Interpreting Chekhov

The class on A. P. Chekhov is focused on the plays The Seagull and Three Sisters and the one-act comedic pieces The Bear and A Marriage Proposal.

It introduces students to Chekhov’s innovative playwrighting, drawing a parallel with Shakespeare.

Training in this class involves the active analysis of each play and its principles: given circumstances, events, fact assessment, supertask, second plan, inner monologue, views, characterization. We work with scenes and dialogues from the relevant plays picked by the students.

The A. P. Chekhov class spans 8 weeks, at 4 hours a week.

Training is conducted in groups of 8 to 14 participants at the most.

The course consists of four training stages:

Stage one is an introduction to Anton Chekhov’s works and to the modernity of his dramaturgy. Students read the plays on which they will be working during the course.

Stage two allows students to select a scene from one of Chekhov’s plays e. g. The Seagull, Three Sisters or from the vaudevilles The Bear and The Proposal.

Stage three involves students in the Active Analysis of each of the selected scenes. The principles of the Active Analysis are Given Circumstances, Events, Scenic Truth, Objective, Main Action, Backdrop, Rehearsal of Etudes, Inner Monologue, Imagination, Endowment.

Stage four focuses on creative rehearsals on stage; analyses are made of the rehearsals of each actor; the hitherto achievements are upgraded; experiments are made with deeper interpretations of the scenes.

The course ends with stage performances of the scenes before an audience.

Students receive certificates for their training participation in the course.