The Michael Chekhov Technique: An Alternative to the Method

10:30-11:45 am -- 9th Floor, Room #C967
Meet a Leading Theater Director and Audition Coach!

In the fast-moving film/TV (and even today's professional theatre) industry, actors are in high demand for "quick results" and "shortcuts." They need to be able to be instantly inspired, be emotionally available, learn lines quickly by heart (not by head) in order to "own them," and make the character be filled with the objectives and desires of a multilayered human, all without much preparation time. Michael Chekhov Technique has been proven to be extremely helpful in all types of acting challenges.

This workshop, led by Marjo-Riikka Makela, the artistic director and an acting coach at the Chekhov Studio International in Los Angeles, will guide you into the beginnings of Chekhov's technique and introduce some of the tools and mind/body changes that the training incorporates.

Michael Chekhov was known for being the true chameleon actor, mesmerizing audiences by making consistently bold choices and disappearing into fully fleshed-out, astoundingly unique characters. Chekhov was openly praised by Konstantin Stanislavsky as his most brilliant student and was highly respected by Group Theatre luminaries such as Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, Lee Strasberg, and Harold Clurman.

Chekhov's passion for the power of imagination in the search of artistic truth led him to devote his life to the development of an acting technique that would enable actors to achieve white-hot peak states of inspired performance. He was the acting coach for many Hollywood stars of his day, and has been praised by Jack Nicholson, Anthony Hopkins, and Clint Eastwood, just to mention a few.

Speaker

-- Marjo-Riikka Makela, artistic director and acting coach at Chekhov Studio International

SPEAKER BIO

Marjo-Riikka Makela
Marjo-Riikka Makela is a director, a master teacher, an acting coach, and a professional actor. She is the artistic director and acting/audition coach at the Chekhov Studio International in Los Angeles. She has specialized in a variety of acting techniques, is a long-standing member of the Michael Chekhov Association, and has worked extensively with the M. Chekhov Technique as both an actor and a director.

Makela received her training at the Russian Academy of Dramatic Arts (GITIS) and holds an MFA in acting from CSULB. She is a company member of the groundbreaking theater group The Actors' Gang and has extensive stage credits in Europe. Here in the U.S., some of Makela's favorite roles include Medea under the direction of David Bridel, Yelena in "Uncle Vanya" at the Classic Stage Company in NYC, and her work with Sarah Kane and Andrei Malaev-Babel at the Stanislavsky Theatre Studio in Washington, D.C.

Her directing credits include Shakespeare, Chekhov, Schiller, and devised work. Recently, Makela has taught at The Acting Corps, CSULB, Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University, Insurgo Theater Movement, the Actors Movement Studio, INTAR Theatre, The Actors' Gang, USC, and CalArts.

Makela does weekly private coaching for many successful TV and film actors. She has clients around the world and has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, American Theatre magazine, and several major European publications.