S/LI/128. Choosing one character from a play by Anton Chekhov, demonstrate how an actor would prepare to portray this role with specific reference to the Stanislavski system and relevant practical exercises.

This paper examines Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's theatre and the various possibilities of staging Chekhov's plays with reference to the 'Method of Physical Action' of Russian actor and theatre director Konstantin Stanislavski, as well as Vslesovod Meyerhold's expressionist theatre. The essay highlights the ‘score’ of physical actions to express the ‘complex inner psychology of the character', and discusses the Stanislavski system on a concrete example, Chekhov's play Three Sisters, focussing on the character of Natalya.