ABSTRACT
The challenge for anyone tracing K. Stanislavsky’s biography is that the path isn’t linear. Sometimes he ditched an idea only to pick it up again years later; at other times, the preoccupations of his mature life can be traced right back to his childhood. Kostya Alekseyev’s young professional life was spent in the family textile business, although his passion for theatre soon hurled him into a series of ventures, not the least of which was the Alekseyev Circle, his family’s highly acclaimed acting troupe. Russian theatre of the nineteenth century was actor-driven: the idea of a director shaping a production was unheard of. In fact, The role of stage director was a very modest one; it had neither a creative nor a pedagogic content. Stanislavsky’s theatrical revolution began in earnest with his famously long conversation with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko on 22 June 1897.
