Strasberg legacy

The history of the realistic school of acting and what goes beyond it through the eyes of Italian actor Giovanni Enrico Morassutti.

By Art Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

The realistic school of acting

Method acting is a range of training and rehearsal techniques that seek to encourage sincere and emotionally expressive performances, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners while the Organic Creatives Process is a conscious, intuitive process that goes beyond it.

Teachers of the realistic school of acting (2020) by Arianna SerioArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Konstantin Stanislavski (1938)Art Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Konstantin Stanislavski and the realistic school of acting

Konstantin Sergeievich Stanislavski (né Alexeiev; Russian: Константи́н Серге́евич Станисла́вский; 17 January [O.S. 5 January] 1863 – 7 August 1938) was a seminal Russian theatre practitioner. His principal fame and influence rests on his 'system' of actor training, preparation, and rehearsal technique used by actors to portray emotions on stage by putting themselves in the place of the character. His 'system' inspired several American theatre practitioners including Lee Strasberg.

The Group Theatre at Brookfield CenterArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

The Group Theater

The Group Theatre was a theater collective based in New York City and formed in 1931 by Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg. They were pioneers of what would become an "American acting technique", derived from the teachings of Konstantin Stanislavski, but pushed beyond them as well. The company included actors, directors, playwrights, and producers gathering at different summer locations to rehearse and train intensively for six of its 10 years in existence. The name "Group" came from the idea of the actors as a pure ensemble; a reference to the company as "our group" led them to "accept the inevitable and call their company The Group Theatre."

Strasberg,Lee,Anna,SusanLIFE Photo Collection

The origin of the Method

Lee
Strasberg (November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was a Polish-born
American actor, director, and theatre practitioner who discovered Method
acting inspired by the Stanislavski System.

Lee Strasberg
Courtesy of LIFE Photo Collection.

Lee Strasberg (1960) by StrasbergFilmArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Videoclip from StrasbergFilm

The Actors Studio, New York City (1986) by Jill GillArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

The Actors Studio

The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded on October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford and Robert Lewis, who provided training for actors who were members. Lee Strasberg joined later and took the helm in 1951 until his death on February 17, 1982. He helped actors to develop their skills in a private environment keeping their acting truthful and honest.

By Gordon ParksLIFE Photo Collection

Susan Strasberg

Susan Elizabeth Strasberg was an American stage, film, and
television actress. She was nominated for a Tony Award at the age of 18
for playing the title role in The Diary of Anne Frank and nomintated for best actress in Kapò directed by Gillo Pontecorvo in 1960. Later in her
career, she also wrote two best-selling books including "Marilyn and Me": Sisters, Rivals, Friends in which she describes her relationship with Marilyn providing may be the most intimate, revealing, and realistic portrait
of probably the most famous star of all times.

Susan Strasberg
Courtesy of LIFE Photo Collection

Montgomery Clift (1948-11-11) by Bob LandryLIFE Photo Collection

What is Method acting ?
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Montgomery Clift was one of the original method actors in Hollywood; he was one of the first actors to be invited to study in the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg.
Courtesy of LIFE Photo Collection

Paula Strasberg (1950) by DedicationToMonroeArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Paula Strasberg, Lee Strasberg's wife and mother of John and Susan, was Marilyn Monroe's acting coach and confidante.

Video clip by DedicationToMonroe

Ford Thunderbird (1950) by Greg GjerdingenArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

John's birthday present

In 1962 Marylin Monroe gave her Thunderbird Ford's original, first-generation T-Bird roadster,  as a birthday present to John Strasberg, the son of  Lee and Paula and brother of Susan. Today, the T-Bird is among the most enduring pop icons of the '50s.

Master teacher John Strasberg (2019) by Giovanni MorassuttiArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

John Strasberg

American actor, director, teacher and writer, the son of Lee Strasberg and Paula Strasberg and the brother of actress, writer Susan Strasberg. He discovered The Organic Creative Process which  is a conscious, intuitive process that goes beyond the work currently taught in the realistic school.

