we loosen the ropes
By which we hold others’ faults.”
There is no greater joy than seeing a person free from suffering and able to pursue what they love.
May 14, 2024: Guild Learner / Yulia Vorobyeva:
I am a reserved person, keeping everything inside. Rarely do I share anything, even with those close to me, unless prompted by a surge of the soul. My mind is constantly filled with questions and answers, dialogues, and searches.
Now, the First Public Theater Guild has entered my life (or I have entered its life, or it mine). There, we study not just acting but also ourselves, exploring human nature (and through this, acting). We talk about topics that were once only inside me, and I find answers to my questions.
To me, this is magic. What I needed so much has come into my life. It’s happening gradually, and this is just the beginning. Something interesting will come later, but it’s already here now. It’s fascinating; it’s a process.
May 14, 2024: Guild of the M. Chekhov Method
Ivan Viktorovich Dementyev:
Today, we introduced the first tool of Chekhov’s method – the Tints. I showed the learners three steps to creating Living Feelings in the Center of their chest. Only attention and imagination – no “digging up old wounds” from the past. And they felt it! It’s wonderful!
But there was a downside – tardiness! At 4:00 p.m. in the Onegin Hall, only 5—6 people were present. I went downstairs to see if anyone else was coming… I didn’t see anyone rushing to the lesson, even though it was already 4:02.
I implemented a rule: attendance will now be recorded five minutes after the start of the lesson. If you’re later than that, you weren’t there!
May 14, 2024: Guild of Plastics and Dance
Elizaveta Yuryevna Matvievich:
As I expected, those who attended yesterday’s session remembered me this morning! Slowly but surely, we are coming to understand that the body is a mechanism requiring care and painstaking work.
Today, we continued building trust, now from a physical perspective. It’s heartening to see the participants filled with emotions. Actions they once deemed impossible are now part of their body.
Many questions arise during the work, and together we explore the answers. It’s impossible not to be delighted by this.
May 15, 2024: Guild of Autonics
Roman Evgenievich Akimov:
Through my gaze and my painted scenes,
Your weary step will soar with might.
No force shall stifle the beautiful lines,
And what was lost will be found in the light.
With fervent colors, wild and bright,
We’ll paint for ages lands divine.
Ascending the cliffs of atonement’s height,
To the drums’ loud beat, in a cadence of time.
On a damp, cold night, under starlit skies,
By touch alone, no one will be found.
And the blind bird, in its memories confined,
Escaping the cage, will crash to the ground.
May 19, 2024: Guild of the M. Chekhov Method
Ivan Viktorovich Dementyev:
Our fifth lesson. Today, we went further, deeper! We gave birth to Living Feelings within ourselves, and it was magnificent!
At a certain point, the space of the Onegin Hall became a kind partner to us. Through several Tints, we ascended the steps, took to the stage, passed between the columns, and descended again… I greeted each person at the edge of the stage. First came the Tint of “emptiness,” then “vulnerability,” and finally, “triumph.”
Fascinating observations emerged: the first two Tints (which can be conditionally called “negative”) were embraced with ease by everyone. I felt the vibrations from each participant… But the “triumphant” Tint was harder! Some embraced it and were dazzling, while others walked timidly, hiding their eyes, as though unable to accept their own triumph.
I drew the learners’ attention to this and assigned them homework for next Tuesday: to constantly evoke this Tint within themselves!
Roxana Ruinskaya’s phrase left a strong impression: “We are all Winners here!” She was referring to the fact that they had all been accepted into the Guild. How right she is!
Book Club / Alina Balakina:
I increasingly feel like a doctor dissecting the human brain and a detective solving the riddle of a crime. The chapters on Eros and Power provoked the most thought and reaction. Here’s what resonated with me and sparked reflection:
• How sick are we all? Do we understand who our demon is – Eros or the Desire for Power? How much do we accept our shadow and our demons?
• Realizing and accepting your shadow side (your past, flaws, fears, etc.) is the only chance to achieve completeness. A person cannot exist solely in the vertical; the horizontal and everything connected to it are inextricably linked to life. This is a given, a key, a salvation for the soul.
The example of Nietzsche and his relationship with Wagner struck me deeply. For the first time, I encountered the argument about his stigmatization by the spirit. It made me think about how even the greats (perhaps especially the greats) can sink so deeply into the denial of important things that it leads to the destruction of their minds.
And it’s captivating to think about our inability to control such an uncontrollable substance as the unconscious. How enlightened and aware are we, living without any control over the universe within us? I desperately want to become Alexander the Great and tame my Bucephalus, preventing any neurosis from emerging ten years down the road and wreaking havoc.
May 20, 2024: Guild of Plastics and Dance
Elizaveta Yuryevna Matvievich:
Monday is now officially our cardio and stunt day! It was intense, and alongside the physical work, we also began learning to “knead” one another. A perfect blend of the pleasant and the useful. We identified pressure points and explored the muscles we have, so we can later put them to work.
In addition, today we had our first encounter with the primary partner of physical theater – the floor. Or rather, the ground. We explored basic movements of merging with and departing from it. It turned out to be far from simple because, after all, our floor is hard!
It was productive and active, and we barely managed to fit everything into three hours.
May 20, 2024: Guild of Autonics
Roman Evgenievich Akimov:
This was a two-hour intensive practical session in the Onegin Hall. The intensity was so great that the very air of this sacred space seemed to heat up, becoming akin to the core of a boiling volcano.
In the final hour, we delved into unconscious symbols and the concepts of natural unconscious reactions, including painful and pathological ones.
When analyzing observations, almost everyone chose the simplest and, in their view, most explicable examples, especially in the realm of emotions they observed, where feelings tended to gravitate toward varying degrees of fear. This, of course, reflects their own experiences – they react so strongly to these examples because they themselves