Meyerhold reads Chekhov's The Seagull in 1898

The Moscow Art Theatre production of ''The Seagull'' in 1898, directed by

Konstantin Stanislavski Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( Alekseyev; russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈgʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Russian Soviet Fe ...

and

Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko (russian: Владимир Иванович Немирович-Данченко; , Ozurgeti – 25 April 1943, Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian theatre director, writer, pedagogue, playwright, producer an ...

, was a crucial milestone for the fledgling theatre company that has been described as "one of the greatest events in the history of Russian theatre and one of the greatest new developments in the history of world drama." It was the first production in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

of Anton Chekhov's 1896 play ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises t ...

'', though it had been performed with only moderate success in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

two years earlier. Nemirovich, who was a friend of Chekhov's, overcame the writer's refusal to allow the play to appear in Moscow after its earlier lacklustre reception and convinced Stanislavski to direct the play for their innovative and newly founded

Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; russian: Московский Художественный академический театр (МХАТ), ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ)) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was f ...

(MAT). The production opened on . The MAT's success was due to the fidelity of its delicate representation of everyday life, its intimate, ensemble playing, and the resonance of its mood of despondent uncertainty with the psychological disposition of the Russian intelligentsia of the time. To commemorate this historic production, which gave the MAT its sense of identity, the company to this day bears the seagull as its

emblem An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often use ...

Cast

* Irina Nikolayevna Arkadina:

Olga Knipper Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova (russian: Ольга Леонардовна Книппер-Чехова, link=no; – 22 March 1959) was a Russian and Soviet stage actress. She was married to Anton Chekhov. Knipper was among the 39 o ...

* Konstantin Gavrilovich Treplyov:

Vsevolod Meyerhold Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (russian: Всеволод Эмильевич Мейерхольд, translit=Vsévolod Èmíl'evič Mejerchól'd; born german: Karl Kasimir Theodor Meyerhold; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre ...

* Masha: Maria Lilina * Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin:

Stanislavski's directorial conception

While visiting his brother's estate near

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Benedetti (1999, 76). He

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, i ...

ed key moments of the play with small drawings that gave the actor's spatial and proxemic relationships. He also detailed individual rhythms, physical lives and mannerisms for each character: The score indicates when the actors will "wipe away dribble, blow their noses, smack their lips, wipe away sweat, or clean their teeth and nails with matchsticks." This tight control of the '' mise en scène'' was intended to facilitate the unified expression of the inner action that Stanislavski perceived to be hidden beneath the surface of the play in its

subtext Subtext is any content of a creative work, which is not announced explicitly (by characters or author), but is implicit, or becomes something understood by the audience. Subtext has been used historically to imply controversial subjects without ...

, the

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

practitioner Practitioner may refer to: *Health practitioner *Justice and public safety practitioner * Legal practitioner * Medical practitioner *Mental health professional or practitioner *Theatre practitioner Spiritual Practitioner * Solitary practitioner ...

whom Stanislavski on his death-bed declared to be "my sole heir in the theatre—here or anywhere else", and the actor who played Konstantin in this production, described years later the poetic effect of Stanislavski's treatment of the play: Stanislavski's directorial score was published in 1938.

Production process

As an actor, despite wishing to play Trigorin, Stanislavski initially prepared the role of the doctor Dorn, at Nemirovich's insistence. When Chekhov attended rehearsals for the production in September 1898, however, he felt that the performance of Trigorin was weak, which resulted in a re-casting; Stanislavski took over Trigorin and Nemirovich apologised for having kept the role from him.

(Chekhov's future wife) played Arkadina. The production had 80 hours of rehearsal in total, spread over 24 sessions: 9 with Stanislavski and 15 with Nemirovich.Benedetti (1999, 85). Despite this, a considerable length by the standards of the conventional practice of the day, Stanislavski felt it was under-rehearsed and threatened to have his name removed from the posters when Nemirovich refused his demand to postpone its opening by a week.

Performance and reception

The production opened on with a sense of crisis in the air in the theatre; most of the actors were mildly self-tranquilised with Valerian drops. In a letter to Chekhov, one audience member described how: Nemirovich described the applause, which came after a prolonged silence, as bursting from the audience like a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

breaking.Benedetti (1999, 86). The production received unanimous praise from the press. It was not until that Chekhov saw the production, in a performance without sets but in make-up and costumes at the Paradiz Theatre.Benedetti (1999, 89). He praised the production but was less keen on Stanislavski's own performance; he objected to the "soft, weak-willed tone" in his interpretation (shared by Nemirovich) of Trigorin and entreated Nemirovich to "put some spunk into him or something". He proposed that the play be published with Stanislavski's score of the production's '' mise en scène''. Chekhov's collaboration with Stanislavski proved crucial to the creative development of both men. Stanislavski's attention to

psychological realism In literature, psychological fiction (also psychological realism) is a narrative genre that emphasizes interior characterization and motivation to explore the spiritual, emotional, and mental lives of the characters. The mode of narration examine ...

and ensemble playing coaxed the buried subtleties from the play and revived Chekhov's interest in writing for the stage. Chekhov's unwillingness to explain or expand on the script forced Stanislavski to dig beneath the surface of the text in ways that were new in theatre.Chekhov and the Art Theatre, in Stanislavski's words, were united in a common desire "to achieve artistic simplicity and truth on the stage"; Allen (2001, 11).

References

Sources

* Allen, David. 2001. ''Performing Chekhov''. London: Routledge. . * Balukhaty, Sergei Dimitrievich, ed. The Seagull'' Produced By Stanislavsky.'' Trans. David Magarshack. London: Denis Dobson. New York: Theatre Arts Books. * Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.'' Cambridge: Cambridge UP. . * Benedetti, Jean. 1989. ''Stanislavski: An Introduction''. Revised edition. Original edition published in 1982. London: Methuen. . * ---. 1999. ''Stanislavski: His Life and Art''. Revised edition. Original edition published in 1988. London: Methuen. . * Braun, Edward. 1982. "Stanislavsky and Chekhov". ''The Director and the Stage: From Naturalism to Grotowski''. London: Methuen. p. 59-76. . * Chekhov, Anton. 1920. ''Letters of Anton Chekhov to His Family and Friends with Biographical Sketch''. Trans. Constance Garnett. New York: Macmillan
Full text available online at Gutenberg
* Golub, Spencer. 1998. "Stanislavsky, Konstantin (Sergeevich)." In Banham (1998, 1032-1033). * Rudnitsky, Konstantin. 1981. ''Meyerhold the Director.'' Trans. George Petrov. Ed. Sydney Schultze. Revised translation of ''Rezhisser Meierkhol'd''. Moscow: Academy of Sciences, 1969. . * Worrall, Nick. 1996. ''The Moscow Art Theatre.'' Theatre Production Studies ser. London and NY: Routledge. .

External links

{{The Seagull Seagull (MAT) *Seagull Theatre in Russia Stage productions of plays