Editing Konstantin Stanislavski (section)

==Development of the Method of Physical Action==
[[File:Othello Production Plan Sketches by Stanislavski 1938.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Sketches by Stanislavski in his 1929–1930 production plan for ''[[Othello]]'', which offers the first exposition of what came to be known as his Method of Physical Action rehearsal process.]]

While recuperating in [[Nice]] at the end of 1929, Stanislavski began a production plan for Shakespeare's ''[[Othello]]''.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 324). Extracts of the plan are translated in Cole (1955, 131–138) and Stanislavski (1957, 27–43).</ref> Hoping to use this as the basis for ''An Actor's Work on a Role'', his plan offers the earliest exposition of the rehearsal process that became known as his Method of Physical Action. He first explored this approach practically in his work on ''[[Three Sisters (play)|Three Sisters]]'' and ''[[Carmen]]'' in 1934 and ''Molière'' in 1935.<ref name=MOPA/>

In contrast to his earlier method of working on a play—which involved extensive readings and analysis around a table before any attempt to physicalise its action—Stanislavski now encouraged his actors to explore the action through its "active analysis".<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 70, 355–356), Leach (2004, 29), and Magarshack (1950, 373–375).</ref> He felt that too much discussion in the early stages of rehearsal confused and inhibited the actors.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 355), Carnicke (2000, 32), and Magarshack (1950, 374–375).</ref> Instead, focusing on the simplest physical actions, they [[Improvisation|improvised]] the sequence of dramatic situations given in the play.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 355), Magarshack (1950, 375), and Whyman (2008, 242).</ref> "The best analysis of a play", he argued, "is to take action in the given circumstances."<ref name=ANALYSIS/> If the actor justified and committed to the truth of the actions (which are easier to shape and control than emotional responses), Stanislavski reasoned, they would evoke truthful thoughts and feelings.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 355–356) and Magarshack (1950, 375). In a letter to Elizabeth Hapgood, Stanislavski wrote: "Do you know the words? Never mind, use your own. You can't remember the sequence of the conversation? Never mind, I'll prompt you. We go through the whole play like this because it is easier to control and direct the body than the mind which is capricious. That is why the physical line of a role is easier to create than the psychological. But can the physical line of a role exist without the psychological when the mind is inseparable from the body? Of course not. That is why simultaneously the physical line of the body evokes the inner line of a role. This method takes the creative actor's attention off feelings, leaves them to the subconscious which alone can properly control and direct them"; quoted by Benedetti (1999a, 356).</ref>

Stanislavski's attitude to the use of emotion memory in rehearsals (as distinct from its use in actor training) had shifted over the years.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 325–326) and Gordon (2006, 74). Emotion memory remained useful during training, Stanislavski felt, as a means of addressing emotional inhibition.</ref> Ideally, he felt, an instinctive identification with a character's situation should arouse an emotional response.<ref name=b325>Benedetti (1999a, 325).</ref> The use of emotion memory in lieu of that had demonstrated a propensity for encouraging self-indulgence or hysteria in the actor.<ref name=b325/> Its direct approach to feeling, Stanislavski felt, more often produced a block than the desired expression.<ref name=b325/> Instead, an indirect approach to the subconscious via a focus on actions (supported by a commitment to the given circumstances and imaginative "Magic Ifs") was a more reliable means of luring the appropriate emotional response.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 325–326).</ref>

This shift in approach corresponded both with an increased attention to the structure and dynamic of the play as a whole and with a greater prominence given to the distinction between the planning of a role and its performance.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 326) and Magarshack (1950, 372–373).</ref> In performance the actor is aware of only one step at a time, Stanislavski reasoned, but this focus risks the loss of the overall dynamic of a role in the welter of moment-to-moment detail.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 326) and (2005, 126).</ref> Consequently, the actor must also adopt a different point of view in order to plan the role in relation to its [[dramatic structure]]; this might involve adjusting the performance by holding back at certain moments and playing full out at others.<ref>Benedetti (1998, 108), (1999a, 326), and (2005, 125–127).</ref> A sense of the whole thereby informs the playing of each episode.<ref>Benedetti (1998, 108), (1999a, 349), and (2005, 125) and Magarshack (1950, 372).</ref> Borrowing a term from [[Henry Irving]], Stanislavski called this the "perspective of the role".<ref>Benedetti (1998, 108), (1999a, 221), and (2005, 125–126) and Whyman (2008, 149). In contrast to the "perspective of the role" that appreciates the role as a whole, Stanislavski called the moment-to-moment awareness the "perspective of the actor". For Stanislavski's explanation of this concept, see ''An Actor's Work'' (1938, 456–462).</ref>

Every afternoon for five weeks during the summer of 1934 in Paris, Stanislavski worked with the American actress [[Stella Adler]], who had sought his assistance with the blocks she had confronted in her performances.<ref name="Benedetti 2006">Benedetti (1999a, 351) and Gordon (2006, 74).</ref> Given the emphasis that emotion memory had received in New York City, Adler was surprised to find that Stanislavski rejected the technique except as a last resort.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 351) and Gordon (2006, 74). Under the influence of [[Richard Boleslavsky]], emotion memory had become a central feature of [[Lee Strasberg]]'s training at the [[Group Theatre (New York)|Group Theatre in New York]]. In contrast, Stanislavski recommended to [[Stella Adler]] an indirect pathway to emotional expression via physical action. Benedetti writes that "It has been suggested that Stanislavski deliberately played down the emotional aspects of acting because the woman in front of him was already over-emotional. The evidence is against this. What Stanislavski told Stella Adler was exactly what he had been telling his actors at home, what indeed he had advocated in his notes for [[Leonid Leonidov|Leonidov]] in the production plan for ''[[Othello]]''." Stanislavski confirmed this emphasis in his discussions with [[Harold Clurman]] in late 1935; see Benedetti (1999a, 351–352).</ref> The news that this was Stanislavski's approach would have significant repercussions in the US; [[Lee Strasberg]] angrily rejected it and refused to modify [[Method acting|his version]] of the [[Stanislavski's system|system]].<ref name="Benedetti 2006"/>