🎬 Acting Truthfully in Virtual Reality: Vakhtangov-Inspired Pedagogy
In An Actor’s Work: A Student’s Diary, Stanislavsky describes the actor’s journey toward truth, where genuine human experience replaces convention and artifice. His colleague Yevgeny Vakhtangov expanded on this idea, blending the psychological realism of the system with a heightened sense of imagination and transformation.
Drawing on these foundations, this workshop reimagines Vakhtangov’s pedagogy for today’s performers by integrating virtual reality (VR) technology into actor training. Participants work on a monologue within an immersive VR environment, allowing them to juxtapose their own experiences with the character’s and explore the emotional and psychological truth of the role.
The process encourages actors to identify personal triggers, connect deeply with inner impulses, and embody authenticity. In doing so, it addresses contemporary concerns in actor training, well-being, inclusion, and employability, while remaining true to Vakhtangov’s core principle: that through self-awareness and imagination, the actor reveals the truth of both self and character.
