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Stella Adler on Ibsen, Strindberg, and Chekhov
An original member of the famed Group Theater, Stella Adler was one of the most influential artists to come out of the American theater. As a Stanislavsky disciple and founder of her own highly esteemed acting conservatory, the extravagant actress was also an eminent acting teacher, training her students--among them Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and Robert DeNiro--in the art of script interpretation.
The classic lectures collected here, delivered over a period of forty years, bring to life the plays of the three fathers of modern Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, and Anton Chekhov. With passionate conviction and shrewd insight, Adler explains how their plays forever changed the world of dramaturgy while offering enduring insights on society, class, culture, and the role of the actor. She explores the struggles of Ibsen's characters to free themselves from societal convention, the mortal conflicts that trap Strindberg's men and women, and the pain of loss and transition lyrically evoked by Chekhov. A majestic volume, Stella Adler on Ibsen, Strindberg, and Chekhov allows us to experience the work of these masters "as if to see, hear and feel their genius for the first time." (William H. Gass)
The classic lectures collected here, delivered over a period of forty years, bring to life the plays of the three fathers of modern Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, and Anton Chekhov. With passionate conviction and shrewd insight, Adler explains how their plays forever changed the world of dramaturgy while offering enduring insights on society, class, culture, and the role of the actor. She explores the struggles of Ibsen's characters to free themselves from societal convention, the mortal conflicts that trap Strindberg's men and women, and the pain of loss and transition lyrically evoked by Chekhov. A majestic volume, Stella Adler on Ibsen, Strindberg, and Chekhov allows us to experience the work of these masters "as if to see, hear and feel their genius for the first time." (William H. Gass)
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Stella Adler
11 books61 followersStella Adler was an American actress and celebrated acting teacher.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 19, 2013
My favourite authors by Stella Adler.
Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one”
Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one”
August 4, 2025
This is the best book on Acting I've ever read.
Stella was not only perhaps the most important teacher of acting we've known full-stop, but one of our greatest thinkers on the theater writ large. Art has no place for cowardice, nor fear. You cannot compromise on truth. You are dying. Don't do it unless you know in your heart you have the capacity to play reality to cosmic proportions. Don't do it unless you're willing to pour your entire being into research and imagination. Don't do it unless you're willing to be swallowed by poetry.
Loved all the shade thrown at Strasberg also. Loved all the Brando shout-outs. Loved that she ended with a brief Orson anecdote also:
"I have a recording of Orson Welles doing a commercial. This brilliant man—doing a commerical—says, "in the planes..." Two producers say, "No, it's 'IN the planes." Orson says, "There isn't a sentence in the English language that can start with the stress on 'IN the planes." He tries to explain this to them. they say, "But, Mr. Welles, you've done such great things, couldn't you just do it our way?" Finally he says, "Tell me, in the depths of your ignorance, what do you want?" He was worn out. If you have talent, this wearing-down by life gets to you and hurts you. Guard against it. Fight your whole life."
So many young actors I've encountered lack the proper courage and confidence to say I've done the work, I have the craft, and I'm willing to be difficult because I am an artist and I am after something. (Maybe because these sentiments aren't as true as they ought to be.) You can behave in this way while also being nice, while being a collaborator, but for Christ's sake take yourselves seriously. Do the work. So many people enter this increasingly-less viable profession as a way of seeking validation and love, but a people-pleaser hasn't enough sense of self to be a fully effective performer. You have to poke *and* please, to be willing to do whatever the text requires and implies. You have to be obsessive and willing to crash and burn. You have to be capable of quick resurrection. Your insecurity will only limit your range, and paralyze you. If you're bound by it, then you're not fully stepping outside of you, and you just can't be a good actor if you can't do that. Adler advocates for a cultivation of self, of technique and knowledge with a respectable and prickly passion unlike anyone else. I would have loved to pretend to be a cat for her. I don't know if this one is going to find its way back to the friend who lent it to me...
"Chekhov says whether you are in provincial Russia or Idaho, there is no life, only fragments of life. Things are accidental."
Stella was not only perhaps the most important teacher of acting we've known full-stop, but one of our greatest thinkers on the theater writ large. Art has no place for cowardice, nor fear. You cannot compromise on truth. You are dying. Don't do it unless you know in your heart you have the capacity to play reality to cosmic proportions. Don't do it unless you're willing to pour your entire being into research and imagination. Don't do it unless you're willing to be swallowed by poetry.
Loved all the shade thrown at Strasberg also. Loved all the Brando shout-outs. Loved that she ended with a brief Orson anecdote also:
"I have a recording of Orson Welles doing a commercial. This brilliant man—doing a commerical—says, "in the planes..." Two producers say, "No, it's 'IN the planes." Orson says, "There isn't a sentence in the English language that can start with the stress on 'IN the planes." He tries to explain this to them. they say, "But, Mr. Welles, you've done such great things, couldn't you just do it our way?" Finally he says, "Tell me, in the depths of your ignorance, what do you want?" He was worn out. If you have talent, this wearing-down by life gets to you and hurts you. Guard against it. Fight your whole life."
So many young actors I've encountered lack the proper courage and confidence to say I've done the work, I have the craft, and I'm willing to be difficult because I am an artist and I am after something. (Maybe because these sentiments aren't as true as they ought to be.) You can behave in this way while also being nice, while being a collaborator, but for Christ's sake take yourselves seriously. Do the work. So many people enter this increasingly-less viable profession as a way of seeking validation and love, but a people-pleaser hasn't enough sense of self to be a fully effective performer. You have to poke *and* please, to be willing to do whatever the text requires and implies. You have to be obsessive and willing to crash and burn. You have to be capable of quick resurrection. Your insecurity will only limit your range, and paralyze you. If you're bound by it, then you're not fully stepping outside of you, and you just can't be a good actor if you can't do that. Adler advocates for a cultivation of self, of technique and knowledge with a respectable and prickly passion unlike anyone else. I would have loved to pretend to be a cat for her. I don't know if this one is going to find its way back to the friend who lent it to me...
