Michael Chekhov School Summer Workshop

SUMMER WORKSHOP 2026

One Week in New York City, July 2026
with Ragnar

“Chekhov is one of the few great actors of our time… What he does takes on meaning almost apart from the concrete instance of the plot. It is as if he needed no actual role; his acting is a kind of agent of life.” (Harold Clurman, The Group Theater)

When
July 2026

Schedule
Monday – Friday (5 days)

Where
Manhattan

Cost
Tuition: TBD

About the Workshop:
We will work with scenes in an ensemble setting.
You will have at least 1 dedicated scene & scene partner for the 5 days.
Each session begins with ensemble work in the group, from which work on scenes will emerge.
In the time between sessions, you and your partner will be asked to prepare work for the next day.

About the Approach:
This workshop proposes that all your feelings towards the material are important.
Entertaining some of Michael Chekhov’s suggestions, we develop skills to unfold our initial reactions.
Your response to each moment is the path along which we are approaching your scenes, allowing life & meaning to emerge in the process.

About Michael Chekhov:
Michael Chekhov’s direct student Joanna Merlin shared this quote by director & filmmaker Arthur Penn who also studied with Michael Chekhov in L.A.: “What I experienced with him was the concept of ‘shared physical environment’. I remember one session where he said we would be discussing ‘character objective’ and I thought that would be interesting but also a bit dull… Michael, I think, felt the same way so while he was breaking down a role for objectives he also thought we should include shared environment. The class was in a basement of sorts and he suggested a ‘broken water pipe’  and we were using the time waiting for a plumber to talk about acting but ‘the water was rising and not just a drip’. It was a marvelous class and the one that I most remember. He was a lovely man and a good and gentle teacher.  I believe I was drawn by him to the common atmosphere with strong individuation in behavior. Ensemble acting is anarchy in a shared environment.”

How to Apply:
Admission is not yet open.
For more information, send a short message and Ragnar will contact you.

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Performance Space as Dream Space:

About Ragnar:
Ragnar has been creatively working with Michael Chekhov’s Acting Technique for the past 30 years as actor, director and filmmaker. He is one of the featured master-teachers of the acclaimed DVD series Master Classes in the Michael Chekhov Technique, which he co-directed with Joanna Merlin for the Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA). He has been part of the acting faculty at the Michael Howard Studios, Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, Brooklyn College, Marymount Manhattan and taught for 14 years at The New School in NYC. He co-wrote and directed the award-winning narrative film Beautiful Hills of Brooklyn, starring Michael Chekhov’s direct student Joanna Merlin, executive producer Bob Balaban. He made the D&D Roadshow Movie for Improbable Theatre (UK) and collaborated on Improbable’s Show Tao of Glass, with Phelim McDermott and composer Philip Glass. Most recently, he edited the documentary Something Divine by Thomas Essig, featuring Ray Cappo (Raghunath) of the hardcore punk band Youth of Today.

Testimonials:
Ragnar’s work, based on the brilliant explorations of Michael Chekhov, is very much his own. He is an excellent listener and willing collaborator and I cannot speak too highly of the man and the teacher.
(MICHAEL HOWARD, actor, director, acting teacher, founder of the ‘Michael Howard Studios’, NYC)
Ragnar is an artist, both as a teacher and as a director. He is on an impassioned and relentless search to discover ways of connecting the actor with his own resources.
(JOANNA MERLIN, Broadway, film, TV actress; author of ‘Auditioning, An Actor Friendly Guide’)
Being in a rehearsal hall or studio with Ragnar is a constant source of clarity and inspiration; it is a keenly observed exploration into the heart of the matter, or certainly somewhere in that vicinity.
(BRENT CARVER, actor, Tony Award for ‘Kiss of the Spiderwoman’)

Impressions from Class: Actors Ryan Feyk & Valorie Kissel are talking each other through a game, moving from the exercise into the world of “Kostya” & “Nina” in Chekhov’s “Seagull”. With: Ryan Feyk, Heather Holmes, LeeAnne Hutchison, Keizo Kaji, Valorie Kissel, Grant Neale, Michael Wilson. Sound is recorded by actor Grant Neale. The camera-work is by filmmaker Mathias Magnason.