The Michael Chekhov Technique Explained

Who Michael Chekhov Was

Michael Chekhov was a Russian-American actor, director, author and teacher, born in Saint Petersburg in August 1891. He was a nephew of the playwright Anton Chekhov and a student of Konstantin Stanislavski at the Moscow Art Theatre, where he acted, directed and studied Stanislavski's system in the First Studio. In 1922 he became the director of that studio.

Chekhov came to believe that Stanislavski's techniques led too readily to a naturalistic style of performance, and he went his own way. He left Russia, and in 1936 opened the Chekhov Theatre Studio at Dartington Hall in Devon, England. In 1939 the studio moved to Ridgefield, Connecticut, and Chekhov later worked in Hollywood, where he received an Academy Award nomination for his role in Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound. He died in 1955. The outline of his life is set out in the Wikipedia article on Michael Chekhov.

His method survives chiefly through his book To the Actor, published in 1953 and still in print. Its publisher describes it as a simple and practical method, successfully used by professional actors all over the world, that trains the actor's imagination and body to fulfil its potential.

The Idea at the Centre

The Michael Chekhov Association describes the technique as psycho-physical: it uses movement and imagination to foster transformation, rooted in the connection between inner life and outer movement. Put simply, the body and the feelings are treated as one system. Change how you move and something changes inside. Imagine something vividly enough and the body responds.

That is why a Chekhov class looks different from a class built on discussion. Actors are on their feet. They try a movement, notice what it stirs, and then learn to keep the inner effect while letting the outward movement go.

The Main Tools

Psychological gesture

The best known of Chekhov's ideas. The actor takes what a character needs, their inner drive, and turns it into a single physical gesture made with the whole body. The gesture is rehearsed until it is strong and clear. Then the outward movement is suppressed and carried internally, so that the physical memory informs the performance without being seen. It gives an actor a fast, repeatable way to find a character, which is one reason it is so useful for auditions.

Atmosphere

Chekhov gave a whole chapter of To the Actor to atmosphere and individual feelings. An atmosphere is the mood that belongs to a place or an event rather than to any one person in it: the hush of a hospital corridor, the charge in a room before bad news. Actors learn to sense an atmosphere, to let it work on them and to play a scene inside it.

Qualities of movement

Chekhov taught a range of movement dynamics, moulding, floating, flying and radiating, that actors use to find the physical core of a character. A character who moulds the space as if moving through clay speaks and thinks differently from one who floats.

Imaginary body and centres

An actor imagines a body different from their own, taller, heavier, sharper, and lets their own body move as if inside it. The imaginary centre is the point a character seems to lead from. Shift it from the chest to the forehead, or to the knees, and the whole person changes.

Archetype

The large, recognisable figure that stands behind a particular character: the ruler, the outcast, the trickster. Working from the archetype gives a performance size before the detail goes in.

The studio's own introduction to the technique lists atmosphere, psychological gesture, qualities, body centres, radiation and image work as the fundamental elements of the technique and of the character creation process.

Why It Suits Screen Acting

A camera sits close and sees thought. Tools that are worked physically and then held inside give a close-up something true to read, without the actor having to show anything. Chekhov's own students included Clint Eastwood, Marilyn Monroe, Anthony Quinn and Yul Brynner, and actors such as Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Depp have cited his book as an influence on their work. The studio's self tape and screen acting class applies the technique to auditions, and the short film class applies it on a set.

How It Is Taught in Auckland

Elena Stejko trained in Kyiv and has taught the Michael Chekhov technique to New Zealand actors for many years. Her approach is the subject of an interview chapter in the Routledge book Acting in Aotearoa, whose publisher notes that she emphasises both the spirituality in Chekhov's work and its playfulness. At her studio the tools are introduced in the beginners acting class and developed through the intermediate and advanced classes. One student puts the effect this way: the tools are simple yet incredibly profound and inspiring.

If you would rather meet the technique in a single session before committing to a term, look at the acting workshops. To read about the teacher, go to About Elena Stejko.