Michael Chekhov

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Michael Chekhov (1910s)

Michael Alexandrovich Chekhov ( Russian Михаил Александрович Чехов * August 16 . Jul / 28. August  1891 greg. In St. Petersburg ; † 30th September 1955 in Beverly Hills ) was a Russian-American actor , director , author .

Life

Michael Chekhov - a nephew of the writer Anton Chekhov - got to know Russian literature and the philosophy of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche through his father Alexander Chekhov in his early youth . At the age of 16 Chekhov became a student at the Suvorin Theater School , which he finished in 1910. A year and a half later he made his debut at the Malyj Theater in Petersburg. In 1911, Konstantin Stanislawski engaged Chekhov at the Moscow Art Theater (MChAT). The MChAT was the most important theater in Russia at the time. The most important representatives of the Russian theater avant- garde worked here, including Mejerhold and Wachtangow . For the further personal and artistic development of Chekhov, Vakhtangov was even more important than Stanislavsky. In the following years a friendship and close artistic collaboration developed between the two.

Chekhov was married to the actress Olga Chekhova from 1914 to 1917 in his first marriage .

After Wachtangow died in 1922, Chekhov was appointed artistic director of the 'First Studio' of the Art Theater. The studio's task was to develop and try out new ideas with young actors. On a guest tour, Chekhov got to know the philosopher Rudolf Steiner and his anthroposophy , which became a great source of inspiration for him. Steiner's ideas, especially eurythmy and speech formation, should flow into his work in the art theater. However, the ongoing tense political situation in the wake of the Russian Revolution made it increasingly difficult for Chekhov to continue his work. Under increasing censorship and because of his openly expressed spiritual attitude - it was in opposition to the prevailing ideology - his productions were labeled as reactionary and anti-Soviet. Chekhov was soon faced with the choice of leaving Russia or risking arrest. On the eve of the planned arrest, he escaped to Berlin with his second wife in 1928 .

A period followed when Chekhov accepted engagements in various theaters in Europe. In addition to Vienna and Berlin, his path led him to Paris, where he had little success with his newly founded Russian theater, and to the Baltic States, where he worked successfully as an actor and director in Riga and Kaunas in 1932 . Here he held acting courses and intended to open an acting school. The political situation of the incipient National Socialism destroyed his plans. Through the young actress Beatrice Straight , her parents were planning to establish a theater project on their country estate Dartington Hall in Devonshire , England, Chekhov took over the management of the theater attached there. In 1936, The Chekhov Theater Studio opened at Dartington Hall , where the artist was able to devote himself to developing his acting method for the first time since leaving Russia. However, the outbreak of World War II soon ruined any further work. In 1939 the Chekhov Studio moved to Ridgefield / USA.

If Chekhov's work in England was free from financial constraints, he found a situation in the USA that required economically viable productions from his training. The Broadway production, performed a few months later, was not a great success, and it turned out that this presentation with Chekhov's new method was premature. After moving to Hollywood again , Michael Chekhov found a suitable place to teach and act, and to work on his book on the technique of actors. Among his students were names like Ingrid Bergman , Gregory Peck , Marilyn Monroe or Anthony Quinn , who later came to fame and honor. One of his most important students was the actor and director and co-founder of the Actors Studio in New York City Robert Lewis . Despite his different beliefs, Chekhov entered into contracts with film companies and played under well-known directors such as Alfred Hitchcock , Ben Hecht and others. His portrayal of a psychiatrist in Hitchcock's I'm Struggling for You (1945) earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor .

In 1953 Chekhov's book To the Actor was published by Harper & Row. Before that, however, at the instigation of the publisher, Chekhov was forced to delete the allegedly mystical references to anthroposophy . Only then did the publisher agree to publication.

method

Chekhov met Rudolf Steiner in Berlin in 1922 , and in Arnhem in 1924 , where he had a detailed conversation with him and which provided essential impulses for developing his teaching method. Through concentration exercises, thinking is increased to a pictorial experience until the stage character appears in the actor's inner eye. Gradually the stage personality built up through concentration takes on a life of its own and enters into an inner dialogue with the actor, from which the further development of the role emerges. Chekhov placed particular emphasis on the actor tapping into the treasure trove of his subconscious . Since the play does not unfold in an empty, neutral space, the actor must also take into account the atmosphere in which the individual scene or the whole play takes place. As a supra-personal, objective sphere of feeling, this atmosphere connects the play of the individual actors to a harmonious whole. In order to be able to credibly embody the stage personality seen internally in the imagination, Chekhov has developed so-called “psychological gestures”, which are supposed to help the actor to produce a posture and movement that corresponds to the stage character.

See also

Publications

  • 1985: Lessons for the Professional Actor. Performing Arts Journal Publications, New York
    • 2013: Lessons for the professional actor. Edited by Anton Rey and Mani Wintsch. Transcribed from notes and compiled by Deirdre Hurst du Prey. German by Michael Raab. With a foreword by Mel Gordon. Alexander, Berlin / Cologne, ISBN 978-3-89581-322-1 .
  • 1990: The Art of Acting. Moscow edition. Urachhaus publishing house, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-87838-671-0 .
  • 1992: Secrets of the art of acting. Translated from English by Georgette Boner and Hedwig David. With a foreword by Yul Brynner . Werner Classen, Zurich / Stuttgart
  • 2002: To the Actor. Second Ed., Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-25875-3 .

literature

  • Charles Marowitz: The other Chekhov. A biography of Michael Chekhov, the legendary actor, director & theorist. , Applause Theater & Cinema Books, 2004, ISBN 978-1-55783-640-3 .
  • Lenard Petit: The Cechov Method. Handbook for actors. With a foreword by Frank Betzelt. Leipzig 2014. ISBN 978-3-89487-712-5 .

Cinematography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Research Center for Culture Impulse
  2. ↑ a b c Actor Ensemble  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.actorensemble.org  
  3. ^ Michael A. Čechov, The Art of the Actor , Stuttgart, 1990
personal data
SURNAME Chekhov, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chekhov, Michael Alexandrovich (full name); Чехов, Михаил Александрович (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian-American actor, director, and writer
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Petersburg
DATE OF DEATH September 30, 1955
Place of death Beverly Hills