Applying Stanislavski’s Principles to a Role in Volpone

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Applying Stanislavski’s Principles to a Role in Volpone

As founder of the first acting system, co-founder of the Moscow Art

Theatre, and an eminent practitioner of the naturalist school of

thought, Konstantin Stanislavski challenged traditional notions of the

dramatic process, establishing himself as one of the most pioneering

thinkers of his time in modern theatre. His process of character

development, the Stanislavski Method, was the catalyst for method

acting- one of the most influential acting systems on the modern stage

and screen. Such renowned schools of acting and directing as the Group

Theatre and The Actors Studio are a legacy of Stanislavski's

pioneering vision.

Stanislavski developed this unique system of training to change the

way that people saw their characters. The actors would research the

situation created by the script, break down the text according to

their character's motivations and recall their own experiences,

therefore causing actions and reactions according to these

motivations. The actor would ideally make his motivations for acting

identical to those of the character in the script. He could then

replay these emotions and experiences in the role of the character in

order to achieve a more genuine performance. This was Stanislavski’s

main aim to create a more genuine performance.

ACTION

“In every physical action, unless it is purely mechanical, there is

concealed some inner action, some feelings. This is how the two levels

of life in a part (dramatic role) are created, the inner and the

outer. They are intertwined. A common purpose brings them together and

reinforces the unbreakable bond.” - ‘Creating a role’

In Volpone, it would be most likely to happen in the market place. The

busy market place would be played by a group of people that would need

to show a complicity of lives that intermingle with other characters

just as if they were a real community. This would be hard to show, as

they are not a real community. Good methods of getting these groups of

characters to resemble villagers would be to give them little

scenarios to act out in which all the characters intermingle and have

lines to say to each other. This would help them realise each other’s

inner character and feeling and therefore are then able to react in

the way their character would to that situation. Then use what they

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...must find out all he can about the character and the situation. This

helps to create an overall realistic reaction to that particular

situation. To be able to use ‘Magic if’ the actor must know a lot

about his character and his or her personality.

Stanislavski teaches the actor to become the character by asking

questions that are answered by action based on emotional response.

For example, the actor that plays Volpone in the rape scene must ask

before he plays the scene, ‘What if I am Volpone and I am just about

to rape Celia and Benario jumps out from the cupboard? What will I

do?’ Another good question from Celia’s point of view: "What if I'm

Celia and I am being raped by an old dirty man and I have no one to

help me would I give in or stand my ground?

"Magic if" questions contain motivation and awareness of "the now."

The questions are cast in the first person, in the present tense, and

therefore they pull you into the character's major concerns. Very

importantly, the questions suggest not one but two attitudes: The

character toward her or him, and toward other characters. These types

of questions help the actor figure out the action to take in response.

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