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An Actor's Handbook
Body training, stage setting, and artistic truth are among the topics considered in this compilation of Stanislavski's techniques and theories of creative acting, first published on the 100th Anniversary of his birth, January 17th, 1963, by Theatre Arts Books.
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 17, 1963
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358 people want to read
About the author
Constantin Stanislavski
105 books347 followersConstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski (russian:Константин Сергеевич Станиславский) was a Russian actor and theatre director.
Stanislavski's innovative contribution to modern European and American realistic acting has remained at the core of mainstream western performance training for much of the last century. Building on the directorially-unified aesthetic and ensemble playing of the Meiningen company and the naturalistic staging of Antoine and the independent theatre movement, Stanislavski organized his realistic techniques into a coherent and usable 'system'. Thanks to its promotion and development by acting teachers who were former students and the many translations of his theoretical writings, Stanislavski's system acquired an unprecedented ability to cross cultural boundaries and developed an international reach, dominating debates about acting in the West. That many of the precepts of his 'system' seem to be common sense and self-evident testifies to its hegemonic success. Actors frequently employ his basic concepts without knowing they do so.
Stanislavski treated theatre-making as a serious endeavour, requiring dedication, discipline and integrity, and the work of the actor as an artistic undertaking. Throughout his life, he subjected his own acting to a process of rigorous artistic self-analysis and reflection. His 'system' resulted from a persistent struggle to remove the blocks he encountered. His development of a theorized praxis—in which practice is used as a mode of inquiry and theory as a catalyst for creative development—identifies him as the first great theatre practitioner. Stanislavski believed that after seeing young actors at Aquinas College in Moscow he could see why theatre needed to change to a more disciplined endeavour.
Stanislavski's work was as important to the development of socialist realism in the USSR as it was to that of psychological realism in the United States. Many actors routinely identify his 'system' with the American Method, although the latter's exclusively psychological techniques contrast sharply with Stanislavski's multivariant, holistic and psychophysical approach, which explores character and action both from the 'inside out' and the 'outside in'. Stanislavski's work draws on a wide range of influences and ideas, including his study of the modernist and avant-garde developments of his time (naturalism, symbolism and Meyerhold's constructivism), Russian formalism, Yoga, Pavlovian behaviourist psychology, James-Lange (via Ribot) psychophysiology and the aesthetics of Pushkin, Gogol, and Tolstoy. He described his approach as 'spiritual Realism'.
Associated Names:
Konstantin Stanislavski (Alternative spelling)
Константин Станиславский (Russian)
斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基 (Chinese)
Stanislavski's innovative contribution to modern European and American realistic acting has remained at the core of mainstream western performance training for much of the last century. Building on the directorially-unified aesthetic and ensemble playing of the Meiningen company and the naturalistic staging of Antoine and the independent theatre movement, Stanislavski organized his realistic techniques into a coherent and usable 'system'. Thanks to its promotion and development by acting teachers who were former students and the many translations of his theoretical writings, Stanislavski's system acquired an unprecedented ability to cross cultural boundaries and developed an international reach, dominating debates about acting in the West. That many of the precepts of his 'system' seem to be common sense and self-evident testifies to its hegemonic success. Actors frequently employ his basic concepts without knowing they do so.
Stanislavski treated theatre-making as a serious endeavour, requiring dedication, discipline and integrity, and the work of the actor as an artistic undertaking. Throughout his life, he subjected his own acting to a process of rigorous artistic self-analysis and reflection. His 'system' resulted from a persistent struggle to remove the blocks he encountered. His development of a theorized praxis—in which practice is used as a mode of inquiry and theory as a catalyst for creative development—identifies him as the first great theatre practitioner. Stanislavski believed that after seeing young actors at Aquinas College in Moscow he could see why theatre needed to change to a more disciplined endeavour.
