The first 10 years

Abstract

Ten years ago, with the invaluable support of Andrew Eglinton, who was then our research assistant at Rose Bruford College, we launched an e.journal. The chosen title for this was (and still is) Stanislavski Studies; making the decision, not without controversy, of adopting the “i” spelling of Konstantin Sergeyevich’s name, in order to conform to the decision taken by the late Professor Jean Benedetti whose work had been so influential in developing the research centre from which this journal originated. Although I will happily take the credit for creating the journal, it was not originally my idea. This came from a conversation I had with my Principal, Michael Earley. He was very interested in the work that I had done setting up The Stanislavski Centre at the College in 2007. We discussed possible ways forward, and Michael suddenly said, “ . . . why don’t you start a journal? . . . ” Although Michael had had experience in publishing, I had not. So I launched into this new venture with the foolish optimism of the ignorant – how difficult could it possibly be? It did not take very long to find out. With little resources, and even less expertise, we published the first edition, online in 2012, comprising an introduction by Anatoly Smeliansky, articles by Sergei Tcherkasski, Bella Merlin and John Gillett, and a book review by David Matthews. Our first print edition (Vol.3/No.1) was published by Bloomsbury in May 2015. But this new relationship was to be short-lived and by the time our November edition appeared Routledge/Taylor and Francis had become our new home, and we have been there ever since. Ten years can pass very quickly, and here we are publishing Vol. 10/No.1. How best to mark this milestone? A very important part of the success of this journal has been the support and wise counsel that we have received from our Editorial Advisory Board, a substantial number of whom have been with us throughout this journey. So, it seemed appropriate that they should make a contribution to this anniversary issue. I approached both the members of the journal’s editorial advisory board, and the advisory board of The Stanislavsky Research Centre, and asked them to reflect, briefly on their experience of and relationship with Stanislavski over the last decade. What follows is some of those responses (we plan to include more in our November edition).