ABSTRACT
Chekhov’s major plays were written around the time that the Moscow Art Theatre (MAT) rejected nineteenth century declamatory delivery with its stylised and exaggerated gestures, its emotional hyperbole. The critic Nikolai Efros writes that this new style of acting centred on the performer and had moved beyond using conventional theatrical gesturing and signs for emotions to staging the emotions (1974:121). The MAT style of acting evolved out of the approaches of both Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and Constantin Stanislavski (Constantin Sergeievich Alekseiev), and the former’s contribution to these developments and his work as a director should not be overlooked.1 Yet it is the legacy of Stanislavski’s innovations as an actor and director, and later as an acting teacher, that is pivotal to the dominant styles of twentieth century theatre and acting. In its early years to 1904, which encompassed the first productions of Chekhov’s major plays, the MAT implemented historically accurate details in staging, new modes of delivery, an innovative mise-en-scene of spatial arrangements and innovations in lighting and sound effects (Balukhaty 1952:111-12). Stanislavski sought what is termed “truth of feeling” in the MAT ensemble’s acting (Edwards 1966:74), and Nemirovich-Danchenko recognised the potential of applying their innovations to Chekhov’s plays. Nemirovich-Danchenko also specified that the most significant difference from the old style of theatre was that the director’s vision dominate the production. Later Nemirovich-Danchenko would conceive of a “law of inner justification” (1968:158-9) in acting that corresponds with Stanislavski’s concept of a motivation for inner action.
