Initial Thoughts

During the Summer I was asked to read a biographical book and a Chekhov play.

Bella Merlin's 'Konstantin Stanislavsky', and it has four diverse chapters, delving into the creation of naturalism and realism.

Chapter one is the biography of Stanislavsky and naturalism/realism itself, going through his major points, failures and achievements in life, chapter two is a summary and analysis of his famous book 'An Actor Prepares', talking about the step-by-step guide to the Stanislavsky way, chapter three is an analysis of Chekhov's 'The Seagull', and it goes through Stanislavski's changes he made and why to the piece. Finally, chapter four is all about practical exercises and ones anyone can do to practise his ways yourself or teach to a class/cast.

I found that this book took a long time to read because it was just so full of information and the chapters were very different to one another so it was a lot to remember in my head, but I managed it and I am glad that I read it all, I now understand a lot more about Stanislavsky, his ideas and how he came about to the idea of naturalism and then realism. My favourite chapter would have to be chapter three because it was so interesting to read and understand the world of Stanislavsky, like why he chose to light something a certain way or why he made someone say/do something in a certain way. It helped me think about putting those thoughts into my own pieces of theatre and others' too.

The play I read was 'The Seagull' by Chekhov. Quite surprisingly to myself I found this play a pretty good read, as I felt quite proud of myself for actually understanding what was going on. There were a lot of characters that had many dramas and issues all on their own, and then dramas that linked with other people and other dramas too.

This piece of theatre had a few themes, including unrequited love, and the world of actors and writers. I also think that the play was about the politics of theatre and changing the norms of how writing works and going against society's view of art.

There was a strong amount of unrequited love in this play and it was present in almost all the characters, whether it be in a family relationship or lover's relationship. There is a lot of quotes that hint at it and a few metaphors as well, including the dead seagull that Konstantin lays by Nina's feet, or Nina moving away with Trigorin only to find out that he was just using her.

I also had a few questions to ask once I had finished the text: What specific message was Chekhov trying to get across to the audience? Why is Konstantin's mother so cruel to him? What events are taking place off-stage?

~Matilda