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MEYERHOLD, VSEVOLOD.
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Life, career, theories, politics of early 20th Cent. Russian theatrical innovator.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Life, career, theories, politics of early 20th Cent. Russian theatrical innovator.
Paper Introduction:
The purpose of this research is to examine the life and work of Vsevolod Meyerhold. The plan of the research will be to set forth a general outline of Meyerhold's position as a master of twentieth-century Russian theatre, and then to discuss the milestones of his creative path, with a view toward clarifying why one acknowledged as a refined aesthete and sophisticated artist should have accepted and indeed glorified the Bolshevik Revolution.
The role of V.E. Meyerhold in helping to refine modern stage theory and praxis is widely acknowledged. Indeed, from the earliest phases of his career, Meyerhold appears to have been a self-conscious innovator whose theory of the stage encompassed dramatic forms and dramaturgy responsive to and metaphorically representative of dimensions of reality that could compress the dynam
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As head of the Society,Meyerhold functioned as "actor, producer, artistic director, theoretician,and pedagogue" (Hartnoll 638). This was theshape of things to come after Stalin came to power in 1924; socialistrealism was to become the dominant and officially sanctioned Sovietaesthetic during Stalin's regime (Kelly 47). Eric Bentley. Lincolnwood, Ill.: National Textbooks Company, 1991.Piette, Alain. But he cameto be seen as too experimental, too avant garde, for official theatricaltaste. Suppose an actor in the Meyerhold theatre had to deliver a long monologue while ascending a staircase. London: Penguin, 197 . The role of V.E. As the term implies, the emphasis is on actorsas physically adept biological machines, "highly drilled techniciansassembled in a productive pattern of physical skills" (Arnott 426) Actors were no longer giving an illusionistic performance. While the playwright approvedof the production and while it was well received by the public,constructivism and biomechanics began to come under criticism. Piscator explains: Pressed by the need for new forms with which to express new ideas, Meyerhold tried to overcome the old static stage by forcing acrobatic movement on his actors. Ed. Mere physical limitations would prohibit natural movement; therefore, Meyerhold imposed on the performer a series of contortions to fit the movement of the staircase (Piscator 472).As for the content of the mise en scène itself, constructivism isassociated stripping the stage of all but the essentials of performance:"bare platform, no proscenium arch, no curtain, and actors performingagainst abstract designs" (Arnott 425). In 19 6-19 7, after leaving the Moscow Art Theatre, he joinedthe theatre of Vera Komisarjevskaya, where he put his "symbolic or stylizedmethod" to work. Symbolist affinities, thenotion of acting as biomechanics, and the employment of constructivismamounted to an aesthetic expression of revolution within--or anywayresponding to--the artistic revolution fostered by Stanislavski's MoscowArt Theatre, and more or less in conjunction with the Bolshevik Revolution.From one point of view, indeed, the Bolshevik revolution can be interpretedas a project of stripping the society of its czarist myth and assuming acritical attitude toward the past. "The Aesthetics of the Russian Revolutionary Theatre 1917-1921." British Journal of Aesthetics 15 (Spring 1975): 99-117.Braun, Edward. In effect, he was hired--and hedid seek the job--to not only accept but also to glorify the Bolshevikrevolution. "On Experimental Theatre." Trans. "Love for Three Operas: The Collaboration of Vsevolod Meyerhold and Sergei Prokofiev." Russian Review 45 (1986): 287-3 4. The Theory of the Modern Stage. Indeed, from the earliest phases of hiscareer, Meyerhold appears to have been a self-conscious innovator whosetheory of the stage encompassed dramatic forms and dramaturgy responsive toand metaphorically representative of dimensions of reality that couldcompress the dynamic interaction between past and present, the temporal andthe eternal, the human cosmos and its history and destiny, into the barestmise en scène. Constructivism, too, as the termimplies, strips the stage of the trappings of theatrical myth and illusion,forcing a vision of fundamentals, with a view toward drawing attention tothe behavior and ideas unfolding on the stage. Arnott takes a contrarian view (425) on one point, however,suggesting that constructivism was in fact a pseudostyle that made a virtueof necessity--the necessity being an economic one since the aftermath ofthe revolution impoverished the arts and made spectacular, illusionisticproduction values impossible. . Oxford: Oxford UP, 1967.Kelly, Aileen. 