A Short History of Affective Memory
Il professore
About Konstatin Stanislavski and Affective Memory:
In l906, when he was forty-one, K S began formulating his many ideas about
acting. The Moscow Art Theatre, of which he was co-founder, had already
been in existence for eight years and had debuted Chekhov's great plays.
(Chekhov died in l904.) Some scholars might use the period around 1906 as
a possible date for the formalized introduction of Affective Memory as
adirectorial or teaching technique, but it can also be argued that KS may
have introduced the technique as early as 1898 when the Moscow Art Theatre
first started production.
One theatre historian claims that l914 was the year in which
Stanislavski,influenced by the Frenchman Ribot's book "The Psychology of
Feelings," first introduced Affective Memory into his work. I tend to go
along with this latter date.
Sonia Moore (who studied at the Third Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre
around 1920) claims that by then KS had already stopped using Affective
Memory because he noticed "an alarming and undesirable inner hysteria" in
the performances of those who used it.
Whatever year you choose, there is no date known to me when KS publicly
disavowed the use of Affective Memory. My guess is that he simply realized
that there were so many better, less damaging "emotion starters" which the
actor could use.
In l923 Richard Boleslavski, a former member of MAT who had settled in the
USA, began teaching his version the Stanislavski System. He published
magazine articles, one of which proposed that Affective Memory, AKA Emotion
Memory, was as a technique, among others, which the actor could use to
reach emotion. A young Lee Strasberg read all these articles and even
attended some of Boleslavski's lectures at the American Laboratory Theatre
for a few short months in l924. Strasberg latched onto Affective Memory as
the keystone of his Method.
KS was 62 years old in 1927 when, while directing the play The Marriage of
Figaro , he began formulating what was to one day become his Method of
Physical Actions. Interestingly enough, in the very same year Boleslavski
in the United States began deemphas- izing the use of Affective Memory at
the American Laboratory Theatre.
Of the many dozens of actors and teachers throughout the world who were
influenced directly or indirectly by Stanislavski and his followers in
those years, only Lee Strasberg -- the first director and acting teacher at
the Group Theatre (1931-1941)— insisted upon the use of Affective Memory as
the primary training technique.
In l934 Stella Adler, back from private study with KS in Paris, reported
to Strasberg and others at the Group Theatre that the master had abandoned
the use of Affective Memory. Strasberg is reported to have said: "He may
have, but I never will." This obstinate refusal in the face of
Stanislavski's change-of-mind lead to an open revolt in the ranks of the
Group Theatre, many of whom were opposed to these "emotional stripteases."
This rift eventually lead to Strasberg's resignation, and for years
afterwards he floated in a kind of theatrical limbo, directing a few
unsuccessful Broadway plays and teaching, until l951 when the directorship
of the Actors Studio was offered to him by his former students, Kazan and
Bobby Lewis, co-founders of the Studio in l947.
The rest, as they say, is theatrical history, sordid or glorious,depend-
ing on which camp you belong to.
Learn more about the history and craft of acting at http://www.thegrid.net
--
IL PROFESSORE
AlexNY15
>Some scholars might use the period around 1906 as
>a possible date for the formalized introduction of Affective Memory as
>adirectorial or teaching technique, but it can also be argued that KS may
>have introduced the technique as early as 1898
and various actors used the same & similar techniques before K. S.!
--alex