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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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  • 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 Grotesque17
  • Chapter 2: Tairov-Celionati: Mime-Drama and Kaleidoscopic Commedia4
  • Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction1
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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.

This rare rehearsal photo of episode 1 shows the actors’ long, crisscrossing pipes and their tight semi-circular grouping around the table. The Mayor (Starkovsky, right) stands clutching his heart while Doctor Hubner (Temerin) tends to him.

Rehearsal photo for episode 1 of Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Rehearsal for episode 1 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). Photo by Alexei Temerin. КП 180170/1046. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

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.

In this photograph, the officer-in-transit (Kelberer) sprawls on the stage (left) and Khlestakov (Garin) lies collapsed in a chair (right), both in a drunken stupor, while the Major’s wife (Raikh) guides the town officials out on tiptoe.

Photo of end of episode 7, Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

End of episode 7, “Behind a Bottle of Tolstobriushka,” 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.

In this famous photograph, Khlestakov (Garin), the officer-in-transit (Kelberer), and Osip (Fadeev) sit center on a bare stage while white-gloved hands with white packages (the bribes) emerge from the many doors that surround them.

Photo of episode 9, “Bribes,” Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Episode 9, “Bribes,” 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 180170/910. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

These wax and papier-maché doubles of the production’s characters stand in an arc on tiny platforms that were pushed through the set’s many double doors while the stage was obscured with a curtain.

Photo of dumb show, Inspector General

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

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 180170/921. 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.

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