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

Posner, Dassia N.

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Two identical male figures in distorted poses and half masks dance in the same position from opposite perspectives.

Two Pantaloni Turning Their Backs, etching

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism

Jacques Callot, Two Pantaloni Turning Their Backs (1617). Etching. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of William Gray from the collection of Francis Calley Gray, by exchange, S4.3.3. Photo: Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Drawing of two male figures facing one another with crossed swords, one wooden, the other real. The figure on the left is nude aside from the cape he holds in his left hand.

Duel, drawing

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Etching foreground: two male figures in half masks, round spectacles, and hats adorned with long feathers face one another, talking, a jug on the ground between them. Etching background: two figures sword fight, one with jug in hand, while others look on.

Scapino and Captain Zerbino, etching

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism

Jacques Callot, Scapino and Captain Zerbino, plate 12 from Balli di Sfessania (c. 1621). Etching. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gray Collection of Engravings Fund, by exchange, S4.29.4. Photo: Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Etching foreground: a woman with her hands tucked into her long gown, right, stands facing a man in a half mask and round spectacles, left, his feather-adorned hat in one hand. Etching background: two figures dance to the music of a theorbo while others watch.

Captain Cerimonia and Lady Lavinia, etching

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism

Jacques Callot, Captain Cerimonia and Lady Lavinia, plate 3 from Balli di Sfessania (c. 1621). Etching. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gray Collection of Engravings Fund, by exchange, S4.27.2. Photo: Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Etching foreground: a woman, left, dances to the music of a theorbo, played by a man, right, in a half mask and feather-adorned hat. Etching background: two musicians entertain families and riders on horseback.

Riciulina and Metzetin, etching

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism

Jacques Callot, Riciulina and Metzetin, plate 8 from Balli di Sfessania (c. 1621). Etching. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gray Collection of Engravings Fund, by exchange, S4.28.6. Photo: Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Etching foreground: a woman, left, plays a tambourine, while a man, right, waves a wooden sword and cape. Etching background: two acrobats perform; a strolling guitarist plays; and several others watch.

Fracischina and Gian Farina, etching

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism

Jacques Callot, Fracischina and Gian Farina, plate 17 from Balli di Sfessania (c. 1621). Etching. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gray Collection of Engravings Fund, by exchange, S4.27.6. Photo: Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Etching foreground: a man with a half mask and wooden sword extends his hat to a woman, who has placed her hand on his elbow. Etching background: a figure, center, waves a sword while another, left, wields a cape.

Pulliciniello and Lady Lucretia, etching

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism

Jacques Callot, Pulliciniello and Lady Lucretia, plate 9 from Balli di Sfessania (c. 1621). Etching. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gray Collection of Engravings Fund, by exchange, S4.29.1. Photo: Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Etching foreground: a woman, left, holds out her shoe, while a man, right, kneels to kiss it. Etching background: pairs of lovers and onlookers talk.

Lady Lucia and Trastullo, etching

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism

Jacques Callot, Lady Lucia and Trastullo, plate 21 from Balli di Sfessania (c. 1621). Etching. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gray Collection of Engravings Fund, by exchange, S4.28.7. Photo: Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Title page to Fantasy Pieces with an illustration, center, of a harp player and a sphinx.

Title page for Fantasy Pieces in Callot’s Manner

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism

Title page for E. T. A. Hoffmann, Fantasy Pieces in Callot’s Manner: Pages from the Diary of a Traveling Enthusiast. Bamberg: C. F. Kunz, 1814. Staatsbibliothek Bamberg, L.g.o.1135/1. Photo: Gerald Raab.

Portrait of Hoffmann, head and shoulders, full front, eyes gazing to one side.

E. T. A. Hoffmann, self-portrait

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism

E. T. A. Hoffmann, self-portrait. Frontispiece to E. T. A. Hoffmann, Fantasy Pieces in Callot’s Manner: Pages from the Diary of a Traveling Romantic, 2nd edition. Bamberg, 1819. Oak Grove Library Center, call number: 833.6 H71f. Courtesy of Northwestern University Library. Photo by the author.

Nina Zarechnaia, shrouded in white, performs on an elevated outdoor stage while spectators sit on a bench looking on, their backs to the real audience beyond the imaginary fourth wall.

Photograph of Nina in The Seagull

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism

Nina Zarechnaia (Maria Roksanova) in act 1 of Chekhov’s The Seagull, directed by Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Moscow Art Theatre (premiere: December 18, 1898; photograph from 1905 revival). Laurence Senelick Collection.

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.

Photo of Meyerhold as Pierrot in Balaganchik

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque and Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Vsevolod Meyerhold as Pierrot in Balaganchik, directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold, Vera Komissarzhevskaia Dramatic Theatre, Saint Petersburg (premiere: December 30, 1906). НВ 1567. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Photograph of Tyltyl (Khaliutina, left) and Mytyl (Koonen, right), holding hands, shoeless, dressed in stockings and three-quarter-length white nightgowns.

