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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 Grotesque6
  • Chapter 2: Tairov-Celionati: Mime-Drama and Kaleidoscopic Commedia1
  • Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction1
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  • House of Interludes
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  • Sapunov, Nikolai4
  • Meyerhold, Vsevolod1
  • Tang, Jia-Yee1
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  • 19106
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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.

Costume design for the Dance Master in polka-dotted knee breeches and an orange tailcoat, the vividness of which is matched only by the blazing red of his hair.

Costume design for the Dance Master, Columbine’s Veil

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Nikolai Sapunov, costume design for Gigolo, the Dance Master, Columbine’s Veil, based on the pantomime Pierrette’s Veil by Arthur Schnitzler, music by Ernő Dohnányi, adapted by Doctor Dapertutto (Meyerhold), directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold, House of Interludes, Saint Petersburg (premiere: October 12, 1910). Paper, graphite pencil, watercolor, 30.8 × 22.2 cm. ГИК 5199/291, ОР 10883. Copyright © Saint Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music.

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.

In the design for this wedding-ball setting, the deep red curtains, borders, and entrances from Pierrot’s room remain, but the space now is flooded with color from the costumes of the guests, decked out primarily in warm oranges and reds. Musicians play on a cramped stage, center, conducted by the Kapellmeister/Pianist in blue, his baton aloft.

Scene design for the wedding ball, Columbine’s Veil

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

Nikolai Sapunov, scene design for act 2 wedding ball, 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). КП 176534. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

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

Costume design for the Kapellmeister/Pianist in a long blue tailcoat and gold-ochre breeches. Balding with a deeply lined face, his remaining hair, the same blue as his tailcoat, stands entirely on end.

Costume design for the Kapellmeister/Pianist, Columbine’s Veil

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Nikolai Sapunov, costume design for the Kapellmeister/Pianist in 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). Paper, graphite pencil, watercolor, 32.2 × 22.7 cm. ГИК 5199/290, ОР 10882. Copyright © Saint Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music.

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