Proscenium theater scene design for Puss in Boots (Eisenstein)

From The Director's Prism: E. T. A. Hoffmann and the Russian Theatrical Avant-Garde by Dassia N. Posner

  • Designs by Eisenstein for Meyerhold's proposed staging of Puss in Boots:

    Left top: front elevation of the stage with a performance in progress. The prompter, conductor, orchestra musicians, and fictional audience are all depicted simultaneously on the vertical plane.

    Left bottom: front elevation with the curtain closed.

    Right top: side elevation of the stage and the vertical positioning of the fictional audience.

    Right bottom: ground plan of the right half of the stage, including the prompter's box (bottom left of ground plan) and the positions of the orchestra members (marked with circles).

    In response to a note by Meyerhold, Eisenstein had the fictional Puss in Boots audience face the real audience. This prompted a significant perspective shift: in this configuration, the real spectators feel as if they are watching the show from backstage.

    See book: p. 161

Creator(s)
Creator Role
Contributor(s)
Subjects
  • Performing Arts
Date
  • December 28–29, 1921
Related Section
Keywords
Content Type
Language
Citable Link
  • Sergei Eisenstein, scene design for Puss in Boots, based on the play by Ludwig Tieck (December 28–29, 1921). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923, op. 1, ed. khr. 792: 6.

Translation

  • [Top right:]
    Puss in Boots
    by L. Tieck

    [Top center:]
    Plan for the construction of the production stage

    [Bottom:]
    scale