Chekhov Technique: Feminist Solo Performance and Writing
This page gathers together various aspects of The Chekhov Collective’s research exploring Michael Chekhov’s technique in the context of writing, self-directing and performing feminist solo performance and comedy.
This work has developed out of Sian Clarke’s practice and research since 2013.
Whether you come here as an artist, scholar, teacher, or all of those, we hope the information collated here is useful to you.
About
Sian Clarke is a founding member of The Chekhov Collective. After studying theatre at Goldsmiths University she continued her training in Chekhov Technique under Dr. Cass Fleming. From this she started to build her own solo practice incorporating performance art and comedy. She combines her experiences on the comedy circuit as a stand up, character and alternative comedian, with her love of the more absurd and abstract to make genre pushing, provocative work.
She uses Chekhov’s notions of playfulness and polarity within her work to challenge spectators to explore their own thoughts, ideas and preconceptions. Sian has worked as a performer, writer and dramaturg across live art, theatre, comedy and film. She uses a blend of all elements of Chekhov Technique but is particularly drawn to movement qualities and imaginary centres for both creating and performing.
Her debut solo show The Sian Clarke Experience received an array of 4 and 5 star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022. She has been performing her solo work across the UK since 2017. During the lockdown of 2020 Sian received funding from Arts Council England, Goldsmiths and Santander to make an experimental short film of The Sian Clarke Experience.
Sian’s project, iCON is an experimental theatre piece exploring feeling obsolete, existentialism and community.
As part of this project, funded by Arts Council England, and with support from The Chekhov Collective, Sian will bring 3 tailored workshops in comedy, solo performance and writing to artists over 30.
The project will further explore issues of ageism in the arts through a panel discussion in person and over zoom, looking at what the current hurdles are to artists over 30 and where this issue becomes more complex in relational to other intersectional aspects of identity, such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and disability, and issues such as parenting and caring responsibilities. Reflecting on previous studies and projects on this issue panel guests will be invited to discuss their experiences and hopes for the future. Audience members were also invited to ask questions and share their own thoughts and hopes for a more age inclusive sector. Sian and Cass Fleming, who chaired the Panel, and The Chekhov Collective, also discussed their ideas for what we can do as a grassroots movement to support artists 30+ with careers in the arts, or returning to the arts.
Agency, anarchy and creative individuality: Previous Workshops
Sian has previously run a number of workshops with the Collective exploring themes of feminist performance practice and solo creating/writing. Her belief is that everybody has the ability to make important, unusual and significant work through empowering themselves and she invites each participant to offer a sharing at the end of every workshop.
In 2019 she ran Creating Characters & Personas for the stage, a workshop focused on giving participants creative agency and allowing them to feel free and safe to explore ideas of stage persona or character. Participants were encouraged to work within their own interpretation of the instructions, using an object of interest brought in from the home and playing through Chekhov’s Imaginary Centres.
Sian explored these themes further in the Chekhov Collective Open House: Transformation (2020) and her workshop on Creative Individuality (2021). Both of these took place during the pandemic. Sian explored how we can tap back into our creativity under such restrictive and difficult circumstances, with the desire to allow us to re-enage and explore our imagination over zoom.
In her session on Feminism & Political performance in early 2020, Sian invited participants to explore their anarchic side, looking at how we might use ourselves to make political performance in unexpected ways. This workshop was inspired by Chekhov’s notion of polarity to create depth and meaning within performance.
I:CON Project
As part of the I:CON project Sian ran three workshops and hosted two panel discussions. Fifty percent of the places at these events were ring fenced for those over 30 years of age
Workshop 1 (2023)
Solo Performance and Chekhov Technique
This workshop explored how a performer might begin work on generating material and how we can develop a seed of an idea into something quite rich when bringing in elements of the technique to find new approaches to the same idea. We looked at removing the fear of beginning creative work and how Chekhov’s movement qualities and use of psychological gesture might help find new and exciting ideas to experiment with.
Workshop 2 (2023)
Comedy & Chekhov Technique
This workshop, for female identifying and non-binary participants, used clowning and improvisation to develop humour and characters to make playful moments that could be captured to share with an audience. It tied Chekhov’s imaginary centre’s to explore sustaining and growing characters.
Workshop 3 (2023)
Writing & Chekhov Technique
In this session we focused on transforming the practical application of the technique, with a focus on imaginary centres, into writing practice. We considered how we can find new approaches and voices when writing and look at our own text with a new lens.
In addition to the workshops the I:CON and Chekhov Collective partnership project hosted two panel discussions which looked at ageism in the arts
The first panel I:CON | Collective Panel Discussion. Moving Against Ageism in the Arts (2023), was chaired by The Chekhov Collective Founder and Co- Director Dr. Cass Fleming. An invited panel of artists and professionals within the sector reflected on their experience of ageism in the arts, what challenges they have faced and are apparent within the sector, and hopes and strategies they have for the future, to bring about positive change.
Sian and The Chekhov Collective offered ideas they have had for building stronger networks to aid artists over 30 and those returning to the sector after periods of time out.
Panel members included:
- Sian Clarke (Comedian and Performance Artist) – Instigator of this series of events at The Chekhov Collective, autumn 2023
- Francesca Castelbuono (Film Maker & Director)
- Gretchen Egolf (Actor, Director and Teacher)
- Cassie Raine, Co-CEO and Executive Director of Parents in the Performing Arts (PIPA)
- Vivienne Soan (Actor and Musician)
The second panel over Zoom (2023) was hosted by Sian and Cass Fleming, participants were sent the previous panel discussion to watch and we opened the conversation up to further questions and considerations for how to improve the issues it brings forward.
At the end of the I:CON | Chekhov Collective joint events a report will be written and sent to Arts Council England based on the discussions at both panel events.
Teaching and Chekhov
In addition to teaching for The Chekhov Collective, Sian has also taught Chekhov Technique to students at Goldsmiths University, Arts Educational Drama School and Middlesex University.
Using Chekhov technique in creating and performing comedy
Sian’s teaching runs parallel to her professional practice, and the two feed each other.
As a writer Sian has developed a method of borrowing from the technique to make work through the lens of a character/ persona, performer and audience member. She uses a combination of imaginary centre’s and psychological gesture to create these voices when writing that are then further developed within the rehearsal room.
She believes holding a constant thought of Chekov’s four brothers (Ease, Form, sense of the Whole and Beauty) allows her to develop work in smaller parts to ultimately create a rich whole piece.
Over the next two years she will be looking to merge the technique in a new show that will focus more heavily on a holistic approach to stage design, lighting and sound as well as the performance elements of the show. She will also be looking to further develop the use of the technique for screenwriting.