THE PENCIL Memories of Dartington Hall and the English Origin of the Michael Chekhov Acting Method DEIRDRE HURST DU PREY tape-recorded, transcribed and edited by Diane Caracciolo Adelphi University Garden City, NY 11530
[email protected] Deirdre du Prey’s corrections and changes have been incorporated by Julia Busser du Prey in January 2002. INTRODUCTION 1 was born on July [6, 1906, and I think it was rather an important day, because my birth took place in a jbrest fire. My mother was in a little house bearing me, while my father was on the roof with the neighbors, trying to put the fire out. We were in tall, standing timber, and it was sunmter, and there/ore very dangerous, but all went well. And as my sisters used to say, 'S'he was born in a forest fire, and she’s never stopped burning. ' Why, I don’t know; but I always had all kinds of fire in me, which had to be expended. It is not surprising that fire should be tlte earliest image associated with Deirdre Hurst du Prey, as lter devotion to her mentor‘s teachings, particularly those regarding the creative imagination, still blazes despite the outer frailty ofher 94 years. A number offortuitous events combined to bring about the crossing of destinies between Deirdre and Chekhov. First, growing up in the wilds of Vancouver in the early decades of the twentieth century, her family befriended Russian e'migrés, such as Michael Gounderov Rosinsky and Prince Volkonsky, that often had fled to the Northwest via Harbin, China.