The method, p.47
The Method, page 47
22 Moscow society will neither trust Ibid., 9. These quotes are from a letter Stanislavski sent on August 19, 1897.
22 viewing Stanislavski’s move from amateur to professional Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 64.
22 Savva and Sergei Morozov Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 42.
22 parlayed a cotton fortune Ibid., 65.
22 twenty-eight thousand rubles Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 136.
22 enjoyed a budget of two million rubles Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 42.
22 their grant application … appeared to have been misplaced Ibid., 38. The grant application wasn’t even looked at until after their first season was over, at which point it was turned down.
22 the unification of the actors Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 306.
22 Stanislavski’s first innovations Shevtsova, Rediscovering Stanislavski, 7.
23 “the manifestation of feelings … means of communion” Quoted in Whyman, The Stanislavsky System of Acting, 13.
23 “loftiest and best feelings” Quoted in ibid., 14.
23 “conveys the life of the human spirit” Quoted in ibid.
23 The human spirit … spiritual communion Shevtsova, Rediscovering Stanislavski, 100.
23 To Stanislavski, they were crimes Stanislavski’s opening speech was not hyperbole on his part. For the rest of his life he viewed transgressions against the ethics of the stage as acts of near blasphemy.
23 bringing a logbook Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 301.
23 he fired an actor Ibid., 302.
23 The company lived communally Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 145.
23 bunking together Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 301.
24 the company’s samovar Ibid., 300.
24 From eleven to five Ibid., 301.
24 carry a sword properly Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 121.
24 multiple scenes from the same play simultaneously Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 46.
24 play practical jokes Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 303.
24 the then radical innovation of table work Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 70.
24 “I would be very happy if … you would take the individual actors” Benedetti, ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 20.
24 “I demanded that the actors obey me” Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 308.
25 Meyerhold’s wife Benedetti, ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 25. Meyerhold’s letter responds to his wife and discusses Darski in detail.
25 to alternate the performances of Shylock Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 84.
25 “Pity that he’s bone-idle with limited imagination” Benedetti, ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 20.
25 “We have to get him away from this idea” Ibid.
25 not as a romantic tragedian “should” Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 173. According to Nemirovich, the public understood the play to be a tragedy, with Shylock its romantic individualistic protagonist, oppressed by the dominant mores of society. This is in keeping with Russian conventions around play interpretation in the nineteenth century, which placed the emphasis on the individual. (See Borovsky, “Russian Theatre,” 13.)
25 in rehearsals with Sanin Benedetti ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 26.
25 “the stage demanded” Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 306.
25 “one successful line” Benedetti, ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 26.
26 “so free from cliché” Ibid.
26 “deserves our respect” Ibid.
26 “a teacher of genius” Ibid., 28.
26 “wealth of erudition! What imagination!” Ibid.
26 the company should stage plays Ibid., 20.
26 “an academic graveyard” Ibid., 23.
26 “answers to their private sufferings” Ibid., 24.
27 “new answers to the problems of living” Ibid.
27 “Tartuffe? I hate this play” Ibid., 20. Stanislavski eventually directed Tartuffe during the final year of his life. The production was incomplete at the time of his death and was finished by his successor, Mikhail Kedrov.
27 seventeen different productions Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 39.
28 midcentury vogue March, “Realism in the Russian Theatre,” in A History of Russian Theatre, 154; Figes, Natasha’s Dance, loc 3284.
28 “embrace the whole of national life” Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 123.
28 a contest between two proto-political parties Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 86.
28 “the Colossus” Montefiore, The Romanovs, 459.
28 created the Okhrana Ibid., 465.
28 “pleasure derived from success” Quoted in ibid.
28 The censors had seen the contemporary resonance March, “Realism in the Russian Theatre,” 157.
29 “My wife and I read” Benedetti ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 18.
29 his groundbreaking approach to stage design Shevtsova, Rediscovering Stanislavski, 23.
29 He had studied at the Moscow School of Painting Vanslov, “Simov, Viktor.”
29 Slavophilic outlook … St. Petersburg Figes, Natasha’s Dance, loc 3294.
29 He was also affiliated with the Wanderers Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 163.
29 “I want neither abundant nature … true to life” Quoted in Figes, Natasha’s Dance, loc 3726.
29 He was far from an expert on Russian history Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 83.
29 In May 1898, Stanislavski Ibid., 43.
30 This time he traveled in style Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 312–17.
30 “a glorious antiquity” Ibid., 314.
31 “you can look at the sets” Benedetti, ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 29.
31 “Such an authentic … dreamed up at the Maly” Ibid., 20.
