here (sp?) ye, here ye

Sorin, who is retired before the beginning of the show, worked for the Governemnt in the Moscow judicial system. Here are some facts about what was going on in the courtrooms at the time.

(For more refrences to how the government was structured at the time, check out my first post titled "The Power...")

Alexander II (or A2) implimented many judicial reforms. In major Russian cities and towns, they had Western European style courts and juries. This judicial system, while effective in urban areas, didn't have the finicial means to branch out into the smaller towns and villages.

A2's regime instructed judges to make decisions in the courtroom based on "merit" and NOT on "precedent".

Merit - the inherent rights and wrongs of a matter, as a lawsuit, unobscured by procedural details, technicalities, personal feelings, etc.: The case will be decided on its merits alone.

Precedent - a legal decision or form of proceeding serving as an authoritative rule or pattern in future similar or analogous cases.

A2's goal from this was to create a body of laws that were independant from his state authority.

- Peter

CHEKHOVtube

we talked about watching chekhov and i was looking for those movies matt talked about in class, i'm going to try to get some on my netflix, but in the mean time,
i found some clips from "vanya on 42nd street"....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cQwE0ENHYY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI6c7ltV6qE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lCxvaGD0cA&feature=related


....also, when looking up chekhov plays, i found some interesting videos...

JUDI DENCH in "the cherry orchard"
i loved this, it was so great to see a big group together like in our scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeFMWSbincc&feature=related

this is a 1970s version of "three sisters"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saiH6HJH2Zw


OH OH OH! and this was kind of ridiculous (aka pretty awful) but you must watch...its a mockumentary/adaption of the act we are doing in the seagull done by these college students....

part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoDB6jbNLg8
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbUsELRZfHU
part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcBn2fgRrZQ

caitlin.

On Broadway...

Here is a video clip from "The Seagull" that is playing on Broadway right now. A lot of people from our class saw it over spring break and said it was the best thing they have ever seen on Broadway. I think it is a great clip.


Mackenzie Crook & Kristin Scott Thomas in "The Seagull"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfOW3vvWLrg&feature=related

From Skye...

Found this great 10 minute documentary on youtube for my second blog. really incredible images! also great spoken word directly from Anton Chekov, I cant tell if its a speaker reading from a diary of his, or a collection of quotes, or Anton himself.

Thanks,
Skye


heres the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY6ltI1n5Lo

Today's Micro Lecture

Micro Lecture 4

Impact and Intent – flaws in the ‘Inversion Method’

“The key to inspiration is awareness. Once you realize that, you have to interpret that inspiration into something meaningful to you and what you do. Then it is evolution. So, there are four stages : 1 – Awareness, 2 – Inspiration, 3 – Interpretation, 4 – Evolution”
- Thomas Keller

The two omnipresent reactive forces for an actor are :

1 – The character’s Intention
2 – The Impact of that character’s actions

We tend to believe the creative process always begins with Intention. Figure out the Super Objective, Scene Objective and THEN build you character around that.

This leads to many problems, including:
- mono-tactical beats
- un-reactive or inert choices
- “acting by yourself”
- abandonment of actually PLAYING that objective

I think this is due to one major flaw : the order of priority Intention and Impact are given in solving each acting crisis.

If you began with Impact, you begin by reacting
If you begin with Impact, you begin with a truthful response
If you begin with Impact, you begin sensually aware
If you begin with Impact, you form an objective in response to something active

The ‘inversion method’ (literally inverting priority of Impact and Intention) leads to :
- self-centered inspiration (ie, indulgence)
- detachment from your scene partner
- One dimensional responses to new stimulus
- ‘editing’ of choices by those around you
- a sense of hostility to changing or modifying your choices
- resistance to working with different ideas
- text work becoming a justification for a lack of evolution.

So what could the alternative look like?

Charles Jehlinger quote :
“ “

Let’s use the Thomas Keller model:
Step 1 – Awareness: Start outside of yourself. What is around you? What
choices are others using? What is your environment? What is the sensual
world around you?
But MORE than that : what is world of the play? What is spine of the
play? What is the UNIFYING objective of the play?

Step 2 – Inspiration: This takes TIME, EFFORT & ATTENTION to that
Outside of yourself. It is wonder for the unknown.

Step 3 – Interpretation: As Thomas Keller points out “you have to
interpret that inspiration into something meaningful to you and what you
do”. An actor calls this “ AS IF”
Now you test you theories. Does this objective work? What other choices
could you try? If this stage becomes stunted ‘dries up’, go back to stage
1.

