Professor David Peimer
Konstantin Stanislavski, Part 2: Creative Techniques Used by Actors and Directors
Summary
The lecture focuses on the evolution of acting techniques and training methodologies, building upon the foundational ideas introduced by Stanislavski and the Moscow Art Theatre in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It examines the influence of Stanislavski’s concepts on subsequent acting theorists and practitioners, including Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, Sanford Meisner, and others. The lecture emphasizes how these individuals revolutionized actor training and rehearsal techniques, particularly in New York and London, and how their impact extended globally. Part 2 of 2.
Professor David Peimer
David Peimer is a professor of theatre and performance studies in the UK. He has taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and New York University (Global Division), and was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Born in South Africa, David has won numerous awards for playwriting and directing. He has written eleven plays and directed forty in places like South Africa, New York, Brussels, London, Berlin, Zulu Kingdom, Athens, and more. His writing has been published widely and he is the editor of Armed Response: Plays from South Africa (2009) and the interactive digital book Theatre in the Camps (2012). He is on the board of the Pinter Centre in London.
Absolutely. This is why Stella Adler split from Strasberg. That’s also why Stanislavski changed later in life to focus on imagination much more than the “magic if”, or rather than emotional memory.
The reason I showed the Marx brothers is they never read a word of all this or studied any of this. It can lead into an unhealthy dependency if one becomes too addicted. That’s why I wanted to show Strasberg versus Adler.
No, he’s trying to capture Liam Neeson, that Schindler is a wealthy businessman. He belongs to the Nazi party. He’s an opportunist. He’s going to use it to make money. Doesn’t necessarily believe in the ideas of it. That scene is about awakening his conscience to shock, horror, shame, and how shame works to awaken the conscience.