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Michael Chekhov (1891-1955), for whom the Chekhov Theatre Ensemble was named and whose technique inspires the Stages of Learning curricula and pedagogical practices (reasons for this association are noted under the teaching artist FAQ ), was most influenced by Constantin Stanislavski, artistic director of the Moscow Art Theater, and Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), philosopher and educational visionary.
Inspired by Mr. Chekhov's approach to theatre and artist training, Stages of Learning and the Chekhov Theatre Ensemble are linked through the guiding principle that a creative ability exists within all human beings, especially children. We believe that all children, grades three through six, can learn through our approach to theatre.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Chekhov was born
in 1891 in St. Petersburg. Chekhov joined Konstantin Stanislavsky's Moscow
Art Theatre in 1912, at the age of twenty-one, and within months Chekhov
was invited into the First Studio, where he appeared in walk-ons, and later
in major roles. From early on, Chekhov sought to "go beyond the playwright
or the play" and he made the imagination and character the primary
focus of his work. Chekhov's characterizations, from the minor role of Kobe
in The Wreck of the 'Good Hope ' (1913) to Hamlet in the Second
Moscow Art Theatre Production (1924), transcended intellectual understanding
into new realms of imaginative expression and transformation. His inspiration
to "go beyond" was planted before he came to MAT. Having observed
one of his teachers, Boris Glagolin, in the part of Khlestakov in Nikolai
Gogol's Inspector General (1910), Chekhov experienced a "mental
shift." A feeling came over him that Glagolin's performance was "not
like others." This was to become the seminal moment that galvanized
Chekhov for the rest of his life.
During Vakhtangov's production of Berger's The Deluge (1915) in which
Chekhov and Vakhtangov were double-cast in the role of Frazer, Vakhtangov
and others imitated Chekhov's Frazer. Between 1913 and 1923, Chekhov's reputation
as a creative and independent thinker increased dramatically. Russian audiences
grew into the thousands.
During the first two victories of the Bolshevik Revolution (1918 and 1919),
Chekhov's spiritual world was filled with unrest. He was, in the words of
visiting American critic, Oliver Sayler, a "gaunt, brooding, soul,
weighed down by Russia's sorrows." Haunted by fears of his mother's
death, Chekhov's personal life began to deteriorate. By the spring of 1918,
his wife Olga divorced him, taking their newborn daughter with her. Chekhov's
spiritual crisis was soon revealed to him through the "spiritual science"
of Rudolph Steiner as Chekhov regarded himself as a "malevolent vessel
of drunken egotism." Chekhov was fascinated by the spiritual dance
of "Anthroposophists," who attempted to turn sound and color into
movement. Chekhov opened his own studio in Moscow in 1918 and it closed
in 1921, suffering from financial deprivation. In order to survive, Chekhov
returned to the stage where he appeared in Vakhtangov's expressionistic
Erik XIV by Strindberg. Inspired by Eurhythmy, "the science
of visible speech" explored by disciples of Rudolph Steiner, Chekhov
discovered the character by altering the form and qualities of the character's
movement. Upon seeing his character as one would do objectively in a movie
theatre, Chekhov was able to incorporate his vision into a striking embodiment.
Simultaneously with his performance of Erik XIV, Chekhov was creating another
"embodiment" in Stanislavsky's production of Gogol's Inspector
General . Upon opening night, an astonished Vakhtangov whispered to
Stanislavsky, "Can this be the same man we see in our Studio every
morning?"
In 1923, Chekhov became the director of the Second Studio of the Moscow
Art Theatre upon Stanislavsky's bequest. Free of financial distraction,
Chekhov continued to expand his ideas. He did not allow actor clichıs and
personalities as the basis for any characters, as he continued his quest
to "go beyond." His innovations became a threat to the Soviet
government, and he was denounced in 1927 as an "idealist" and
mystic. Moscow newspapers referred to Chekhov as "a sick artist"
and "alien and reactionary." In 1928, Chekhov was given permission
to emigrate to Germany following an invitation from director, Max Reinhardt.
For seven years, Chekhov pursued his lifelong quest to create his own troupe
and method of actor-training throughout these "wandering years"
in Austria, Berlin, Paris, Latvia, and Lithuania. Upon the invitation of
Sol Hurok, Chekhov came to America, where he saw "the face of his destiny,"
Beatrice Straight. With her companion, Deirdre Hurst, Beatrice Straight
brought Chekhov to Dartington Hall. After recruiting instructors, Hurst,
Straight, and Chekhov, interviewed students from the United States, Canada,
England, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Norway, Lithuania. Two
dozen were chosen to fulfill Chekhov's dream.
By 1938, Chekhov's method had been established. The training at Dartington
lasted two full years. Expectations and enthusiasm were high, but expectations
of war with Germany caused the Chekhov Theatre Studio to relocate to Ridgefield,
Connecticut (1939). Soon after the move to Ridgefield, Chekhov was persuaded
to mount a large Broadway production of Dostoyevsky's, The Possessed
. Between 1940 and 1942, the Chekhov Theatre Studio toured New England,
the Midwest, and the south. In the Fall of 1941, the Chekhov Theatre opened
a New York Studio on 56th Street. In addition to classes in the Chekhov
method and due in large part to the influence of Rudolf Steiner upon Chekhov,,
classes in Eurhythmy, Speech, Music Appreciation, Fencing, Choral Singing,
Gymnastics, and Make-up were offered. Between 1943 and 1954, Chekhov starred
in nine Hollywood films. In 1945, after receiving an Academy Award nomination
for his role as the psychoanalyst in Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound ,
Chekhov resumed teaching his technique to young Hollywood actors. Marilyn
Monroe, Jack Palance, Anthony Quinn, and Akim Tamiroff were among his students.
In 1955, Michael Chekhov died of heart-failure in his Hollywood home.
(Sources: Lessons for the Professional Actor , Ed., Deirdre Hurst
du Prey; The Stanislavsky Technique: A Workbook for Actors , by Mel
Gordon; Michael Chekhov's To the Director and Playwright , by Charles
Leonard; "1942 Version" unpublished manuscript. )
Photos courtesy of Mala Powers
Abie's Irish Rose
Hollywood Film, 1944.
Anton Chekhov's sketch, I Forgot
Majestic Theatre, 1935.
Anton
Chekhov's sketch, Rendezvous
Majestic Theatre, 1935.
Fyodor Dostoyevksy's, Village Stepanchikovo
Russian Drama Theatre, 1933.
A
Fool Through Love
German Film, 1929.
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