2014.MCUK website_043_header2

Michael Chekhov

Michael Chekhov (1891-1955) was an actor at the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia during the years Stanislavsky was developing his system of actor-training. Forced into exile under the Stalin regime, he worked in Europe before he was invited to create the Michael Chekhov Studio at Dartington Hall in Devon, in the UK from 1936-1939. There he began to formulate his own unique form of actor training which privileges the imagination, psychophysical training and ensemble, collective creation.

Chekhov’s key text is To The Actor on the Technique of Acting (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1953; London: Routledge, 2002). There are further published works drawn from the extensive Dartington Hall archive collection of his classes and lectures (held on open access at Devon Records Office in Exeter).

Further resources include:

  • Rushe, Sinéad, Michael Chekhov’s Acting Technique: A Practitioner’s Guide. London, Bloomsbury, 2019.
  • Dixon, Graham, The Master Key to Acting Freedom: Getting Ready for the Theatre of Life, 2021.
  • Chekhov, Michael, On the Technique of Acting. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.
  • Chekhov, Michael, Lessons for the Professional Actor. New York: Performing Arts Journal Publications, 1985.
  • Chekhov, Michael, Lessons for Teachers of his Acting Technique. Ottowa: Dovehouse Editions Inc., 2000.
  • Powers, Mala, Michael Chekhov: On Theatre and the Art of Acting, Audio CD. New York: Working Arts, 2004. There are 4 CDs.
  • Chekhov, Michael, The Path of the Actor. London: Routledge, 2005. This includes selections from Life and Encounters.
  • Chekhov, Michael, Ball, David (trans), Life and Encounters. Unpublished manuscript, copyright Michael Chekhov Centre UK.
  • Leonard, Charles, Michael Chekhov’s To the Director and Playwright. New York: Limelight Editions, 1984.
  • Hurst Du Prey, Deirdre Hurst, ‘Interview with Deirdre Hurst Du Prey at Dartington in July 1978 by Peter Hulton’ in The Training Sessions of Michael Chekhov, Dartington: Dartington Theatre Papers, Third Series, 9 (1979-80) ( ISSN 0309-8036).
  • Hurst Du Prey, Deirdre Hurst, ‘Verbatim transcripts by Deirdre Hurst Du Prey of lessons given by Michael Chekhov in 1939′ in The Training Sessions of Michael Chekhov,
  • Dartington: Dartington Theatre Papers, Third Series, 9 (1979-80) ( ISSN 0309-8036).
  • Petit, Lenard, The Michael Chekhov Handbook, for the Actor. Oxon: Routledge, 2010.
  • Chamberlain, Franc, Michael Chekhov. London; Routledge, 2004.
  • Black, Lendley C., Mikhail Chekhov as Actor, Director and Teacher. Michigan: Ann Arbor UMI Research Press, 1987.
  • The Drama Review: TDR, Vol. 27, No. 3 (T99) (Fall 1983), Michael Chekhov.
  • Chamberlain, Franc, Kirillov, Andrei and Pitches, Jonathan, Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, Michael Chekhov, Vol. 4(2) (2013).
  • Ashperger, Cynthia, The Rhythm of Space and the Sound of Time. New York: Rodopi, 2008
  • Zinder, David, Body, Voice, Imagination. London: Routledge, 2002.
  • Micha, Master Classes in the Michael Chekhov Technique, DVD. UK: Routledge, 2007.
  • Zinder, David, Actor Training (Michael Chekhov), DVD, Peter Hulton (dir). Exeter: Arts Documentation Unit.
  • Michael Chekhov, The Dartington Years, DVD
  • Michael Chekhov: From Moscow to Hollywood, DVD
  • Mason, Felicity, The Training Sessions of Michael Chekhov (1993) Arts Archives. Arts Documentation Unit, Exeter, UK 2008.

An association of artists working with Michael Chekhov's approach to performance