Constantin Stanislavski's system

In the second term of my first year, we started looking at a theatre performing system for actors by Constantin Stanislavski, who was a Russian actor and theatre director, down below are some parts of his system:

Subtext and Proxemics

• Subtext to signify the dramatic implications beneath the language of the text. The subtext concerns ideas and emotions that are totally independent of the language of the text.
• Proxemics are the spatial relationships among characters within the mise en scene and the apparent distance of the camera from the subject photographed.

Tension and Relaxation

• Stanislavski’s thoughts on relaxation were based on the premise that in order to achieve control of all motor and intellectual faculties, the actor needed to relax his muscles

Public Solitude

• The smallest circle of concentration was what he called ‘Solitude in Public.’ The actor, in the center of the small circle was secure within this circle, even before large audiences. This small circle could, then travel on stage with the actor, enveloping the actor ‘like a snail in its shell’. As the circle grew larger, the actor learned to concentrate or focus on relatively larger areas of light, still excluding whatever was not in the circle.

Magic If

• The actor tried to answer the question, “If I were in the character’s position, what would I do?” Thus, the character’s objectives drove the actor’s physical action choices. Through the stimulus of the powerful ‘if,' an actor could make strong theatrical choices that would appear to the audience as real, true and believable.

Given Circumstances

• Stanislavski required the actor to posses a rich source of imagination. The more fertile the actor’s imagination, the more interesting would be the choices made in terms of objectives, physical action and creating the given circumstances around the character.