Reading for the Soul in Stanislavski's <italic>The Work of the Actor on Him/Herself</italic>: Orthodox Mysticism, Mainstream Occultism, Psychology and the System in the Russian Silver Age

Abstract

Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavski's system of actor training has become a common foundation for modern approaches to acting through much of the world. This study explores Stanislavski's writings within the context of Russian Orthodox Christianity, the occult sciences, and the developing fields of psychology and psychoanalysis in order to recover the meaning of the "soul" (dusha) of the actor within the System. Stanislavski's System developed upon a mystical, Neo-Platonic construction of the soul. This conceptualization of dusha formed the foundation for Stanislavski's view of the creative process (tvorchestvo) and the essential energy of activity (aktivnost') and a paradigm for actor training that develops specific modes of communication Stanislavski characterized as "direct and unmediated communication, soul to soul." The soul, its creative process, and essential energy are the lynchpins that hold the System together. The definition of this term will illuminate the methodology, aesthetics, and pedagogy of the System.