Editing Konstantin Stanislavski (section)

==Creation of the Moscow Art Theatre==
{{See also|Moscow Art Theatre}}
[[File:Владимир Иванович Немирович-Данченко.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko]], co-founder of the [[Moscow Art Theatre|MAT]], in 1916.]]

Stanislavski's historic meeting with [[Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko]] on {{OldStyleDate|4 July|1897|22 June}} led to the creation of what was called initially the "Moscow Public-Accessible Theatre", but which came to be known as the [[Moscow Art Theatre]] (MAT).<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 59), Braun (1982, 60), Leach (2004, 11), and Worrall (1996, 43).</ref> Their eighteen-hour-long discussion has acquired a legendary status in the [[history of theatre]].<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 61), Braun (1982, 60), Carnicke (2000, 12), and Worrall (1996, 64). Their discussion lasted from lunch at 2&nbsp;pm in a private room in the Slavic Bazaar restaurant to 8&nbsp;am the following morning over breakfast at Stanislavski's family estate at Liubimovka.</ref>

Nemirovich was a successful playwright, critic, theatre director, and acting teacher at the [[Russian Institute of Theatre Arts|Philharmonic School]] who, like Stanislavski, was committed to the idea of a popular theatre.<ref>Benedetti (1989, 16) and (1999, 59–60), Braun (1982, 60), and Leach (2004, 12).</ref> Their abilities complemented one another: Stanislavski brought his directorial talent for creating vivid stage images and selecting significant details; Nemirovich, his talent for dramatic and literary analysis, his professional expertise, and his ability to manage a theatre.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 60–61).</ref> Stanislavski later compared their discussions to the [[Treaty of Versailles]], their scope was so wide-ranging; they agreed on the conventional practices they wished to abandon and, on the basis of the working method they found they had in common, defined the policy of their new theatre.<ref>Benedetti (1989, 16) and Leach (2004, 11–13).</ref>

Stanislavski and Nemirovich planned a professional company with an [[Ensemble cast|ensemble]] ethos that discouraged individual vanity; they would create a [[Realism (theatre)|realistic]] theatre of international renown, with popular prices for seats, whose organically [[Gesamtkunstwerk|unified aesthetic]] would bring together the techniques of the [[Meiningen Ensemble]] and those of [[André Antoine]]'s [[Théâtre Libre]] (which Stanislavski had seen during trips to Paris).<ref>Benedetti (1989, 17–18) and (1999, 61–62), Carnicke (2000, 29), and Leach (2004, 12–13).</ref> Nemirovich assumed that Stanislavski would fund the theatre as a privately owned business, but Stanislavski insisted on a [[limited company|limited]], [[joint stock company]].<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 62–63) and Worrall (1996, 37–38).</ref> [[Viktor Simov]], whom Stanislavski had met in 1896, was engaged as the company's principal [[Scenic design|designer]].<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 67) and Braun (1982, 61).</ref>

[[File:Meyerhold reads Chekhov's The Seagull in 1898.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Vsevolod Meyerhold]] prepares for his role as Konstantin to Stanislavski's Trigorin in the [[Moscow Art Theatre production of The Seagull|MAT's 1898 production of Anton Chekhov's ''The Seagull'']].]]

In his opening speech on the first day of rehearsals, {{OldStyleDate|26 June|1898|14 June}}, Stanislavski stressed the "social character" of their collective undertaking.<ref>Benedetti (1999a, 68), Braun (1982, 60), and Worrall (1996, 45).</ref> In an atmosphere more like a university than a theatre, as Stanislavski described it, the company was introduced to his working method of extensive reading and research and detailed rehearsals in which the action was defined at the table before being explored physically.<ref name="Benedetti 1999a, 70">Benedetti (1999a, 70).</ref> Stanislavski's lifelong relationship with [[Vsevolod Meyerhold]] began during these rehearsals; by the end of June, Meyerhold was so impressed with Stanislavski's directorial skills that he declared him a genius.<ref name="Benedetti 1999a, 70"/>