Beyond Stanislavsky takes the reader through a course in the new system, complete with exercises. Infused with the author's personal experience this is never a set of dry instructions, but a vital engagement with Stanislavsky's mature ideas on actor training.

A revised and updated edition of Bella Merlin's essential guide to Stanislavsky. The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit collects together for the first time the terms and ideas developed by Stanislavsky throughout his career. It is organised into three sections: Actor-Training, Rehearsal Processes and Performance Practices. Key terms are explained and defined as they naturally occur in this process. They are illustrated with examples from both his own work and that of other practitioners. Each stage of the process is explored with sequences of practical exercises designed to help today's actors and students become thoroughly familiar with the tools in Stanislavsky's toolkit. 'Bella Merlin magically converts her extensive knowledge into real-world practice and on-the-floor technique.

This book deals with one of the most important sources of the Stanislavsky System - Yoga, its practice and philosophy. Sergei Tcherkasski carefully collects records on Yoga in Stanislavsky's writings from different periods and discusses hidden references which are not explained by Stanislavsky himself due to the censorship in his day. Vivid examples of Yoga based training from the rehearsal practice of the Moscow Art Theatre and many of Stanislavsky's studios (the First Studio in 1910s, the Second Studio and Opera Studio of the Bolshoi Theatre in 1920s, Opera-Dramatic Studio in 1930s) are provided. The focus of Tcherkasski's research consists of a comparative reading of the Stanislavsky System and Yogi Ramacharaka's books, which were a main source for Stanislavsky. Accordingly, Tcherkasski analyzes elements of the System based on Yoga principles. Among them are: relaxation of muscles (muscular release), communication and prana, emission of rays and reception of rays, beaming of aura, sending of prana, attention, visualizations (mental images). Special attention is paid to the idea of the superconscious in Yoga, and in Ramacharaka's and Stanislavsky's theories. Tcherkasski's wide-ranging analysis has resulted in new and intriguing discoveries about the Russian master. Furthermore, he reveals the extent to which Stanislavsky anticipated modern discoveries in neurobiology and cognitive science. In this book Tcherkasski acts as a researcher, historian, theatre director, and experienced acting teacher. He argues that some forty per cent of basic exercises in any Stanislavsky based actor training program of today are rooted in Yoga. Actors, teachers, and students will find it interesting to discover that they are following in the footsteps of Yoga in their everyday Stanislavsky based training and rehearsals.

Stanislavsky in Practice focuses on the course of study pursued today by aspiring actors in Russia and on the philosophy that informs this curriculum. It draws on extensive observation during the academic year 2000-2001 of the actor training program of the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theatre Arts (SPGATI), one of the three most prestigious theatrical institutes in Russia, and on interviews of a wide array of individuals in the Academy. Although the years since 1991 have witnessed many changes in theater and in actor training - sources of funding, administration, choice of repertoire, new methodologies, etc. - there remains much continuity with the past. The core of this continuity is the Stanislavsky tradition, which nevertheless has been affected by the views of post-Soviet Russia. The developments in actor training from 1991 to 2001 reflect the challenges and problems faced by other institutions in the arts and sciences. In other words, the phenomenon of continuity and discontinuity with the past is characteristic of other institutions in Russia, cultural as well as scientific and educational.

First published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

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.