The Routledge Companion to Michael Chekhov

This Companion brings together Chekhov specialists from around the world - theatre practitioners, theorists, historians and archivists - to provide an astonishingly comprehensive assessment of his life, work and legacy. This volume aims to connect East and West; theatre theory and practice. It reconsiders the history of Chekhov's acting method, directing and pedagogy, using the archival documents found across the globe: in Russia, England, America, Germany, Lithuania and Switzerland. It presents Chekhov's legacy and ideas in the framework of interdisciplinary theatre practices and theories.

Marie-Christine Autant-Mathieu is Director of Research at the National Center For Scientific Research, and Assistant-Director of Sorbonne-CNRS Institute EUR'ORBEM. She is an historian of theatre and specialist in Russian and Soviet theatre. Yana Meerzon is Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre, University of Ottawa. Her book publications include Adapting Chekhov: The Text and Its Mutations, co-edited with Professor J. Douglas Clayton, University of Ottawa (Routlegde, 2012).

Introduction: Michael Chekhov - Actor, Director, Pedagogue MARIE-CHRISTINE Autant-Mathieu and YANA MEERZON PART I Michael Chekhov in context: theory, practice, pedagogy 1 Michael Chekhov's Work as Director LIISA BYCKLING 2 The Theatrical System of Michael Chekhov ANDREI KIRILLOV 3 Georgette Boner and Michael Chekhov. Collaboration(s) and Dialogue(s) in Search of a Method CRISTA MITTELSTEINER 4 Meditation and Imagination. The contribution of anthroposophy to Michael Chekhov's acting technique MONICA CRISTINI 5 Michael Chekhov and the Cult of the Studio MARIE-CHRISTINE AUTANT-MATHIEU 6 The Dynamics of Psychological Gestures JOHN LUTTERBIE 7 Chekhov's Notion of Radiating: From conception to concrete Andrew R. White 8 Staging the Spectator in Michael Chekhov's Acting Theory YANA MEERZON PART II Michael Chekhov on stage: collaborations and encounters 9 Brief Encounters: Michael Chekhov and Shakespeare LaUrence Senelick 10 Michael Chekhov, Homo Ludens MARIA IGNATIEVA 11 Michael Chekhov and Yevgeny Vakhtangov A Creative Dialogue ANDREI MALAEV-BABEL 12 Michael Chekhov's Legacy in Soviet Russia A Story about Coming Home SHARON MARIE CARNICKE 13 Michael Chekhov in England Outside the Magic Circle FRANC CHAMBERLAIN 14 Contrasting Modernities The Rural and the Urban in Michael Chekhov's Psychological Gesture and Meyerhold's Biomechanical Études JONATHAN PITCHES 15 "Prying Behind the Curtain(s) of the Creative Process" Eugenio Barba's Principles and Michael Chekhov's Technique IAN WATSON PART III: Michael Chekhov's heritage and interdisciplinary performative practices 16 Michael Chekhov and the Visual Arts Influences, Synergies, Collaborations Julia Listengarten 17 Russian Delsartism and Michael Chekhov The Search for the Eternal Type Rose Whyman 18 "As the Shadow Follows the Body" Examining Chekhov's Creation of Character through "Eastern" Practices Jerri Daboo 19 Cycles of Creation Michael Chekhov and the Yinyang Wuxing Cosmology DANIEL MROZ 20 Michael Chekhov in German Film Oksana Bulgakowa 21 Michael Chekhov the Hollywood Actor Jacqueline Nacache PART IV Michael Chekhov's theatre system and acting pedagogy today 22 Chekhov's Lithuanian Lessons Gytis Padegimas 23 Developing the Imagination: Michael Chekhov in Actor Training Lionel Walsh 24 Michael Chekhov's Five Guiding Principles and Theatre Practice Today: The Case of "Tender Napalm" by Phillip Ridley Cynthia Ashperger 25 The Legacy of Michael Chekhov: Then and Now Joanna Merlin