The First Public Theatre Guild. Roman Evgenievich Akimov

all of which underpin it.

      As Freud asserts, dream analysis is “the royal road to the unconscious.” It leads directly to the innermost secrets of the personality and, consequently, can become an invaluable tool in the hands of a physician and engineer of the human soul.

      “I have an internal conflict regarding a dream about my mother – an intriguing thought…”

      Proponents of Freud’s method of investigation sought to prove that the erotic, or sexual, factor plays a primary role in the origin of a pathogenic conflict. According to this theory, the inclinations of the conscious mind conflict with the amoral, incompatible unconscious desires. These unconscious desires are infantile – originating in childhood and no longer fitting into the present – and are therefore repressed for moral reasons.

      JUNE

      Book Club:

      At the beginning of the month, the guild begins a structured study of Nikolai Kun’s Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece.

      June 2, 2024: Guild of the M. Chekhov Method

      Ivan Viktorovich Dementyev:

      Today, we concluded our first month of work with a final session on the topic of “Tints.” This was a particularly significant event – we held the First IOM Championship in Radiation in the history of the guild.

      Previously, we had worked with Tints in pairs, trying to feel one another and create stories based on our partner’s Tint. Today’s session served as a kind of exam.

      We formed a circle, and one participant would step behind the stage to generate any Tint before radiating it, one by one, to each of the 17 people in the circle. The task of the receivers was to sense the effect and record their impressions. The key was to feel first and analyze later.

      After completing the full circle, the radiator would share their own experience and reveal the Tint they had been projecting. If the perception of the Tint matched between the sender and the receiver, both earned a point.

      Amazingly, by the end, we had three champions: Alina Gilmetova, Tanya Mironova, and the young Evelina Pashovkina! The true victor was friendship, which is highly symbolic of our work.

      To conclude the session, I offered to transmit a Tint to the learners. However, instead of a Tint, I used a pedagogical trick – I activated a Psychological Gesture (PG). This will be the theme of our next month.

      Throughout this first month, I have been getting to know the learners more deeply, forming a personal connection with each. I carefully tracked my sensations while interacting with them. When they guessed which Tint I had sent, their answers were so precise that they filled me with deep joy.

      Then, I revealed that I had not used a Tint at all, but rather a Psychological Gesture – now everyone is intrigued, because ahead of us lies an entirely new stage of shared creation!

      June 3, 2024:

      Classes were canceled – many attended the “Follow the Blue Bird” exhibition.

      June 4, 2024: Guild of the M. Chekhov Method

      Ivan Viktorovich Dementyev:

      Today, we began our immersion into the topic of Psychological Gesture (PG).

      As my mentor, the Lithuanian magician Gytis Padegimas, often reminds me:

      “An actor who has grasped the essence of PG holds a peaceful weapon, comparable in power to a nuclear one.”

      This vivid image illustrates the immense power contained within Psychological Gesture – despite its apparent simplicity, it has the ability to unlock the deepest layers of human nature.

      I was amazed at how, from the very beginning, almost all learners intuitively found the correct Psychological Gesture.

      My pedagogical principle is to explain nothing and demonstrate nothing at the start. This allows actors to discover their own paths rather than following imposed patterns.

      One of the biggest mistakes made by teachers who claim to work with Chekhov’s Method is overloading learners with theory and imposing rigid frameworks too soon. If an actor is bombarded with information right away, they struggle to immerse themselves in feeling and improvisation. The fear of making a mistake steals their freedom of action, and they become prisoners of their own fears.

      Today, I carefully led the group toward performing the Psychological Gesture. Once everyone had done it, I announced:

      “Congratulations! You have just performed the very Psychological Gesture from Michael Chekhov’s Method.”

      This moment unlocked a new level of ease and inspiration for our work ahead.

      Our second month has begun on a high note!

      The theme of the month is Psychological Gesture – we are stepping into a new and profound process.

      Onward!

      Everything Is a Process

      Book Club / Pavel Safronov:

      A myth is not a fabrication, not fiction – it is reality. Chaos. Tarrrr taaaAAAarrr. From darkness came light, from light – darkness. A sky without a father, mountains without a father, a sea without an old man. The earth – “F,” the sky – “M.” The sky despised its children. Uranus cunningly locked time within his wife’s depths. Horror, discord, deceit, struggle, and misfortune – these gods brought into the world, and thus the world was created.

      Zeus weeps, laces, counts, counts. Swords strike shields. Giant mountains charge into battle, hundred-handed, fifty-headed giants rise from Gaia’s depths. The eternal abyss trembles. The gods shudder in terror. The seas boil. The kettle whistles: gurgle, gurgle, gurgle. The air burns.

      When the thunderer triumphed over Uranus… The man with the trident – is that the sea? Hades – hell? Eternal joyous endless summer. The Romans had Vulcan. At feasts, destinies are decided.

      I am weary of poverty in the streets and Themis the blasphemer. The gods love the Moirai. Poseidon – the earth-shaker, the trickster, and Nereus – the noble one. Everything flows, everything moves. The ocean – now that’s something!

      June 4, 2024: Guild of Plastics and Dance

      Elizaveta Yuryevna Matvievich:

      Today, many pleasantly surprised me! The homework was done honestly and without pantomime, which is a key indicator of our progress. The main focus of the lesson was studying the structure of a plastic étude.

      We also talked a lot about music and, using one talented learner as an example, analyzed different interpretations of ideas through the body. We are gradually approaching the material.

      Book Club / Valentina Shulga:

      Gaia – Earth, the fertile goddess, grew enraged at Zeus for defeating the Titans and gave birth to the hundred-headed monster Typhon.

      I think about how fertility manifests in different ways. A seed. A seed will sprout, just as water will find its crack.

      So, for “peace” to be established, something old must be destroyed, and everything must begin again. Zeus is totalitarian, which suggests an artificial world – after all, a monopoly always leads to another war.

      June 5, 2024: Guild of Autonics

      Roman Evgenievich Akimov:

      Today, we dove into one of the most difficult and often inaccessible parts of the Autonic Horizon (compass) –