The Stanislavsky/Grotowski connection : training and performance

Abstract

This dissertation discusses the ‘connection’ between Stanislavsky and Grotowski. The word ‘connection’ is rooted in the application which Thomas Richards gives it in his book At Work with Grotowski on Physical Actions, and which I will use as my starting point. This study will be structured on the following areas of investigation: (i) Training Techniques, (ii) Method of Physical Actions by Stanislavsky and the work on Physical Actions by Grotowski, (iii) and the application of Physical Actions of both practitioners. Chapter 1 tackles Training with a focus on Stanislavsky’s First Studio and Grotowski’s Laboratory Theatre of 13 Rows. My discussion will include a section on Via Negativa. In Chapter 2 I will move on to discuss their work on Physical Actions, by starting with a comparison of Stanislavsky’s work on his Method of Physical Actions and Active Analysis, which sometimes are considered the same approach, but in reality are not. Then I will discuss how Grotowski was influenced by Stanislavsky to work on actions, and to see from where the ‘connection’ between them comes from. In Chapter 3 I will discuss concrete situations in which the two applied the work on Physical Actions. My focus will be on the application of the Method of Physical Actions in Stanislavsky’s production of Talents and Admirers in 1933, and how Grotowski applied his work on Physical Actions in the Objective Drama Program in 1984.