Reaching for the Stars – Directing/Devising with Michael Chekhov’s Creative Process With Dawn Arnold
“When we look upon this point which we call the creative process and the inspiration, it is, of course, our last and only aim, and we must look upon this point as though it were the center, and on the periphery there are so many doors through which we had to look.” From the Michael Chekhov Archives
Dawn Arnold and the Moving Dock Theatre Companyspent four years and three developmental workshops to bring about a devised theatre piece about women astronomers entitled, Unsung Stars. It was a convergence of art, science, theatre and Chekhov’s inspired approach to the creative process.
In this on-your-feet workshop she will share her journey of devising Unsung Stars bringing into play Michael Chekhov’s ideas about the creative process. Participants will recreate some of the explorations the actors did in that process and discuss how this way of working went from the blank page to a fully realized production.
To prepare:
Read: Chekhov archives: https://collections.uwindsor.ca/chekhov/item/1075
Visit the Unsung Stars page: http://www.movingdock.org/site/about-moving-dock/unsung-stars/
View Unsung Stars slideshow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcD61EFh4pA
Registered participants will receive excerpts from the script to use in the explorations.
Dawn Arnold is an actress, director, teaching artist, and acting coach based in Chicago, USA. She is the founder and Artistic Director of the Moving Dock Theatre Company and Chekhov Studio Chicago.
With Moving Dock Theatre she has directed/devised Galway Bay, Savage/
Love, Celestial Mechanics- or the Questionable Attraction of Entities, Einstein’s Dreams, Ocean Sea, The Quiltmaker’s Gift, The Anton Chekhov Book Club, The Anton Chekhov Book Club Returns, Voices from the Dark, Unsung Stars, and her solo show, The Lydia Etudes – About Loving Anton Chekhov.
She has worked with Vitalist Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, and Chicago’s House Theatre and coaches actors working for Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Lookingglass Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Court Theatre among others, and opera singers at Lyric Opera Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center.
Dawn is a teacher of the Michael Chekhov Technique, trained by the Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA). She appears in the MICHA’s documentary, Master Classes in the Michael Chekhov Technique. She has been on the faculty of Roosevelt University’s Theatre Conservatory, Music Institute of Chicago, Northern Illinois University, and The Theatre School at DePaul. She is now on the faculty of the Michael Chekhov Association, Chekhov Studio Chicago, and Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center and has taught with Michael Chekhov Acting Studio New York City, Michael Chekhov Europe, and Michael Chekhov Studio Tokyo.