Photo of Tyltyl and Mytyl in The Blue Bird

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

Tyltyl (Sofia Khaliutina) and Mytyl (Alisa Koonen) in The Blue Bird (Siniaia ptitsa), by Maurice Maeterlinck, directed by Konstantin Stanislavsky and Leopold Sulerzhitsky, Moscow Art Theatre (premiere: September 30, 1908). Photo: K. A. Fischer, Moscow. Laurence Senelick Collection.

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.

Pierrot’s sparsely furnished room is framed by a red curtain and borders. The space within contains two entrances, symmetrically positioned left and right, a writing desk, center, and the melancholy Pierrot in white on a chair, right.

Scene design for Pierrot’s room, Columbine’s Veil

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Nikolai Sapunov, scene design for acts 1 and 3, Pierrot’s room, 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). ГИК 17156, ОР 23223. Copyright © Saint Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music.

The Schnellpolka in Pierrette’s Veil

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque and Chapter 2: Tairov-Celionati: Mime-Drama and Kaleidoscopic Commedia

Act 2 (wedding ball) Schnellpolka, played on instruments Harlequin has “broken” in his rage, from the pantomime Pierrette’s Veil by Arthur Schnitzler, music by Ernő Dohnányi (1910). Recording copyright © Jia-Yee Tang

Cover of the 1910 piano score for Pierrette’s Veil, with an illustration of the dead Pierrot draped on a chair in the foreground and the aghast Pierrette looking at him in the background, both of them in white.

Koonen’s piano score for Pierrette’s Veil

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

Title page to Alisa Koonen’s annotated copy of the piano score for Pierette’s Veil, by Arthur Schnitzler, music by Ernő Dohnányi (1910). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 2328, op. 1, ed. khr. 311: 28.

Pencil drawing of a columned ballroom crowded with wedding guests dancing on broad stairs and the floor below. Upstage a balustrade encloses a tiny platform upon which the wedding musicians are uncomfortably crammed.

Mise-en-scène design for the Pierrette’s Veil wedding ball

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

Anatoly Arapov, mise-en-scène design for act 2 of Pierrette’s Veil, by Arthur Schnitzler, music by Ernő Dohnányi, directed by Alexander Tairov, Svobodny Theatre, Moscow (premiere: November 4, 1913). КП 190294/78. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

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.

Photograph of Perrybingle and Tackleton sitting before a cozy hearth, center, as Maliutka enters in apron and cap, left.

Photo of a scene from The Cricket on the Hearth

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

M. A. Durasova as Maliutka (Mary), G. M. Khmara as John Perrybingle, and Evgeny Vakhtangov as Tackleton in act 4, scene 3 of The Cricket on the Hearth, based on the novel by Charles Dickens, directed by Boris Sushkevich, Moscow Art Theatre First Studio (premiere: November 24, 1914). Laurence Senelick Collection.

Design by Alexandra Exter for the Kamerny Theatre stage curtain, adorned with animals, birds, diamond patterns, vines, and faces in red, black, blue, green, and yellow.

Curtain design for the Moscow Kamerny Theatre

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

Alexandra Exter, curtain design for the Moscow Kamerny Theatre (1914). Paper, pencil, gouache, whitewash, silver, bronze, 53 × 73.9 cm. КП 179315. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

A drawing of Meyerhold with an enormous nose and four arms, each reaching out to a different tiny theater building. From left to right: the Alexandrinsky, a film-studio, a studio theater, and the Marinsky.

Caricature of Vsevolod Meyerhold

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Playbill design by Alexandra Exter for Thamyris the Cithara Player with a deep blue background and swirling red fabric streaming around a bare-chested woman and man. The words are written in a mix of Greek and Cyrillic letters.

Playbill design for Thamyris the Cithara Player

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

Playbill design for Thamyris the Cithara Player (Famira Kifared), by Innokenty Annensky, directed by Alexander Tairov, music by Henri Forterre, designed by Alexandra Exter, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: November 2, 1916). КП 93840. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Photograph of Samuil Vermel as Pierrot

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism

Samuil Vermel as Pierrot in Pierrette’s Veil, by Arthur Schnitzler, music by Ernő Dohnányi, directed by Alexander Tairov (photo from the 1916 remount at the Moscow Kamerny Theatre). Photo: M. Sakharov & P. Orlov, 1917. Laurence Senelick Collection.

Costume design for Nina in an elaborate ball gown with an orange shawl and black embroidered train. She wears a simple bracelet over one of her elbow-length gloves.

