Active analysis and rehearsal
Life, work and teaching
Maria Knebel was an actor, director, teacher, and author whose work carried important strands of Stanislavski and Michael Chekhov into later Russian theatre training. She studied with Chekhov, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, and Stanislavski, collaborating with Stanislavski during his final years at the Opera-Dramatic Studio.
Knebel is associated with active analysis: investigating the play and the role through the actor's practical work. Her writing connects the analysis of dramatic action with the creative use of the spoken word. The actor's understanding develops in relation to rehearsal and performance.
The actor's study
Active Analysis brings together her books on analysis of the play and role and on the word in the actor's creative work. The edition was conceived by her student Anatoli Vassiliev and translated into English by Irina Brown. It also includes Knebel's account of studying with Michael Chekhov.
For your rehearsal, Knebel offers a substantial connection between script investigation, action, and speech. Read her work as a particular development within a living tradition, preserving its relationship to the teachers from whom she learned.
