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An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary |
Author: Konstantin Stanislavski
Published: 2008-01-10 |
List price: $35.00
Our price: $23.10
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As of: January 08th, 2009 08:35:24 AM
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 Finally... Stanislavski As He Intended To Be Read
Stanislavski is a familiar name in theatre circles. The legendary director of the Moscow Art Theatre wrote perhaps some of the most influential work on acting in the last century. I could list the big names who cite his influence (most famously, Marlon Brando and Sir John Gielgud), but the fact is his teachings have become so much a part of the way we approach theatre, that almost any actor in the English-speaking world (and abroad) can claim at least some influence.
Unfortunately, most English-speakers are familiar with Stanislavski's `system' in the considerably troubled translation by Elizabeth Hapgood. What's more, the form that translation took (as two separate books, the famous "An Actor Prepares" and "Building a Character") misrepresented Stanislavski's original intentions. In actuality, "An Actor Prepares" and "Building a Character" are two parts of a larger book, called "An Actor's Work on Himself." In the Soviet Union, they were published as volumes one and two of the same book.
Hapgood worked with Stanislavski on an early edition of the first half of the book, which in her translation would become "An Actor Prepares." However, Stanislavski continued revisions on the book after Hapgood had returned home to America in 1935. The translation that was published, in addition to being abridged to half the original's length, was also missing the subsequent revisions that Stanislavski released in a Soviet edition three years later just before his death. Stanislavski did not live to complete part two. Hapgood received fragments from Stanislavski's son, Igor. Not knowing that these were meant as a completion to a single holistic system, she published them as "Building a Character."
This new edition, called simply "An Actor's Work," reunites the two volumes at last. Translator Jean Benedetti is also an erudite scholar of the life and work of Stanislavski one whom he has published several definitive biographical works. The translations themselves are somewhat stilted, but still a major improvement over the Hapgood translations, which remain the most widely circulated versions of Stanislavski's work. Part One is finally presented unabridged. Benedetti's reconstruction of the unfinished Part Two (from a motley selection of fragments amassed after Stanislavski's death) is graceful and readable.
What is most striking, however, are the huge implications this new edition has on the way Stanislavski's system is currently understood. Part One of "An Actor's Work" dealt with the psychological construction of a role. Part Two was to elaborate on the physical training of the actor. Stanislavski stressed the importance of voice and movement training for the actor. Unfortunately, this second (and vital) half of the work went largely ignored in drama schools where "An Actor Prepares" became the standard text. (Stanislavski's original system, fortunately, made it back to the U.S. through Stella Adler who had studied with him for a brief period in Paris.) Thus, a huge emphasis was placed on psychology, when the implications on physicality went largely ignored.
The fact that Part Two was never completed is not much of a disaster. As Benedetti notes, it is really only of historical interest. Actors today have much more sophisticated methods at their disposal, such as the Alexander Technique and Kristen Linklater's approach to voice training (I recommend her Freeing the Natural Voice).
"An Actor's Work" is poised to become the definitive edition of Stanislavski for the next generation. It presents the first really viable alternative to Hapgood's translations. The fact that the hardcover edition is less expensive than the combined cost of Hapgood's "An Actor Prepares" and "Building a Character" should also not go unnoticed.
A clearer, more revealing legacy
Jean Benedetti provides the modern translation of this classic text on actor training, a recommended pick for any college-level collection strong in drama theory and actor training. His offers a more accurate new translation of the classic, critiquing Method acting and its legacy and putting Stanislavski's two-volume work back under one cover as he originally intended. The result is a clearer, more revealing legacy than the prior translation, and deserves a spot in any serious college-level acting library.
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