Micheal Chekhov

Micheal Chekhov was one of the most influential theatre practitioners of the 20th century. He taught some huge names such as; Marilyn Monroe, Dorothy Dandridge, Clint Eastwood and has influenced actors such as Johnny Depp and Anthony Hopkins. Chekhov himself, studied under Konstantin Stanislavski, another well known practitioner known for his technique of “Method acting” and was supposed to be Stanislavski’s best student. 

I have chosen to study Chekhov because I believe his idea of creating an atmosphere and connecting physical movement to psychological feelings will benefit our project. During my final show, I would like the movements and atmosphere myself and the other actors make influence the audience to feel and understand the emotion we are trying to display. This ties into bringing awareness to the five stages of grief and the healing process after experiencing loss. 

Chekhov had a way of teaching his techniques and he called these the “five guiding principles” which are used to teach his techniques even now. A tutor based in New York by the name of Lenard Petit teaches the techniques of Micheal Chekhov and in a YouTube video explained those principles and how they were created to help teach actors, “easily, quickly and comprehensively”. 

Chekhov’s first principle is focussed on the “psycho-physical”, which is the idea that the body and psychology / the mind are the same, intertwined. Lenard Petit explained this idea by showcasing how the human reacts then feels, for example “If I’m in the forest and I see a bear, I run, only then am I afraid.” This showcases the idea that the mind and body are intertwined, the body physically reacted to the danger before the mind produced a feeling or emotion towards it, meaning the body was scared and reacted in the same way the mind was. Chekhov’s idea was that by exploring this psycho-physical reaction it could be implemented into acting to help implement realism therefore creating a greater atmosphere for the audience to experience. This principle can be used in my project by using pauses and reactions within the acting to create a realistic and relatable response to each of the stages of grief. 

The second principle was focussed on the atmosphere created by the actors, and how “the most potent means of expression are intangible” meaning the most influential way to get your audience to feel something is not something physical. For example tension is used in lots of acting to create that atmosphere the audience can feel, which paired with the atmosphere and tension music can bring creates an engrossing feeling as an audience member. 

Chekhov’s third principle was that his technique was spiritual, but not religious. He highlights the idea that traditionally actors are taught to break down a scene or character and analyse that to get into “the characters shoes”. Chekhov believed this to be (what we’d call today) a rather “left brain” way of approaching immersing oneself into the character, so this principle showcases a connection to the “right brain”. The right brain generally is perceived to be more imaginative and creative and “is able to synthesise things like archetypes and psychological gestures” this means that the “right brain” is able to recognise lots of small hints to a whole emotion, such as certain reoccurring mannerisms or behaviours that lead to or hint to a feeling the character is experiencing. Chekhov’s idea is that by using the “right brain” and using such mannerisms / behaviours in your acting, will suggest to the audience a certain emotion before it is explicitly said / displayed (e.g crying, yelling). 

The fourth principle was the techniques through association follow each other. By using one technique it will automatically trigger use of the other techniques as they’re connected like a web. This is shown in real life when you get an energy surge / drop when seeing someone you know. For example, if you are feeling sad if you see somebody that makes you happy that you love you will automatically perk up and start enjoying yourself more and when seeing someone you dislike you may get annoyed or upset when seeing them. By using the techniques above you can recognise this in day to day interactions so you can learn timing of this to create realistic reactions. This helps the audience recognise the emotion you are trying to create as it is an emotional change they would’ve experienced before. I can use this in my show when reacting to other characters entering stage.

The fifth principle is the idea of artistic freedom, being able to have inner dialogue with the four other principles and investigate which principle speaks to you the most. The idea is that if you work on one principle that you feel a connection to, as principle four states the rest of the principles will come naturally. Personally, I will be working on the first and second principles most as my project is intertwined with principle two with the idea of creating an atmosphere, with the mix of music and acting. I will be working closely with principle one as well as grief can be a mostly psychological process, so using the psycho-physical technique I can translate psychologic feelings within grief, into physical actions that an audience could recognise as that emotion. 

Bibliography

Petit, L. (2019). Philosophy - Michael Chekhov Acting Studio | NYC. [online] Michaelchekhovactingstudio.com. Available at: http://michaelchekhovactingstudio.com/philosophy.html.

www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Lenard Petit on Michael Chekhov’s 5 Guiding Principles for Actors. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PufzXM820w4&t=1s [Accessed 21 Apr. 2022].

Wikipedia Contributors (2019). Michael Chekhov. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Chekhov.

Sinéad Rushe (2019). Michael Chekhov’s acting technique : a practitioner’s guide. London, Uk ; New York, Ny: Methuen Drama.

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