[Candrama] CFP: The S Word - Stanislavsky and the Digital (UEL, June 2026)

[Paul Fryer]

*The S Word: Stanislavsky and the Digital*
*Annual Symposium*
Organised by*The Stanislavsky Research Centre (Leeds/Malta)*
in partnership with *The School of Arts and Creative Industries, 
University of East London*

📅*17–20 June 2026 (the last day will be online)*
📍*University of East London, Stratford, E15 4LZ, London*

*Keynote Presentation: Vakhtangov in the MoCap Studio*by /Tom 
Linden-McCarron and Robin Berry/

*Jean **Benedetti Lecture TBC*


      *_Co-Conveners_:*

*Dr Evi Stamatiou*(University of East London), *Zuzana 
Jurechová*(Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, DAMU) and *Prof. Paul 
Fryer*(Stanislavsky Research Centre)


    *_Call for Papers and Presentations_*

The School of Arts and Creative Industries at the University of East 
London is pleased to launch its partnership with The Stanislavsky 
Research Centre through*The S Word - Stanislavsky and the Digital*. As 
digital technologies increasingly influence how performance is created, 
taught, and experienced, we invite scholars, artists, media 
practitioners, technologists, and educators to consider how 
Stanislavsky’s legacy engages with the technological turn of the 
twenty-first century.

 From virtual and augmented reality, motion capture, and AI-assisted 
dramaturgy to online collaboration, immersive storytelling, and 
screen-based performance, this symposium asks how digital media reshape 
the Stanislavskian principles of truth, presence, embodiment, and emotion.

We welcome submissions from teachers, artists, filmmakers, game 
designers, digital scenographers, immersive media practitioners, and 
researchers whose work intersects with or reinterprets Stanislavskian 
principles. What does it mean to*train truthfully *when the actor’s 
tools include data, sensors, or an avatar? How might the System evolve 
within virtual classrooms, hybrid rehearsal spaces, or motion capture 
studios?

The S Word is an international, collaborative research project, created 
by Bella Merlin and Paul Fryer, now celebrating its 10th year. Building 
on The S Word’s mission to bridge historical and contemporary practice, 
this symposium invites dialogue between Stanislavsky’s foundational 
ideas and current digital innovation, exploring how emerging 
technologies and pedagogies may transform creativity, performance, and 
actor training.

*Topics of Interest Include (but are not limited to):*

·Stanislavsky and the Digital: intersections with VR, AR, motion 
capture, AI, gaming, digital twins, and online performance environments

·Digital storytelling and performance: Stanislavskian principles in 
screen acting, immersive media, and interactive narrative design

·Reappraising the System: how digital experimentation extends or 
challenges truth, embodiment, affect, and the psychophysical

·Teaching Stanislavsky online: immersive pedagogy, remote collaboration, 
simulation-based learning for acting and media

·Digital scenography and hybrid performance: projection mapping, 
live-streaming, mixed-reality theatre, and the actor–technology interface

·Archiving and re-imagining Stanislavsky: digital humanities approaches 
to preservation, documentation, reconstruction, and analysis

·Stanislavsky and the post-human performer: presence, identity, and 
affect in technologically mediated or avatar-based performance

·Interdisciplinary perspectives: psychology, cognitive science, 
data-driven creativity, and digital aesthetics in relation to 
Stanislavsky’s legacy

·Ethics, wellbeing, and inclusion in digital practice: emotional safety, 
intimacy coordination, accessibility, and representation in virtual space

·*Provocations*: speculative, experimental, or practice-based 
re-imaginings of Stanislavsky for the digital performer, filmmaker, or 
educator

*Formats*

·Individual Papers (20 minutes)

·Practice-as-Research Presentations (20 minutes)

·Practical Workshops (40 minutes)

·Panels (60 minutes, minimum 3 contributors)

*Submission Details*

Please submit:

·A proposal of*no more than 300 words*

*·*A*short biographical note***

·Whether you wish to present *in person or online* on the final day, and 
your *time zone* so we can schedule accordingly.

Send your proposal to:

📧*Dr Evi Stamatiou*–e.stamatiou at uel.ac.uk
📧*Zuzana Jurechová*–jurech01 at st.amu.cz
📧*Prof. Paul Fryer*–paul at paulfryer.me.uk

🗓*Deadline for submissions: _31 January 2026_*

Selected contributions will be considered for the edited volume:
📘/Stanislavsky and the Digital/(Routledge, 2027).

*Registration opens Spring 2026.*


-- 
Prof. Paul Fryer MA, PhD, FRSA, FHEA.
Visiting Professor, School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds (UK).
Co-Director, The Stanislavsky Research Centre (University of Leeds/University of Malta)
Consultant Editor, Stanislavski Studies
Series Editor, Stanislavsky And...
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