Maria Knebel

Maria Knebel
Born	Maria Iosifovna Knebel 18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1898 Moscow, Russian Empire
Died	1 June 1985(1985-06-01) (aged 87) Moscow, Soviet Union
Occupation	Actress, theatre director, theatre practitioner
Years active	1924–1980
Parents	Joseph Knebel (father)

Maria Osipovna (Iosifovna) Knebel (Russian: Мари́я О́сиповна (Ио́сифовна) Кне́бель; 18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1898 – 1 June 1985)^[1] was a Soviet and Russian actress, theatre practitioner and acting theorist.^[2] Having trained with Konstantin Stanislavski, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, and Michael Chekhov, her work integrated the approaches and emphases of all three, with a particular focus on Stanislavski's technique of "active analysis" in the rehearsal of plays.^[3] She worked as a character actor, a theatre director, and a teacher.^[4] Her students included the actor Oleg Yefremov, the playwright Viktor Rozov, and the directors Anatoly Vasiliev, Leonid Heifetz, Alexander Burdonsky, Beno Axionov, Joseph Raihelgauz, Sergei Artsibashev and Adolf Shapiro as well as director and theatre practitioner Sam Kogan.^[5] In 1958, she was named a People's Artist of the RSFSR.^[6]

Her roles as an actor included Charlotta in Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, the madwoman in Alexander Ostrovsky's The Storm, and Sniffles in Maurice Maeterlinck's The Blue Bird at the Moscow Art Theatre.^[7]

In 1968, she directed a production of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.

References

^ For dates before the Soviet state's switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in February 1918, this article gives the date in the New Style (Gregorian) date-format first, followed by the same day in the Old Style (Julian) date-format (which appears in square brackets and slightly smaller); this is to facilitate comparison between primary and secondary sources. The difference between the two is 12 days for Julian dates prior to 1 March 1900 [Gregorian 14 March] and 13 days for Julian dates on or after 1 March 1900. Thus, Knebel was born on the 31 May according to the Gregorian calendar that is in use today, while her birthday was 19 May according to the Julian calendar that was in use at the time. For more information on the difference between the two systems, see the article Old Style and New Style dates. Dates after 1 February 1918 are presented as normal.
^ Carnicke (2010, 99, 101) and Golub (1998, 603).
^ Carnicke (2010, 99).
^ Carnicke (2010, 99, 102) and Golub (1998, 603).
^ Carnicke (2010, 99—100).
^ Golub (1998, 603).
^ Carnicke (2010, 100, 102).

Sources

Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. ISBN 0-521-43437-8.
Carnicke, Sharon Marie. 2010. "The Knebel Technique: Active Analysis in Practice." Actor Training. Ed. Alison Hodge. 2nd ed. London: Routledge. 99—116. ISBN 0-415-47168-0.
Golub, Spencer. 1998. "Knebel, Mariya (Osipovna)." In Banham (1998, 603).
Knebel, Maria. 2016. "Active Analysis of the Play and the Role." In Thomas (2016).
Thomas, James. 2016. A Director's Guide to Stanislavsky's Active Analysis. London: Methuen. ISBN 978-1474256599.

External links

Actors from Knebel's 1968 production at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin reflect on the experience on YouTube
"The Knebel Chair Exercise" from The Stanislavsky Institute for the 21st Century on YouTube
Maria Knebel at the Routledge Practitioners Pages