ABSTRACT
Constantin Stanislavski as having been predominantly interested in introspective, soul-searching plays, such as those by Chekhov, Gorki, Tolstoy, Dostoyevski, it may come as a surprise that he also threw himself with great gusto into lighter plays, commedia dell' arte and even melodrama. A remarkable melodrama is created in its first production; it either comes to life then or it dies and no one remembers its existence. As a stenographic record was kept of rehearsals at the Moscow Art Theatre, these remarks can be repeated verbatim. They give a vivid picture of how he worked with his actors. For readers not familiar with the plot it will suffice to describe the scenes being rehearsed: Henriette and Louise, two pretty orphans, arrive in Paris where they have a distant cousin, a physician, who holds out some hope of curing Louise of her blindness. They were to be met on their arrival by stagecoach from Normandy by an old uncle, Martin.
