Crossing the Threshold

N. Graham, from a dream journal, 1993.

​The idea of the threshold, which was very important in past centuries, was one of the most important moments if someone wished to go forward. Anyone who goes forward cannot escape the threshold. —Michael Chekhov

---

April is the cruelest month, is how T. S. Eliot's heavy post-pandemic line goes. Death jumbled with birth, the necessity of joy and purpose undercut by the awareness of ruin and abuse. I'm not the only one with this line in my head lately.

April is the threshold month, too. Whatever the origin of threshold, it names the passage from one time or space to another. So last month I tied up some things and let them go, and this month I begin new things. For the next year, I commit to my creative work. A scary thing to say out loud, especially now, when the performing arts are in a deep freeze. But when actors are told to make strong choices, that's advice for living, and not just under imaginary circumstances.

Michael Chekhov insisted his students cross the threshold before beginning class or rehearsing, taking a few minutes to get quiet and call in the atmosphere of creating together. My Chekhov technique teachers, all of them, typically talk us through crossing the threshold. We each do it in our own way. It can be done in a few minutes, or a few weeks, or months. Actor—the one profession named for the human doing.

Explore the Michael Chekhov digital archive: Michael Chekhov: The Actor is the Theatre

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.