Mikhail Semyonovich Shchepkin (; — ) was the most famous Russian

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

of the 19th century. He is considered the "father" of realist acting in Russia and, via the influence of his student, Glikeriya Fedotova, a major influence on the development of the 'system' of Konstantin Stanislavski (who was born in the year in which Shchepkin died). Shchepkin's significance to the Theatre of Russia is comparable to that of David Garrick to the English theatre. He distinguished between two kinds of actors, both of whom are dedicated to the art of acting: (1) those who have developed the art of pretense based on intelligence and reason; (2) those who express feelings experienced by the actor in performance and work based on "a flaming-soul, heavenly spark." Shchepkin considered the effect of the latter approach superior to that of the former. He was opposed to the principles advanced by the French playwright and philosopher

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during th ...

in his '' Paradox of the Actor'' (published posthumously in 1830), which inverted Shchepkin's evaluation.

Life

Shchepkin was born in the village of Krasnoe, in the

Kursk Governorate Kursk Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, which existed from 1796 to 1928 with its capital in Kursk. Administrative divisions As of 1914, Kursk Governorate included 15 uyezds. * Belgorods ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, to a

serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

family-owned by Count G. S. Volkenshtein. Shchepkin's freedom had to be bought by his admirers in 1821. Three years later, he joined the Maly Theatre in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, which he would dominate for the next 40 years—it became known as the 'House of Shchepkin'.Benedetti (1999, 16). Shchepkin was the first to play Famusov in the '' Woe from Wit'' (1831) and the Mayor in ''

The Government Inspector ''The Government Inspector'', also known as ''The Inspector General'' (, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by Russian dramatist and novelist Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the play was revised for an 1842 edition. Base ...

'' (1836). His acting was acclaimed by

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...

, Alexander Herzen, and

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...

for its subtlety, with much attention given to realistic detail and understatement.

Acting philosophy

Shchepkin argued that an actor ought to get into the skin of a character, identify with their thoughts and feelings, observe life, and have knowledge of their nature, which provides the source for an actor's work. In 1848 he wrote: Shchepkin's distinction between the 'actor of reason' and the 'actor of feeling' influenced the formation of the ideas about acting contained in the 'system' devised by Konstantin Stanislavski.

Family

In 1812, Shchepkin married Elena Dmitrievna ("Alyosha") who was a Turkish captive during the Siege of Anapa. They had five children, including the philologist ; the publisher and teacher ; the lawyer Petr Mikhailovich; and the actresses Fyokla (Faina) Mikhailovna and Alexandra Mikhailovna.

References

Bibliography

* Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.'' Cambridge: Cambridge UP. . * Benedetti, Jean. 1999. ''Stanislavski: His Life and Art''. Revised edition. Original edition published in 1988. London: Methuen. . * Benedetti, Jean. 2005. ''The Art of the Actor: The Essential History of Acting, From Classical Times to the Present Day.'' London: Methuen. . * Carlson, Marvin. 1993. ''Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present.'' Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. . * Golub, Spencer. 1998b. "Shchepkin, Mikhail (Semyonovich)". In Banham (1998, 985-986). * Senelick, Laurence. 1984. ''Serf Actor: The Life and Art of Mikhail Shchepkin.'' Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. .

External links