Nina at the ball in Masquerade, costume design

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Alexander Golovin, costume design for Nina at the ball in Lermontov’s Masquerade, directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold, Alexandrinsky Theatre (premiere: February 25, 1917). КП 8320. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Cubist design for Salomé’s dance of the seven veils, all angles and curves, with Salomé’s arms stretched upward, one leg lifted, an orange veil streaming behind her against the backdrop of a red staircase.

Costume design for Salomé’s dance of the seven veils

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

Alexandra Exter, costume design for Salomé’s dance of the seven veils, in Salomé, by Oscar Wilde, directed by Alexander Tairov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: October 9, 1917). КП 62579. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Alisa Koonen as Salomé, arms outstretched, wearing a thorny, beaded crown and a dress festooned with strings of beads, with rings on her fingers and a fan in her upper hand.

Photo of Alisa Koonen as Salomé in Salomé

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

Alisa Koonen as Salomé in Salomé, by Oscar Wilde, directed by Alexander Tairov, designed by Alexandra Exter, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: October 9, 1917). Photo: M. Sakharov and V. Orlov, 1917. Laurence Senelick Collection.

Scene design for Four Harlequins

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, scene design for Four Harlequins (c. 1917–1918). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923, op. 1, ed. khr. 698: 36.

Photograph of Vertinsky in the costume of Black Pierrot in a black smock with white pompoms and cuffs. His black skullcap, eyebrows, and lips contrast sharply with his white-painted face.

Photo of Vertinsky in Black Pierrot costume

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Alexander Vertinsky in Black Pierrot costume and white face. Photographer: A. Gornshtein, Saint Petersburg. Laurence Senelick Collection.

This costume design, with its background of blues, pinks, and whites, reveals the set’s vivid, colliding, deliberately skewed planes. In the foreground stands an actor in gray with an enormous bowtie, his eyes replaced by dark blue smudges that stand out against his unnaturally white, painted skin. In the production, the actors wore dark blue paint around their eyes.

Costume design for Tales of Hoffmann (Lentulov)

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Astriarkh Lentulov, costume design for Tales of Hoffmann, by Jacques Offenbach, directed by Fedor Komissarzhevsky, KhPSRO (Artistic-Instructive Union of Workers’ Organizations) Theatre-Studio, Moscow (1919). КП 289402. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Costume design for Harlequin, A Dozen Hours of Columbine

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, costume design (detail) of Harlequin for Eisenstein's pantomime A Dozen Hours of Columbine (1919). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923 op. 2 ed. khr. 1600: 35.

In this photograph from scene 7 of The Dawns, Meyerhold and Bebutov bridge the forestage and audience with a chorus of actors who form an unbroken human link between the two.

Photo of a scene from The Dawns

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

Scene from The Dawns, based on the play by Émile Verhaeren, directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold and Valery Bebutov, Theatre RSFSR 1, Moscow (premiere: November 7, 1920). НВМ 351/98. Copyright © Saint Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music.

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.

Photograph of Giglio (Ferdinandov) and his Doppelgänger (Vigilev), center, wearing half masks with long, curved noses and dueling with swords while others in black half masks look on. Upstage, standing on one of the set’s several raised sections, stands a figure in black, Celionati (Shchirsky), seemingly conducting the duel as it progresses.

Photo of the duel scene, Princess Brambilla

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

Duel between Giglio and his Doppelgänger, Princess Brambilla: A Kamerny Theatre Capriccio, after Hoffmann, based on the novella by E. T. A. Hoffmann, directed by Alexander Tairov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: May 4, 1920). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 2328, op. 1, ed. khr. 378: 2.

This scene design explodes with riotous color, fragmented angles, painted columns, and curlicues. A staircase spills down the center of the stage, while platforms on the sides and in the rear provide multiple playing levels for the actors.

Scene design for Princess Brambilla

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

Georgy Yakulov, scene design for Princess Brambilla: A Kamerny Theatre Capriccio, after Hoffmann, based on the novella by E. T. A. Hoffmann, directed by Alexander Tairov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: May 4, 1920). КП 238272/606. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Design that suggests the costume for one of Nikolai Bykov’s characters in Princess Brambilla rather than exhaustively depicting it. The costume contains splashes of red, white, yellow ochre, and black with green gloves, a feathered hat, and a hint of a mask.

Design for Nikolai Bykov’s costume, Princess Brambilla

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

Georgy Yakulov, design for actor Nikolai Bykov’s costume, Princess Brambilla: A Kamerny Theatre Capriccio, after Hoffmann, based on the novella by E. T. A. Hoffmann, directed by Alexander Tairov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: May 4, 1920). КП 238272/594. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

This costume design for one of Alexander Rumnev's characters gives a clear sense of his lithe, supple figure while also showing how the production’s costumes captured the plasticity and color palette of the set.

