Stanislavski and Freud

Extract

Stanislavski and Freud share many common features, not the least of which is that each is supported by violent partisans, is attacked by violent antagonists, and is the object of unproductive discussion. Whatever the ultimate fate of their doctrines, we shall never go back to our pre-Stanislavskian naivete about acting in the theatre or our pre-Freudian naivete about living in the world. It must be born in mind in the following discussion that each is a great man, and if either is subjected to less than favorable comparisons it should not obscure the fact that each is pre-eminent in his field. The problem will be to estimate in some judicious and productive manner the nature and importance of their contributions in the light of the problems of the theatre.