Stanislavsky and Place

The latest book in our ground-breaking series, Stanislavsky And... has now been released.

Stanislavsky and Place: Siting Performance Internationally, edited by Jonathan W Marshall and David Shirley, "offers a new approach to actor training and theatrical direction by investigating Stanislavsky’s question to his actors of “Where?” the action that they perform (and what preceded it) took place.

This book explores how place functions beyond mere location in theatrical practice, addressing politics, colonialism, conflict and resistance through the lens of Stanislavsky's work. Featuring contributions from leading scholars Jonathan Pitches and Bella Merlin alongside diverse practitioners, the collection examines multiple dimensions of place-based performance. Essays analyse an Australian production of Ibsen's Enemy of the People addressing environmental concerns; perspectives from Australian First Nations and Settler-descent artists; Russian concepts of place that shaped Stanislavsky's approach; and the groundbreaking site-specific Vanya Project that incorporated local environments and embodied responses. The book also investigates how actors and mise-en-scène become emplaced, while examining concepts of displacement in multimedia performances that position character-actors simultaneously in multiple locations, particularly in modernist narratives like Kafka's. Throughout these varied contributions, place emerges as a richly ambiguous and often contested tool for understanding theatrical experience, offering fresh perspectives on Stanislavsky's enduring influence on contemporary performance practice."

The book is available to order from Routledge:

https://www.routledge.com/Stanislavsky-and-Place-Siting-Performance-Internationally/Marshall-Shirley/p/book/9781041004547