ABSTRACT
The creative relationship between actor Michael Chekhov and director Yevgeny Vakhtangov was one of the most fruitful in the history of Russian theatre. Its significance spreads far beyond the influential roles that Chekhov prepared under Vakhtangov’s direction. Chekhov, in his technique, continued to interpret Vakhtangov’s lessons, while Vakhtangov conducted his experiments with Chekhov’s creative individuality in mind. This article outlines the trajectory of the collaboration between the two artists, and discusses the audience as a pivotal aspect of their creative processes and thought. Vakhtangov and Chekhov met in September 1912 at the official opening of the
First Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre (MAT). According to the actress Lidiya Deykun (qtd in Ivanova 1995: 2.445), Vakhtangov – already a leader among the studio members – immediately recognized Chekhov’s talent and welcomed the newcomer to the group. The inception of the First Studio, however, took place in March 1911 – some six months before Chekhov joined the MAT. At that time, the MAT’s co-founder Konstantin Stanislavsky and his closest associate and ideologist Leopold Sulerzhitsky invited a group of young MAT actors for a talk. Both men, dissatisfied with their ability to balance experimentation and production within the MAT structure, were appealing to the theatre’s youth for help. During the talk, Stanislavsky outlined a new goal – the search for a different type of realism:
This is the realism of the inner truth that exists in the life of the human spirit. This is the realism of the natural inner experience. This realism is externally simplified, down to a minimum, for the sake of spiritual deepening.
