Odds and quads

This photograph features a scene from the 1904 revival at the Moscow Arts Theatre of Maxim Gorky's play The Lower Depths, about a group of impoverished Russians living together in a shelter by the Volga river.

April 26, 2012




The original 1902 production marked the first great success of the actor and director Konstantin Stanislavski (1863-1938), whose books on staging and performance have been highly influential in the history of theatre. The photographs are held by the Stanislavski Research Centre at the Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance in Sidcup, Kent, one of the largest Stanislavski archives outside Moscow. It was set up in 2007 by the recently deceased former principal, Jean-Norman Benedetti, an authority on Stanislavski who was responsible for retranslating all his major works into English. The centre is now used for academic research and for performances inspired by Stanislavski's work and his "system" of acting.

Send suggestions for this series on the treasures, oddities and curiosities owned by universities across the world to: matthew.reisz@tsleducation.com.

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