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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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Tag Archives: Anton Chekhov
“talking nonsense”
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 … Continue reading
“Serious, yes, but not sad.”
Describe at least one rehearsal of Three Sisters for me. Isn’t there anything which needs adding or subtracting? Are you acting well, my darling? But watch out now! Don’t pull a sad face in the first act. Serious, yes, but … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Theatre
Tagged Anton Chekhov, Three Sisters
Comments Off on “Serious, yes, but not sad.”
Cary Grant in “Affair to Remember”: A Method Performance
This is a re-post of something I wrote a while back. It has to do with the history of acting, of the method acting style, of Stanislavsky’s teachings, and how I think Grant fits into that continuum. It’s very in-depth. … Continue reading
Posted in Actors
Tagged Actors Studio, Anton Chekhov, Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Eleonora Duse, Leo McCarey, Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro
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The Books: “The Cherry Orchard” (Anton Chekhov)
Next in my Daily Book Excerpt: More from The Plays of Anton Chekhov translated by Paul Schmidt. This excerpt is from The Cherry Orchard. One of the things I love about him is that there always seems to be something … Continue reading
The Books: “The Three Sisters” (Anton Chekhov)
Next book in my Daily Book Excerpt: More from The Plays of Anton Chekhov. This excerpt is from The Three Sisters. There’s so many scenes to choose from here, not to mention the HEART-CRACK of the last scene, and Olga’s … Continue reading
The Books: “Uncle Vanya” (Anton Chekhov)
Well, it’s 6:15 in the morning and you know what that means! It’s time for a Chekhov excerpt! I’m a lunatic. Next up in my Daily Book Excerpt: More from my The Plays of Anton Chekhov, translated by Paul Schmidt. … Continue reading
The Books: “The Seagull” (Anton Chekhov)
Next in my Daily Book Excerpt: More from my collected plays of Chekhov, translated by Paul Schmidt. This excerpt is from The Seagull. The Seagull – one of the classic plays about acting and theatre that is out there. Actually, … Continue reading
The Books: “Collected Plays of Anton Chekhov” – ‘Swan Song’ (Anton Chekhov)
Next script on my script shelf: Next play is Chekhov’s “Swan Song,” included in The Plays of Anton Chekhov. Translated by Paul Schmidt. I had owned an old copy of some old translation for years – whenever I worked on … Continue reading
The Difficulty of Playing Chekhov
Anyone who’s ever acted in a Chekhov play … or seen a Chekhov play … or worked on a Chekhovian monologue … or did a scene from a Chekhov play in scene study … KNOWS how difficult he is. When … Continue reading