Michael Chekhov lesson notes

Michael Chekhov: Wrote 'To the actor.' Born 1891 28 years after Stan. Academy award nominated (he didn't win) Russian American director, author and theatre practitioner. 

His techniques have been used by people such as Marylyn Monroe and Clint Eastwood. 

Nephew to Anton Chekhov. He worked with Stan at the Moscow art theatre in 1912.

In 1928 he was forced to leave Russia as his teachings about theatre were seen as far too abstract and threatening in their experimental nature. 

Revolutionized theatre - he was experimental and radical and he was the first to publish an actual workbook for actors to use. 

It contains exercises for people to physically engage with and asks the actors to participate and experiment with the different exercises. The fundamental ideas were taken from and adapted from stanislavski's teachings, however Stan's work was much more like a story with a narrative. 

Believed that actors are creative artists creating characters distinct from theirselves. 

He wanted his actors to focus more on how they are different to their characters instead of how they are similar. 

Micheal disliked the logic that a "system" imposed. He also disliked the idea of actors using their own emotional memory to engage with an emotion. As he believed so strongly in actors using their imagination that he believed that if a person hadn't experienced a specific circumstance in which the character feels for example sad, and then decided to remember a memory in which they were feeling the same emotion in a dissimilar situation then the actor is simply remembering instead of imagining how their character would feel in said circumstance. 

The following element are dominant in his work:
Atmosphere 
Engaging with identity
Actor creativity 
Physicalization of inner experience 
Using imagination to create character
Using the "higher ego" different self to everyday self

He also believed that an actor should not just know their own role within a play. They should know the play as a director would. They should understand the internal message of the play and the composition of the play through the directors eyes.