[Candrama] The S Word - Stanislavsky's Many Faces: Then and Now - November 2025

[Paul Fryer]

*/The S Word - /**/Stanislavsky's Many Faces: Then and Now/*

Annual Symposium organised by

*The Stanislavsky Research Centre (Leeds/Malta) *in collaboration 
with*The Department of Theatre Studies (School of Performing Arts, 
University of Malta) *

*Dates:6-9 November 2025*

Venue:**Valletta Campus of the University of Malta, Valletta, Malta

Keynote speakers: Prof. Andrei Malaev-Babel (FSU/Asolo Conservatory for 
Actor Training and International Demidov Association)

Prof. Frank Camilleri (University of Malta)

Benedetti Lecture:Prof. Bella Merlin (University of California, Riverside)

Co-conveners: Prof. Stefan Aquilina (University of Malta)

Prof. Paul Fryer (Stanislavsky Research Centre)

Following on from past successful editions of the Symposium, we are very 
pleased to announce the following *Call for Papers/Presentations* for 
the next major event of *The S Word* project.

Stanislavsky’s work touched so many areas of practice that simply 
referring to him as a ‘theatre-maker’ seems to be reductive. An actor 
skilled in character transformation; a highly creative director famous 
for compelling stage creations; a pedagogue and teacher of many 
performers; an experimenter who brought seismic shifts to the art of 
performance, in Russia and across continents; a theorist of acting and 
performance; book author; collaborator; public speaker; political 
figure; and scientist – these are among the many ‘faces’ which today we 
attribute to Stanislavsky. As its core, the symposium invites 
submissions tackling any of these or even other faces of Stanislavsky, 
either in isolation or in interaction with one another.

Moreover, in its subtitle of ‘Then and Now’, the symposium is offering a 
second prompt for further discussion. Proposals that tackle the ‘then’, 
i.e. which seek to unravel Stanislavsky’s own ideas, productions, 
methods of work, etc. are certainly welcome; so are other proposals 
which consider the ‘now’, or our own interpretations and applications of 
Stanislavsky in a markedly different, twenty-first-century performance 
context. In this way, the Symposium seeks to develop a dialogue between 
past and present, at a time when we are steadily moving forward into 
ever-more contemporary understandings of the System. The ‘now’ is also 
extended to the research methods used today to study a historical figure 
like Stanislavsky. While rigorous historical study will always be 
important, the Symposium asks what other methodologies can be used to 
extend our knowledge of Stanislavsky.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

·Stanislavsky’s many faces, their negotiation and interaction

·Relatively obscure work, sources, or practices within Stanislavsky’s 
oeuvre

·Reappraising the System: how and why

·Stanislavsky and his collaborators

·Stanislavsky today – issues of international transmission, 
appropriation, and adaptation

·Teaching Stanislavsky and pedagogical perspectives

·Stanislavsky and contemporary performance (e.g. postdramatic theatre, 
digital performance, etc.)

·Stanislavsky and contemporary concerns including gender, race, 
well-being, intimacy, etc.

·Methodologies used in researching Stanislavsky today: history-based; 
practice-as-research; use of theory, etc.

·Interdisciplinary connections with other fields, such as Psychology, 
Cognitive Science, Cultural Studies, Philosophy, History, etc.

·Provocations that critique or offer a ‘risk-taking approach’ towards 
Stanislavsky.

We invite proposals for contributions in the following formats:

·an individual conventional paper (20 minutes);

·practice-as-research sessions/practical presentations (20 minutes);

·practical/workshop sessions (40 minutes);

·panel presentations (a minimum of three participants) (60 minutes).

In a first instance please send a short written proposal (no more than 
300 words) to Prof. Stefan Aquilina (stefan.aquilina at um.edu.mt) and 
Prof. Paul Fryer (paul at paulfryer.me.uk), to arrive no later than *1 
April 2025*. Please include a short bionote.

Symposium papers and presentations will be considered for publication in 
the journal /Stanislavski Studies/, published by Taylor and Francis.

Registration for this event will open in Spring 2025.

-- 
Prof. Paul Fryer PhD, FRSA, FHEA.
Visiting Professor, School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds.
Visiting Professor, School of Arts and Creative Industries, London South Bank University.
Hon. Visiting Professor, School of Arts and Digital Industries, University of East London.
Co-Director, The Stanislavsky Research Centre.
Founding Editor, Stanislavski Studies and Series Editor, Stanislavsky And...(Routledge/Taylor & Francis).
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