The S Word: Stanislavsky and the Digital - online booking open

📅 17–19 June 2026
📍 University of East London, Stratford, London E15 4LZ.

Keynote Speaker: Mike Leigh in conversation with Aletia Badenhorst
Jean Benedetti Lecture: Vakhtangov in the MoCap Studio – Tom Linden-McCarron & Robin Berry

Co-Conveners:
Dr Evi Stamatiou (University of East London), Dr Zuzana Jurechová (DAMU, Prague), Prof. Paul Fryer (Stanislavsky Research Centre)

The S Word: Stanislavsky and the Digital is an international interdisciplinary symposium exploring how Stanislavsky’s legacy is transformed by the technologies shaping contemporary performance.

As digital tools redefine how we make, teach, and experience performance, the symposium asks how ideas of truth, presence, embodiment, and emotion evolve across virtual and hybrid spaces. From VR/AR, motion capture, AI and gaming environments to vertical filmmaking, immersive storytelling, and online collaboration, we explore what happens to the Stanislavskian System when the actor’s instruments include data, sensors, and avatars.

Bringing together scholars, artists, educators, technologists, and practitioners, the event creates a space for critical and practice-based exchange on screen performance, digital scenography, immersive media, and pedagogical innovation.

At its core, the symposium asks: what does it mean to train and perform “truthfully” in mediated environments - and how might Stanislavskian principles adapt, expand, or break under digital conditions?

Now in its tenth year, The S Word, founded by Bella Merlin and Paul Fryer, continues its mission to connect historical practice with contemporary innovation, extending its dialogue into the digital future of performance.