Costume design for Alexander Rumnev, Princess Brambilla

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

Georgy Yakulov, costume design for Alexander Rumnev, Princess Brambilla: A Kamerny Theatre Capriccio, after Hoffmann, based on the novella by E. T. A. Hoffmann, directed by Alexander Tairov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: May 4, 1920). КП 238272/578. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

This sketch, the reverse side of Scene design for act 2 periaktoi, Tales of Hoffmann (Eisenstein), shows the measurements of the periaktoi along with several views from above of the periaktoi configurations. According to this drawing, the configuration in Scene design for act 2 wings, Tales of Hoffmann (Eisenstein) was to be used when the guests first entered.

Periaktoi configuration sketches for Tales of Hoffmann (Eisenstein)

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, periaktoi configuration sketches for act 2 of Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann (1920). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923, op. 1, ed. khr. 735: 5 verso.

Costume design for the Old Parrot in The Golden Pot

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, costume design for the Old Parrot in The Golden Pot, based on the tale by E. T. A. Hoffmann (December 21, 1920). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923, op. 2, ed. khr. 1611:1.

$This design for the opening of Mystery-Bouffe depicts a half globe topped by the North Pole. International survivors of the “waterless flood” of Revolution slowly make their way onto it. Moscow and Kharkov are marked on the globe, a reference to a different waterless flood, a theatrical one: this was one of many productions of the play that opened in the immediate wake of Meyerhold’s. Behind the globe, shards of bold color pierce the sky, at once recalling the Northern Lights and light refracted through a rainbow prism.$

Scene design for act 1 of Mystery-Bouffe

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Alexander Khvostenko-Khvostov, scene design for the “waterless flood” in act 1 of Mayakovsky’s Mystery-Bouffe. This production, directed by Grigory Avlov at the Kharkov Heroic Theatre (1921), was one of over a dozen that followed in the immediate wake of Meyerhold and Bebutov’s May 1921 staging at Theatre RSFSR 1. Cardboard, pencil, gouache, collage, 58 × 78.2 cm. КП 310777. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

In this costume design, Olimpia, the beautiful automaton in Tales of Hoffmann, is assembled from unnatural cubist shapes that together create a vague impression that she is on the verge of breaking, despite the cheerful look on her doll-like face.

Costume design for Olimpia in Tales of Hoffmann (Eisenstein)

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, Costume design for Olimpia in Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann (1921). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923, op. 1, ed. khr. 735: 14.

In this costume design for act 2 of Tales of Hoffmann, a male guest appears to be part insect, part bird: while his enormous eyes are solid blue, his red on-end hair fans out like feathers. His blue jacket is a deep yellow underneath, and his green-clad calves trail away into nothingness.

Male costume design for act 2 of Tales of Hoffmann (Eisenstein)

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, costume design for act 2 of Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann (1921). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923, op. 1, ed. khr. 735: 11.

Drawing (detail) of P. Dementiev’s proposed solution to how to stage the audience-within-an-audience of Puss in Boots: with the fictional audience sitting along the lip of the stage, their heads ringing the forestage like footlights.

Mise-en-scène drawing for Puss in Boots (Dementiev)

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

P. Dementiev, mise-en-scène drawing (detail) for Puss in Boots, based on the play by Ludwig Tieck (December 1, 1921). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 963, op. 1, ed. khr. 1274: 9.

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).

Proscenium theater scene design for Puss in Boots (Eisenstein)

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

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.

The cover of this souvenir program depicts a small marionette stage with Chauve-Souris (Bat cabaret) impresario Nikita Balieff merrily operating two marionettes while other characters peek at their compatriots from the tiny wings.

Chauve-Souris souvenir program cover

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism

Sergei Sudeikin, cover for Nikita Balieff’s Chauve-Souris (The Bat) souvenir program. American season produced by F. Ray Comstock & Morris Gest. 1922-1923. Harvard Theatre Collection Souvenir programs, *2008T-415. Houghton Library, Harvard University.

Photograph from the end of Princess Turandot. The actors hold the costume pieces they have just taken off while peeking out directly at the audience from the partially open curtain that the forestage servants pull back.

Photo of the finale of Princess Turandot (Nivinsky)

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque and Epilogue: The Afterlife of a Death Jubilee

Finale of Princess Turandot, by Carlo Gozzi, directed by Evgeny Vakhtangov, Moscow Art Theatre Third Studio (1922). Courtesy of Andrei Malaev-Babel.

In this photograph of the biomechanics exercise “The Horse,” also called “Three as a Horse,” one actor holds on to the shoulders of another while a third, one leg aloft, “rides” the horse formed by the lower two.

Photo of the biomechanics exercise "The Horse"

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque and Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Photograph of Meyerhold’s students performing the biomechanics exercise “The Horse” (“The Ring”). State Higher Theatre Workshops (GVYTM), Moscow (1922). TWS FIN05844. Copyright © Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung, University of Cologne.

A row of actors, identically clad in prozodezhda (utilitarian uniform costumes), bowing in unison, traverse the forestage in front of Liubov Popova’s constructivist playground of a set.