"Chekhov says whether you are in provincial Russia or Idaho, there is no life, only fragments of life. Things are accidental."
February 5, 2022
Stella Adler must have been an amazing character in person. For those of us who never had the good fortune to meet her before her death in 1992, this book - assembled from transcripts of acting classes she taught on Ibsen, Strindberg and Chekhov - is the closest we will be able to come to that experience. Her voice, her earthy and lively Yiddish humor, her chutzpah are all captured in these pages. Stella Adler was born to a life in the theater. Her parents were both prominent actors in the Yiddish theater and later Broadway. All five of her siblings were actors. She was an early member of New York's Group Theater, founded by Lee Strasberg, Cheryl Crawford and Harold Clurman. She later married Mr. Clurman. In 1935, she traveled to Paris where she studied for five weeks with Constantin Stanislavski. In 1949, after a career in Hollywood, she opened the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City. Among her illustrious alumni are Marlon Brando, Judy Garland, Robert De Niro, Warren Beatty, Melanie Griffith, Harvey Keitel and Martin Sheen.
She broke with Lee Strasberg over the correct approach to teaching Stanislavski, and this book is full of disparaging references to Strasberg's school of 'method acting'. Strasberg taught that the actor must draw upon his or her own memories to recreate the character's emotional states; Adler asserts that one cannot play a variety of roles from one's own memories, because an individual is limited by time and place. How can a person who uses the internet daily possibly relate to Ibsen's characters, who had never heard of electricity and for whom human flight was in the realm of fantasy? She emphasizes the paramount importance of bringing imagination and lots of research to the stage. If you are acting Ibsen, get to Norway if you can; if you can't, check out photos, books, whatever you can find. What is life like without central heat and electric lighting in a country that does not see the sun for almost a third of the year? What is it like to return to a warm living room after a brisk 20 mile ride in an open sledge through snow and subzero temperatures?
This book is a treasure trove for anyone involved in making theater, whether actor, producer, set designer, lighting technician, director or playwright. For the playwright, Adler reveals the power of the actor to flesh out the words; more important than the words is what is behind the words, what is left unsaid. She is especially good on Chekhov, and I would say that this book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand Chekhov's plays. Included are beat-by-beat break-downs of several scenes in The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard and Three Sisters, along with insightful in depth analyses of the leading characters in Chekhov's four great plays. These were taken directly from Stanislavski and are by themselves worth the price of the book.
She broke with Lee Strasberg over the correct approach to teaching Stanislavski, and this book is full of disparaging references to Strasberg's school of 'method acting'. Strasberg taught that the actor must draw upon his or her own memories to recreate the character's emotional states; Adler asserts that one cannot play a variety of roles from one's own memories, because an individual is limited by time and place. How can a person who uses the internet daily possibly relate to Ibsen's characters, who had never heard of electricity and for whom human flight was in the realm of fantasy? She emphasizes the paramount importance of bringing imagination and lots of research to the stage. If you are acting Ibsen, get to Norway if you can; if you can't, check out photos, books, whatever you can find. What is life like without central heat and electric lighting in a country that does not see the sun for almost a third of the year? What is it like to return to a warm living room after a brisk 20 mile ride in an open sledge through snow and subzero temperatures?
This book is a treasure trove for anyone involved in making theater, whether actor, producer, set designer, lighting technician, director or playwright. For the playwright, Adler reveals the power of the actor to flesh out the words; more important than the words is what is behind the words, what is left unsaid. She is especially good on Chekhov, and I would say that this book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand Chekhov's plays. Included are beat-by-beat break-downs of several scenes in The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard and Three Sisters, along with insightful in depth analyses of the leading characters in Chekhov's four great plays. These were taken directly from Stanislavski and are by themselves worth the price of the book.
January 14, 2010
This book is beautiful. It was compiled from transcriptions of her preparation for a series of books. The material in this book is literally from the first session she held because she died very shortly thereafter, and so I can't believe how dense this book is with good information and how vital it is to actors working in theatre or film today. The best part about it is how every bit of it reads as though you are sitting in a master class with her while she runs you through your paces in the studio. She's amazing. If you are at all interested in acting, please pick this up and give it a read. You will be so glad you did.
June 9, 2015
Very good book about acting and playwrights. I learned lots about how Ibsen introduced realism and how the Russians feel, so you must truly feel, too. Acting has to be about action and nonaction - there are pauses.
Of course Adler said some things with which I didn't agree, but nobody is going to agree 100% with anybody else. This is a great book and I recommend it for anybody who is studying theatre or wants to become an actor/actress.
Of course Adler said some things with which I didn't agree, but nobody is going to agree 100% with anybody else. This is a great book and I recommend it for anybody who is studying theatre or wants to become an actor/actress.
July 8, 2024
Interesting, lots to learn, especially from Stella talking about Chekhov.
May 6, 2007
این اثر استلا آدلر در جهت بهتر شناختن ایبسن (نروژی) و استریندبرگ (سوئدی)، کمک بزرگی ست. آدلر یکی از درام شناسان و منتقدین تیاتر است، با نظرگاه های بسیار سنجیده و دقیق. نمی دانم از آثار او، کدامشان به فارسی ترجمه شده اند.
March 6, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2008
Phenomenal..
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews