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The Stanislavsky Theater Studio (STS) is a non-profit organization, built by a permanent group of founders, Company Members, and associates. The core STS artistic staff consists of theater professionals who have made outstanding achievements in international theater. Coming together from diverse backgrounds, STS artists are creating a new form of theater – one that draws upon traditional theatrical concepts to establish new and innovative styles of performance. The Stanislavsky Theater Studio seeks to create a repertory company based on international theatrical traditions. STS strives to merge, not separate, culturally diverse audiences in the positive and enlightening forum of communication that only theater provides.
The Stanislavsky Theater Studio (STS) has a strong educational and inter-cultural mission. It seeks to use the richest cultural traditions of world theater in order to bring together audiences and theater professionals of different nations, socio-economic backgrounds, ages and cultures. It relies on the universality of theatrical language to create performances that do not depend solely on text and verbal expression to convey artistic ideas. STS utilizes the universal nature of theatrical performance, synthesizing all forms of expression: visual and vocal arts, music, dance, literature, drama, and movement. Through extensive training programs, STS also provides the highest quality education for theatrical students in acting, speech, movement and vocal art.
STS’ goal is to establish an international theatrical institution in the nation’s capitol. This includes a repertory theater presenting works from the international classical repertoire by such writers as Pushkin, Moličre, Chekhov, Goethe, and Dostoevsky for family, young and adult audiences. STS devotes its activities to organizing and participating in domestic and international theatrical events including conferences, workshops, exhibits and festivals. STS also commissions new English-language translations of the best works from the international classical repertoire.
STS deals with various theatrical styles and genres but priority is given to bold theatricality and the strong visual side of every performance. Our artistic method can best be described as “fantastic realism,” a style that stresses the mastery of the actor and does not allow audiences to forget that they are experiencing live theater.
The signature style of the Company is the Synthesis of the Arts. By synthesizing different theatrical forms of expression—literature, music, visual art, movement—into a cohesive whole, STS creates performances that do not depend solely on verbal expression to communicate with the audiences. Rather, this style seeks to create positive aesthetic, emotional and spiritual experiences, and never presents negative feelings or events in naturalistic form (as commercial movies and television do). WETA TV (PBS Channel 26) noted that STS productions “overcome any kind of language barrier that could possibly exist.”
The Stanislavsky Theater Studio was founded in October 1997, incorporating and officially becoming a not-for-profit organization in 1998. In its five-year history, STS has reached many milestones including the creation of a repertory company, an extensive community service program, and a professional training program. Since its inception, STS has been recognized by national and international media and organizations as a place of outstanding artistic and educational excellence.
Part of the STS mission is to provide the highest quality theater education to students outside of the professional theater training programs, and to provide services to people in the community. STS achieves its community service goals through the Education and Outreach Program, providing special performances for area schools and community programs. The objective of the Education and Outreach Program is to provide programming for people of different socio-economic backgrounds and to generate an appreciation of the theater arts among young people and non-traditional audiences.
In March 2004 STS received its fifth Helen Hayes Award nomination, and in May 2001, STS was granted its second consecutive Helen Hayes Award. Other awards and nominations include the Company’s Mary Goldwater Award, which honored the Company’s “Excellence Against the Odds” and The World Bank Community Outreach Recognition Award.
Since 1997, STS has offered an apprenticeship program aimed at developing the skills and talents of early-career theater professionals in the areas of acting, administration and design. Students in the apprenticeship program, now entering its sixth year, not only participate in workshops and master classes, but also have the unique experience of working on the mainstage repertory alongside the Company’s distinguished professionals. The repertory productions serve as the point of collaboration between apprentices and Company members, as they come together to work as an ensemble.
Throughout the year, apprentices continue to follow this training structure, rotating between rehearsal, master classes and one-on-one training. In the five years of the company’s history some 30 young actors received rigorous professional theater training and performance experience at STS.
The main goal of STS’ Training Programs is to satisfy the Washington Metropolitan area’s growing demand for a theater based on classical training traditions. STS instructors and founders are graduates of the finest European and Russian conservatories; they have worked extensively in the professional theater and have taught at the university level throughout Europe, Russia, and the United States. They closely design all professional training programs to follow the model of the renowned conservatory of the Vakhtangov Theater (Moscow, Russia).
STS further develops this model by incorporating the legacy of the significant Russian/American actor, director and teacher, Michael Chekhov. By combining and enriching these backgrounds, STS offers intensive training programs that provide unmatched opportunities for student growth and artistic development. STS students have the distinct advantages of training in the original Stanislavsky-Vakhtangov and Michael Chekhov systems of acting.
In the coming season the Stanislavsky Theater Studio will continue the program “The Art of Acting.” The program’s mission is to further develop STS’ ongoing mission—training and developing young stage artists. Conceived as a one-year program starting in September, this will comprise at least twenty hours of classes per week in all aspects of the art of the actor, in three trimesters, for 36 weeks per year. Its unique feature will be the focus given to techniques and principles taught in both Konstantin Stanislavsky’s and Michael Chekhov’s approach to acting and the art of theater, and will culminate in a production in the Summer.
STS is a regular collaborator with institutions such as the Smithsonian Associates, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Catholic University of America, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (Prince George’s County), The National Theatre, and the Young Audiences of Maryland. Other partners include the District of Columbia Jewish Community Center, Washington Area Performing Arts Video Archives, the American University, the Embassy of the Russian Federation, the Italian Cultural Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies, and the Northern Ireland Bureau.
To reach broader audiences, during the season 2002-2003 STS began co-producing special promotional events and activities. Some of the most successful events included the panel discussion Masters of the Russian Theater through the Smithsonian Associates Program, and The Chekhov Gala, an evening at the residence of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation.
STS balances its annual budget with contributions from corporations, foundations and private individuals who wish to see the Company’s work continue to grow. The 1999-2000 Season budget came to $190,000, a figure that has grown to $500,000 in recent seasons.
STS has been the recipient of significant grants and donations from such funders as the Prince George’s County Arts Council, the Washington D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the Maryland State Arts Council and the World Bank Group (the first performing arts organization supported by the World Bank), as well as the DC Commission on the Arts, the Meyer Foundation, the Mead Foundation, the Weissberg Foundation, Prince Charitable Trusts, the Jovid Foundation, the National Italian American Foundation and The Starr Foundation. Corporate supporters include Peacock Research, Inc., the Wicks Group, the Oracle Corporation, and Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Inc.
Part of STS’ mission is to provide quality theater education to advanced students outside professional training programs and to serve the community. STS achieves these goals through the Education and Outreach Program and its special performances for area schools and community programs. These programs benefit young people and non-traditional audiences from different socio-economic backgrounds, generating an appreciation of the theater arts. A “Free Theater” program was established in the fall of 1999 to bring students from D.C.’s inner-city high schools to the theater. In the spring of 2000, STS’ training faculty led a series of workshops for Baltimore County teachers culminating in a student performance at the Southwest/Northwest Spring Arts Festival at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
STS’ community service has also included Classical Pantomime for All Ages, presenting plays for both families and children. On select Saturday afternoons, STS' professional actors performed Classical Pantomime's original creations – The Miraculous Magical Balloon, Chicha the Fox & Other Tales, and Kashtanka, based on the story by Anton Chekhov. During the 2002-2003 season three performances from this series were featured at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Millennium Stage.
Throughout its young history, STS has already been honored with the following awards and nominations:
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