[Candrama] Call for Proposal: The S Word: Stanislavsky & Actor Wellbeing (9th September 2025)

[Paul Fryer]

*Call for Proposals*

*The S Word: Stanislavsky & Actor Wellbeing: Healthy practices for 
artistic rewards*

Tuesday 9th of September, 2025 (*online only*)

8:30am GMT / 7:30pm AEDT

*The S Word* in collaboration with the *Actor Wellbeing Facilitators 
Collective* presents Stanislavsky & Actor Wellbeing: Healthy practices 
for artistic rewards. Hosted by Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Co-convened by Alan Powell, Dr. Mark Seton and Lucy Skilbeck, the 
symposium will focus on the work of Stanislavsky in relation to actor 
wellbeing in training and production.

Stanislavsky wanted to create sustainable and engaging theatre practices 
that satisfied the creative desires of both actors and audiences. 
However, Stanislavsky himself acknowledged occasions when his actors 
experienced distress in their performance processes. Subsequently, 
misinterpretations, misunderstandings and/or the over emphasis of 
particular techniques have led to questionable approaches that may 
jeopardize actors' mental health. We are excited to explore afresh the 
psycho-physical beliefs and practices that Stanislavsky, Chekhov, 
American Theatre Laboratory, Strasberg, Adler, Meisner and others have 
pursued, in the light of trauma-informed perspectives and contemporary 
insights about wellbeing.

The symposium serves as the key source for /Stanislavsky & Actor 
Wellbeing: Healthy practices for artistic rewards/, an upcoming title in 
a series of books to be published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis under 
the banner /Stanislavsky & …/ that focuses on the legacy and teaching of 
Konstantin Stanislavsky in the context of major contemporary themes and 
creative/performance genres.

_Proposals_

We are keen to hear from researchers, educators, coaches, actors, 
psychologists, therapists, practitioners and anyone else who has 
evidenced based, practical research or lived experience based on the 
symposium theme.

We welcome proposals for online papers (20 minutes, incl. questions), 
online workshops ( 45-60 minutes max), conversations and online panel 
discussions (3 people max, (45-60 minutes) or pre-recorded videos (15 
min). We particularly welcome international contributions as we are 
aiming to accommodate a range of time-zones. We also welcome 
participation in new and/or non-traditional formats that reflect your 
specific content, processing style or needs.

Proposals may respond to questions such as:

How much is too much? The dynamics of “safe” theatre practices and 
risk-taking authenticity embedded in traditional acting techniques.

How does our 21st century knowledge of trauma compare to early 20th 
century knowledge of trauma in the context of actor wellbeing in 
performance?

What resilience practices can be implemented for sustainable and 
rewarding actor training and professional production?

How do traditional acting techniques work with potentially traumatising 
material in a rehearsal/production process that empowers actors’ sense 
of control and self-care? How can we add innovation to the process?

How do actors honour Stanislavsky’s scenic sense of ‘wellbeing’ while 
still honouring their own wellbeing?

We encourage proposals in a range of formats, including but not limited to:

- Written proposal of 200 - 300 words

- Voice note or video proposal of around 2 - 3 minutes

- A visual communication of your proposal (diagram or mind map)

- Zoom discussion with one or more of the conveners - please email us if 
you’d like to request this.

In addition to your proposal, please also include the following in your 
application:

- Short biography (up to 100 words)

- The format of your proposal (e.g. workshop, presentation, panel etc.)

- Location/time-zone and any availability constraint

Please send submissions to: Alan Powell 
actorswellbeingcollective at gmail.com. Mark Seton mc.seton at bigpond.com, 
and Lucy Skilbeck lucyskilbeck at rada.ac.uk

The deadline for submissions is *June 2nd*.

Successful proposals will be confirmed by *July 2nd*.

Information on how to register online for the event will be published 
shortly.

-- 
Prof. Paul Fryer PhD, FRSA, FHEA.
Visiting Professor, School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds.
Co-Director, The Stanislavsky Research Centre (University of Leeds/University of Malta)
Consultant Editor, Stanislavski Studies
Series Editor, Stanislavsky And...(Routledge/Taylor & Francis).
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://artsservices.uwaterloo.ca/pipermail/candrama/attachments/20250213/d2f325ab/attachment-0001.htm>