Every single artistic endeavor in Stanislavsky's life was achieved in close collaboration with female partners. First, it was his own mother, Elizaveta Alekseyeva, who shaped his personality, and encouraged his exploration of theatre. Then it was his artistic mother, Glikeria Fedotova, who guided him through the ten years of his work. Then Maria Lilina, his wife, who became his best student, and later one of the best actresses of the Art Theatre. It would be impossible to understand Stanislavsky's development as an actor and director without his work with Maria Andreyeva, the "femme fatale" of turn of the century Russian theatre, or Olga Knipper, whom he directed and acted with for forty years. And near the end of his life, when Stanislavsky introduced the method of physical action (metod phizicheskix deistvii), another woman embraced his work, a young actress named Irina Rozanova. Stanislavsky and Female Actors is the exploration of Stanislavsky's artistic and personal relationship with the leading actresses of the Moscow Art Theatre. It seeks to portray their life-long artistic dialogue and offers a new biographical study of the previously unknown spheres of Stanislavsky's life, as well as the lives of the Moscow Art Theatre's principal actresses.

The fall of communism throughout Eastern Europe brought about major socio-political changes towards the end of the 20th century. Dennis Barnett and Arthur Skelton explore the effects these changes had on theatre and performance in Russia, the former Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and the former Yugoslavia, while drawing clear parallels with theatre globally. This fascinating collection of articles describes the various factors contributing to the changes in theatrical performance, including the important move from government control to a capitalist, market-driven environment. The idea of art as business and a consumer product vs. art as a social prerogative or means for national dialogue is a common thread throughout the articles, many of which also look at the role of censorship during the communist era. This collection includes updated reports on vital cultural institutions such as the Moscow Art Theatre, the Bolshoi Ballet, the Sarajevo International Theatre Festival (MESS), and the Hungarian National Theatre Festival at Pecs. Also, a number of important theatre practitioners, directors, and playwrights, such as Boris Eifman, Du?an Kovacevic, Slobodan ?najder, Arpad Goncz, and Yordan Radichkov, are introduced to the Western reader. Organized according to country, the book presents both an inclusive and general overview of the subject-as well as specific in-depth examinations of the situations in each country-and includes a broad variety of perspectives: from native scholars to outside researchers, from personal memoirs to academic inquiries. The volume concludes with a bibliography, an index, and five informative appendixes listing works of some of the artists and companies discussed.