Photo of a scene from Magnanimous Cuckold

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Scene from Magnanimous Cuckold, based on the play by Fernand Crommelynck, directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold, Meyerhold Theatre (GosTIM), Moscow (GVYTM premiere: April 25, 1922; photograph from 1928 GosTIM remount). КП 180170/29. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Photo of Alisa Koonen as Phaedra

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

Alisa Koonen in the role of Phaedra in Racine’s Phaedra (Phaedre), directed by Alexander Tairov, designed by Alexander Vesnin, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: February 8, 1922). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 2768, op. 1, ed. khr. 26: 2.

This photograph shows Koonen, grinning toothily and holding an enormous fan, in the costume of one of the twins she played in Giroflé-Girofla. A cloud of tulle envelops her head, and she wears an exaggerated ribbon-bedecked headpiece that is jauntily askew.

Photo of Alisa Koonen as one of the twins in Giroflé-Girofla

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

Alisa Koonen as one of the twins in Giroflé-Girofla, by Charles Lecocq, directed by Alexander Tairov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: October 3, 1922). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 2768, op. 1, ed. khr. 27: 1.

Handwritten note in pencil on a scrap of paper from Zinaida Raikh to Sergei Eisenstein.

Note from Zinaida Raikh to Sergei Eisenstein

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Zinaida Raikh, note to Sergei Eisenstein, [November 1922]. Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923, op. 1 ed. khr. 2062:1–1 verso.

In this scene design sketch, towers flank an ornately carved proscenium arch, the opening of which is bridged by a gymnast's bar that provided a practical playing space in the air above the stage. In the upstage distance are the rooftops of the city of Nuremberg. As is typical of Eisenstein's sketches, the edges of the drawing are populated by faces and figures in varying states of completion.

Design sketch for Master Martin

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, design sketch for Master Martin the Cooper and His Men, based on the tale by E. T. A. Hoffmann. Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923, op. 1, ed. khr. 796: 6 verso.

Rough notes for the first entrance of Pierrot’s friends in Columbine’s Wedding Veil. All the action for the scenes in Pierrot’s garret was to take place on the crossbars of an enormous vertical window. The first drawing in Eisenstein’s notes shows Pierrot’s four friends splitting into two pairs to enter from both below and above. The second drawing has all four of them instead enter from a trapdoor and cross over the top of the window frame.

Notes for Columbine’s Wedding Veil

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, preliminary notes for Columbine’s Wedding Veil (May 1, 1922), the pantomime that became Columbine's Garter. Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923, op. 1, ed. khr. 815: 2.

Rough sketches for a female character in a bowler hat, most likely Columbine.

Costume sketch for Columbine in Columbine’s Garter

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, costume sketch for Columbine in Columbine’s Garter, by Sergei Eisenstein and Sergei Yutkevich (1922). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923, op. 1, ed. khr. 817: 15.

Rough pencil sketch of Columbine, in a half mask, above, strangling Pierrot, in a skullcap, below. On the drawing appear the words “venez,” “vous,” and “êtes,” three of the words in the phrase “Venez sans céremonies et telle que vous êtes!” (Come without ceremony just as you are!), which Pierrot says to Columbine just before she comes to his garret to kill him.

Sketch of Columbine strangling Pierrot, Columbine’s Garter

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sketch of Columbine strangling Pierrot, Columbine’s Garter, by Sergei Eisenstein and Sergei Yutkevich (1922). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923, op. 1, ed. khr. 817: 17 verso.

Libretto page from Columbine’s Garter of scenes 4, 5, 6, and most of 7, focusing on “circus” attractions, ending just before Harlequin breaks the musicians’ instruments.

Libretto page from act 2 of Columbine’s Garter

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein and Sergei Yutkevich, page from act 2 of the pantomime libretto for Columbine’s Garter (1922). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923, op. 1, ed. khr. 816: 15.

Ink drawing of Marie and Godfather Drosselmeier talking with the grandfather clock behind them in Sokolov’s puppet production of The Nutcracker.

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, drawing

From Epilogue: The Afterlife of a Death Jubilee

Scene from The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, directed by Vladimir Sokolov, First State Children’s Theatre (premiere: September 26, 1922). Drawing from the archive of Entertainment (Zrelishcha), no. 7 (October 10–16, 1922). Paper on paper, Indian ink, brush, 22.5 × 27 cm. КП 291444. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Drawing of the forestage, side entrances, and closed curtain decorated with running deer for Derzhavin’s production of The Strange Adventure of E. T. A. Hoffmann.

Drawing of stage configuration for The Strange Adventure of E. T. A. Hoffmann

From Epilogue: The Afterlife of a Death Jubilee

Sergei Yutkevich, drawing of stage configuration for The Strange Adventure of E. T. A. Hoffmann, adapted and directed by Konstantin Derzhavin, New Drama Theatre (premiere: December 7, 1922). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 3070 op. 1 ed. khr. 413: 1.