471-3.Robinson, Harlow. Arnott argues that Meyerhold's artistic vision fit the movement ofsocial and political currents in Russia, comparing the revolution'stransformation of Russian society into a social machine to Meyerhold'stransformation of the theatre into a machine, "in deference to the age ofthe machine and the industrial collective" (426). The Symbolist movement per se has been associated with literarycurrents in Europe, especially France, at the turn of the century. Therevolutionary tenor of Russian Symbolism is also consistent with the self-conscious artistry and determined innovation and experimentation thatdistinguished the creative path of Meyerhold. Psychological realism, for which the acting of the Moscow ArtTheatre was notable, entailed an acting method meant to counteract the"artificial, declamatory style" that had dominated acting in the nineteenthcentury (Moore 8). While Meyerhold's approach to acting may have entailed psychologicalrealism in its response to declamatory acting praxis, Meyerhold isassociated most strongly with symbolist dramatic aesthetics that, in itsturn, was a response to Stanislavskian realism (Arnott 425). Now the honeymoon between the Soviet regime and Meyerhold did notlast. The evidence of Meyerhold's career is that his unique theatricalvision compelled interest and respect in the emerging culture of twentieth-century European drama. In theory, therefore,everything that is manifest--movement, gesture, speech, what have you--becomes a focus of profound attention: "Always the emphasis was on findingwhat was important and revealing it to the audience in unambiguous terms"(Arnott 426). "The Theatre Can Belong to Our Century. Stanislavsky, directing a romantic love scene, asked the actor to concentrate on his mental preparation. . In In the background of Meyerhold's association with symbolist drama isthe whole range of aesthetic activity identified as the Russian SymbolistMovement. The older,introspective style of Stanislavsky was no longer applicable" (Arnott 425).This, says Arnott, appealed to Meyerhold, whose ideas had conflicted withthose of Stanislavski. Instead of freeing his stage, h e forced his actors into a system of bio-mechanics that often distorted his expression of ideas. Meyerhold in helping to refine modern stage theoryand praxis is widely acknowledged. But biomechanics andconstructivism come down to the same thing to the extent their moststriking feature is their experimental, avant garde quality. And it must be noted that Meyerhold's tenure at theMoscow Art Theatre's Studio was over within a year of its beginning, partlya consequence of artistic differences. Indeed,Hartnoll describes self-conscious symbolism in the theatre as "a reactionagainst realism" (931). John Willett. London: Penguin, 197 . "Meyerhold: The Final Act." New Theatre Quarterly 9 (1993): 3-15.Brecht, Bertolt. 3d ed. "Crommelynck and Meyerhold: Two Geniuses Meet on the Stage." Modern Drama 39 (Fall 1996): 436-47.Piscator, Erwin. 97-1 4.Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. Russian Symbolism, heavily influenced by Nietzsche, developed a mythical plot expressing both the power of the individual unconscious and forces operating at the level of the collective unconscious that shape national history. After threeyears at the Moscow Art Theatre, Meyerhold formed his own provincialtheatrical troupe, the Society of New Drama. Meyerhold's method of making actors serve the mise en scène wasemployed as an experimental strategy for expressing the "new dramaticcontents" of the twentieth-century theatre and "overcoming the limitationsof the proscenium box-stage" (Piscator 472). Meyerhold's symbolist vision theatre appears to have been meant toserve a mise en scène of poetic metaphor rather than the illusion ofrealism. "Romanticism and Decadence in the Literature of the Hebrew Revival." Comparative Literature 46 (Spring 1994): 146-181.Barooshian, Vahan D. For example, Fernand Crommelynck's play The Magnanimous Cuckold wasa commercially (as it were) successful production in Moscow in 1922,presumably the height of Meyerhold's career. Eric Bentley. Meyerhold's theory of biomechanics, which asked actors to translate inner emotion into overt physical faction, went back to the athletics and tumbling of the commedia dell'arte. In part, the Studio appears to have beenconceptualized as a vehicle for the strand of symbolist dramatic aestheticsthat ran parallel to the strand of aesthetics grounded in psychologicalrealism. NTC's Dictionary of Literary Terms. His strengths as atheatrical innovator appear to have been discerned during his earlieststudies, at the Musical Dramatic School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society.While there, he was invited to join the "newly founded Moscow Art Theatre,"a joint creation of the acting teacher Konstantin Stanislavsky and MoscowPhilharmonic Society chief Nemirovich-Danchenko (Hartnoll 638). Arnott says that the "shock of revolution affected the staging ofplays as well as their content. . They, along with Stalin's well-documentedparanoia, help explain his falling under suspicion, the closure of histheatre in January 1938, and his and his actress wife's eventual"liquidation" in 194 (Braun 3, et passim). It could also be said that, whereas before therevolution Meyerhold was obliged to find patrons and allies who couldtolerate his idiosyncratic vision, after the revolution and because of hisfrank opposition