Stanislavski’s system: Artists trained to explore emotions

Renowned director imparts his knowledge to help actors execute believable performances.

ISLAMABAD:

Acting students in Islamabad got a taste of Stanislavski’s system at a theatre workshop that concluded here at Pakistan National Council of the Arts on Thursday.

The workshop was conducted by Allen Nause, a master of Stanislavski’s system, which helps an actor deliver believable and realistic emotions. This system follows a sequence of techniques that trains actors to incorporate believable emotions in their performances.

Nause, who conducted a similar workshop in Karachi, explained to the students that in order to give a strong performance one has to familiarise oneself with the “who” and “why” of the character in question. The students were told to go beyond their comfort zone, visualise situations, try improvisations and inculcate as much expressions as they could to involve the audience.

Nause, recipient of the 2003 Governor’s Arts Award and Artistic Director of the Artist’s Repertory Theatre, is not unknown to theatre in the United States as well as across the globe. As a part of the Cultural Envoy Program of the US Department of State, Nause has travelled all the way to Islamabad to promote theatre and acting techniques.

During his visit here in Islamabad, Nause is producing the famous American comedy “The Odd Couple” by playwright Neil Simon. Simon has a talent for skilfully transforming ordinary situations into hilarious accounts and whipping them into complete fiascos.  Simon, Sam Shepard and Tennessee Williams are considered to be some of the master playwrights in America.

A good number of students attended Nause’s five-day workshop. Taking advantage of the opportunity, they posed a number of questions to Nause, the answers to which, many of them said, they would not have gotten otherwise. The performances will be open to the public from July 12 to July 17.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2011.