Set model for Turandot in soft colors with a raked platform, stairs, and multiple playing levels. Additional mobile banners and curtains, manipulated by the forestage servants—the commedia characters—created a transformative and transforming stage environment.

Set model for Princess Turandot (Nivinsky)

From Epilogue: The Afterlife of a Death Jubilee

Set model (authorized reproduction, 1927) for Princess Turandot, by Carlo Gozzi, directed by Evgeny Vakhtangov, Moscow Art Theatre Third Studio (1922). 117 × 81 × 75.5 cm. TWS BM202. Copyright © Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung, University of Cologne, Germany.

Poster for the Kamerny Theatre’s 1923 German tour

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

Constructivist drawing of Kumeiko, dressed as a clown (lower right), and Knorre (center) peforming the balancing act for which the duo became famous.

Balance, drawing

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Yutkevich, Balance. Drawing of Fedor Knorre (in the air) and Evgeny Kumeiko (below) (1923). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art f. 3070 op. 1 ed. khr. 412: 1.

Rough pencil sketch of vertical staging ideas for Wiseman, including a lyra (aerial hoop) and tightrope, both of which appeared in the final production. As was the case in many of Eisenstein theatrical sketches, various words –– in this case "Moscow Proletkult," "attraction," "training" –– appear within the drawing itself.

Mise-en-scène sketch for Wiseman

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, mise-en-scène sketch for Sergei Tretiakov’s Enough Stupidity in Every Wiseman, based on the play by Alexander Ostrovsky, directed by Sergei Eisenstein, Proletkult First Workers’ Theatre (premiere: April–May 1923). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923 op. 1 ed. khr. 801: 8 verso.

Photograph of Goluvtin crossing over the audience's heads on an inclined tightrope wearing a tuxedo, with bare feet, holding a parasol. Also visible is some of the detail on the walls and ceiling of this ornate room in the mansion that before the Revolution had belonged to the wealthy Morozov family.

Photo of tightrope act in Wiseman

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Tightrope act in Sergei Tretiakov’s Enough Stupidity in Every Wiseman, based on the play by Alexander Ostrovsky, directed by Sergei Eisenstein, Proletkult First Workers’ Theatre (premiere: April–May 1923). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923 op. 1 ed. khr. 805: 14.

Film clip of Glumov chasing the thief of his diary up the outside of the former Morozov family mansion, which housed Proletkult after the Revolution.

Film clip from “Glumov’s Diary”

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Film clip from Sergei Tretiakov’s Enough Stupidity in Every Wiseman, based on the play by Alexander Ostrovsky, directed by Sergei Eisenstein, Proletkult First Workers’ Theatre (premiere: April–May 1923). НВ 4808/5. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Two strolling players, one a comedian (left), the other a tragedian (right), slowly descend an elevated catwalk that curves around the stage and ends in the orchestra pit.

Photo of Schastlivtsev and Neschastlivtsev in The Forest

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Schastlivtsev (Igor Ilinsky) and Neschastlivtsev (Mikhail Mukhin) on the long, curved bridge in The Forest, directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold, Meyerhold Theatre (GosTIM) (premiere: January 19, 1924). КП 180170/32. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

This “Record of Audience Responses,” dated December 11, 1924, tracked audience responses for episodes 20-23 of The Forest.

Audience response chart for The Forest

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Audience response chart for The Forest, based on the play by Alexander Ostrovsky, directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold, Meyerhold Theatre (GosTIM) (premiere: January 19, 1924). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 963, op. 1, ed. khr. 362: 2.

Photograph of Alisa Koonen in the armor of Joan of Arc, her heavily gloved hands clasped in front of her, her eyes to one side.

Photo of Alisa Koonen as Joan in Saint Joan

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

Alisa Koonen in the role of Joan in Shaw’s Saint Joan, directed by Alexander Tairov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: October 21, 1924). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 2768, op. 1, ed. khr. 29: 2.

Premiere poster with the production title in eye-catching block letters.

Premiere poster for Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Poster for the December 9, 1926 premiere 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. Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 998, op. 1, ed. khr. 2801: 6.

Caricature of Meyerhold in his post-revolutionary military cap straddling and strangling Gogol, whose top hat has fallen off in the fray.

Caricature of Meyerhold throttling Gogol

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Caricature of Meyerhold throttling Gogol, in Life and Art (Zhizn’ i iskusstvo) (October 5, 1926). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 963, op. 1, ed. khr. 514: 9.

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.

A typed list of the episodes in Inspector General with the run time for each written in by hand.

Chronometrage report for Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Chronometrage report (n.d.) for 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). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 963, op. 1, ed. khr. 513: 6.