to prevailing aesthetic ideas, he was well positioned toreach the great mass audience for the first time in his artistic life.Barooshian sees a connection between revolutionary aesthetics of thetheatre and an environment of violent political and social upheaval (98-9).In any case, Meyerhold was "appointed head of the theater section of theCommissariat of Education, whose purpose was to provide theatricalpropaganda for the masses" (Arnott 426). Barooshian (1 ff) says that Meyerhold sought to make the theatreintegral to the daily lives of the masses in a communist society and lendweight to an idea of creative vitality for the Bolshevik line. From czarist Russia to the Bolshevik revolution to the politicallycharged environment of the Soviet Union between the wars, the line ofMeyerhold's life seems sharply marked by defining moments and by attemptson his part to control the shape of those moments. In Russia, the Symbolistmovement appears also to have been tinged with a strand of Romanticism. Implicit in such a vision is a presentational, stylized mode ofproduction. Meyerhold's avowedexperimentation and avant-garde-ism, despite his embrace of the revolution,undoubtedly conflicted with this. The plan of the research will be to set forth a generaloutline of Meyerhold's position as a master of twentieth-century Russiantheatre, and then to discuss the milestones of his creative path, with aview toward clarifying why one acknowledged as a refined aesthete andsophisticated artist should have accepted and indeed glorified theBolshevik Revolution. Meyerhold's avant-garde approach to theatre does seem consistent, atleast in the abstract, with the need of any revolution to win the war ofideas. The Theater in Its Time: An Introduction. "In effect this amounted to 'abstract' theatre," saysHartnoll (638), "placing the human element, the actor, on a level with theother elements of production, thus reducing to nothing the actor'sindividual contribution to the ensemble, and making him merely a super-marionette in the hands of the producer." The name given to this approach to acting, and especially actingpedagogy, is biomechanics. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. The name given to Meyerhold's abstract theatrical vision of the miseen scène more generally is constructivism. "Where the Dead Smiled." New York Review of Books 2 February 1997: 43-49.Moore, Sonia. Brecht usesthe term constructivism when describing Meyerhold's appropriation of"certain dance-like forms" to create "a whole choreography for the drama"(Brecht 97). Ed. Such outbursts reveal a repetitive vitality evident in the course of national history (Bar- Yosef 151-2).Along the same lines, Kelly notes that the Russian Symbolist movement "thatdominated Russian poetry between the revolutions of 19 5 and 1917 waspredominantly Slavophile and apocalyptic in tone" (Kelly 45). The purpose of this research is to examine the life and work ofVsevolod Meyerhold. The Theory of the Modern Stage. This can be reduced to the title impresario,for the principal point is that Meyerhold appears to have desired theartistic control that allowed him to realize (= make real) his vision andtheory of theatre. It wasdistinguished chiefly by a rebellion against literalist realism, or"literally descriptive poetry, and influenced by the poetic theory of EdgarAllan Poe and the ancient doctrine of correspondences between the physicaland spiritual worlds" (Morner and Rausch 218). How Meyerhold meant to accomplish this in general terms canbe seen from the experimental focus of virtually all of his study and work. This is another way of sayingthat biomechanics emphasized--indeed, relied on--the physical prowess ofthe actor, as well as instrumental use of that physicality in the serviceof the dramatic content or narrative. Russian Symbolism's view of history often tended towards the eschatological: national or social redemption is possible, but depends for its realization on an unavoidable outburst of violent instincts and cosmic bloodletting. Works CitedArnott, Peter. On the other hand, Robinson (288) says that it was Meyerhold'stheory of biomechanics that stressed rhythm and musicality in the actors'movements on stage, notably in a production, adapted by Meyerhold, ofProkofiev's opera Love of Three Oranges. Meyerhold sent a romantic lover onstage down a playground slide, to show the urgency of the impulse that motivated him (Arnott 426). Boston: Little, Brown, 1981.Bar-Yosef, Hamutal. According to Piette (438ff),the production was an exercise in biomechanics and constructivist theatreaesthetics, staged in a very simple setting. New York: Viking, 1965.Morner, Kathleen, and Rausch, Ralph. The Stanislavski System. The actor, indeed, had himself become a machine. Experiments proliferated. Arnott sees Meyerhold's theatrical vision as a phenomenon consistentwith the between-the-wars political revolution in Russia, where theaudience for legitimate theatre greatly increased after the Bolsheviks cameto power. This explains why, in 19 5, Stanislavski invitedhim to head the Studio, an "experimental laboratory for the Moscow ArtTheatre" (Hartnoll 638).
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