Using The Stanislavsky System: A Practical Guide to Character Creation & Period Styles

(Limelight). This book is a must for all professional and student actors, and for acting teachers as well. A concise, clear explanation of exactly how to create a character in plays of any period, using the Stanislavsky system. 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. The chapters provide inspiring cultural, social, and historical introductions to the periods from ancient Greece through the end of World War Two. 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; table manners; and the etiquette, civility, and automatic habits of thinking and of social intercourse depending on social class. All these things that people took for granted as the background of their lives, as part of their conscious and unconscious mental world, are the essential components of building a character with real, organic behavior associated with a specific era. Literature, music, painting, and other graphic arts are all discussed as well, and the sections on films and television programs, as well as bibliographies of books and recordings, will guide your further research.

Robbert Blumenfeld (New York City) is the author of Accents: A Manual for Actors (Revised and Expanded Edition, 2002'), 'Acting with the Voice: The Art of Recording Books (2004'), 'Tools and Techniques for Character Interpretation: A Handbook of Pyschology for Actors, Writers, and Directors (2006); and the collaborator with Alice Spivak on How to Rehearse When There Is No Rehearsal: Acting and the Media (2007'), 'all published by Limelight Editions. He works as an actor, dialect coach, and writer. Mr. Blumenfeld has recorded more than 310 Talking Books for the American Foundation for the Blind.