Step 4 – Evolution: Now your choices become modified, nuanced, shift
accommodate the needs and choices of the others around you (actors,
director, designer, etc). This often means relinquishing Intention for a
HEIGHTENED awareness of your impact. Really ask “what are the others
around me doing? How are they responding?
You might notice, therefore, that Evolution is like a return to Inspiration,
but this time coupled with Intention.

This is the whole point of a method for honest re-creation of human behavior : a model where both Intention and Impact share value.

In the workplace, if a manager pats a co-worker on the ass and says “Well done, honey”, the co-worker would file a complaint. And if the manager retorts : “O come on! I didn’t mean it that way”, the complaint will hold.

Having good intentions is not enough. In fact, it makes you selfish and unaware. It stunts your evolution and keeps your choices in the past and NOT in the present.

So you must begin with Awareness. Begin with examining your impact. Be inspired by those things around you that you do not yet feel or understand. Because you wont be inspired until then.

Med 3

Some notes on Konstantin

Konstantin is an enigma. He is passionate, sometimes to the point of volatility. Throughout the play, especially the first three acts, he exudes raw ambition, but it is an ambition that is violently unfocused and this is a major obstacle for his work on the stage. His sensitivity feeds his poetic passions, but it also threatens to make him inviable when he dwells on regrets and jealousies. He is an intellectual, a bona fide member of Russia’s young intelligentsia but he struggles to find “new forms” that express his philosophies and sensibilities effectively to an audience. And yet, Konstantin is not just a fledgling artist petrified of mediocrity—although this terror definitely figures in his relationship to Trigorin—his every action screams for attention, for warmth, for a stretched out hand.
Konstantin has been neglected. His father is not even in the picture; the only information Chekhov gives us about his father is that he “was an artisan from Kiev before he became a famous actor,” (Gill 14). Perhaps Konstantin’s father was never home, always rushing off to the theatre, touring from province to province. Perhaps Arkadina never married Konstantin’s father and therefore he was never physically a part of his family life. The declaration about the “artisan” who “became a famous actor” suggests that Konstantin is only acquainted with some vague persona of his father and therefore this man must have had very little, if any role in raising Konstantin. I need to think about the question of the father more specifically, but I definitely think this is an important piece of Konstantin’s spine.
Not only do we have a nonexistent father, but Konstantin’s mother has absolutely no perception of her son’s needs. She loves him, there is no doubt about it, but it is awkward for her to show her love. Konstantin goes on and on about how he is “ashamed my mother is an actress,” and that “if she was only like any other woman I might be happier,” (Gill 13-14). This outburst is very telling of what Konstantin so desperately needs from Arkadina. He sees her number one priority as the stage, and he feels lucky if he comes a close second, but even that is a bleak prospect considering Arkadina’s obsession with Trigorin. So he is not so much “ashamed” that his mother is an actress—after all he is in love with one himself and he has aspirations to the theatre—as he is resentful and envious. He envies the writers and actors and directors of high society who take up all of Arkadina’s time and energy. He envies Trigorin for both his professional success and his time with Arkadina, time that she never has for Konstantin. Later, he envies Trigorin for his spell over Nina. This envy is an obstacle because it makes him rash and overly sensitive. In his wallowing, Konstantin risks getting stymied. It becomes harder for him to come into his own artistically and personally.
I have only begun to scratch the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more to Konstantin. These are only some basic notions I have, some of which may very well change completely as I discover more about the character and the play.
—Alborz

Med 3

more snuff

Med 2

Image problems

I am having difficulty loading some of your images - I will rectify the problem as soon as possible

matt

Medviedenko 1

I reread the play this weekend and I realize that I was getting held up with the question of why Medvedenko keeps perusing Masha day after day (specifically walking four miles each way to see her regardless of the weather) when she appears to mistreat him so harshly. It does not really seem like she has any other suitors or love interests besides her apparently unrealistic, unreciprocated feelings for Konstantine. Being that she lives in this relatively small and remote country community whose richest citizens spend at least half if not most of the year living in the city, I thought that she might be more flattered/interested in Medvedenkos affection. But then I began to realize that because of his semi dead end job and the dependents that he has already (his family), Masha probably realizes that he is not the man that could sweep her off of her feet and give her the life she fantasizes about. He does not seem to be the most strong or confident man around, and compared to other males in the play he appears fairly unsure of himself which manifests in his need to be quiet and not contribute to the conversation a lot of the time. He feels insignificant around others and shows signs of self-pity. These qualities are not necessarily the most attractive attribute that a man could show when courting a woman. He reminds me of a love sick puppy who gets beaten but keeps coming back for more. He is unrelenting to the extent that his attempts can come off sad and pathetic at times. But ultimately, all of his efforts seem to come back to his infatuation with Masha and his determination to win her. He wants nothing more than her respect even though he seems to get very little of it. He is dying to start a family even if he does not really have the means. He is lonely. I included some images that I found which have helped me capture the tone of Medvedenko and how he interacts with others. Some of them are a little abstract, but I connect with them strongly.
-Nicholas Bonnar

The Power...

