Michael Chekhov School Summer Workshop

SUMMER WORKSHOP 2024

New York City: July 12 – 15, 2024
18 hours over 4 days in Midtown

“I choose this or that scene, and I start to act it as an amateur, as a child, as a genius. Then… take the psychological gesture…Take it quietly, without any fear, and apply it to your soul. When you feel that it does no good, push it aside—the gesture, not yourself. Kill the method, but not yourself! You will then find the method, because the whole idea of the method is to help, and not to hinder.”  M. Chekhov

When
July 12 – 15, 2024
(18 hours total)

Where
Midtown NYC

Cost
The fee is $580

About the Workshop:
We will work with scenes by Martin McDonagh in an ensemble setting.
You will have at least 1 dedicated scene & scene partner for the 4 days.
Each session begins with ensemble work in the group, from which work on scenes will emerge.
In the time between sessions, you and your partner will be asked to prepare work for the next day.

About the Approach:
This workshop proposes that all your feelings towards the material are important.
Entertaining some of Michael Chekhov’s suggestions, we develop skills to unfold our initial reactions.
Your response to each moment will be the path along which we are sneaking up on Martin McDonagh’s scenes, allowing life & meaning to emerge in the process.

How to Apply:
Admission to the workshop is by application only. Space is limited.
To apply, please send a short message and Ragnar will contact you.

On Michael Chekhov & Konstantin Stanislavski:

About Ragnar:
Ragnar has been creatively working with Michael Chekhov’s Acting Technique for the past 30 years as actor, director and filmmaker. He is one of the featured master-teachers of the acclaimed DVD series Master Classes in the Michael Chekhov Technique, which he co-directed with Joanna Merlin for the Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA). He has been part of the acting faculty at the Michael Howard Studios, Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, Brooklyn College, Marymount Manhattan and taught for 14 years at The New School in NYC. He co-wrote and directed the award-winning narrative film Beautiful Hills of Brooklyn, starring Michael Chekhov’s direct student Joanna Merlin, executive producer Bob Balaban. He made the D&D Roadshow Movie for Improbable Theatre (UK) and collaborated on Improbable’s Show Tao of Glass, with Phelim McDermott and composer Philip Glass. Most recently, he edited the documentary Something Divine by Thomas Essig, featuring Ray Cappo (Raghunath) of the hardcore punk band Youth of Today.

Testimonials:
Ragnar’s work, based on the brilliant explorations of Michael Chekhov, is very much his own. He is an excellent listener and willing collaborator and I cannot speak too highly of the man and the teacher.
(MICHAEL HOWARD, actor, director, acting teacher, founder of the ‘Michael Howard Studios’, NYC)
Ragnar is an artist, both as a teacher and as a director. He is on an impassioned and relentless search to discover ways of connecting the actor with his own resources.
(JOANNA MERLIN, Broadway, film, TV actress; author of ‘Auditioning, An Actor Friendly Guide’)
Being in a rehearsal hall or studio with Ragnar is a constant source of clarity and inspiration; it is a keenly observed exploration into the heart of the matter, or certainly somewhere in that vicinity.
(BRENT CARVER, actor, Tony Award for ‘Kiss of the Spiderwoman’)

Impressions from Class: Actors Ryan Feyk & Valorie Kissel are talking each other through a game, moving from the exercise into the world of “Kostya” & “Nina” in Chekhov’s “Seagull”. With: Ryan Feyk, Heather Holmes, LeeAnne Hutchison, Keizo Kaji, Valorie Kissel, Grant Neale, Michael Wilson. Sound is recorded by actor Grant Neale. The camera-work is by filmmaker Mathias Magnason.