Stanislavski Series

 "All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players"

(Shakespeare, As You Like It)

Life often seems unreal – like we are going through the motions, living a lie, or just playing our parts. Why, then, shouldn’t we use techniques from the world of make-believe to make sense of life? This is the inspiration that led me to write a series of articles about theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski; specifically about using ideas and techniques from his system for actor training to become more self-aware, identify life goals, and craft an intentional path to reach them.

Stanislavski's words about what it means to play a part well show how to lead an intentional life:

"To play truly means to be right, logical, coherent, to think, strive, feel and act in unison with your role. If you take all these internal processes, and adapt them to the spiritual and physical life of the person you are representing, we call that living the part." 

(Constantin Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares)

If we think, strive, feel and act logically and coherently, adapting ourselves to accomplish goals that will provide satisfaction and fulfilment, then we have played our part in life well.

I studied Stanislavski's work years ago, and was immediately impressed with his philosophy and the applicability of his ideas outside the theatre. Over the years I have often returned to his writings; now I have finally taken the step to compose my thoughts about what his work has to teach us. The articles focus on and delve into Stanislavski's notion of the triumvirate of inner motive forces that govern us: emotion, intellect and will. They include lots of hands-on exercises to practise the ideas. This landing page indicates the structure of the series and provides direct links to each article.


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