The Chekhov Technique is a psychophysical technique, which means that the body and mind are one. When you make an outward physical action, you can sense that it has evoked an inner response. This work trains the actor to develop that relationship between their body and the creative imagination. When they work together in harmony, this results in the actor being able to awaken and develop a rich and transformative inner life. Chekhov gives the actor tools to use such as the psychological gesture, atmosphere, images, and centers. With these tools, and many others that we cover in both Chekhov 1 & 2, we can take the intangible imagination and transform it into tangible physical behavior. Chekhov’s book On the Technique of Acting is an excellent companion to the in-class work, and one of the best books on the craft ever written.

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The Meisner Technique and the work of Michael Chekhov are incredibly compatible approaches to creating human behavior. Both Meisner and Chekhov believed that the imagination along with vivid human behavior are the foundational keys to good acting. The concept of radiating, the idea of communicating the character’s internal essence and choices supports Meisner’s belief that acting is the ability to do truthfully. Both Meisner and Chekhov believed that an actor did not have to go back to their literal past experiences in order to create behavior. Both fully separated themselves from the teachings of Lee Strasberg and his Method approach to acting. The best acting involves actors who are fully present, and in the moment, and both Meisner and Chekhov help develop actors who can do just that.