Dynamic Acting through Active Analysis

Sharon Marie Carnicke has authored a number of books on drama and acting, including the groundbreaking Stanislavsky in Focus, Checking Out Chekhov, and the co-authored Reframing Screen Performance. Her widely produced translations include her Kennedy Center award-winning The Seagull and are published in Chekhov: 4 Plays and 3 Jokes. Her work is distinguished by her fluency in Russian and her experience as an actor and director. She is fluent in Russian, has worked as an actor and director, and has taught and directed in the US, UK, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Norway, Finland, Russia, Italy, and Australia.

• List of Illustrations About the AuthorAcknowledgementsNote on Transliteration and TranslationList of Abbreviations of Frequently Cited SourcesPreface: To My ReadersPART I: The People Behind the LegacyChapter 1: The Mystery on Leontyevsky LaneChapter 2: Behind Closed DoorsChapter 3: The Truth Will Out! PART II: Six Lessons in Active AnalysisLesson 1: The Dynamic Principles of PerformanceLesson 2: Scene Study through Active Analysis—ShakespeareLesson 3: Scene Study through Active Analysis—ChekhovLesson 4: Rehearsing a Play through Active Analysis—JohnsonLesson 5: The System in Active AnalysisLesson 6: Working With Active Analysis in the Real WorldAppendix: The Lie (2020), a ten minute play by Joan Eyles JohnsonBibliographyIndex

Sharon Marie Carnicke eloquently tells the story of Stanislavsky’s monumental later, yet lesser-known, innovations in the art of acting. She then traces the journey of his protégé Knebel, who, almost singlehandedly, harbored and developed this work through the great restrictions of the late-Soviet world. With great compassion, Carnicke imagines what they might have undergone during what were perhaps their darkest hours, with Stanislavsky under house arrest and Knebel struggling to preserve and persevere. Carnicke then insightfully shares these innovations with her own students and thereby with the reader of this book. In our current moment as we transition to more collaborative environments, Active Analysis will prove to be a boon for rising theatre artists.