ABSTRACT
In the literature about Michael Chekhov and his technique, certain key words recur as milestones, sometimes retaining their original meaning and sometimes evolving as he adopted new terms during the various phases of his research. Here I would like to focus on some of them in particular: image/archetype; imagination; fantasy; concentration/meditation; subconscious; objectivity. At the beginning of Chekhov’s research the terms denoting his real principles occurred sporadically, but as his technique developed they began to interact, overlap, and intertwine in the definition of the actor’s work on the character. When I first became acquainted with the publications by and on Michael Chekhov,
what caught my attention, as a scholar of both the theatre and Rudolf Steiner, was how these key terms correspond to those in Steiner’s teachings (Cristini 2008). Thanks to this coincidence, my interest in the Russian actor has gradually turned into a line of research, which, although still in its initial phase, increasingly reveals new affinities of thought between the two teachers. It has also led me to adopt anthroposophical practices in my theatre research. What is even more interesting is something that seems to emerge from the latest studies (Autant-Mathieu 20091): not only did Chekhov endorse anthroposophy and consequently adopt some anthroposophical principles, but the Russian pedagogue began to deal with issues of imagination and concentration even before his encounter with Steiner’s thought. Moreover, while the bases of these principles can be attributed to both his first master Konstantin Stanislavsky and to Yevgeny Vakhtangov, it should be noted that Chekhov talked about the importance of these elements in the work of the actor, in a way influenced probably by Eastern philosophies, from the very beginning of his research. For this reason we may safely suggest that the two masters worked individually on their respective (albeit quite similar) formulations and that only at a later time did Chekhov adopt Steiner’s theatre teachings. Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), the Austrian philosopher and founder of anthro-
posophy, dedicated himself to theatre from his period in the Weimar Goethe Archive (1890-97), through his life in Berlin where he founded (together with the
German playwright Frank Wedekind) a sort of theatrical company (the Berliner Dramatische Gesellschaft, 1897-1900), to the collaboration between the theosophical and anthroposophical societies. Since the early twentieth century he had been working with actors in Monaco, developing a personal pedagogy – a sort of method with a specific training and an approach to the creative process on character – matching his deep knowledge of theatrical art with his anthroposophical thought. Steiner was not only a philosopher, but also a playwright, director, teacher of actors, and, last but not least, founder of eurythmy, a new and original kind of spiritual dance (Cristini 2008: 147-88). Thus we may consider Steiner a true man of the theatre, which is one of the reasons why it is important to understand the link between him and Chekhov, who was interested not only in his philosophy, but also in his theatrical thought and practice. In The Path of the Actor (2005) Chekhov states that he first read about Steiner’s philosophy in 1918, but it seems he became acquainted with his teaching for the actor only later, under the influence of Andrey Bely and his partner, Assia Turgenieff, one of the first collaborators at the Goetheanum, the home of the anthroposophical society in Switzerland. As Christine Hamon-Siréjols has shown, Chekhov, who was fascinated by the occult and mysticism, was seduced by Steiner’s idea of the “three dimensions” of the human being (2009). Steiner’s anthroposophical and theatrical thought is based on the principle of the
tripartite nature of the human being: the division into a physical body, an etheric body (made up of energy and vital force), and an astral body (made up of sensations and feelings) – all of them guided by the ego. One of his most important principles is related to the word, considered by him as a spiritual dimension of the human being, the expression of his spirituality. This concept served as the basis for Steiner’s work with actors and his formulation of both eurythmy and Sprachgestaltung, or spiritual speech (1926). Underlying Chekhov’s technique are some complex principles that have to be explained in order to better understand his teaching. Chekhov’s work on concentration, dream, and fantasy grew out of the main anthroposophical concept of the existence of a (hidden) spiritual dimension in man. It is not a coincidence that many teachers of the technique also know anthroposophy.