31 Simov painted original murals Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 89.
31 Shuisky’s garden Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 71.
32 None of this innovation came cheap Ibid., 73.
32 They communicated to the actors the kind of work Ibid., 72.
32 on nights when the acting was less than brilliant Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 318.
32 The banks of the Yaousa River Tolstoy, Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, 72.
32 “Whilst the minstrel is singing” Quoted in Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 94.
33 On July 24 Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 73.
33 Darski took the opportunity to pull Nemirovich aside Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 145.
33 In August, Stanislavski left Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 73.
33 he traveled to Nizhny Novgorod Ibid.
CHAPTER 3: THE FRENZIED WALTZ
34 “five bushels of love” Quoted in Frayn, Chekhov: Plays, xxiii.
34 Nemirovich sat behind his writing table Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 57.
34 “This is not at all your line” Quoted in ibid., 60.
34 “You put things too obliquely” Frayn, Chekhov: Plays, 85. All quotes from The Seagull in this book are taken from the Michael Frayn translations. There are many, many translations of Chekhov’s plays out there, and in terms of mixing both beauty and playability, Frayn’s are hard to beat.
35 “come and take it” Frayn, Chekhov: Plays, 100.
36 “I understand now … the pain is less” Ibid., 122.
36 Dorn is Masha’s father Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 58. According to his memoir, it was actually Nemirovich who persuaded Chekhov to remove this reveal from the play. Chekhov in response protested that “the public likes to see a loaded gun placed before it at the end of an act!” to which Nemirovich responded “Quite true, but it is necessary for it to go off afterward, and not be merely removed in the intermission!”
36 lifted from Guy de Maupassant Rayfield, Anton Chekhov, loc 6943.
36 Treplev’s aborted apocalyptic play Ibid., loc 6927.
36 Chekhov’s friend Isaak Levitan Ibid., loc 6901.
36 Lidia Avilova Frayn, Chekhov: Plays, xliii.
36 Potapenko Rayfield, Anton Chekhov, loc 6935.
37 I have started it forte Balukhaty, ed., The Seagull, Produced by Stanislavsky, 17.
37 Nemirovich believed that Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 62.
37 our ant hill Rayfield, Anton Chekhov, loc 7632.
37 “I have been going to the theater” Frayn, Chekhov: Plays, xxxv.
37 Petersburg Gazette … Petersburg Daily Balukhaty, ed., The Seagull, Produced by Stanislavsky, 38.
37 Instead, it had a handful of rehearsals Balukhaty, ed., The Seagull, Produced by Stanislavsky, 21.
37 Elizabeth Levkeyeva, a beloved comic actress Frayn, Chekhov: Plays, xxxv.
37 “the author has flopped!” Quoted in Rayfield, Anton Chekhov, loc 7710.
38 “we can no longer imagine Chekhov” Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 6.
38 “Among contemporary authors … can present you” Benedetti, ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 15.
38 “You will wound me” Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 141.
38 “good fellow” Benedetti, ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 17.
39 he viewed The Seagull as a journey between Nina’s two recitations Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 355.
39 “men and lions” Frayn, Chekhov: Plays, 69.
39 “quite idly … destroys her” Ibid., 91.
39 “bound to it innerly” Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 352.
39 “sad, monotonous life” Balukhaty, ed., The Seagull, Produced by Stanislavsky, 139. Balukhaty’s volume is in two parts. The first is history and commentary, the second a reproduction of Stanislavski’s director’s score in its entirety. The quotes from Stanislavski’s score come from this second half.
40 “quite unusable” Benedetti, ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 33.
40 “delicate pencil … unnecessary laughter” Ibid.
40 Chekhov attended rehearsals Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 79.
40 “inability to teach … as a joke” Knipper, Dear Writer, Dear Actress, 5.
41 “a lump to your throat” Quoted in Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 87.
41 “could not control a nervous shiver” Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 324.
41 fixed up the place Ibid., 324–25.
41 the Allcomers? the Literary? Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 47. Worrall translates the eventually chosen name for the company as “The Moscow Public-Accessible Art Theatre” in an attempt to make its awkwardness clear. There are many different translations of this name, including the Art-Accessible Theatre and the Moscow Art and Popular Theatre.
42 “The laws of art are to me nothing” Quoted in Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 168.
42 October 14, which also marked the Maly’s seventy-fourth anniversary Ibid., 169.
42 Stanislavski begged Nemirovich to agree to a delay Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 327.
42 “Don’t annoy the actors!” Quoted in ibid., 334.
