S Word 2024

About the S Word

The S Word: Stanislavsky and the Contemporary Theatre

The S Word was created in 2015 by Bella Merlin and Paul Fryer as an international collaborative research project exploring the influence and legacy of Konstantin Stanislavsky’s work and teaching.

The inaugural event – Stanislavski and the Future of Acting – was held at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance in the UK in March 2016. Attended by over 100 delegates from all over the world, selected material from the symposium was subsequently published in the Spring 2017 edition of the Stanislavski Studies journal.

This event was followed in March 2017 by Merging Methodologies, hosted by DAMU Theatre Academy in Prague, Czech Republic, and in April 2018 by A Practical Acting Laboratory, hosted by The University of California Riverside. In April 2019, The S Word symposium, Stanislavski in Context, was held at the Valetta Campus of The University of Malta, and was followed by Beyond Brecht: Contradiction as a Method in Prague in November 2019. The 2022 symposium, Stanislavsky's Last Words, was held at DAMU in Prague, and the 2023 event, Stanislavsky: Director, Trainer, Pedagogue, took place at the University of Athens, Greece.

In November 2021 the University of Notre London Global Gateway, hosted a mixed-media event, Stanislavsky and Race: Questioning the ‘System’ in the 21st Century, and in April 2023, London South Bank University hosted a one-day symposium on Stanislavsky and Mindfulness. Further one day events are scheduled to take place in London in May/June 2024.

In November 2020, in response to the difficulties caused by the Covid pandemic, The S Word launched a series of online events, webinars, debates and presentations, starting with Teaching Stanislavsky Online, hosted by The University of Malta, and followed by Stanislavsky and Race: Questioning the System for the 21st Century, Stanislavsky and Disability and Stanislavsky and Gender.

In 2022, the new book series Stanislavsky And… (published by Routledge) was launched and the first three titles, on Pedagogy, Race and Intimacy have now been released. The series explores Stanislavsky’s work and legacy in the context of topics of contemporary significance. Volumes on Gender, Mindfulness and Emotion are in preparation, and further titles will include Psychology, Opera, America and Screen Acting.

The S Word is a collaborative partnership – the current partners are London South Bank University (the UK base for the project) , The University of Leeds, The University of California Riverside, DAMU (Czech Republic), Macunaima Theatre School (Sao Paulo, Brazil), The University of Malta, The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (Perth) and The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece).

The S Word positively encourages the participation of academics and practitioners, students, teachers and enthusiasts. Material generated by the events will be published on our website, in the journal, Stanislavski Studies (Taylor and Francis, and as input to the book series Stanislavsky And...)

For further information about this project, contact Paul Fryer.

The Stanislavsky Research Centre

The Stanislavsky Research Centre was launched at The University of Leeds, UK in January 2019.

Based at the University of Leeds, the Centre is co-hosted by the School of Performing Arts, University of Malta. The SRC is a unique international initiative created to provide a home for both academic and practice/performance-based research based upon the work and legacy of Konstantin Stanislavsky.

Originating in the pioneering scholarship of the late Professor Jean Benedetti, an internationally renowned authority and author of major books on Stanislavsky’s work, the Centre hosts and promotes a series of lectures, workshops, study days, symposia, short courses, webinars and other events throughout the year. The Centre develops new and innovative research projects and supports researchers and research students world-wide.

Under the guidance of a distinguished international Advisory Board, and the Honorary Patronage of Professor Anatoly Smeliansky, the Centre is linked to the international research project, The S Word, and develops and contributes important scholarly publication via the journal Stanislavski Studies and the book series, Stanislavsky And… (both published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis)