Mikhail Semyonovich Shchepkin (Russian: ÐœÐ¸Ñ…Ð°Ð¸Ì Ð»
СемÑ'нович Ð©ÐµÌ Ð¿ÐºÐ¸Ð½, 17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1788,
the village Krasnoe, Oboyan county, Kursk Province â€" 11 August [O.S.
23 August] 1863) was the most famous Russian Empire actor of the 19th
century. He is considered the "father" of realist acting in Russia
and, via the influence of his student, Glikeriya Fedotova, a major
influence on the development of the 'system' of Konstantin
Stanislavski (who was born in the year in which Shchepkin died).
Shchepkin's significance to the Theatre of Russia is comparable to
that of David Garrick to the English theatre.He distinguished between
two kinds of actors, both of whom are dedicated to the art of acting:
(1) those who have developed the art of pretense on the basis of
intelligence and reason; (2) those who express feelings actually
experienced by the actor in performance and work on the basis of "a
flaming-soul, heavenly spark." Shchepkin considered the effect of the
latter approach superior to that of the former. He was opposed to the
principles advanced by the French playwright and philosopher Denis
Diderot in his Paradox of the Actor (published posthumously in 1830),
which inverted Shchepkin's evaluation.Shchepkin was born in the
village of Krasnoe, in the Kursk Province of the Russian Empire, to a
serf family owned by Count G. S. Volkenshtein. Shchepkin's freedom had
to be bought by his admirers in 1821. Three years later, he joined the
Maly Theatre in Moscow, which he would dominate for the next 40
yearsâ€"it became known as the 'House of Shchepkin'. Shchepkin was the
first to play Famusov in the Woe from Wit (1831) and the Mayor in The
Government Inspector (1836). His acting was acclaimed by Alexander
Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Alexander Herzen, and Ivan Turgenev for its
subtlety, with much attention given to realistic detail and
understatement.Shchepkin argued that an actor ought to get into the
skin of a character, identifying with their thoughts and feelings;
observation of life and the actor's knowledge of their own nature
provide the source for an actor's work. In 1848 he wrote:
СемÑ'нович Ð©ÐµÌ Ð¿ÐºÐ¸Ð½, 17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1788,
the village Krasnoe, Oboyan county, Kursk Province â€" 11 August [O.S.
23 August] 1863) was the most famous Russian Empire actor of the 19th
century. He is considered the "father" of realist acting in Russia
and, via the influence of his student, Glikeriya Fedotova, a major
influence on the development of the 'system' of Konstantin
Stanislavski (who was born in the year in which Shchepkin died).
Shchepkin's significance to the Theatre of Russia is comparable to
that of David Garrick to the English theatre.He distinguished between
two kinds of actors, both of whom are dedicated to the art of acting:
(1) those who have developed the art of pretense on the basis of
intelligence and reason; (2) those who express feelings actually
experienced by the actor in performance and work on the basis of "a
flaming-soul, heavenly spark." Shchepkin considered the effect of the
latter approach superior to that of the former. He was opposed to the
principles advanced by the French playwright and philosopher Denis
Diderot in his Paradox of the Actor (published posthumously in 1830),
which inverted Shchepkin's evaluation.Shchepkin was born in the
village of Krasnoe, in the Kursk Province of the Russian Empire, to a
serf family owned by Count G. S. Volkenshtein. Shchepkin's freedom had
to be bought by his admirers in 1821. Three years later, he joined the
Maly Theatre in Moscow, which he would dominate for the next 40
yearsâ€"it became known as the 'House of Shchepkin'. Shchepkin was the
first to play Famusov in the Woe from Wit (1831) and the Mayor in The
Government Inspector (1836). His acting was acclaimed by Alexander
Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Alexander Herzen, and Ivan Turgenev for its
subtlety, with much attention given to realistic detail and
understatement.Shchepkin argued that an actor ought to get into the
skin of a character, identifying with their thoughts and feelings;
observation of life and the actor's knowledge of their own nature
provide the source for an actor's work. In 1848 he wrote:
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