Translated by Jean Benedetti, this is the Russian director's complete and unabridged autobiography, written in the 1920s. With many never before seen photos and documentary materials, it also includes an essay by Stanislavski historian Laurence Senellck. 'This is a wise and delightful book...' }Times Literary Supplement The first ever publication of Stanislavski’s complete and unabridged autobiography, this superb translation by Jean Benedetti – containing fifty photos illustrating his eventful life – is essential reading for scholars, practitioners and students as it is one of the classic actor/director account of life in the theatre. A note on transliteration ix Translator's note x Publisher's acknowledgements xi Introduction: Stanislaysky's Double Life in Art by Laurence Senelick xiii Translator's preface: Stanislayski's Hidden Life in Art by Jean Benedetti xxvi ARTISTIC CHILDHOOD Obstinacy 3 The circus 9 Puppet theatre 15 Italian opera 17 Pranks 20 Schooldays 25 The Maly Theatre 29 My debut 34 Acting in life 40 Music 45 Drama school 52 ARTISTIC ADOLESCENCE 63 The Alekseev Circle 65 A rival 72 Interregnum 75 ARTISTIC YOUTH 87 The Moscow Society of Art and Literature 89 First season 91 A fortunate accident 96 Control 100 Two steps back 103 When you play a bad man look for the good in him 105 Character acting 107 Another misunderstanding 110 The Meiningen Company 113 Hackwork 116 My first production in drama 118 Personal success 120 Meetings with Tolstoi 122 Success 127 My passion for directing 131 Experiences with professionals 135 Othello 142 A castle in Turin 150 The Sunken Bell 153 A memorable meeting 158 Waiting for the opening of the Moscow Art Theatre 164 The first season opens 177 The historico-realistic line 181 The line of fantasy and imagination 186 The line of Symbolism and Impressionism 191 The line of intuition and feeling 192 Chekhov's visit Uncle Vanya 198 A trip to the Crimea 201 Three Sisters 204 First visit to Petersburg 207 Provincial tours 212 Savva Morozov and the building of the theatre 213 The socio-political line 215 Maksim Gorki 219 The Lower Depths 222 Instead of intuition and feeling, the line of the everyday 226 Instead of intuition and feeling, the line of historical Naturalism 228 The Cherry Orchard 232 The studio on Povarskaya Street 242 ARTISTIC MATURITY 251 Discovery of truths long since known 253 The Drama of Life 262 Ilya Satz and Leopold Sulerzhitski 266 Black velvet 268 The Life of Man 274 A visit to Maeterlinck 276 A Month in the Country 279 Duncan and Craig 285 Attempt to use the 'System' in life 297 First studio 301 Cabbage nights and the 'Chauve Souris' 309 An actor must know how to speak 313 Revolution 318 Disaster 322 Cain 324 The Bolshoi Opera Studio 328 Departure and return 335 The final balance and the future 343 APPENDICES: Variants and Articles 351 For the Chapter Othello 353 Chekhov remembered 356 The Moscow Art Theatre's tour in Europe and America 1922-1923 382 Endnotes 441 Chronology 451