With any luck, we’ve managed to provide you with a stronger sense of Stanislavski’s life and helped you understand the time and place in which he lived. Of course, no exposition of this length will be able to avoid leaving things out. So, if you feel as if you need more to help you prepare, or are just curious about the life and times of Constantin Stanislavski, here is a short list of further reading:
(1) An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski: Reading this is probably a vital part of your preparation.
(2) Stanislavski In Focus by Sharon Marie Carnicke. A good overview of Stanislavski, but most valuable for the detail it achieves in describing the publication battles around An Actor Prepares. This packet, unfortunately, has only managed to glaze over the battle but its full dramatic extent can be found in Focus.
(3) Stanislavski: An Introduction by Jean Bendetti: An incredibly concise overview of Stanislavski’s life, method, and the events that led him to An Actor Prepares. If you’re going to read anything other than (1), this would be it.
(4) My Life In Art by Constantin Stanislavski: The first (and only book other than Actor) that Stanislavski saw to print in his lifetime. While written well before the end of his life and inherently biased by autobiography, it is Stanislavski’s only written account of his own life and I imagine that might be helpful in understanding how he thought about and represented himself.
(5) Building A Character by Constantin Stanislavski: Focused on the physical components of Stanislavski’s system. Because American Method Acting is based solely on An Actor Prepares, elements of this book – like developing gestures for one’ character – have almost become clichés of bad directing.
(6) Creating a Role by Constantin Stanislavski: the final installment in the series on his System.
(7) On Socialist Realism by Abram Tertz: If you’re interested in the culture behind Soviet Realism, this book is excellent for not just showing examples of Soviet art and throwing the word ‘censorship’ around but actually explaining the literary doctrine behind Stalinist artistic policy.
(8) Stanislavski in Rehearsal by Vasili Toporkov: Toporkov was an accomplished Russian actor invited to join the Moscow Art Theater. Forced to retrain under Stanislavski’s system, this book provides a rare account of Stanislavski’s directing method from someone other than Stanislavski who was actually in the room.
