Rethinking the Moscow Art Theatre’s ‘Hamlet’ (1908-1912). Working with the Actors

Abstract

Hamlet, staged in Moscow on 8 January 1912, is one of the most celebrated and extensively studied theatrical productions of the twentieth century, as it brought together the co-director of the Moscow Art Theatre, Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky, and the English director Edward Gordon Craig. This article offers a new reading of this landmark production through an approach that shifts attention to the concrete work carried out by the actors with the two directors, while paying particular attention to the creation of a context of onstage cohabitation among artists from different theatrical backgrounds. To this end, it examines the development of Stanislavsky’s method during the rehearsals for the production; Craig’s work with Vasily Kachalov on the “Mousetrap” scene and with Alisa Koonen on the unrealised scene of Ophelia’s suicide; and the crucial role that experiments with the “model stage” played in shaping Craig’s directorial ideas. The analysis thus proposes new hypotheses concerning the reasons for the production’s disappointing stage outcome and the influence of this theatrical event on the performance cultures of the twentieth century.