Stanislavski's Influence On Theatre

Theatre is dying. It’s been a slow process, a process that started in 19th century Russia and continues to this day. Until Pushkin, theatre had been seen as entertainment, but in his Aphorism he stated ‘Sincerity of emotions, feelings that seem true in given circumstances- that is what we ask of a dramatist’, this was echoed by Stanislavski who revolutionised acting from entertainment to art. His ideas changed the ways we thought about theatre but by revolutionising theatre Stanislavski outlined its flaws, flaws that continue to this day.

Stanislavski completely changed theatre. For actors he created a system, a process for actors to use in order to achieve truth on stage. The system tells actors to improvise, look at characters given circumstances

So how is it that in the late 1960s Peter Brook Wrote the deadly theatre? How is it only 30 years after Stanislavski’s death the theatrical world had resorted back to ideas that he sought to resolve? Brook identifies the problems with theatre post Stanislavski, he tells us that Stanislavski inadvertently created a paradox, stating that actors desperately attempting to achieve truth resulted in a uninformed performance.

‘[the system] has done as much harm as good to many young actors, who misread it in detail and only take away a good hatred of the shoddy’

Yet the deadly theatre targets more than misinformed actors, “The Deadly Theatre takes easily to Shakespeare. We see his plays done by good actors in what seems like the proper

We can argue that theatre is dying because of inadequate actor training and the failure to remove the star system. However, rather than argue theatre is dying, it would seem best to argue that conventional theatre is dying.

Contemporary performers like Steven Berkoff revolutionised theatre in the 1980s, with his politically charged pieces such as Decadence but also his fresh take on Oedipus in his adaptation of the Theban classic in the form of Greek. Through this performance Berkoff almost echoed what Brecht had achieved with his adaptation of Antigone which he used to praise the German freedom fighters in the war. Berkoff commented ‘London equals Thebes and is full of riots, filth, decay , bombings, mobs at the palace gate… the play dealt with the idea of an emotional social plague’

Berkoff was exceptionally trained, in both acting where he attended RADA and mime, creating unique theatrical experiences which blended both the physical and the