Nineteenth Century Russian Government

When "The Seagull" begins, Sorin, has retired from his position in the Department of Justice. My goal in this research is to understand the governments structure during his lifetime. Sorin lived in a very exciting time in Russia's history. His professional career paralleled the governmental reform under Alexander II

The Seagull was published in 1895, and in the fourth act, Sorin is sixty-two years old.
Sorin - Born in 1833.

Alexander II was the Czar of Russia from March 3, 1855, until his assassination (by radical anarchists) on March 13, 1881. "A2" was responsible for an incredible amount of reform in Russia during his reign. Most notably he abolished serfdom in 1861.

1864 - "A2" begins to reform local government. He establishes the zemstva (singular - zemstvo). Zemstva were governments at the provincial and district level. They had the power to tax their residents and use to money in an effective manner. Zemstva's were responsible for mandating a majority of local government issues. Those included:
- Local Schools
- Public Health
- Road Conditions
- Prisons
- Food Supply
The Zemstva was made up of a Representative Council and an Executive Council. The Executive Council was elected by a vote in the Representative Council. The Rep. Coun. consisted was made up of people from all different classes:
- Large landowners (over 590 acres). These people sat on the council themselves.
- Delegates of small landowners. This also included any clergy in the region.
- Delegates of wealthier townsmen.
- Delegates of middle class townsmen.
- Delegates of peasants.
Although the overwhelming majority of the council was usually made up nobles (sometimes as much as 70%). In the general Russian population, nobles made up 1.3%. Despite the numbers, the lower class had a strong voice when it came to the issues that directly affected their lives.

1860 - Dumy (singular - Duma) are formed in cities. They are structured like of the zemstva only on the city level. The dumy were subordinate to the zemstva (kind of like the city and state governments here in the good 'ol U.S of A.... anyone?). Everything changed however after the assassination of A2 in 1881.

1890 - Russia was now under under the rule of A2's son, Alexander III. A3 severely limited the powers of the zemstva, and subsequently the dumy. Although they weren't shut down, the zemstva was now under complete oversight by the governor of the province or district. This governor carried out the philosophy of A3's regime. This didn't mean that the zemstva and dumy were not still affective in getting things done, rather they just had to make sure that all of their policies were approved by the governor (or mayor for the dumy).

More to come on the Judicial System of Russia under the rule of A2 and A3...

- Peter

Here it is...

Snuff

How to Use Nasal Snuff
Snuff is a form of finely ground smokeless tobacco predominantly enjoyed by the English aristocracy of the 18th century. It is an arguably healthier alternative to smoking for the user, and undeniably healthier for those in your company as you are not subjecting them to second-hand smoke while snuffing. Here is how to properly take (and enjoy) nasal snuff!
Steps
Purchase a tin of snuff. There are many different flavours cheaply available. Select one that has a flavour that you think you'll appreciate, or if you're unsure, tobacco-flavoured 'plain' snuff is available.
Make sure you're indoors or in a very well-sheltered area and take out your snuff tin/box. Tap on the lid a few times to settle the snuff evenly in your container to help avoid spilling, and slowly and carefully take the lid off your container.
Take the snuff. There are more than a few widely accepted methods of taking snuff. One of the most common is to simply take a pinch of snuff between your thumb and forefinger and sniff it sharply into one of your nostrils, and then into the other. It is important to remember that the snuff should only be SNIFFED into the nose, not snorted. The snuff needs to remain in front of your nose, it is not intended to go into your sinuses or throat.
Other methods include tapping some snuff onto the back of your hand, onto the depression formed above the wrist near the base of your thumb when one stretches the thumb, or in the slight depression between your thumb and forefinger.
Some snuff-takers prefer to use a "bullet," a dispenser that can be held directly to the nostrils. This device eliminates the need to carry around a tin and the potential mess of dipping your fingers into it.
Experiment and see what is the most comfortable way to take it for you.
Pause to appreciate the gentle aroma and sense of refreshment unique to taking snuff!
Tips
Do not resist the urge to sneeze. It will most likely happen, but resisting it will only decrease the enjoyment you obtain from using snuff. The urge to sneeze when using snuff will pass the more you use it.
Take care in how you sniff. The effects of accidentally snorting the snuff into your sinuses or throat can be very unsettling, and snuff should never have to be uncomfortable. Do not be discouraged if you don't get it right the first time - with practice, the sharp but shallow sniff needed to get the snuff into the front of your nose but no further becomes second nature.
Keep in mind that the use of nasal snuff is often accompanied by increased nasal discharge. It is a good idea to have a handkerchief or tissue close to hand to take care of this increased discharge.
Warnings
Snuff is still a form of tobacco and therefore contains nicotine and is thus addictive. And while it is generally accepted as less harmful than smoking (and obviously less harmful to those around you than smoking) there are still carcinogenic (cancer) risks. Snuff is healthier than smoking, but it is by no means a risk-free alternative and not something you s

