Who was Konstantin Stanislavsky and why was his approach to acting significant? Name and define his systems
core principles.
What will be an ideal response?
ANSWER:Russian
actor, director, and theorist Konstantin Stanislavsky created a systematic
approach to acting that challenged actors to develop the inner life, psychological
understanding, and outer expression of character with more rigor, depth, and honesty.
In Stanislavsky's system, emotions were not the starting point of acting, an external trick
that the actor put on, but rather a natural byproduct
of an actor imaginatively
connecting to a character's needs.
The first principle in Stanislavsky's system consists of objectives, what the characters
want in order to fulfill a need.
Next are actions, also called tactics, what characters do to achieve their objectives.
Another principle consists of obstacles, the barriers characters seek to overcome in order
to achieve their objectives.
The next core principle is the magic if, in which actors consider the circumstances of the
play and ask, How would I react if this situation were real? What would I do?
The last principle comprises given circumstances, the who, when, where, and what of
a play, scene, or beat as laid out by the playwright; they include any and all information
that provides the actor with an imaginative connection to the inner life of the character.