The Path of the Actor

257 Pages·2005·12.41 MB·English

by  Michael Chekhov

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13111 Michael Chekhov, nephew of Anton Chekhov, was arguably one of the greatest
4 actors of the twentieth century. From his time as Stanislavsky’s pupil, followed
5 by his artistic leadership in the Second Moscow Art Academic Theatre, his
6 enforced emigration from the Soviet Union and long pilgrimage around
Europe, to his work in Hollywood, his life has made a huge impact on the
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acting profession.
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Chekhov’s remarkable actor-training techniques inspired many Hollywood
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legends – including Anthony Hopkins and Jack Nicholson – and his tech-
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niques remain one of the theatre’s best kept secrets.
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This first English translation of Chekhov’s autobiographies combines The
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Path of the Actor, from 1928, and extensive extracts from his later Life and
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Encounters. Full of humorous and insightful observations involving promi-
4 nent characters from Moscow and the European theatre of the early twentieth
5111 century, Chekhov takes us through events in his acting career and personal
6 life, from his childhood in St Petersburg until his emigration from Latvia and
7 Lithuania in the early 1930s.
8 Chekhov’s witty, penetrating (and at times immensely touching) accounts
9 have been edited by Andrei Kirillov, whose extensive and authoritative notes
accompany the autobiographies. Co-editor, Anglo-Russian trained actor, Bella
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Merlin, also provides a useful hands-on overview of how the contemporary
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practitioner might use and develop Chekhov’s ideas.
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ThePath of the Actoris an extraordinary document that allows us unprece-
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dented access into the life, times, mind and soul of a remarkable man and a
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brilliant artist.
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Translated by Simon Blaxland-Delange (The Path of the Actor)
and David Ball (Life and Encounters)
With notes by Andrei Kirillov
Edited by Andrei Kirillov and Bella Merlin
Russian Language Adviser Ilya Zilberberg
© Michael Chekhov Centre UK
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THE PATH OF
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6 THE ACTOR
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Michael Chekhov
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Edited by
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Andrei Kirillov and
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First published 2005
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
Work © 2005 the Estate of Michael Chekhov
Translation © 2005 Michael Chekhov Centre UK
Introduction © 2005 Andrei Kirillov
Afterword © 2005 Bella Merlin
Illustrations © Museum of the Moscow Art Academic Theatre
Russian State Archive of Literature and Art
The State Central Theatre Museum named after
A.A. Bakhrushin
Dartington Hall Archive
Private collections
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Chekhov, Michael, 1891–1955.
[Put′aktera. English]
The path of the actor/edited by Andrei Kirillov and Bella Merlin.
p. cm.
Includes Life and encounters, English translation of Zhizn′i vstrechi.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Chekhov, Michael, 1891–1955. 2. Actors–Russia–Biography.
3. Actors–Soviet Union–Biography. I. Kirillov, Andrei.
II. Bella Merlin. III. Chekhov, Michael, 1891–1955. Zhizn′i vstrechi.
English. IV. Title: Life and encounters. V. Title.
PN2728.C45A3 2005
792.02′8′092247–dc22 2005006121
ISBN 0–415–34366–6(Print Edition)
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CONTENTS
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13111 List of plates vii
4 Acknowledgements xi
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Introduction by Andrei Kirillov 1
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Part 1: The Path of the Actor 11
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Part 2: Life and Encounters 131
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Afterword by Bella Merlin 197
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6 Bibliography 229
7 Index 233
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v

