Directing with the Michael Chekhov Technique

A Workbook with Video for Directors, Teachers and Actors

Mark Monday

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781474279642
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

Directing with the Michael Chekhov Technique explores the collaborative process between a play's director and the entire production team, making the journey of a production process cohesive using the Michael Chekhov Technique. No other technique provides the tools for both actor and director to communicate as clearly as does Michael Chekhov. Directing with the Michael Chekhov Technique is the first book to apply the insights of this celebrated technique to the realities of directing a theatrical production. The book chronicles the journey of a play, from conception through production, through the eyes of the director. Drawn from the author's rehearsal journals, logs and notes from each performance, the reader is shown how to arrive at a concept, create a concept statement and manage the realization of the play, utilizing specific techniques from Michael Chekhov to solve problems of acting and design. As with all books in the Theatre Arts Workbook series, Directing with the Michael Chekhov Technique will include online video exercises, "Teaching Tip" boxes which streamline the book for teachers, and a useful Further Reading section. Directing with the Michael Chekhov Technique is the perfect guide to the production process for any director.

1

PREPARATION—ANALYSIS AND COMPOSITION

Framework

The work in this chapter is concerned with the elements of composition. The composition of a play, in Chekhovian terms, results from careful analysis. Chekhov says in To the Actor, “The same fundamentals which govern the universe and the life of earth and man, and the principles which bring harmony and rhythm to music, poetry and architecture, also comprise the Laws of Composition which, to a greater or lesser degree, can be applied to every dramatic performance.” As I mentioned earlier it would be a good idea to read Chapter 8 of To the Actor before tackling this work. Not all of the principles of the Laws of Composition are explored here. I’ve found, in my directing, that certain individual laws take care of themselves if you adhere to the major ones we will explore.

Before we begin, I’ve provided definitions of the terms we’ll be using for easy reference.

Definitions

Composition: combining elements to form a whole. Creating the composition of a play consists of finding tempo, polarity, transformation, and identifying themes, atmospheres, artistic frames, and the major and auxiliary climaxes. The other definitions that are included are not germane to Chekhov.

Atmosphere: the overall mood of the play and individual scenes, for example, fear and hate. Atmosphere permeates the play and each scene and also exists in individual characters dependent on the given circumstances. We term the overall atmosphere of the scene, or the play, “the objective atmosphere.” The atmosphere of the individual is the subjective atmosphere. It is the collision of atmospheres that create conflict.

Polarity: contrast. Polarity, in a well-written play, can be best observed by comparing the beginning and the ending. In Midsummer, for example, we begin with dire circumstances and end in a joyous triple wedding. What happens in between is the transformation of evil to good. In the beginning of King Lear, we witness a despotic king who, in the end, experiences his final moments in redemption. While it may be too little, too late, it is regardless a journey that exemplifies the struggle of good and evil. Polarity also includes choices an actor can make to reach his or her objective. By varying choices to reach an objective the actor helps in creating the rhythmical wave.

Rhythmical Wave: a literal wave, a roller coaster, created by all components of composition. (See example later in this chapter.)

Tempo: a rate of movement/speech between the slowest and the fastest. In Chekhovian terms this is “staccato-legato.”

Transformation: the longest part of the play. The play progresses from the initial climax near the beginning and transforms to a polar climax near the end.

Artistic Frame: similar, yet more profound, to Stanislavski’s “beats.” The artistic frame has a beginning, middle, and ending (B-M-E). The B-M-E can also be thought of as preparation, execution, and sustaining. The preparation begins in the fantasy—imagining, at Chekhov’s direction, to see the objective achieved before we actually make an attempt of action. The execution is the action. Sustaining is maintaining the action(s) with your scene partner until the frame is completed.

Arc of action (AoA): the titling, naming, or “baptizing” of an artistic frame, such as, “The confrontation,” “The set-up,” etc. Baptizing an artistic frame with an AoA is extremely important for the director and actor. What is an “arc” in our terms? It is an unbroken line, like a rhythmical wave, that gives the actor a clear indication of how the artistic frame should be constructed with action. After baptizing the artistic frame, the director need only guide the actor by keeping his or her actions within the title of the AoA. Baptizing the artistic frame with an AoA is a time saver because the director offers minimum instruction and allows the actor to create in those given parameters.

