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The Director's Prism: E. T. A. Hoffmann and the Russian Theatrical Avant-Garde

Dassia N. Posner 2016
The Director's Prism investigates how and why three of Russia's most innovative directors— Vsevolod Meyerhold, Alexander Tairov, and Sergei Eisenstein—used the fantastical tales of German Romantic writer E. T. A. Hoffmann to reinvent the rules of theatrical practice. Because the rise of the director and the Russian cult of Hoffmann closely coincided, Posner argues, many characteristics we associate with avant-garde theater—subjective perspective, breaking through the fourth wall, activating the spectator as a co-creator—become uniquely legible in the context of this engagement. Posner examines the artistic poetics of Meyerhold's grotesque, Tairov's mime-drama, and Eisenstein's theatrical attraction through production analyses, based on extensive archival research, that challenge the notion of theater as a mirror to life, instead viewing the director as a prism through whom life is refracted. A resource for scholars and practitioners alike, this groundbreaking study provides a fresh, provocative perspective on experimental theater, intercultural borrowings, and the nature of the creative process.
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ISBN(s)
  • 978-0-8101-3356-3 (hardcover)
  • 978-0-8101-3355-6 (paper)
  • 978-0-8101-3357-0 (e-book)
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  • Performing Arts
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  • Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque3
  • Chapter 2: Tairov-Celionati: Mime-Drama and Kaleidoscopic Commedia2
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  • commedia dell’arte4
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  • Kamerny Theatre2
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  • Meyerhold, Vsevolod3
  • Tairov, Alexander2
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Typed playbill for Balaganchik.

Playbill for Balaganchik

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Playbill for January 2, 1907 performance of Blok’s Balaganchik, directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold, Vera Komissarzhevskaia Dramatic Theatre, Saint Petersburg (premiere: December 30, 1906). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 998, op. 1, ed. khr. 2743:3 verso- 4.

Typed playbill with House of Interludes logo that lists the actors and artists of The Reformed Eccentric, Columbine’s Veil and two other pieces that were part of the evening’s program: The Dutchwoman Liza and Black and White.

Playbill for Columbine’s Veil

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Playbill for the December 10, 1910 performance of Columbine’s Veil, based on the pantomime Pierrette’s Veil by Arthur Schnitzler, music by Ernő Dohnányi, adapted by Doctor Dapertutto (Vsevolod Meyerhold), directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold, House of Interludes, Saint Petersburg (premiere: October 12, 1910). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 998, op. 1, ed. khr. 2762: 1–1 verso.

This playbill from the final dress rehearsal lists the individuals who contributed to the production, including the actors in each episode.

General rehearsal playbill for Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Playbill for the December 8, 1926 general (invited dress) rehearsal of Inspector General, based on the play by Nikolai Gogol, adapted by Vsevolod Meyerhold and Mikhail Korenev, directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold, Meyerhold Theatre (GosTIM), Moscow (premiere: December 9, 1926). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana (1902–1968) Collection, THE B MS Thr 402, Box 34, Folder 6. Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University.

Playbill for Pierrette’s Veil on a single, elongated sheet that lists the production artists and provides a synopsis of the pantomime.

Playbill for Pierrette’s Veil

From Chapter 2: Tairov-Celionati: Mime-Drama and Kaleidoscopic Commedia

Playbill for a June 29, 1918 performance in Smolensk of Pierrette’s Veil; pantomime libretto by Arthur Schnitzler, music by Ernő Dohnányi. Directed by Alexander Tairov at the Svobodny Theatre, Moscow (premiere: November 4, 1913). Playbill from Kamerny Theatre remount (premiere: October 6, 1916). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 2768, op. 1, ed. khr. 446: 7.

Playbill that lists the production artists for the final invited dress rehearsal of Princess Brambilla, printed on pink paper.

Playbill for Princess Brambilla general rehearsal

From Chapter 2: Tairov-Celionati: Mime-Drama and Kaleidoscopic Commedia

Playbill for the May 3, 1920 general (invited dress) rehearsal of Princess Brambilla: A Kamerny Theatre Capriccio, after Hoffmann, based on the novella by E. T. A. Hoffmann, directed by Alexander Tairov, music by Henri Forterre, designed by Georgy Yakulov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: May 4, 1920). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 2328, op. 1, ed. khr. 376: 1–2.

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