Michael Chekhov’s Acting Technique: A Practitioner’s Guide(Performance Books)

About the Book

Intended for actors, directors, teachers and researchers, this book offers an exceptionally clear and thorough introduction to the renowned acting technique developed by Michael Chekhov. Sinéad Rushe’s book provides a complete overview of the whole method, and includes illuminating explanations of its principles, as well as a wide range of practical exercises that illustrate, step by step, how they can be applied to dramatic texts.
Part One provides an outline of the ideas that underpin the work, which help to prepare practitioners to become responsive and receptive, and to awaken their imagination. Part Two charts a journey through the foundational psychophysical exercises that can both orient an actor's training routine and be applied directly to the development of a role. Part Three focuses on more specific and elaborate methods of scene work, characterisation and the art of transformation.

Drawing on the full range of Chekhov's writing in English and French, this book also examines unpublished material from the Dartington Hall archives and features interviews with actors who have worked with the technique, including Simon Callow and Joanna Merlin. It illustrates Chekhov’s approach by referring to Rushe's own productions of Nikolai Gogol's short story Diary of a Madman and Shakespeare's Othello, as well as characters and scenes in Sarah Kane's Blasted and the contemporary American television series Breaking Bad.
Michael Chekhov’s Acting Technique is an accessible, comprehensive and contemporary point of reference for those already trained in the method, as well as an initiation and toolkit for practitioners who are just beginning to discover it.

Table of Contents:

Preface

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Introduction: Guiding Principles

A Note on the Context of Chekhov's work

Part One: Preparation

The ideal centre The four brothers: feeling of ease Receiving The four brothers: feeling of form The four brothers: feeling of beauty The four brothers: feeling of entirety Radiating Expansion and contraction

Part Two: Practice

Qualities of movement: moulding, floating, flying, radiating Further qualities of movement: staccato/legato, curved/straight Directions in space Archetypal gesture The three sisters: rising, falling, balancing Image and imagination Improvisation
Transition: Transformation

Part Three: Performance

Imaginary body Imaginary centre Stick/ball/veil Archetypes Psychological gesture Subjective atmosphere Objective atmosphere Extras: ghost exercise, character biography
Conclusion: Theatre of the Future

Chronology of Michael Chekhov's Career

About the Author :
Sinéad Rushe is a theatre director and acting coach. She trained at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama London. She is Lead Acting Tutor at RADA and Artistic Director of Creative Actor Training. She is the co-translator into French, with Sarah Hirschmuller, of four plays by Howard Barker (Editions Théâtrales). She is co-director of Michael Chekhov UK, Faculty Council member of Michael Chekhov Association USA (MICHA) and patron of Living Pictures theatre company in Wales. She gives masterclasses and talks worldwide on acting and the Michael Chekhov technique and offers regular training at Creative Actor Training.

Review :
A long-time practitioner of Chekhov's acting technique, Rushe (Central School of Speech and Drama, UK) has delivered a valuable, comprehensive look at many of the acting tools Chekhov pioneered at the turn of the 20th century … Particularly noteworthy is Rushe’s creation of a careful pathway through all the material. Each exercise builds on its predecessor in a way that shows the author’s attention to detail and mastery of the subject matter … Though aimed at modern practitioners of acting, academics should not shy away from this guide, given its thorough research and its historical relevance. This volume will be a useful resource for those studying acting theory, theater history, or the pedagogy of acting. An extremely well researched exploration of how Chekhov’s approach to acting can be best utilized … Rushe’s very clear explanations of each tool, its use, and its relationship to other tools is very illuminating and practical.