Using the Stanislavsky system : a practical guide to character creation & period styles / by Robert Blumenfeld

Includes bibliographical references and index of people.

p. 1. The Stanislavsky system -- The great debate : to be or not to be -- Understanding the system : basic principles and acting techniques -- Using the system : script and character analysis ; the method of physical actions -- p. 2. Doing period styles -- Style is behavior -- The beginning of european theater : Athens and Rome -- The medieval period : chivalry and the dark ages -- The sixteenth century : the renaissance and William Shakespeare -- The seventeenth century : the conflict of absolutism and liberty -- The eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries : the enlightenment and regency periods -- From the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century : the age of technology.

Using the Stanislavsky system is a must for all professional and student actors, and for acting teachers as well It explains clearly and concisely exactly how to create a character in plays of any period. Known for his detailed approach to the art of acting and for the authenticity of his historical productions, Stanislavsky believed that actors should immerse themselves completely in the era in which a play or film is set. In part 1, his system is set forth step-by-step in an eminently practical way. The chapters in part 2 provide inspiring cultural, social, and historical introductions to the periods from ancient Greece through the end of World War Two - all based on authentic source material. Each chapter covers the way men and women moved, stood, and sat in the clothing they wore; the use of accessories such as fans, swords, snuffboxes, gloves, and hats; greetings, bows, and curtsies; etiquette, civility, and table manners; and automatic habits of thinking and of social intercourse depending on social class. People took all these things for granted because they grew up with them as the background of their lives. They were part of their conscious and unconscious mental world, are they are the essential components of building a character with real, organic behavior associated with a specific era. Literature, music, and painting, and other graphic arts are also discussed, and the sections on films and television programs, as well as the bibliographies of books and recordings in each chapter, will guide you further in doing your research. -- Back cover