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

Dassia N. Posner

Overview

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.

Citable Link

Published: 2016

Publisher: Northwestern University Press

ISBN(s)

978-0-8101-3357-0 (e-book)
978-0-8101-3356-3 (hardcover)
978-0-8101-3355-6 (paper)

Subject

Performing Arts

Resources

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In this production photograph from Tarelkin’s Death, Brandakhlystova’s children ride on a broad, short seesaw.

Photo of a scene from Tarelkin's Death

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

Brandakhlystova’s children, played by Vladimir Liutse (left) and E. Bengis (right), in Tarelkin’s Death, based on the play by Sukhovo-Kobylin, directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold, designed by Varvara Stepanova, State Higher Theatre Workshops (GVYTM) (premiere: November 24, 1922). Negative reproduction, 11.7 × 8.7 cm. ГИК 9302/39, ОН 16024. Copyright © Saint Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music.

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.

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.

In this photograph, several characters cluster around Glumov, in clown white, who is holding a character in checked trousers (Mamaev) upside down by his feet. A sign in front of him reads "ARA" (American Relief Administration), while behind him is a structure with two ladders and a bar: an inner proscenium.

Photo of parodic action in Wiseman

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

Parodic action (satirizing Hoover's American Relief Administration) within and downstage of the inner proscenium in 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: 16.

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.