Playwright Mickle Maher.
In anticipation of University Theater’s premier production of Mickle Maher’s An Actor Prepares, the cast and staff of the show have begun to think more seriously about Constantin Stanislavski not only as an historical figure, but also as a character and a man. A large portion of this effort has been remembering that, despite our tendency to think of Stanislavski as existing in some vague theatrical past, his life occurred in a context. Born two years after the liberation of the serfs and dying ten years after Stalin came to power, Stanislavski lived and worked in one of the most turbulent periods of Russian history. The following represents preliminary dramaturgical work toward the goal of providing actors, audience members and others an introduction to Stanislavski’s life, method, and the world he lived in. Specifically, this text includes (1) a multi-media biographical sketch of Stanislavski, with special attention to the political and artistic world surrounding his life. (2) A shorter-form time-line of Stanislavski and the Moscow Art Theater. (3) A “Cheat Sheet” for understanding the major elements of the Stanislavski System, (4) A reference guide for characters in the text and (5) A list of recommended further reading, in case you have a lot of free time.
The stage is set for the in class development of An Actor Prepares.