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PLATES
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13111 DHA – Dartington Hall Archive.
4 GCTM – The State Central Theatre Museum named after
5 A.A. Bakhrushin.
6 MMAAT – Museum of the Moscow Art Academic Theatre.
7 Private – images from private collections.
8 RGALI – Russian State Archive of Literature and Art.
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20111 Front cover Michael Chekhov. 1930s. (RGALI)
1 1 Michael Chekhov. 1920s. (Private) 12
2 2 Michael Chekhov. 1900. (MMAAT) 15
3 3 Natalya and Alexander Chekhov with Alexander’s
4 sons from his first marriage, Nikolay and Anton. c.1890.
5111 (RGALI) 18
6 4 Caricature by Chekhov of his life in the family. (RGALI) 21
7 5 Michael Chekhov. 1910s. (MMAAT) 25
8 6 Natalya Chekhov. (RGALI) 29
9 7 Michael and Olga Chekhov. 1915. (MMAAT) 31
30111 8 Self-portrait by Chekhov. (RGALI) 34
1 9 Michael Chekhov as Tsar Fyodor. 1911. (RGALI) 37
2 10 Konstantin Stanislavsky. (MMAAT) 46
3 11 Michael Chekhov as Cobe and Anna Popova as Saart.
4 1913. (MMAAT) 49
5 12 Michael Chekhov as Caleb. 1914. (MMAAT) 50
6 13 Leopold Sulerzhitsky. (MMAAT) 51
71 14 Evgeny Vakhtangov. (MMAAT) 53
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PLATES
15 Caricature by Chekhov. Evgeny Vakhtangov and
Michael Chekhov. (MMAAT) 53
16 Michael Chekhov as Skorokhodov. 1927. (Private) 56
17 Self-portrait by Chekhov. (MMAAT) 62
18 Caricature by Chekhov of himself, Evgeny Vakhtangov
and Lydia Deykun. (MMAAT) 67
19 Caricature by Chekhov of Evgeny Vakhtangov at a
rehearsal. (MMAAT) 69
20 Michael Chekhov as Frazer. 1915. (MMAAT) 75
21 Michael Chekhov as Malvolio. 1920. (MMAAT) 91
22 Michael Chekhov as Khlestakov. 1921. (MMAAT) 93
23 Michael Chekhov as Erik XIV. 1921. (MMAAT) 94
24 Caricature by Chekhov of Evgeny Vakhtangov as
Tackleton. (GCTM) 95
25 Caricature by Chekhov of Serafima Birman. (MMAAT) 99
26 Michael Chekhov as Khlestakov. 1921. Drawing by
Yuri Annenkov. (GCTM) 100
27 Michael Chekhov as Hamlet. 1924. (MMAAT) 106
28 Scene from Hamlet. 1924. (Private) 109
29 Michael Chekhov as Ableukhov. 1925. (RGALI) 110
30 Michael Chekhov as Muromsky. 1927. (MMAAT) 111
31 Design by Nikolay Andreyev for the costume and
make-up of Chekhov’s Muromsky. 1927. (GCTM) 112
32 Ksenya and Michael Chekhov in St Mark’s Square,
Venice. 1925. (MMAAT) 120
33 Michael Chekhov as Epikhodov. 1914. (Private) 124
34 Michael Chekhov as Pashka. 1930. (RGALI) 132
35 Michael Chekhov as Skid. 1928. (Private) 146
36 Ksenya Chekhov and Fyodor Shalyapin. 1931. (RGALI) 149
37 Michael Chekhov, Hans Schlettow and Olga Chekhov in
Troika. 1930. (RGALI) 154
38 Michael Chekhov and Sergey Rakhmaninov. 1931.
(MMAAT) 163
39 Michael and Ksenya Chekhov. 1930s. (RGALI) 176
40 Michael Chekhov as Ivan the Terrible. 1932. (Private) 177
41 Michael Chekhov as Foma Opiskin. 1932. (Private) 179
42 Michael Chekhov as Daddy. 1932. (RGALI) 180
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PLATES
1111 43 Michael Chekhov with the participants of the Theatre
2 Seminar in Riga. 1932. (Private) 182
3 44 Michael Chekhov as Khlestakov. 1935. (RGALI) 190
4 45 Vera Grech as Anna Andreyevna, Michael Chekhov as
51 Khlestakov, Maria Kryzhanovskaya as Maria Antonovna.
6 1935. (Private) 191
7 46 Michael Chekhov rehearsing A Spanish Evening. 1938.
8 Photograph by Fritz Henle. (DHA) 192
9 47 Michael Chekhov as Solomon Levi. 1946. (RGALI) 193
1011 48 Michael Chekhov as Max Poliakov. 1946. (RGALI) 194
1 49 Michael Chekhov as Peter. 1946. (RGALI) 194
2 50 Michael Chekhov as Abelian. 1948. (RGALI) 195
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