Editing Konstantin Stanislavski (section)

== From the First World War to the October Revolution ==
Stanislavski spent the summer of 1914 in [[Mariánské Lázně|Marienbad]] where, as he had in 1906, he researched the [[history of theatre]] and theories of acting to clarify the discoveries that his practical experiments had produced.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 221) and Magarshack (1950, 336–337). His studies included books by [[Luigi Riccoboni]], his son François Riccoboni, Rémond de Saint-Albin, [[Adrienne Lecouvreur]], [[Gustave Doré]], [[August Wilhelm Iffland]], and [[Benoît-Constant Coquelin]], the theories of [[Gotthold Ephraim Lessing]], [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]], [[Friedrich Schiller]], and [[Denis Diderot]], and the history of the previous two centuries of theatre.</ref> When the [[First World War]] broke out, Stanislavski was in [[Munich]].<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 222) and Magarshack (1950, 337).</ref> "It seemed to me", he wrote of the atmosphere at the train station in an article detailing his experiences, "that death was hovering everywhere."<ref>From Stanislavski's article "A Prisoner of War in Germany," quoted by Magarshack (1950, 338).</ref>

The train was stopped at [[Immenstadt]], where German soldiers denounced him as a Russian spy.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 222) and Magarshack (1950, 338).</ref> Held in a room at the station with a large crowd with "the faces of wild beasts" baying at its windows, Stanislavski believed he was to be [[Execution|executed]].<ref>Magarshack (1950, 338–339).</ref> He remembered that he was carrying an official document that mentioned having played to [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Kaiser Wilhelm]] during their tour of 1906 that, when he showed it to the officers, produced a change of attitude towards his group.<ref>Magarshack (1950, 339).</ref> They were placed on a slow train to [[Kempten im Allgäu|Kempten]].<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 222) and Magarshack (1950, 339–340).</ref> [[Liubov Gurevich|Gurevich]] later related how during the journey Stanislavski surprised her when he whispered that:

<blockquote>[E]vents of recent days had given him a clear impression of the superficiality of all that was called human culture, [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] culture, that a completely different kind of life was needed, where all needs were reduced to the minimum, where there was work—real artistic work—on behalf of the people, for those who had not yet been consumed by this bourgeois culture.<ref>Gurevich, quoted by Benedetti (1999a, 222); see also Magarshack (1950, 339).</ref></blockquote>

In Kempten they were again ordered into one of the station's rooms, where Stanislavski overheard the German soldiers complain of a lack of [[ammunition]]; it was only this, he understood, that prevented their execution.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 222) and Magarshack (1950, 340).</ref> The following morning they were placed on a train and eventually returned to Russia via [[Switzerland]] and France.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 222–223) and Magarshack (1950, 340–341).</ref>

[[File:Woe from Wisdom, by Aleksandr Griboyedov (A).jpg|thumb|left|Stanislavski as Famusov in the 1914 revival of [[Aleksandr Griboyedov|Griboyedov's]] ''[[Woe from Wit]]''.]]

Turning to the classics of Russian theatre, the [[Moscow Art Theatre|MAT]] revived [[Aleksandr Griboyedov|Griboyedov]]'s [[Comedy (drama)|comedy]] ''[[Woe from Wit]]'' and planned to stage three of [[Alexander Pushkin|Pushkin's]] "little [[Tragedy|tragedies]]" in early 1915.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 223–224) and Magarshack (1950, 342).</ref> Stanislavski continued to develop his system, explaining at an open rehearsal for ''Woe from Wit'' his concept of the state of "I am being".<ref name=b224>Benedetti (1999a, 224).</ref> This term marks the stage in the rehearsal process when the distinction between actor and character blurs (producing the "actor/role"), subconscious behavior takes the lead, and the actor feels fully present in the dramatic moment.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 224) and Carnicke (1998, 174–175).</ref> He stressed the importance to achieving this state of a focus on action ("What would I do if&nbsp;...") rather than emotion ("How would I feel if&nbsp;..."): "You must ask the kinds of questions that lead to dynamic action."<ref>Quoted by Benedetti (1999a, 224).</ref> Instead of forcing emotion, he explained, actors should notice what is happening, attend to their relationships with the other actors, and try to understand "through the senses" the fictional world that surrounds them.<ref name=b224/>

When he prepared for his role in Pushkin's ''[[Mozart and Salieri (play)|Mozart and Salieri]]'', Stanislavski created a biography for [[Antonio Salieri|Salieri]] in which he imagined the character's memories of each incident mentioned in the play, his relationships with the other people involved, and the circumstances that had impacted on Salieri's life.<ref name=b227>Benedetti (1999a, 227).</ref> When he attempted to render all of this detail in performance, however, the [[subtext]] overwhelmed the text; overladen with heavy pauses, Pushkin's [[Verse (poetry)|verse]] was fragmented to the point of incomprehensibility.<ref name=b227/> His struggles with this role prompted him to attend more closely to the structure and dynamics of language in drama; to that end, he studied [[Serge Wolkonsky]]'s ''The Expressive Word'' (1913).<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 228–229), Gordon (2006, 49), and Whyman (2008, 122–130, 141–143).</ref>

The French [[theatre practitioner]] [[Jacques Copeau]] contacted Stanislavski in October 1916.<ref name=b248>Benedetti (1999a, 248).</ref> As a result of his conversations with [[Edward Gordon Craig]], Copeau had come to believe that his work at the [[Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier]] shared a common approach with Stanislavski's investigations at the MAT.<ref name=b248/> On {{OldStyleDate|30 December|1916|17 December}}, Stanislavski's assistant and closest friend, [[Leopold Sulerzhitsky]], died from chronic [[nephritis]].<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 239), Leach (2004, 18), and Magarshack (1950, 343–345). Worrall gives his cause of death as a boating accident (1996, 221).</ref> Reflecting on their relationship in 1931, Stanislavski said that Suler had understood him completely and that no one, since, had replaced him.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 341).</ref>