Szcenárium, 2022 (10. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)

2022-04-01 / 4. szám (angol nyelvű szám)

talking about. So, I pulled out my notes from my student days. It was about two pages long, much of which I didn’t remember at all. This time we essentially covered everything that featured in my earlier notes, but the experience was truly revelatory. The reason why I probably didn’t remember anything from my old notes, was because I didn’t understand anything at the time. Now, I feel I have managed to get a little closer to Vasiliev’s thinking. First encounter The day before the course began, a documentary about Vasiliev and Mari Törőcsik’s collaboration in Moscow and their production of Dostoevsky’s Uncle’s Dream was screened at Uránia. Vasiliev expressed his regret that in the film he is portrayed as a sombre, constantly struggling, austere figure, although he considers himself to be much more casual and jovial. (Note: Very rarely did I see him smile.) Vasiliev described his own theatrical career as an evolution from psychological theatre to metaphysical theatre. His teacher and master was Maria Knebel, who as a student of Nemirovich- Danchenko, Stanislavsky and Mikhail Chekhov was directly related to the legendary Moscow Art Theatre. Stanislavsky is seen as the father of realistic-psychological theatre, however, his work is more than that, and is much broader. He already realised that, although realistic theatre is fundamental and indispensable (especially in actor training), there are certain materials that defy realistic aesthetic (see opera and non-sensationalist musical theatre in general). For this reason, in the 1930s Stanislavsky, abandoned his analytical-psychological approach, and began to experiment with the etude method. It was during this period that he worked with Maria Knebel, who then developed, refined, and elaborated the method. Of course, just as a painter has to learn to draw accurately and a musician has to learn classical Maria Knebel (1898-1985) harmony, actors and directors must also learn F. Dostoyevsky: Uncle's Dream, Art Theatre, Budapest, 1994, directed by A. Vasiliev (photo: Péter Korniss, source: szinhaz.net)

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