"So as not to frighten feeling let us call this line the plan of physical tasks and actions but, as we are acting, do only take it for what it is, but, as a preliminary, once nad for all let us agree that the hidden essence does not lie in the physical tasks but in psychological refinement, nine-tenths of which consists of subconscious feelings." (Stanislavski 1957, 36).
The subtext is invoked involuntarily
The subtext is all the given circumstances and Magic Ifs
Physical actions can be fixed firmly. Ensures consistency in an actor's performance.[1]
Progress through the actions is at the same time progress through the given circumstances
Develops in rehearsal the line of physical action (bits and tasks).
This is the only way to master the technicalities of a role.
The Line of the Day is woven out of the line of physical action.
When the actor "thinks of physical actions," he wrote in the plan, "he thinks, independently of any act of will, of the 'Magic Ifs' and 'given circumstances' which have been established during the working process" (since the actions contain the Ifs and circumstances) such that "the subtext comes of itself" blah blah... need to clean this up and draw out the sense of the quotation p.326-327.
"We shall create the line of his action, the life of his body, and then the life of his spirit will be created indirectly by itself."[2]
All of the research and preparation "will come back spontaneously"; "this task will become a decoy for the inspiration that he stored up within him."[3]
"You might say, this is cold. So be it. Let it be cold but true. You can go from the true to the real."[4]
"If you start with actions, nothing more, and resolve the problem anew in every performance, you will be following the right line and feeling will not be scared and will come to you."[5]
Whyman writes that "there is no justification in Stanislavsky's writings for the assertion that the method of physical actions represents a rejection of his previous work."[6]
STORING UP THE SUBTEXT THROUGH PREPARATION (WHAT IS SUBTEXT?) edit
The actor relates to the given circumstances of a role through the use of "magic ifs": explain what a magic if is and how that forms the relation. This imaginative work establishes the subtext of the role, which is "stored up within" the actor.[7]
REHEARSAL ESTABLISHES THE PHYSICAL SCORE, BUT IT'S ESSENCE IS PSYCHOLOGICAL edit
Inner subtext (GCs, Ifs) evoked by outer actions. To follow the actions is to follow the GCs and Ifs.
INNER EXPERIENCING AND OUTER EMBODIMENT edit
Appears to be a dualistic way of thinking, but actually treats as a psychophysical continuum.
- Here's how:
In life, outside of the exceptional circumstances of the actor performing onstage, the psychological and physical dimensions of experience are part of a continuum, like two sides of a single sheet of paper. The special conditions of performance before an audience, however, disrupt this continuum, producing a form of what Stanislavski calls "dislocation" between the psychological and physical. For the actor, this dislocation manifests itself as tension and a non-correspondence between his or her inner and outer experience. Specific elements of the 'system' attempt to redress this problem: relaxation and self-awareness (what Stanislavski calls the actor's "internal monitor"), concentration within different circles of attention, and the state of public solitude all help to overcome the disruptive effects of the performance situation. The dislocation that performing causes necessitates a process of reintegrating the psychological and physical dimensions in order to produce the continuum experienced in life outside the theatre.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN MECHANICAL HABIT AND EVOKING THE INNER THROUGH THE OUTER (THE INDIRECT ROUTE) edit
ENABLES CONSISTENCY, EASILY FIXED, MASTERS TECHNICALITIES edit
Clear and accessible elements.[8]
References edit
- ^ Benedetti (2005, 121).
- ^ Quoted by Magarshack (1950, 389).
- ^ Stanislavski (1957, 37).
- ^ Stanislavski (1957, 37).
- ^ Stanislavski (1957, 37).
- ^ Whyman (2008, 247).
- ^ Benedetti (1999a, 326-327) and Stanislavski (1957, 37). In his production plan for Othello, Stanislavski writes that "all the given circumstances and Magic Ifs [...] are, in fact, the subtext"; quoted by Benedetti (1999a, 326). In the same plan, he describes this preparatory work as "the inspiration that he [the actor] stored up within him" in his subconscious, ready to be aroused indirectly by means of the elementary tasks; Stanislavski (1957, 37).
- ^ Meyer-Dinkgräfe (2001, 45).