John Strasberg in Berlin (2017) by Somos ArtsArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Video trailer by SomoS Arts
Camera: Giovanni Morassutti:
Cut: Zack X Soltes
Music Credit:
"Danse Macabre - Violin Hook"
"Danse Macabre - Sad Part - No violin"
"To The Ends"
Kevin MacLeod

John Strasberg Interview (2014) by Giovanni MorassuttiArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Method acting was developed by Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg in particular, and is associated with actors such as Marlon Brando and Dustin Hoffman.

Video by Art Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

John Strasberg teaching relaxation (2014) by Giovanni MorassuttiArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Acting training with John Strasberg
Actress : Elena Orsini Baroni
Video by Art Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

John Strasberg chair (2014) by Marta PasqualiniArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Learning the craft within a natural environment

"The fact that people come to a place, where everyone makes that commitment, and they are in the country just changes the atmosphere of work so there is a kind of relaxation and comaradery that is very special. It is a special place." - John Strasberg

John Strasberg Interview (2014) by Giovanni MorassuttiArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

John Strasberg has been teaching in many countries all over the world. In Italy he has been invited by Giovanni Morassutti since 2001.
Video by Art Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Giovanni Morassutti (2018) by Teresa MarenziArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Giovanni Morassutti is an actor, director, artist and cultural entrepreneur close to the Strasberg family. He has been studying the Method and the Organic creative process since early 2000.

Giovanni Morassutti (2018) by Teresa MarenziArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

A quote by Giovanni Morassutti on the Organic Creative Process
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Giovanni Morassutti and Ana Maria Abello (2002) by Giovanni MorassuttiArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Acting classes

Giovanni Morassutti started his professional acting training with Susan Strasberg in 1996. He then moved to New York City attending the Actors Studio as an observer of the sessions moderated by Estelle Parsons, Lee Grant, Eli Wallach among others. While in New York he began to deepen his studies of the realistic school under the guidance of Salem Ludwig and later John Strasberg who became his mentor. 

Foreword to Per Scelta, per caso. Oltre l´Actors Studio (2016) by Giovanni MorassuttiArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Giovanni Morassutti has written the foreword to the Strasberg'book.

Giovanni Morassutti moved to Berlin in 2016 where he invited his mentor to teach. Mr Strasberg had been in the German Capital  in the Sixties, two weeks after the Wall was built. He visited Berlin together with his family of origin.

By Paul SchutzerLIFE Photo Collection

John Strasberg talks about his memories of Berlin
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Photo: East German Armed Forces and USArmed Forces at border between East and West Berlin after sealing off eastern sector.

Audio clip from an Interview to John Strasberg at Tatwerk in Berlin, 2016.

Small Church of Saint Anthony (2000) by Giovanni MorassuttiArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Personal Dream Space

In 2014 Giovanni Morassutti shot Personal Dream Space which is a work in progress documentary film, set in the armonic friulian countryside of Art Aia - Creatives / In / Residence, about the organic creative process taught by Strasberg. It describes the legacy of the realistic school: From the Method to the Organic Creative Process.

Trailer of Personal Dream Space.
Director: Giovanni Morassutti
Writers: Giovanni Morassutti and Marta Pasqualini.
Editor: Davide Vizzini
Cinematography: Cecilia Bozza
Sound: Raffaele Sartorelli

The Group Theatre at Brookfield CenterArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

The Group Theater in 1931
Photo by Ralph Steiner
Courtesy of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, The CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.

John Strasberg Masterclass at Art Aia (2014) by UnknownArt Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Strasberg Masterclass at Art Aia - Creatives / In / Residence in 2014

Credits: Story

Art Aia - Creatives / In / Residence

Exhibition - Strasberg Legacy
Editing and Text by Giovanni Morassutti
Audio by various sources including StrasbergFilm
Video by various sources including StrasbergFilm
Photos - Credits in the media

Art Aia - Creatives / In / Residence is an international art residency located near the comune of Sesto al Reghena in the north-eastern Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It's a place for artistic production and research that focuses on the development of the creative process and facilitates cultural exchange across borders promoting cultural and artistic activities at a local and international level.

Contacts:
Art Aia - Creatives / In / Residence - Via Banduzzo, 31, 33079
Sesto Al Reghena,PN, Italy

Phone: +49 1521 8465093
artaiafvg@gmail.com

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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