The S Word: Stanislavsky in Context An International Symposium 5, 6, 7 April 2019 1 2 The Stanislavsky Research Centre Advisory Board Honorary Patron: Anatoly Smeliansky, President, Moscow Art Theatre School Marie-Christine Autant-Mathieu, CNRS, Paris Andrei Malaev Babel, FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, USA Sharon Marie Carnicke, University of Southern California, USA Kathy Dacre, Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance Jan Hancil, Akademie múzických umění, Prague Bella Merlin, University of California, Riverside, USA Jonathan Pitches, University of Leeds Laurence Senelick, Tufts University, USA David Shirley, Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts/Edith Cowan University Prof. Sergei Tcherkasski, Russian State Institute of Performing Arts Director: Paul Fryer, University of Leeds/London South Bank University Deputy Director: Jonathan Pitches, University of Leeds Stanislavski Studies (Taylor and Francis) Editor in Chief: Paul Fryer, University of Leeds/London South Bank University Editors Julia Listengarten, University of Central Florida, USA Sergei Tcherkasski, Russian State Institute of Performing Arts Luis Campos, Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance, UK Reviews Editor: David Matthews, Kings College London Social Media Editor: Michelle LoRicco, Mill Mountain Theatre, USA Consultant Translator: Anna Shulgat, Writers Union of St Petersburg, Russia Editorial Advisory Board Stefan Aquilina, University of Malta, Malta David Chambers, Yale School of Drama, USA Alexander Chepurov, St Petersburg State Theater Arts Academy, Russia Carol Fisher, Sorgenfrei, UCLA, USA Adrian Giurgea, Colgate University, USA Jan Hyvnar, DAMU Prague, Czech Republic Nesta Jones, Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, UK David Krasner, Five Towns College, USA Tomasz Kubikowski, Theatre Academy, Warsaw, Poland Bella Merlin, University of California, Riverside, USA Vladimir Mirodan, University of the Arts, UK. Maria Pia Pagani, University of Pavia, Italy Nikolai Pesochinsky, St Petersburg State Theater Arts Academy, Russia Dassia Posner, Northwestern University, USA Maria Shevtsova, Goldsmiths College, UK Peta Tait, Latrobe University, Australia Simon Trussler, Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, UK Ian Watson, Rutgers University, USA Andrew White, Valparaiso University, USA Rose Whyman, University of Birmingham, UK 3 Welcome to The S Word: Stanislavsky in Context How time flies! It’s been three years since the first edition of The S Word. And here we are, opening the fourth meeting in Malta. For The S Word to have made it this far, we have of course to thank Prof. Paul Fryer and Prof. Bella Merlin for their hard work and leadership. It was indeed a pleasure for me to convene this fourth edition with Prof. Fryer. For this edition we have opted to use as a framing theme the idea of ‘Stanislavski in Context’. We hoped for proposals to reflect on Stanislavsky’s work within the social, cultural, and political milieus in which it developed, without however forgetting the ways in which this work was transmitted, adapted, and appropriated within recent and current theatre contexts. We looked forward to receive papers and workshop proposals that were both historical as well as contemporary, and for participants to think of Stanislavsky as an instigator of modern theatre and a paradigm for performance practices within twenty-first- century training and performance scenarios. I am happy to say that the symposium’s call for proposals received a very positive response, and today we can look forward to a full programme that explores Stanislavsky’s work in its endless variety. On behalf of my colleagues within the Department of Theatre Studies I would like to welcome you all to Malta and to this wonderful building of the UM Valletta Campus. The Campus serves as a setting for the hosting of international conferences, seminars, short courses, and summer schools. It also incorporates the Valletta Campus Theatre, which is home to a lot of the Department’s practical work, training, and performances. The Department itself is this year celebrating, with Music Studies, its thirty years anniversary. Throughout these three decades it has developed into an international institution with strong links in Europe and outside the continent. It is a partner of The S Word, and its staff are members on, amongst others, the IFTR Executive, the Editorial Board of the Stanislavski Studies journal, and the Medinea Network. It hosts yearly workshops and seminars by visiting practitioners and academies from abroad, and has recently produced book publications on performer training in the twenty-first century, the relationship between carnival and power, theatre communities, and interdisciplinary performance. May I take this opportunity to invite you to have a look at the Department’s website (https://www.um.edu.mt/performingarts/theatre) and to get in touch with us to discuss possible collaborations. Today, however, it is our mutual interest in Stanislavsky that has brought us together. His work remains engaging in its complexity, fascinating in its applicability, and captivating in the questions that it raises. Certainly, the Symposium will raise several such questions and engage us all in possible answers. The Symposium is supported by the School of Performing Arts of the University of Malta and Teatru Malta, Malta’s National Theatre. Prof. Sergei Tcherkasski’s visit is supported by the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Malta. Dr Stefan Aquilina Director of Research, School of Performing Arts Senior Lecturer, Theatre Studies Conference Co-convener 4 The Stanislavsky Research Centre and The S Word The Stanislavsky Research Centre was launched at The University of Leeds, UK, in January 2019. Following on from the work that originated at The Stanislavski Centre (Rose Bruford College), this new centre is a unique international initiative to support and develop both academic and practice-based research centered upon the work and legacy of Konstantin Stanislavsky. Inspired by the work of the late Professor Jean Benedetti, an internationally renowned authority and author of several major books on Stanislavsky’s work, the Centre hosts and promotes a series of lectures, workshops, study days, short courses, exhibitions and other events throughout the year, and offers support to researchers and research students. The S Word: Stanislavski and the Contemporary Theatre is a major collaborative international research project which, from Spring 2019, has been based at London South Bank University. Created by Bella Merlin and Paul Fryer, it was launched with a symposium on Stanislavski and the Future of Acting, in Spring 2016. A collaboration with The University of California Riverside, over 100 scholars and practitioners attended the event which was held at Rose Bruford College, UK. The second symposium, The S Word: Merging Methodologies, a collaboration with DAMU Theatre Academy, was held in Prague in March 2017. In April 2018, the third symposium, A Practical Acting Laboratory, was hosted by The University of California, Riverside. The S Word is a collaboration between a number of institutions. Each partner supports and promotes the project’s work and hosts symposia and other related events. The partners are London South Bank University, The University of California Riverside, DAMU Theatre Academy Prague, The University of Malta, Macunaima Theatre School (Sao Paulo, Brazil), The University of Leeds and The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. This year we are delighted to be the guests of the Department of Theatre Studies at the University of Malta and I would like to particularly thank our colleagues here in the beautiful historic city of Valletta for hosting this event, and for the tremendous support that they have given us. In particular, my co-convener Dr Stefan Aquilina, without whose tireless efforts, this event could not have taken place. Details of our next symposium can be found in the back of this programme, and we are currently planning future events in the UK, USA and Australia. For further information about The Stanislavsky Research Centre, please visit our website: https://stanislavski-research.leeds.ac.uk Paul Fryer Director of The Stanislavsky Research Centre Co-convener of The S Word 5 Programme FRIDAY 5 APRIL 17:00 Registration (Venue: Aula Prima, Second Floor) 18:30 Symposium Welcome (Venue: Aula Prima) 19:00 Keynote (Venue: Aula Prima) Laurence Senelick, Fletcher Professor of Drama and Oratory, Tufts University, USA The Ever-Widening Contexts of Konstantin Stanislavsky 20:30 Wine Reception (Venue: Bar Area, First Floor) 21:30 End SATURDAY 6 APRIL 8:00 Registration desk open 9:00 Keynote (Venue: Valletta Campus Theatre) Vicki Ann Cremona, Associate Professor of Theatre, Department of Theatre Studies, Head of Dance Studies, School of Performing Arts, University of Malta Stanislavsky’s System: Mimesis, Truth, and Verisimilitude 10:00-10:30 Coffee Break Meeting Room 6 Meeting Room 5 Valletta Campus Ground Floor Ground Floor Theatre 10:30- Chair: Frank Camilleri Chair: Lucía Piquero 10:30 12:00 (University of Malta) (University of Malta) Deepak Verma (University of East Kathy Dacre (Rose Joelle Ré Arp-Dunham London, UK) Bruford College of (University of Georgia, USA) The Yoga of Acting – Theatre and Performance, Stanislavsky’s Imagination and Building the Charismatic UK) Experiencing: The Cognitive Body: ‘The Actor and Stanislavsky and The Link Prana’: Context in Which He A Dynamic, Working Wrote Gabriela Curpan