A ground plan of the stage, including a diagram of the tracks along which the two mobile platform stages entered and exited.

Ground plan for mobile stages, Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Ground plan for mobile stages, 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). КП 180169/348. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Set model (reconstruction) in mahogany and green baize with the mannequins from the dumb show positioned in a semi-circle, center, on tiny platforms. Upstage at floor level is one of the mobile stages, preset with the furniture from episode 7, “Behind a Bottle of Tolstobriushka.” High in the flies is the set for episode 4, “After Penza,” with its distinctive curved staircase.

Set model for Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

A. E. Shevtsova, set model (reconstruction, 2004) for 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). Meyerhold Apartment Museum, НВ 4900. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow. Photo by the author.

In this photograph, Khlestakov (Garin) sits bundled up on a Russian tiled stove in his untidy room at the local inn, nursing an ostensible toothache, while Dobchinsky (Mologin, left) and the Mayor (Starkovsky, above) enter down the curved staircase.

Photo of episode 4, “After Penza,” Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Episode 4, “After Penza,” 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). Photo by Alexei Temerin. Laurence Senelick Collection.

This photograph shows Khlestakov (Garin) in square glasses, a black coat and top hat, and a plaid scarf, with a bagel dangling on a string from his coat lapel.

Photo of Khlestakov in Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Erast Garin as Khlestakov in 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). TWS FPN 5122. Copyright © Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung, University of Cologne.

This series of interspersed film clips from episodes 3, 5, and 7 of Inspector General reveals the production's precise choreography of exaggerated movement, ranging from Khlestakov's sweeping gestures to the tiny movements of Anna Andreevna's eyes.

Filmed scenes from Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Filmed scenes (episode 3, “The Unicorn,” episode 5, “Full of Most Tender Love,” and episode 7, “Behind a Bottle of Tolstobriushka”) from 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). НВ 2544/17. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Anna Andreevna’s (Raikh) bedroom overflows with officers who serenade her, strumming imaginary strings. One pops out of the top of her cupboard, brandishing an enormous bouquet.

Photo of episode 3, “The Unicorn,” Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Episode 3, “The Unicorn,” 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). Photo by Alexei Temerin. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana (1902-1968) Collection, THE B MS Thr 402, Box 34, Folder 6. Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University.

Khlestakov (Garin) and Anna Andreevna (Raikh) sit on an oversized sofa. In this photograph, he holds her pinkie on a teaspoon to kiss it.

Photo of Khlestakov and Anna Andreevna, episode 7, Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Khlestakov (Erast Garin) and Anna Andreevna (Zinaida Raikh) in episode 7, “Behind a Bottle of Tolstobriushka,” in 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). КП 316956/27. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

This photograph shows the Inspector General dumb show mannequins, made by V. M. Petrov, in the process of being created. The bodies are newspaper papier-maché over wire armatures, while the faces (with surprised expressions) are wax. The figures are permanently attached to the small platforms on which they later stood at the end of the production.

Photo of dumb show mannequin construction, Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Making the mannequins for the dumb show, 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). Photo by Alexei Temerin. КП 180170/1056. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Actors stand in a variety of positions, each the personification of shocked dismay, to pose for the creation of the dumb-show mannequins that replaced their live bodies at the end of Meyerhold’s Inspector General.

Photo of actors posing for the dumb show mannequins, Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Posing for the mannequins for the dumb show, 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). Photo by Alexei Temerin. КП 294580/246. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Set model of the streamlined, angular simultaneous setting for The Hairy Ape. It depicts three levels of action: an upper deck, cabins, and the stokehole deep in the bowels of an ocean liner.

Set model for The Hairy Ape

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

Set model (authorized reproduction, 1927) for The Hairy Ape, by Eugene O’Neill, directed by Alexander Tairov and L. L. Lukianov, designed by the Stenberg brothers, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: January 24, 1926). 87.5 × 66 × 71.5 cm. TWS BM89. Copyright © Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung, University of Cologne, Germany.

This photograph shows The Hairy Ape’s stokehole workers, bare-chested with white-painted faces. The rhythm of their coal shoveling is arrested by the unexpected appearance of Mildred, who cries out in alarm at their animal-like conditions.

Photo of the stokehole scene, The Hairy Ape

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

Stokehole scene, The Hairy Ape, by Eugene O’Neill, directed by Alexander Tairov and L. L. Lukianov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: January 24, 1926). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana (1902–1968) Collection, THE B MS Thr 402, Box 38, Folder 13. Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University.

This photograph shows the mannequin-like Fifth-Avenue fox-trotters in The Hairy Ape. The women are made up to look like dolls, while the men wear half masks with distorted mouths on the lower portions of their faces. Yank (left) gazes at them in anger and alarm.

Photo of the Fifth Avenue scene, The Hairy Ape

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

Fifth Avenue scene, The Hairy Ape, by Eugene O’Neill, directed by Alexander Tairov and L. L. Lukianov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: January 24, 1926). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 2030, op. 1, ed. khr. 329: 27.