42 “really said something new.” Quoted in ibid., 97.
43 the show bowed fifty-seven times Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 50.
43 “an entire epoch” Quoted in ibid.
43 “some kind of inexhaustible inventiveness” Quoted in ibid.
43 “They acted badly” Quoted in ibid.
43 but the longest-sleeved shirts Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 152–53.
43 “a desecration of the deep conception of that tragedy” Ibid., 173.
43 liberals found the accent Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 84.
44 the new Metropolitan of Moscow Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 175.
44 This time, however, the request was not his own Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 355.
44 six hundred rubles Ibid., 356.
44 valerian drops Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 85.
44 “the floor of the gallows” Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 356.
45 “so oversensitive” Frayn, Chekhov: Plays, 77.
45 “the frenzied waltz grows louder” Balukhaty, ed., The Seagull, Produced by Stanislavsky, 175.
45 Olga Knipper swooned Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 356.
45 Then the applause began Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 187.
45 To Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Yalta Quoted in Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 188.
45 Stanislavski’s staging of Hedda Gabler Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 50.
45 low-cost matinees for tradesmen Nemirovich-Danchenko, My Life in the Russian Theatre, 180.
46 Roksanova, who played Nina, failed to convince Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 89.
CHAPTER 4: THE SUPERCONSCIOUS THROUGH THE CONSCIOUS
47 “He spends his time so strangely” Quoted in Polyakova, Stanislavsky, 182.
47 “Towards a Handbook on Dramatic Art” Quoted in ibid.
48 many had begun to wonder Worrall, The Moscow Art Theatre, 149.
48 she allied with Nemirovich Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 134.
48 “how tiresome” Benedetti, ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 241.
48 a crisis for the Moscow Art Theatre Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 149.
48 a teetotaler, sedulously faithful to his wife Ibid., 135. Stanislavski was so faithful to Lilina that even Isadora Duncan could not seduce him, try though she might.
49 He fixated on Olga Knipper Ibid., 114.
49 “I shall write a new play” Quoted in Turkov, Anton Chekhov and His Times, 126.
49 driving actors mad Benedetti ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 132.
49 “simple appeal to beauty” Quoted in Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 108.
49 Olga Knipper accused Meyerhold Ibid., 123.
50 directed a staggering 140 productions and played forty-four roles Pitches, Vsevolod Meyerhold, 8.
50 Stanislavski had come around to Meyerhold’s feelings Polyakova, Stanislavsky, 174.
50 Dubbed the Theatre-Studio by Meyerhold Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 155. It was also referred to as “the Studio on Povarskaya.”
50 what he termed stylization Pitches, Vsevolod Meyerhold, 51–52.
50 a barn not far from Pushkino Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 156.
50 “Unnecessary Truth” Ibid., 151.
50 “Our artistic work” Benedetti, ed., The Moscow Art Theatre Letters, 230.
51 104 ethnic groups speaking 146 languages. Romanov, “Manifesto of October 17, 1905.”
51 Poles, Georgians, Jews, Caucasians, and Armenians Ibid., 509.
51 more than a thousand protesters lost their lives British Library, “Timeline of the Russian Revolution.”
51 immortalized in … Battleship Potemkin Roberts, Richard Boleslavsky: His Life and Work in the Theatre, 10.
51 Over the summer, peasant revolts swept the countryside Montefiore, The Romanovs, 522.
51 “the essential foundations of civil freedom” Quoted in Field, “Russian History-Manifesto.”
51 created the Duma Montefiore, The Romanovs, 526.
52 Bauman’s funeral Polyakova, Stanislavsky, 177.
52 “They are laying into the students” Quoted in ibid.
52 According to Leonid Leonidov Polyakova, Stanislavsky, 179.
52 perhaps even during a performance Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 439.
53 “They have killed Kachalov!” Quoted in ibid., 440.
53 so compelling in a small barn Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 159.
53 a twelve-hundred-seat space Ibid., 156.
53 one biographer estimates it was half his personal fortune Polyakova, Stanislavsky, 178.
53 thirteen thousand people lay dead, at least three thousand of them Jews Taylor, “Politics and the Russian Army,” 69.
53 “we did not know where to go” Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 439.
53 held clandestine meetings in one another’s apartments Ibid. According to Stanislavski, the male company members brought their wives to these meetings out of fear of leaving them at home alone.
54 “in Warsaw, where we arrived” Ibid., 441.
54 on February 10 … Tsar Fyodor Ivanonvich Benedetti, Stanislavski: His Life and Art, 163.
54 “cutting a window” Stanislavski, My Life in Art, 443.
