The demand is made that the hero and the heroine should be dramatically effective. But in life people do not shoot themselves, or hang themselves, or fall in love, or deliver themselves of clever sayings every minute. They spend most of their time eating, drinking, or running after woman or men, or talking nonsense. It is therefore necessary that this should be shown on the stage.
— Anton Chekhov
I don’t get this one. I think the things he says don’t happen in life DO happen in life all the time! Am I missing something?
OK, I reread it and “most of the time” is the clue.
oh…and “every minute”. I was putting every minute with the clever sayings line and not the rest of the things he lists…OK, I get it now.
I think his sentiment here is one of the reasons why Chekhov was always a bit … dismayed by Stanislavsky’s directorial interpretation of his plays. Every moment became a BIG moment, every moment was dwelled over, and brought out … when in real life, there’s a whole bunch of time – even during crises – when you just sit around and shoot the shit. hahahaha
I remember seeing Marcia Gay Harden do Masha in The Seagull – and she got a LAUGH on the famous line: “I’m in mourning for my life.” Most actresses play it as though they are gunning for the role of Medea. But why can’t it be funny? Why can’t it be said in a way that we see that she is completely a self-dramatizing diva?
I LOVED her reading of the line – it was so so refreshing!!