In his treatment of the classics, Stanislavski believed that it was legitimate for actors and directors to ignore the playwright's intentions for a play's staging.Benedetti (1999a, 225). A play could be adapted "to the actor's inner experiences", he explained to a sceptical Nemirovich. To support his position, Stanislavski cited Gogol's advice to "take any play of Schiller or Shakespeare and stage it as contemporary art demands" and Chekhov's delight at the MAT actor Ivan Moskvin's creative departure from Chekhov's intentions in his characterisation of Epikhodov in their production of The Cherry Orchard. One of his most important—a collaboration with Edward Gordon Craig on a production of Hamlet—became a landmark of 20th-century theatrical modernism.Bablet (1962, 133–158), Benedetti (1999a, 188–211), Senelick (1982, xvi), and Taxidou (1998, 66–69). Stanislavski hoped to prove that his recently developed system for creating internally justified, realistic acting could meet the formal demands of a classic play.Bablet (1962, 135–136, 153–154, 156) and Benedetti (1999a, 189–195). Craig envisioned a Symbolist monodrama in which every aspect of production would be subjugated to the protagonist: it would present a dream-like vision as seen through Hamlet's eyes.Bablet (1962, 141–142) and Benedetti (1999a, 189–195).
In his treatment of the classics, Stanislavski believed that it was legitimate for actors and directors to ignore the playwright's intentions for a play's staging.Benedetti (1999a, 225). A play could be adapted "to the actor's inner experiences", he explained to a sceptical Nemirovich. To support his position, Stanislavski cited Gogol's advice to "take any play of Schiller or Shakespeare and stage it as contemporary art demands" and Chekhov's delight at the MAT actor Ivan Moskvin's creative departure from Chekhov's intentions in his characterisation of Epikhodov in their production of The Cherry Orchard. One of his most important—a collaboration with Edward Gordon Craig on a production of Hamlet—became a landmark of 20th-century theatrical modernism.Bablet (1962, 133–158), Benedetti (1999a, 188–211), Senelick (1982, xvi), and Taxidou (1998, 66–69). Stanislavski hoped to prove that his recently developed system for creating internally justified, realistic acting could meet the formal demands of a classic play.Bablet (1962, 135–136, 153–154, 156) and Benedetti (1999a, 189–195). Craig envisioned a Symbolist monodrama in which every aspect of production would be subjugated to the protagonist: it would present a dream-like vision as seen through Hamlet's eyes.Bablet (1962, 141–142) and Benedetti (1999a, 189–195).