ABSTRACT
In 1934 two American theatre professionals travelled to the Soviet Union to find out more about the Russian tradition of acting and to bring back word of the current thinking in actor training. Both were already demonstrably committed to pursuing a Stanislavskyinspired form of realism on stage but differed in their interpretation of how to achieve it. Both had worked with the Russian émigré teachers of the System, Richard Boleslavsky and Maria Ouspenskaya, and both had striven for ten years to introduce their ideas into the American theatre. The trip was to reinforce the schism between the two and ultimately led to a defining split in the interpretation of Stanislavskian practice in the United States. The two were Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler.
