of you was of much greater interest. Those feelings, drawn from our actual experience, and transferred to our part, are what give life to the play” (Stanislavski 155). Stanislavski also said “…The inner experience came first and was then embodied in an external form” (Stanislavski 155). I believe that internal life does play a big part in acting, as I do also find myself enjoying what is happening to an actor internally. For example, I think it’s extraordinary to see what words do to an

the audience there a product of there environment and giving his emotional response to the

In her book What Cognitive Science Can Tell Us about Popular Culture, Liza Zunshine depicts the moments in which individual losses control over his composure as embodied transparency. According to Zunshine, “Instances of embodied transparency offer us something that we hold at a premium in our everyday life and never get much of: the experience of perfect access to other people’s minds in complex social situations” (Zunshine, Pg. 23). People wants to know what in others’ mind, but the inability to properly guess someone’s perspective makes them unpredictable. The ability to actively understand the characters’ emotional state allow us to be intrigued by their involuntary body language and facial expressions.

Which is quite a clear illustration of the purpose or 'role' of stanislavskian actors. Stanislavski set out a way of preparing for a role so that the actor could fulfil his role of pure imitation. He started off by asking the actor to explore the character. He wanted to know what their objective was in each unit of action and what their super objective was. The super objective was the sum of all the units and their objectives.

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet there are many unanswered questions such as if Hamlet is really mad or if it is just an act. There are many film adaptations which use their movie elements in order to hint towards the answer of these questions. In Gregory Doran’s film interpretation Hamlet starring David Tennant, David Tennant truly shows the raw emotions of Hamlet. He shows how Hamlet feels through his movements and facial expressions. These little things allow the viewer to see the true meaning and intention behind Hamlet’s words.

Bertolt Brecht and Constantin Stanislavski are regarded as two of the most influential practitioners of the twentieth century, both with strong opinions and ideas about the function of the theatre and the actors within it. Both theories are considered useful and are used throughout the world as a means to achieve a good piece of theatre. The fact that both are so well respected is probably the only obvious similarity as their work is almost of complete opposites.

Both authors examined the qualities of Brando’s acting that made his acting memorable. Neves investigated Brando’s acting style in the 1954 film On The Waterfront. Neves delved into how Brando’s method acting approach strengthened his role and focused on the psychological complexity Brando gave to the character. Whereas Krasner wrote about Brando’s role in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire and explored specific details in his acting technique, such as his usage of mumbling and his rebellious wardrobe choices. Neves’ points proved to be the strongest, with his extremely in-depth analysis and use of psychology to explain Brando’s character’s actions. In the future, historians could analyze how Brando’s acting improved and became more memorable as he became older. Altogether, there were many reasons for Brando’s memorability, as shown by Neves’ arguments that the method style enhanced his acting, and as shown in Krasner’s arguments that precise details in his acting made him memorable, and further information on his memorability could be gained by studying how his acting became better over time.

Stanislavski played a large contribution to the theatrical world, and I believe that he deserves such a prominent place, and should be focused on greatly. He had revolutionized acting styles and helped create methodical acting, which changes how the audience can perceive the actors. While engaging in any form of entertainment, as an audience we search for characters who are relatable and we can see ourselves in them, and I believe that Stanislavski had helped the acting world with that mindset. Although his theories are old and out of date, I still believe that they still hold some relevance to the theatrical world, and with a little tweaking, could still impact and help acting to be better and concise.

Marshall Pynkoski`s fascination with music, theatre and dance of the 17th and 18th centuries began in classes with the late Leonard Crainford and John Marshall, respectively Chairman and Major Examiner, Royal Academy of Dancing in London. His further studies with Florentina Lojekova (Master Artist of Czechoslovakia) and David Moroni (the Royal Winnipeg Ballet) were pivotal in his decision to pursue a career in ballet.

Stanislavsky wrote three novels that discuss his acting method; An Actor Prepares, Building a Character, and Creating a Role. These books are from the perspective of a

In acting or with guided imagery, transference in part, is communication between entities. Hagen (1991) emphasized the importance of imagination and application of transferences with the character. An actor increases their ability to be open to other actors because of a sensitivity of transference; creating a meaning in a story. An actor’s training can expose him or her to multiple realities which may enable one to gain greater awareness while in a guided imagery experience.

Constantin Stanislavski believed that it was essential for actors to inhabit authentic emotion on stage so the actors could draw upon feelings one may have experienced in their own lives, thus making the performance more real and truthful. Stanislavski then created the technique, method acting, to do exactly that. Not only can method acting be rewarding, there are psychological consequences as well. It is important to study method acting so actors can know the dangers and psychological effects it can create. It can also help scientists understand theory of mind; the ability to gain the mindset of another person. Another subject method acting can help with is emotional recall and the emotion regulation it takes to use