The Chekhov Collective Practice Research Centre - Website as open access research object.

The Chekhov Collective was founded by Cass Fleming in 2013 as part of the research project Michael Chekhov in the Twenty-First Century: New Pathways, and consequently established as a leading practice research and training centre by Co-Directors Cass Fleming and Roanna Mitchell.

By 2023 we have run over 90 open access and affordable workshops, panel discussions, performances and events on different uses of Chekhov technique, and blends with other performance practices. We have forged partnerships with other organisations and companies including the MCUK (Michael Chekhov UK), Labanarium, Embodied Poetics, The Jerwood Space, Gruff Theatre, Tiny Hero (Holland), MICHA (Michael Chekhov Association USA) and MCIA (Berlin).

The Collective is inspired by the work of the experimental Russian actor, director, teacher and early devised theatre-maker, Michael Chekhov (1891-1955), and explores innovative applications of his technique today. We are particularly interested in the following aspects of Chekhov’s methods and principles:

It is an imaginatively embodied technique that is empowering and playful.

It is a holistic and relational practice underpinned by ensemble principles.

It does not require practitioners to mine their own personal memories and experiences. Instead it seeks and celebrates difference, diversity, transformation and originality.

It is based on the belief that all artistic collaborators are empowered and equal artists.

It can be used for a wide range of styles and modes of historic and contemporary theatre and screen and it blends well with other performance practices.

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/35521