Konstantin
STANISLAVSKI
Author of the world famous approach to training actors
He thought he was an accomplished actor, but it turned out he was a low-grade, washed-out actor
My father, a rich manufacturer and merchant, Sergei Alekseyev, was born in Moscow and was a pure blooded Russian. My mother, Yelizaveta Alekseyeva, had a Russian father and a French mother - the once famous French actress Varley. *
Why did I abandon all my personal affairs and begin acting? Because the theatre is the most powerful pulpit of our times, more powerful than books and the press.
My task, insofar as I am able, is to purge the family of actors of ignoramuses, semi-literates and exploiters. My task, so far as I am able, is to explain to the modern generation that the actor is a preacher of beauty and truth.
“He thought he was an accomplished actor, but it turned out he was a low-grade, washed-out actor”
And yet good stage scenery is the salvation of amateurs. How many actors’ sins are covered up by the artist, his line and colour. How easily he gives a whole new light to the whole performance.
Fashion exists for those who don’t know how to dress.
As long as we are young, we must arm ourselves with a toothbrush and go where our eyes take us. Laugh, make crazy things, cry, go against the system, read as much as we can cram into our heads, love to the fullest, and just feel. We just need to live.
After the revolution, we were forced to start all over, from the very beginning, to teach this new primitive spectator how to sit quietly, how not to talk, how to come to the theatre at the proper time, not to smoke, not to eat nuts during the show, to take off their hats, not to bring food into the theatre and eat it there.
I don’t believe you.
* The information is based on the accounts of the personas featuring in this section as well as accounts of their family members, acquaintances and colleagues
