To what extent is yoga compatible with drama? Performance is in some ways the opposite of inward focus, yet it might still be enhanced by yogic practices.

Sergei Tcherkasski is a theatre director and teacher of acting at the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts. He is also the author of Stanislavsky and Yoga, which explores a key influence on the Russian pioneer of modern acting techniques.

Konstantin Stanislavsky’s system helped actors tap into their inner experiences, enabling them to embody a fictional character and perform more believably. This inspired what American followers such as Lee Strasberg called “method acting” and shaped what’s taught in drama schools all over the world.

As Sergei explains, about a third of the first-year acting curriculum is influenced by yoga, which Stanislavsky learned in the early 20th century. He did so not by visiting India but from reading translated books by an American attorney who wrote under the pseudonym “Yogi Ramacharaka”.

We talk about the hybrid ideas that Ramacharaka presented, and why their worldly emphasis might be more helpful than traditional teachings on transcendence – as argued by the Polish director Jerzy Grotowski. We also consider which modern schools of yoga might be best suited to training actors.

Among other names we discuss are Stella Adler and Sanford Meisner, two other influential American acting coaches. Plus Sergei highlights the term perezhivanie (переживание), which translates as “emotional experience”. He once made a film about Stanislavsky and yoga, which is available on YouTube.

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