caa a22 4500 388093986 CHVBK 20180307125259.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161130e199908 xx s 000 0 eng 10.1017/S0266464X00013014 doi S0266464X00013014 pii (NATIONALLICENCE)cambridge-10.1017/S0266464X00013014 Merlin Bella Which Came First: The System or ‘The Seagull'? [Elektronische Daten] [Bella Merlin] Anton Chekhov's dissatisfaction with Konstantin Stanislavsky's early productions of his plays is well known and oft-discussed. However, it may be argued that the detailed analysis to which Stanislavsky subjected the script of The Seagull, though offensive to the author's intentions, led to the germination of Stanislavsky's acting system as well as laying the foundations for the success of Chekhov's own dramatic career. Bella Merlin, Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Arts at Birmingham University, explores this avenue of debate by assessing the possible reasons for the Alexandrinsky Theatre's failure in its premiere of The Seagull in 1896. Thereafter, the mutual dependency of Chekhov and Stanislavsky is discussed with reference to the success of the Moscow Art Theatre's production of 1898. In the following article in this issue, she links these reflections on the play's early fortunes to its relevance to the ‘Method of Physical Actions' developed by Stanislavsky towards the end of his career. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999 New Theatre Quarterly Cambridge University Press 15/3(1999-08), 218-227 0266-464X 15:3<218 1999 15 NTQ https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266464X00013014 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266464X00013014 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 100 1- Merlin Bella NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- New Theatre Quarterly Cambridge University Press 15/3(1999-08), 218-227 0266-464X 15:3<218 1999 15 NTQ CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-cambridge