Acting: the First Six Lessons by Richard Boleslavsky: a path to acting

• Grant number: 14/01402-8
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Theatre
• Principal Investigator: Maria Sílvia Betti
• Grantee: Matheus Cosmo da Silva Dias
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the formulations and methods of the interpretive work developed by the theater director Richard Boleslavski, a Polish actor who was one of Constantin Stanislavski's disciples and who lived in the United States in the early twentieth century.Boleslavski's main ideas are presented in his book "Acting : The First Six Lessons ", first published in 1933 . The book is the main object of analysis of this research, particularly as concerns the use of the so called emotional memory, which is a major source of dispute between the formulations of important local theater directors such as Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler. The understanding of the six elements proposed by the American director (concentration, memory of emotion, dramatic action, characterization, observation and rhythm) is still unclear in many respects, since there are no studies on this topic. This research, therefore, attempts to grasp the ideas of Boleslavski to understand a way of acting that lasted during most of the twentieth century and still leaves some traces in the XXI century that are useful for those who are interested in thinking about certain aspects of contemporary theatre.