Quote of the Week- Constantin Stanislavski

We wrap up a month-long series of quotes from famous Russians with a quip from the father of method acting Constantin Stanislavski (1863-1938); the stage director and actor was a contemporary of the playwright Anton Chekhov, a playwright whose name we always to spell incorrectly! Stanislavski directed the original stage version of the famous Chekhov play "The Seagull" in 1901.

The great stage persona also came up with what was later called 'The Stanislavski system' in which an actor actually becomes the character that he or she is portraying.

Actors who have been known to use this method include Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn, each of whom has won Academy Awards.

The Stanislavski system is also associated with the Actor's Studio in New York.

Here is the quote from Stanislavski:

"Love the art yourself, not yourself in the art."

SIDEBAR: We have an occasional segment on this blog dedicated to people with long, difficult names. As it turns out, The Studio Theatre in Washington, DC, is now performing the American debut of the German play "The Golden Dragon" starting on Nov. 2. The production, directed by Serge Seiden, is from the play which is written by a man with a very, long difficult name_ Richard Schimmelpfennig; we're glad no one called while we were trying to post this!