Practioner Research Reflections

Michael Checkhov

Historical Context

·         Born in Russia 1891

o   Great Famine

§  He was part of middle-class family

o   Civil Unrest

§  Socialists vs. Monarchy

·         Assassinations done by Socialists

·         Police Brutality

o   1917 – Tsar was resigning from pressure a Bolsheviks take over

o   1924 – Soviet Union becomes a dictatorship

·         Warned to leave Russia in 1928 

o   His work was too experimental for Soviet government

·         Worked in Europe from 1928 – 1939

o   Constant threat of war

o   Language barriers

·         Relocated to America in 1939 to avoid war with Germany

o   Lost male members of theatre group to draft

Influences

·         Known as one of Stanislavsky’s “greatest students”

o   Developed his ideas of method acting and naturalism

o   Known more for his deviations on Stanislavsky’s system

·         Also influenced by his other students – Evgeny Vakhtangov, a brilliant director

·         Meyerhold was another student of Stanislavsky but learned more towards no-realist techniques

Techniques

·         There are many Chekhov techniques – no one knows exactly what they are

·         All founded in energy and becoming the character

·         Psychological gesture

o   Gesture: the inner essence of something manifested in a physical form

o   Distilling the character down into one or two gestures to get into character quickly

o   Scaffolding to build upon, not necessarily do it on stage

§  Not a habit or tick

Collaborations

·         Stanislavsky

·         Meyerhold, Vakhtangov

o   Also Stanislavsky’s students

·         Strasberg, Alder

o   All students in the drama society

Theatre Groups

·         Theatre Studio in Dartington Hall (England 1936-1939)

·         Second Moscow Art Theatre (1924)

·         The Drama Society (taught in the 1940’s)

Antonin Artaud

History

·         Antonin Artaud (1896 – 1948)

o   French dramatist, actor, essayist, poet, theatre director

o   Lived through both world wars, a time period when theatre was neglected greatly

§  War period

o   Mental Instability

§  Always went in and out of the mental institutions

§  Abused by electric chairs at the institutions

§  Later brings worse effects than his original illness

o   Opium and heroin addiction

o   His insanity is thought to be his method of creation

o   Influences:

§  Alfred Jarry

·         Obuori Roy – mocking mankind

o   Shakespeare’s Macbeth

§  Van Gough

·         Painter

·         Movement and activeness

§  Sigmund Freud

§  Balinese Dance Theatre (1931)

·         Physicality

·         Trance Theatre

o   Creator of Theatre of Cruelty

·         Theatre of Cruelty

o   Manifestations

o   Use of puppets

§  Reveal something deeper than meaning

o   Paradise Now

·         Idea of spectacle

·         Visually shocking

·         Bring out all the emotions the audience would feel exposed to

·         Didn’t think words were enough – real emotions are key

·         Against realistic theatre

o   Against naturalist

o   Thought it was a shallow connection

·         Artaud – thought audience needs to be completely involved with the play

o   Seating arrangement – chairs would be on stage

Eugene Ionesco

·         Not a realist

o   Literal meaning is not cohesive with the way object can be used

·         History

o   Parents divorced

o   Spoke French

o   Lived in Romania

o   Younger brother died à problematic childhood

o   Criticizing races and cultures

§  Didn’t say anything about Romania

o   Saw how many artists fall during Nazi movement

·         Influences and inspirations of Eugene Ionesco

o   Identified Franz Kafka,

·         Philosophy

o   Dark elements

§  Believed in theatre of cruelty

o   Absurd

§  Came from religious roots

o   Life has no meaning

o   Criticizes society

§  “I am nobody” à “yet I am others”

·         People can recognize him

o   Compares himself to others

o   Didn’t always like plays when he was younger à liked fiction

§  Whenever he watched it he was confused

·         Plays

o   Bald Soprano

o   Rhinoceros

§  Normal people have a disease and becomes rhinoceros slowly

Jerzy Grotowski

·         Historical Context

o   1933 in Rzeszow, Poland (Died 1999)

o   Separated family due to WW11

o   Polish director and Theorist

o   Known for intense actor training processes

§  Believed actors act best when they’re exhausted

o   Created “Poor theatre”

·         Influences

o   Grew up on a farm with Aunt and Uncle

§  Uncle was bishop à taught about religious awakingings

o   Gave him the idea theatre was sacred to a director

§  E.g. church is sacred to a bishop

o   Religious à Catholic

·         Practioner influences

o   Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Bertolt Brecht

·         Philosophies

o   Rhythm of life characterized by pace, tension, a feeling of doom

o   Essence of Poor Theatre is to focus on the interaction between the audience and actors

o   Getting rid of props and costumes and sticking to the basics

§  Used the actors as props

o   Didn’t like traditional stage

§  Liked old places and buildings

o   Good acting is crucial to good theatre

o   Theatre could never match with film and television à should never attempt to do so

·         Theatre Company

o   The Poor Theatre

§  Modern – American

§  Workshops based on Grotowski

Vsevolod Meyerhold

·         History

o    Born German à more Russian than German

o   Russia was getting richer and more powerful

o   Middle class family

o   WW1 – Economy in Russia was bad

§  Crippling

§  Stalin – strengthened economy

·         Influences

o   Towards law

o   Saw a production wit Stanlawaski

§  Worked under him about realism

§  Ultimately went against everything he taught him

·         S = built internal

o   Interested in physicality

o   Knew and engineer who helped later on

o   Thought physicality was the most important thing for character development

§  Built external

·         Philosophy

o   The body is more like a machine

§  Balanced and efficient

§  Industrial language

§  Due to influences from engineer

o   Biomechanics

§  The precision of one

·         Machine

·         Balance

·         Coordinate

·         Expressiveness

·         Playful

·         Discipline

o   All about the body

·         Theatre Groups

o   The New Drama Fellowship – 1902

o   RSFESR-1

§  Supportive of communism

·         Collaborations

o   Didn’t collaborate very much

o   Studied under Stanislavsky

§  Worked together with him after many years

·         Only did 3 shows because he was too bizarre

o   Hired by Vera Komissarhevskaya

§  She thought actors were like his puppets

§  Reputation for being hard to work with

o   Eisenhower - films

·         Heritage

o   Killed by Stalin, his work became taboo

§  Age 66

o   People who worked under him survived and kept it alive

o   Not as widespread as others

o   Museum theatres

§  House of Meyerhold

§  Center of Theatrical Arts