Tuesday's Class

HI there

So, the forecast for Tuesday is SNOW!

And therefore, I want to reschedule our trip to North Park for NEXT Tuesday (November 4th)

This coming Tuesday we'll begin with reading the Act and dividing it into beats.

...make sure you've sent me a blog entry for last week

enjoy!

matt

I looked a couple different palces for the ways to say the Russian names in the play. Here is what I found, for some names there were a couple options. We can talk to Matt if these are the ones he wants us to use, but I thought this could be a good place to start. Hope all the transcriptions are right, (stress is marked in the transcriptions and capitalized in the written sounds.)

Note: "Where the stress in English polysyllables tens to fall on the penultimate syllable, Russian stress, which is also heavier, is less predictable, and this gives rise to he pronunciation difficulties, quite apart from its unfamiliar consonant clusters. The following is an approximation of those names."

caitlin

here is an idea of how all the characters connect in the show, a little relationship map to keep in mind.
caitlin.

Daisy #2

I also wanted to share some findings on different productions of the show ranging from 1975 to 1993. (1/3 of our cast has just recently seen the current Broadway production, so they are probably more apt to discuss it than myself.) In particular, I was looking for how the actors balanced the realism and avant-garde nature of Konstantin’s opening play. This is one of the things I am most troubled with right now, how to deliver those lines-because Nina is not a ‘bad’ actress by any account, and I blame any hinderences in my performance to his amateurish writing, I think I must still be believable while letting the ridiculousness of the text still shine through. To this effect, I have given some quotes on how some pretty other popular productions have executed this speech.

* Trinity Reps /Providence, Rhode Island/1993
The director had the actors in constant motion. The gist was, their need was driving them forward and when they no longer had the impetus to move, they had no more reason to live and therefore were considered dead. This is similar to our Objective work, where we as humans, “want….get…want….get….” and when we get, if we get, we DIE. When I think of this scenario, I think of the case of so many elderly people, that are sick and dying in hospitals and wait for their grandkids to finally get married or something, and when they do, they feel as peace to pass on.

“From the moment of Nina’s remarkable entrance in athletic laps around the stage, the cast members whirl, run and embrace. They streak above, around and below the stage like so many comets, stopping only to express their desire before allowing it to drive them on again. When Nina performs Konstantin’s play, what one remembers is not her words but her relentless, pounding motion. The very physical performance makes immediate the urgent lust with which she wants to hurl herself into art and onto Trigorin. Like her fellow characters, Nina is driven by an outside force she cannot control.”

*Guthrie Theatre/November 20 1983/Directed by Lucian Pintilie

“Here the characters display their thoughts in overt physical actions. Treplev and his mother hurl books at each other, he and Nina writhe on the floor, Arkadina bandages her son’s head with a cloth long enough to entwine his whole body like a winding sheet. This is a visceral Seagull, aiming primarily at gut feeling. “

“In the final scene Nina dons a white feathered veil; as she becomes a seagull the stage of the first act returns, she climbs upon it, and disappears into the light over the lake, now turned from a gentle moon into a glaring light aimed right at the audience.”

“The performers pull of a highly successful balancing act between realism and overt symbolism, with just enough stylization to make the imagery of the staging seem plausible.”


*The Manhattan Project/March 1975/Directed by Andre Gregory

“Nina, whole innocence is lost during the course of the play, portrayed her role with complete realism, except for occasional and remarkable lapses. On one such occasion, after commenting that she is panting, she literally panted. On another, when a character stated that he hoped that something was not bad luck, she slapped her knee and spat into her hand.”

“Some actors played their roles naturally, while others emphasized the comic. The desperately unhappy Masha, for example, was played with both the gestures and grimaces of self-mockery and realistically, as when she displayed disgust toward her husband.”