Blocks: division of the text for rehearsal purposes.

Action: what I do to get what I want; a verb, for example, I lift.

Qualities of action: how I do what I do to get what I want; an adverb, for example, joyfully. Action and qualities are always combined, for example, I lift, joyfully.

Note: Actions and qualities are explored in depth later. They are mentioned here only as a precursor of the work to come with actors. Don’t be overly concerned about them in the analysis portion of your work.

We can now move on to identifying the climaxes for Midsummer and creating a rhythmical wave for the play. If you have written your initial concept for the play you are working on, you already know where the climaxes occur.

In a well-written play there are usually three major climaxes (CX). In Midsummer:

CX1—1st major climax—Act I, scene I—the plea from Egeus to Theseus.

CX2—2nd major climax—Act III, scene I—Bottom is transformed into an “ass.”

CX3—3rd major climax—Act V, scene I—the play within the play.

This is somewhat of a subjective exercise and lies within the director’s vision. For the sake of learning the basic theory of composition let’s agree on this division. Then, there are the auxiliary climaxes (ACX):

ACX1—1st auxiliary climax—Act II, scene I—Titania’s line “Not for thy fairy kingdom. Fairies, away!” Titania recognizes that the situation is hopeless and exits.

ACX2—2nd auxiliary climax—Act II, scene II—Lysander awakes and professes his love to Helena.

ACX3—3rd auxiliary climax—Act III, scene II—the fight between the lovers.

ACX4—4th auxiliary climax—Act IV, scene I—Titania wakes and sees Bottom as he truly is.

ACX5—5th auxiliary climax—Act IV, scene II—Bottom’s return to the other mechanicals.

Admittedly, Midsummer is different from a Shakespearean tragedy in that the tragedies and the histories have more auxiliary climaxes and mainly because there are fewer scenes in each act in Midsummer. This makes the play a good example to study in that it is not overwhelming. Here we must again agree, for our purposes of study, on the major climax—“the play within the play.”

A crucial element of composition the director must consider and communicate to the designers and cast is that of polarity . A well-written play ends at the polar opposite of how it begins and, according to Michael Chekhov, represents the fight between good and evil—another aspect of Higher Ego. In Midsummer, the first major climax occurs when Egeus brings his daughter Hermia before the Duke of Athens. In essence, Egeus brings “charges” against Hermia, which she attempts to defend. This is serious business and should be played so. It is a trial of sorts with an overall atmosphere of fear. Egeus wants Hermia to marry as he chooses or else be put to death or banished. There is nothing more serious than life or death and these are the stakes being played. There is the sense of evil present.

Practice exploration

Using the same play you worked on for developing your concept statement, create a rhythmical wave and identify the climaxes.

Then the journey begins toward the end of the play. The audience rides the wave to the ending which is filled with the atmosphere of joy and the representation of the journey from evil to good. The play ends exactly opposite from where it begins—with weddings, the play within the play, a celebration with the fairies—and is an example of perfect polarity. Of course there is the middle to consider—that place where plots unfold and intertwine. This is the transformation. It is best, I believe, to truly understand the polarity of beginning and ending before delving too deeply into the middle. It is the middle th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Dedication
• Title
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword Seth Gordon
• Prologue to Using This Book
• Preface to Using This Book
• 1 Preparation—Analysis and Composition
• 2 Casting and Classwork Using Archetypes
• 3 Creating the Ensemble
• 4 Establishing the Language of Class and Rehearsal
• 5 Using Psychological Gesture as Action
• 6 Putting It All Together Thus Far
• 7 Character Relationships
• 8 Work on Soliloquies
• 9 Characterization
• 10 Scenes and Blocks with Multiple Characters
• 11 Tempo/Rhythm and Atmosphere
• 12 Spy-Back
• Appendix I: Links to Workbook Videos
• Appendix II: Concept Statements and Casting from Other Plays
• Appendix III: Sample Scores from Other Plays
• Appendix IV: Additional Exercises and Helpful Documents
• Appendix V: A brief history of Michael Chekhov
• Appendix VI: How this book came to be
• Appendix VII: Additional Notes on A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Index
• Copyright