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What is the Stanislavski Method?

Konstantin Stanislavski developed his prolific acting technique in 19th century Russia. Stanislavski was born into one of the richest families in Russia, which gave him the financial freedom to pursue amateur dramatics and experimental theater.

Stanislavski originally began his career as an amateur actor and director and in 1897, he created what would become the Moscow Art Theater, which was designed to be a “popular theatre” or a theater for the masses. Stanislavski found traditional acting styles too performative and over-the-top for his liking. He began to codify what he saw as ‘good’ or ‘naturalistic’ acting. These notes became what we now know as the Stanislavski Method.

There are five main elements of the acting method as they are taught in modern theatrical institutions.

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Element 1: Experiencing the Role

At the center of Stanislavski’s System lies the principle of ‘experiencing the role.’ Essentially, the concept of experiencing the role comes down to the actor feeling true emotions while on-stage or in front of the camera. These emotions should be analogous to those that the character is experiencing.

This concept of experiencing the character’s emotions was revolutionary in Stanislavski’s time. Prior to his system, professional actors were taught to represent emotions merely. In this traditional technique, the actor remains removed from the character, whereas with the system, the actor should begin to feel “as one with” the character.

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Element 2: Given Cirmcumstances

The concept of given circumstances refers to the circumstances that are referred to within the script. This element of the technique is when the actor is asked to determine the who, what, where, when, and why for their character. Stanislavski developed the following questions, which are designed to help the actor envisage their character’s circumstances, thereby bringing greater truthfulness to their performance. 

1. Who Am I?

Using the text, the actor determines details like name, age, location, education, likes, dislikes, and so on. Teachers of the system will often advise the actor to write down everything the character says about themselves and what other characters say about you.

2. Where Am I?

The actor notes the exact location of each scene, along with the character’s feelings about this location.

3. When Is It?

The actor determines the century, season, time of day, and so on. Details about time will give the actor information about the character’s current state of mind.

4. What Do I Want?

“What do I want?” Is the question the actor asks himself or herself to determine the character’s objective in the scene. Understanding the character’s objective helps the actor embody the character in an active way.

5. Why Do I Want It?

Understanding why the character wants what they want will give the actor the impetus to pursue their objective within the scene and commit to their actions.

6. How Will I Get It?

The actor determines the character’s tactical ‘gameplan’ within the scene. Actors will generally experiment with a range of tactical approaches in the rehearsal period.

7. What Do I Need To Overcome?

Finally, actors determine what the character obstacles are within the scene. Knowing the character’s obstacles will help the actor come up with useful tactics to try within the scene.

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Element 3: Magic If

Stanislavski created the term magic if to describe the actor’s ability to imagine themselves in the character’s given circumstances. First, actors practice imagining how they would act if they were in the character’s given circumstances. 

Many acting teachers will take their students through a series of exercises to develop their ability to imagine effectively and believably. 

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Element 4: Task and Action

Tasks, or objectives, are the character’s problems that they try to solve within each scene. Actors separate the scene into beats. Each beat holds a new task or objective. Each task leads to the next creating a ‘through-line of action.’

An action is an active approach the character takes in each beat. Actions should be framed as “I do x to you.” For instance, if the action behind the line “Will you marry me?” is “I seduce you,” the tactic will be very different from the tactic for “I ridicule you.” 

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Element 5: Method of Physical Action

This principle is designed to immerse the actor in the character’s given circumstances, making their performance nuanced and truthful. The actor begins by moving around the set in character, interacting with objects, and experiencing the character’s mundane physical actions.