Michael Chekhov Research Paper

Stanislavski transformed the plays of Anton Chekhov in theses ways, establishing the right and role of directors to take the playwright’s work and interpret it for themselves, regardless of whether or not everyone agrees with them. This transformation of the relationship between the director and playwright instigated the decline in collaboration, as directors began to see themselves as the “primary creators of the theatrical event” (Arnold 139). Stanislavski’s interpretations of Chekhov’s plays were full of detailed elements and sound effects, and were presented with somewhat abstract settings to emphasize the play’s symbolic content. This prompted writers such as Chekhov to produce subtler emotionally alive work and to pay closer attention to unsaid messages.

Discuss the above quote with reference to your experiences of preparing to direct/design a Chekhov play.

The life of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is marked by his remarkable refusal to abandon that which he loved and believed in, even under the iron grip of oppression. Born in 1918, the Russian spent the majority of his early life in the city of Rostov-on-Don where he lived with his widowed mother. As a young man, Aleksandr developed a passion for writing, and began looking for places to print his works when he was only a teenager. This proved to be more than just a vaporous fantasy of his adolescence; Solzhenitsyn's strong desire to write motivated and inspired him throughout his entire life.

He was an unashamed beggar for beauty and an unsurpassed inventor of it. Here are some of his famous quotations from “The Dramatic Imagination,” “We have learned that beneath the surface of an ordinary everyday normal casual conscious existence there lies a vast dynamic world of impulse and dream, a hinterland of energy which has an independent existence of its own and laws of its own: laws which motivate all our thoughts and actions.” “Our playwrights are attempting to express directly to the audience the unspoken thoughts of their characters, wo show us not only the patterns of their conscious behavior but the pattern of their subconscious lives.” “We accept motion pictures unthinkingly as objective transcripts of life, whereas in reality they are subjective images of life.” “On stage we shall see the actual characters of the drama; on the screen we shall see their hidden secret selves.” The theatre is a school we shall never have done with studying and learning.” “A stage setting is not a background; it is an environment.” “I think [the theatre] needs also actors who have in them a kind of wildness, an exuberance, a take-it-or-leave-it quality, a dangerous quality.” “I am indebted to the great Madame Freisinger for teaching me the value of simplicity in the theatre.” “The sole aim of the arts of scene-designing,

Vladimir Nabokov was the badass who wrote one of the most beautiful and disturbing books of the 20th century.

It wasn't until age twenty-one when the young Konstantin adopted the name ‘Stanislavsky’ in order to keep his theatrical career a secret from his bourgeois family (Merlin). At the time, professional actors in Russia had the social status equivalent to that of a poor farmer. They had only recently escaped serfdom and were freshly no longer the property of nobility (Benedetti). For a man of such high birth, the idea of pursuing a career in theatre was inconceivable; however, the cultural interest and love of theatrical entertainment of the Alekseyev family only fueled Stanislavsky’s pursuits. Sergei Vladimirovich Alekseyev, Stanislavsky's father, converted multiple buildings on his family’s estate into theatres, making the Alekseyev home Moscow’s hub for cultural and artistic life (Benedetti). Named The Alekseyev Circle, this family owned theatre is where Stanislavsky would make his acting debut. In the September of 1877, a time which Stanislavsky himself refers to as “the beginning of [his] Childhood and Adolescence” (Stanislavsky: MLIA), fourteen year old Konstantin Alekseyev made his first journey to the stage. Stanislavsky thanks God in his autobiography for not making him a natural talent for it was his initial struggle towards the craft that spurred his search for the ‘laws’ of

At the age of 25 Konstantin was becoming recognised as an amateur actor. It is also at this point in 1888 he co-founded a society of literature and art. He preformed plays by Pushkin and Moliere among others. This is also where he got the majority of his directing experience.

Fyodor Mihailovitch Dostoevsky was born on October 30th 1821, in the Moscow hospital for the poor where his father worked as a physician. The living Quarters which were provided for the family by the hospital were far from being adequate. Although the Dostoevsky originally came from the gentry, their financial status had not been promising. Existing on the edge, of poverty, Fyodor's childhood was lonely and overshadowed by the depressing atmosphere of the surroundings of the hospital and the constant quarrels at home. The ill temper of old Dostoevsky did little to bring happiness into the unfortunate circumstances in which the family had to live. Upon the death of his mother in 1837, Dostoevsky was sent to St. Petersburg to attend the College

Within the span of Anton Chekhov’s short life, he unfortunately had an impoverished childhood. Chekhov’s father moved to Moscow, Russia due to bankruptcy, but young Anton stayed back in his homeland to

Chekhov develops the themes of realism around the relationship between Anna and Dmitri. By showing how the surroundings of the story attempt to keep the two away from each other. Chekhov even incorporates realism into the ending by not showing what happens to their relationship do they stay together or break up. This combines realism because it shows that like the real world we don’t know what is going to happen. Dmitri and Anna’s relationship would appear negatively at the times because it was not looked at as good that is why Chekhov uses the symbols. Anton Chekhov shows through the symbols changing that not everything stays the same and that can be said in positive and negative ways. The secretive nature of their relationship made it harder for them. Another turbulent aspect of their relationship was the fact that Anna and Dmitri were both married. Chekhov showed realism in the relationship between Dmitri and Anna though it was different because it was small symbols or the overall literary style that Chekhov

Anton Chekhov is considered the greatest short story writer in history, though he didn't have an easy life. He was born on January 29th, 1860 in Taganrog Russia. Chekhov's father was a grocer, and struggled financially. When his father's business failed, he moved his family to Moscow, but left Chekhov behind, to keep up with his studies. In the year of 1879 he finally moved to Moscow to attend medical school. His family was suffering greatly, so, Chekhov wrote comics, and stories to help his struggling family. That's where his love for literature and playwrights began.

of their artistic commitments forms Chekhov’s artistic manifesto. Along the way, Chekhov explores and questions the idea of the “superfluous man” on his own terms.

Stanislavsky wrote three novels that discuss his acting method; An Actor Prepares, Building a Character, and Creating a Role. These books are from the perspective of a

When it comes to reading, most everyone enjoys stories filled with the unexpected. When the story is read, the reader tries to predict the outcome. Then, all of a sudden, the plot thickens and the ending is something completely different. The master of this strategy is Anton Chekhov. Chekhov sets up his story plots that makes a reader believe his stories will end a certain way, but in all actuality it ends completely different than originally predicted.

Naturalism in theatre displayed the concept of creating ‘real life’ on stage. Notable practitioners such as Emile Zola, Anton Chekhov, and August Strindberg, illustrate in their plays this illusion of reality on stage. Director and practitioner, Konstantin Stanislavski, created a method where actors achieved naturalistic performances. Moreover, the key features seen in Naturalism theatre is the determinism of the environment, the actors portrayal of the characters and the concept of happiness. Both of this concepts can be seen in Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters and August Strindberg’s Miss Julie.