Known for using the physical approach to acting – what he calls “imagine with your body, where the body is the imagination” – Israeli theatre director and acting trainer Prof. David Zinder visited India recently. In a training workshop for students of the National School of Drama in the Indian capital New Delhi, he enthralled budding actors withthe Michael Chekhov acting techniques and opened up new vistas of theatrical imagination. Author of Body Voice Imagination: A Training for the Actor, Zinder won plaudits for his play Blood Song, a creative adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding, which was staged in Hyderabad last year. Zinder, a Professor at the Department of Arts and Theatre at Tel Aviv University, has directed over 60 productions in Israel and other countries including India.
In this interview conducted by Hoihnu Hauzel for www.indiawrites.org Zinder speaks about his experimental theatre, the Michael Chekov School of Acting which has been used by legends like Clint Eastwood and Marilyn Monroe, and the cultural diversity that’s common to both India and Israel.
(Excerpts from the interview)
Q) Out of the 60 productions you have directed so far, what is the closest to your heart? Is there any particular work that stands out for any reason?
A) Two productions in particular, The Dybbuk by S. Anski and my adaptation of Lorca’s Blood Wedding.The Dybbuk because it was an extraordinary production in many ways, in terms of the concept, the set design, and particularly the acting of the company of the Hungarian State Theatre of Cluj. Blood Wedding, because it is my most radical adaptation of any classical play, and I have never stopped working on it, even though I have directed it five times already, including last year in Hyderabad with the Samahaara theatre group.
Q) Are you still drawn and attracted by Romanian theatre? What influence did your interaction with the Hungarian State Theatre of Cluj have on your present work?
A) My contact with the Hungarian State Theatre of Cluj was one of the most fruitful and exciting collaborations I have had in my professional life. The quality of the acting, the openness of the Artistic Director, Gabor Tompa, to new and unusual ideas, and the wonderful audiences – all these made the connection very valuable to me.
Q) Which culture of the world influenced you most in your work? Has Indian culture influenced your work in any way?
A) It’s hard to say which culture is the most prominent in my thinking and way of working I am very deeply connected to my Jewish heritage, and at the same time I have drawn inspiration in my work from teachers and directors from all over the world. I think basically I would identify myself – right now – most closely with the Eastern European theatre culture. I have been to India three times and have never really travelled, but the cultural diversity here fascinates me and I have no doubt that more exposure to the many different kinds of theatre cultures here will definitely have an influence on my future work.
Q) In 2012, you were invited to direct a play/theatre in India? How did it go?
A) The play happened in Hyderabad at the end of May was my adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding.
5. Culturally, what is it that can bind people of India and Israel together? What is the common thread between us?
A) First of all, we both achieved independence from Britain in the same year – 1948. What is more, both countries are fully functional democracies despite great tensions, both internally and externally. India is an ancient culture just like ours, and because of our unique history as a people, there is great cultural diversity in Israel. Not as extensive as in India, but it is certainly an important part of our national fabric. This we have in common with India.Surprisingly, for such a large country, I feel that the people of India – those that I have met – are very connected to the daily affairs of the entire country, just like in Israel but on a very small scale.Finally, in recent years, both countries are very intensively involved in high-tech industries.
6. Some of your plays like Song of Blood are highly experimental, with “every part in the play being played by two actors. What makes you think out of the box?
A) I have been influenced by many great directors, all of whom regard theatre as a unique art form with a language of its own, therefore I am drawn to a theatre language in which narrative, plot and linear structure are less important than stage imagery. Once you overcome the need for literal narrative and linear story-telling, you can go outside of all the usual theatrical boxes.
Q) What do you think about the quality of theatre in India? How evolved are we if you compare with the prevailing standards around the world?
A) You have to distinguish between traditional forms of theatre which are highly developed in the various regions of India, and have a centuries old tradition, and “regular” Western-style theatre. The latter is not very well developed in India, as far as I can tell, because of the overwhelming effect of the huge film industry and the genre of Bollywood. If there is no regular theatre-going public, then there will never be cutting-edge theatre like what you can find mostly in Eastern Europe. Most of the regular, non-traditional theatre that I have seen is much less developed than in the West.
Q) What exactly is the Michael Chekhov Technique? Was this a part of your workshop with students at NSD?
A) The Michael Chekhov Technique is a technique developed by Michael Chekhov throughout his career from the beginning of the 20th century to the time of his death in Hollywood in 1955. It is primarily based on the concept that the actor’s body is his imagination, and the symbiosis between those two is the foundation of all acting, and not, as in the Stanislavsky System or the Method, the personal history of the actor.
Q) What is your opinion on the final students of NSD? Do you see them promising enough to have a full career in theatre?
A) It is hard for me to tell about the students in terms of their future, mainly because I don’t really know enough about the Indian theatre. However, they seem to be well trained and have been responding extremely well to the training and to the elements of the Chekhov Technique that they have learned so far.
Q) You travel all over the world for work.How do you find your inspiration? Are you always on the move?
A) I do a great deal of traveling, indeed, but my inspiration comes mainly from my own imagination and my work with the texts that I plan to direct. I always work very closely with my co-artists, my designers, lighting designers and composers. They are a part of my productions almost from the very beginning, so much of my inspiration comes from this kind of close collaboration. Also, once a production is in rehearsals, a great part of my inspiration comes from the actors who are my colleagues no less than my designers or musicians or choreographers.
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