Sergei Tcherkasski
Prof. SERGEI TCHERKASSKI
Ph.D., D.Sc. (Theatre Arts)
Head of an Acting Studio
International Stanislavsky Prize laureate
Sergei Tcherkasski have graduated from Leningrad State University (M.Sc. Hons, 1980) and Russian State Institute of Performing Arts (M.F.A. Hons, 1985) and woks at RGISI since 1991.
Не is a theater director and acting teacher, an expert in international development of the Stanislavsky System. Не is Head of an Acting Studio in the renowned Russian State Institute of Performing Arts (St. Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy, established in 1779) since 1998. He is Professor of Acting and Directing and holds a Ph.D. (2003) for his research into the education of directors in Russia. His second D.Sc. (Theatre Arts) dissertation resulted in the book Acting: Stanislavsky – Boleslavsky – Strasberg. History, Theory and Practice (2016) that gained National Prize for the Best Book about Theatre’ 2016 and International Stanislavsky Prize’2017.
His other books include Stanislavsky and Yoga (in English, Routledge, 2016; Japanese, 2015; and Russian, 2013), Valentine Smyshliaev – Actor, Director and Teacher (2004), Sulimov’s School of Directing (2013). They form a kind of trilogy representing Tcherkasski’s professional family tree which grows directly from Stanislavsky to Smyshliaev (member of the First Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre, director of Michael Chekhov’s Hamlet) and then to Sulimov (one of the leading Russian teachers of directing of the twentieth century).
Tcherkasski has directed more than three dozen classical and modern plays. Two of his productions – Dangerous Liaisons and Great Catherine – ran in Saint Petersburg for twelve and sixteen years respectively. His international directing credits include Great Catherine by Shaw and Duck Hunting by Vampilov at RADA (London), The Inspector General by Gogol at the National Theatre of Romania (Bucharest) and Flight by Bulgakov at NIDA (Sydney).
He also shot some documentary films including “Stanislavsky and Yoga” for Russian State TV Chanel “Culture”.
Prof. Tcherkasski’s students work in many leading Russian companies; they become award-winning actors and directors including nominees and winners of the Golden Mask Award. Tcherkasski has led workshops in more than forty theatre schools all over the world.
Prof. Tcherkasski’s articles in English:
- The System Becomes the Method: Stanislavsky – Boleslavsky – Strasberg // Stanislavski Studies: Practice, Legacy, and Contemporary Theater. Volume 2, 2013 - Issue 1
- Inside Sulimov's Studio: Directors Perform a Play // Stanislavski Studies: Practice, Legacy, and Contemporary Theater. Volume 2, 2014 - Issue 2
- Twofaced Giovanni Grasso and his great spectators, or What Stanislavsky, Meyerhold and Strasberg Actually Stole from the Sicilian Actor – chapter in the book ‘The Italian Method of La Drammatica, Its Legacy and Reception’, Mimesis/Eterotopie, Milan, 2014. pp. 109–132.
- Forward – to early Stanislavsky! or Reconstruction of Actor Training at the First Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre // Stanislavski Studies: Practice, Legacy, and Contemporary Theater. Volume 5, 2017 - Issue 1. Pages 85-110.
- Boleslavsky – Stanislavsky: who is the first? Development of the Stanislavsky System in the American lessons of Richard Boleslavsky // Stanislavski Studies: Practice, Legacy, and Contemporary Theater. 2018.
Prof. Tcherkasski’s book “Stanislavsky and Yoga” in Russian, English, Japanese, Hungarian and Portuguese:
- Tcherkasski, Sergei. Stanislavsky and Yoga. London – New York – Holstebro – Malta – Wrocław: Routledge / Icarus, 2016. (in English)
- Tcherkasski, Sergei. Stanislavsky and Yoga. Tokyo: Miraisha, 2015. (in Japanese)
- Cserkasszkij Szergej. Sztanyiszlavszkij és a Jóga. Szinhaz. 2012. November. (in Hungarian)
- Tcherkasski, Serguei. Stanislávski e o Yoga. San Pаulo: E Realizacoes Editora, 2018 (in Portuguese)
- Черкасский С. Д. Станиславский и йога. СПб: Изд-во СПбГАТИ, 2013. (in Russian)
- Черкасский С. Д. Станиславский и йога. Изд. 2-е испр. и доп. СПб: Изд-во РГИСИ, 2018. (in Russian)
Prof. Tcherkasski’s other major books in Russian
- «Мастерство актера: Станиславский – Болеславский – Страсберг. История. Теория. Практика». СПб: РГИСИ, 2016. — 816 с. — 403 фото
- “Надежда” на Моховой – 100 лет спустя. Опыт реконструкции театральной педагогики Первой студии МХТ / Автор-составитель – С.Д. Черкасский СПб: Балтийские сезоны, 2016 – 104 с. – 195 цв. илл.
- «Режиссерская школа Сулимова»: Сб. статей и материалов / Автор-составитель С. Д. Черкасский. СПб.: СПбГАТИ, 2013.