Stanislavsky in Focus: An Acting Master for the Twenty-First Century (Routledge Theatre Classics)

"Outstanding... there are innumerable books about Stanislavsky. Stanislavsky in Focus is the only book worth taking seriously..." - David Chambers, Yale School of Drama, USA"Sharon Carnicke has single-handedly begun to demystify Stanislavsky's influence for theatre practitioners everywhere." - Anne Bogart, Columbia University, USA"Carnicke's is the finest book I have read on the work of Stanislavsky in many, many years." - Andrè Gregory, actor and director"Essential reading for every actor, whether experienced or a novice." Ed Hooks, acting coach Stanislavsky in Focus brilliantly examines the history and actual premises of Stanislavsky's System, separating myth from fact with forensic skill.The first edition of this now classic study showed conclusively how the System was gradually transformed into the Method, popularised in the 1950s by Lee Strasberg and the Actor's Studio. It looked at the gap between the original Russian texts and what most English-speaking practitioners still imagine to be Stanislavsky's ideas.This thoroughly revised new edition also delves even deeper into: The mythical depiction of Stanislavsky as a tyrannical director and teacher. Yoga, the mind-body-spirit continuum and its role in the 'System'. How Stanislavsky used subtexts to hide many of his ideas from Soviet censors. The text has been updated to address all of the relevant scholarship, particularly in Russia, since the first edition was published. It also features an expanded Glossary on the System's terminology and its historical exercises, more on the political context and the cognitive science in Stanislavsky's work, and the System's relation to contemporary developments in actor-training. It will be a vital part of every practitioner's and historian's library.Sharon Marie Carnicke is Professor of Theatre and Slavic Languages at the University of Southern California. She is also an actor and director, and has published numerous articles on Stanislavsky and Russian Theatre.Sharon Marie Carnicke is the author of 'Stanislavsky in Focus: An Acting Master for the Twenty-First Century (Routledge Theatre Classics)', published 2008 under ISBN 9780415774963 and ISBN 0415774969.