*Mossover Theatre, Moscow/March 1990/Directed by Genadil Trostianetski

“…the production remained the basic idiom of realistic performance….Konstantin’s play in Act I was not the usual dreamy monologue by Nina, but a full-fledged performance-art piece, featuring eerie drums, three male dancer/acrobats, and a Devil character…”

*Theatre Krasnia Presnia/Directed by Pogrebnicho/1990

“During the performance of Konstantin’s play, Nina could not refrain from laughter during her monologue and blatantly shared her guidelines with Arkadina….”

“Although Chekhov’s words were delivered intact, they took on attributes of a minimalist absurdism, which flourished in this strong company’s hands. By deconstructing Chekhov, they reclaimed him for the avant-garde, revealing any zany streak of a writer all too often revered and enshrined.”

Daisy #1

I wanted to start my blog this week by delving deeper into some of the literary influences which Chekhov used in writing The Seagull. Most of this information is relating to the character of Nina, as that’s where most of the information stemmed from.

Trigorin and Nina are modeled after a play Chekhov’s friend Suvorin wrote, called Tatyana Repina. Although this play was not a wide success, Chekhov raved about it and even offered literary advice to his friend. A quote from the article “The Seagull’s Theatrical Conext” by Laurence Senelick explains,

“Chekhov’s intimacy with Tatyana Repina peers out in The Seagull, especially in the first long scene between Trigorin and Nina….the central and longest scene in the first act of Suvorin’s play takes place in Tatyana’s hotel room where she is being courted by the play’s male lead, Mikhail Adashev, a journalist. He waxes eloquent and bitter about his profession, and Tatyana’s interjections, like Nina’s, spur him in denials and explanations, although the woman’s comments are teasing, not naïve.”
Here is an excerpt of an exchange between the two main characters, very similar to Nina and Trigorins’ scene at the top of Act II:

ADASHEV: A journalist’s specialty is journalism. I have to know everything or pretend to understand everything, everything has to be at my fingertips, starting with the Egyptian pyramids …don’t shrink from anything, throw yourself into everything, make decisions about all-that’s our motto…”
REPINA: “What a way to talk about your profession! Let me give you a piece of advice: never run yourself down! There are always plenty of people willing to do it for you…”

There are also very obvious writing similarities in the way Suvorin’s lines are constructed in parallel to Chekhov.

NINA: “He’s here too…Why, yes…Never mind…Yes.” (after overhearing Arkadina and Trigorin laughing outside together in Act IV.)

TATYANA REPINA: “He? Wait…Yes, yes, that’s his voice…l’amour qui nous…its he, he… (listens intently)

There are numerous other findings that suggest Chekhov have other many other sources influencing his make-up of the character of Nina. In particular, Aleksandr Herzen’s “The Thieving Magpipe” (1846), about a young serf girl left abandoned and systematically beaten by her master for refusing his commands. This story comes from a tale by Pisemsky, “One Thousand Souls”, in which the main character Nastenka runs off to become a famous actress, only to return home and reunite with her former lover. There is also Katya in “A Dreary Story”, who loses her baby and retires her life of glamour in exchange for solitude and seclusion.

Other figures for Nina perhaps include Annika and Lubinka in Saltyokov-Shchedrin’s novel ‘The Golovlyov Family’ (1876) and Negina, the heroine of Ostrovsky’s comedy ‘Talents and Admirers’( 1881).

-Treplev’s play was most likely modeled after Measterlink, whom Chekhov greatly admired. His criticism of the play within a play, that it was lacking living characters, showed no range and was only “lines and speeches’, was also found in a letter to Suvorin Chekhov wrote about a metaphysical drama called “Over Evne” by Bjornsen. Chekhov stated, “I won’t do it for the stage, because there’s no way to play it, no action, no living characters, and no dramatic interest.”

In conclusion, Chekhov drew from a deep wealth of characters from other playwrights at the time, and used many outside influences as a way to draw up his own dramatic figures in The Seagull.

Lake Shore of Bohemia

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3206220?&Search=yes&term=Seagull&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DSeagull%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26wc%3Don&item=22&ttl=1104&returnArticleService=showArticle

The article is titled "The Lake Shore of Bohemia: The Seagull's Theatrical Context," by Laurence Senelick published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977. Senelick goes into detail about the aesthetic climate during Chekhov's time and names a few, actual real-life actresses, writers, and directors that may have been the basis for the characters of Arkadina, Trigorin, Konstantin, and Nina. Senelick explores the theaters that were burgeoning all across Russia in the 1880s and 90s and the varying aesthetic theories that made up this tension between "new forms" and tradition that figures in the play. This really contextualizes the play and offers perspective.

Welcome!

Hi there everybody!

Welcome to your blog. You all must post TWO entries per week in order to gain the allocated 10% of your grade, set aside for 'reserach'.

Get blogging!

matt