Acting the Subtext - Chekhov and Gist

December 30th, 2006 Fred McVittie Posted in Acting, Chekhov, Michael, Gesture, Gist, Schema |

The rehearsal technique known as ‘acting the subtext’ is a method for developing, in an embodied fashion, the physical schema articulating the competing or complementing psychological sense present in a performance. In this technique, the subtextual ‘gist’ of a scene is made physically available such that gestures, actions, etc might be constructed appropriate to this gist. This gist is then available as a non-conscious schema or trace which might then inflect the overt schema representing the surface text. One example of a technique which utilises this combination of schema is the ‘psychological gesture’ of Michael Chekhov.