Stanislavski's work was as important to the development of socialist realism in the USSR as it was to that of psychological realism in the United States. Many actors routinely identify his 'system' with the American Method, although the latter's exclusively psychological techniques contrast sharply with Stanislavski's multivariant, holistic and psychophysical approach, which explores character and action both from the 'inside out' and the 'outside in'. Stanislavski's work draws on a wide range of influences and ideas, including his study of the modernist and avant-garde developments of his time (naturalism, symbolism and Meyerhold's constructivism), Russian formalism, Yoga, Pavlovian behaviourist psychology, James-Lange (via Ribot) psychophysiology and the aesthetics of Pushkin, Gogol, and Tolstoy. He described his approach as 'spiritual Realism'.
Associated Names:
Konstantin Stanislavski (Alternative spelling)
Константин Станиславский (Russian)
斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基 (Chinese)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 14, 2017
If you're in theatre you need this book especially actors and directors. It basically highlights from his trilogy.
December 11, 2021
When I put down this long-sought-for book, all I could think was... WOW. For so thin a volume, it packs a whole lot of golden truths! Not just for acting, but true also for Life in general.
I also thought of how lucky I was in my teachers... they taught me Stanislavski without me ever knowing it WAS Stanislavski!
The less said about this book, the better. Theatre people will know that there are truths meant to be lived and experienced, that no amount of lecturing and quoting is going to be a good enough substitute for DOING. And for non-theatre people... go ahead and read it! But for it to make sense, you need to apply it. Join a workshop. Audition for a show. The world would be a better place if everyone experienced being part of an artistic team at least once in their lives: a school play, a student orchestra, a community choir.
Excited to share this with my students!
I also thought of how lucky I was in my teachers... they taught me Stanislavski without me ever knowing it WAS Stanislavski!
The less said about this book, the better. Theatre people will know that there are truths meant to be lived and experienced, that no amount of lecturing and quoting is going to be a good enough substitute for DOING. And for non-theatre people... go ahead and read it! But for it to make sense, you need to apply it. Join a workshop. Audition for a show. The world would be a better place if everyone experienced being part of an artistic team at least once in their lives: a school play, a student orchestra, a community choir.
Excited to share this with my students!
January 19, 2023
Very sporadic.
While the ideas in this book are quite sound (of course they are, they were all written by Stanislavsky), the almost haphazard-like manner they are displayed in this book is quite jarring and at times unintelligible. Many of them need context. As I was reading through them, I would remember reading some of the full statements in their original forms - in context - and they were so much more coherent.
I honestly don't see any value in this book the way it's formatted. I'd recommend you go read Stanislavsky's full works instead.
While the ideas in this book are quite sound (of course they are, they were all written by Stanislavsky), the almost haphazard-like manner they are displayed in this book is quite jarring and at times unintelligible. Many of them need context. As I was reading through them, I would remember reading some of the full statements in their original forms - in context - and they were so much more coherent.
I honestly don't see any value in this book the way it's formatted. I'd recommend you go read Stanislavsky's full works instead.
January 29, 2021
Prepare your character like a painter washes his brushes to start painting. Gave me another point of view of good and bad acting.
I haven't read this because I pursue this way of life, but only to satisfy my curiosity.
I haven't read this because I pursue this way of life, but only to satisfy my curiosity.
November 20, 2021
Obviously it’s full of great content, but I don’t think this method of organizing Stanislavsky’s work is the most effective for teaching it to the reader. It’s a nice refresher for people who already have a grasp of his method, though!
September 23, 2022
I checked this book out from the library and although it was somewhat interesting, it's written sort of like a dictionary, and for that reason I think this may be a better book to own vs read cover to cover.
January 28, 2025
Stanislavskis name means a lot in acting. His wisdom is some of the best you’ll get but it doesn’t mean follow it to the T. You can only become a great actor by figuring out a lot of this stuff yourself. Use it but don’t let his method become you.
December 5, 2018
As superb as reputed. The Bible for an actor.
December 29, 2015
Wow! This book reads like entries from an encyclopedia. I had hoped the concise statements would be applicable to a director to pass on to high school actors. They are not. If you are looking to be impressed by a great theatrical Russian mind, this book's for you. If you are looking to find something to apply into today's theater scene, don't bother.
July 9, 2011
This was pretty good. After a while it seemed to be pretty hoaky and a lot of the ideas seemed more philosophical than practical, but for what it was, I liked it. :)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews