An Introduction to Stanislavski and Naturalism

Born in 1863, Konstantin Sergeyevich Alexeyev or Stanislavski as we know him, entered the world as a member of one of the most affluent families in Russia. With theatre and the arts being very much held in the lime light of his home life, he became largely educated and influenced by this world from a very young age.

Aged 22, at a time where all theatre was presented in the form of melodrama being highly censored and constricted by the guidelines set in place by the government, Stanislavski began to question these methods and took it to himself to to delve dipper into what he believed to be the real truth of a good actor. He once said "life is the most important director", he saw the importance in the ability of making theatre look just as reality and develoed this through out his life, into the method of naturalism common in the majority of theatre, film and tv we see today. By the end of the 19th century a lot of writers where writing in this style and up until present day an audience will almost always expect this sense of reality when going to see theatre.