This short film shows the outside of the Kamerny Theatre, Tairov and the Stenberg Brothers (smoking), and several scene excerpts from The Hairy Ape, including the Fifth-Avenue fox-trotters, Yank's attempt to break the bars that enclose him, and the stokehole pantomime for which the production was so famous.

Filmed scenes from The Hairy Ape

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

Filmed scenes from The Hairy Ape, by Eugene O’Neill, directed by Alexander Tairov and L. L. Lukianov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: January 24, 1926). НВ 3826/2. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Constructivist portrait of Eisenstein, his hair on end, one arm extended into the air above him.

Portrait of Sergei Eisenstein

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Yutkevich, portrait of Sergei Eisenstein (1926). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 3070, op. 1, ed. khr. 433: 1.

Poster for a scheduled evening of debates about Inspector General with a list of names of participants.

Poster for “Debates about Inspector General”

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Typescript of Meyerhold’s lecture notes, with each point numbered separately in a list, for the January 3, 1927 evening of debates about Inspector General.

Meyerhold’s debate points for “Debates about Inspector General”

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Meyerhold’s debate points for “Debates about Inspector General”, State Meyerhold Theatre (GosTIM), Moscow (January 3, 1927). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 963, op. 1, ed. khr. 504: 14 verso–15.

Two drawings for The Glass House, annotated in English, in which a transparent glass floor becomes a means for juxtaposing still images with rapidly moving ones: a stationary cat is positioned against "a whirling town," and feet stand on a "glass balcony above the moving street."

Static and moving image drawings for The Glass House

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, static and moving image drawings for The Glass House (January 16, 1927–March 19, 1947). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923 op. 2 ed. khr. 162: 3.

List, handwritten in English, of several of Eisenstein's ideas for scenes in The Glass House that would focus on shifted perspective and juxtaposition.

List of episode ideas for The Glass House

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, list of episode ideas for The Glass House (January 16, 1927–March 19, 1947). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923 op. 2 ed. khr. 162: 48.

Sergei Eisenstein, drawing (detail) of the sharp shift in perspective made possible by watching scenes from below through transparent floors.

Drawing of scenes viewed through transparent floors, The Glass House

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Sergei Eisenstein, drawings of scenes viewed through transparent floors, The Glass House (January 16, 1927–March 19, 1947). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 1923 op. 2 ed. khr. 162: 50.

In this costume design for Crimson Island, the monotony of the bespectacled male figure’s dull, tan uniform is broken only by a black tie striped red at the top.

Male costume design for Crimson Island

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

Vadim Ryndin, male costume design, probably for Savva Lukich, the censor. Crimson Island, by Mikhail Bulgakov, directed by Alexander Tairov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: December 11, 1928). КП 238272/354. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Cover page for the production text of Crimson Island with the censor’s cuts and stamp in red at the bottom. This script is burned around the edges, as are many of the items in the Kamerny Theatre collection that were rescued from a fire at the Bakhrushin Museum in the early 1950s, where the Kamerny’s papers were stored in the years immediately following the theater’s forced closure.

Typescript of Crimson Island with censor’s cuts

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

Mikhail Bulgakov, Crimson Island. Typescript of the play with handwritten censor’s cuts and stamp approving the play for performance at the Moscow Kamerny Theatre. Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 2030, op. 1, ed. khr. 247, Moscow.

Two characters talk downstage at a distance from one another on a set constructed around simple circles and curves. Upstage of them sailors stand in rows that emphasize the sweeping spiral of the stage.

Photo of a scene from An Optimistic Tragedy

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

Scene from Vishnevsky’s An Optimistic Tragedy, directed by Alexander Tairov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre (premiere: December 18, 1933). Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, f. 2030, op. 1, ed. khr. 337: 21.

This rare photograph of Eisenstein and Meyerhold together in rehearsal depicts a bustling creative atmosphere with Meyerhold, center, pointing out something on a piece of paper and Eisenstein, left, sitting behind a round table. Those in the photograph—all men—are in jackets and ties, except Meyerhold, who wears a striped sweater under his open blazer.

Photo of Meyerhold and Eisenstein at rehearsals for The Prelude

From Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction

Vsevolod Meyerhold (center) and Sergei Eisenstein (left) at rehearsals for The Prelude, by Yury German, directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold, Meyerhold Theatre (GosTIM) (premiere: January 28, 1933). КП 295518/108. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

Two-page order that lists the many charges against the Kamerny Theatre and gives details for how the theater is to be reorganized, including appointing V. V. Vanin to replace Tairov as Artistic Director, firing a quantity of the theater’s creative staff, and developing a repertoire aggressively centered on new Soviet and classic plays.

Committee for Artistic Affairs Order 408

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