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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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  • Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism3
  • Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque
  • Chapter 2: Tairov-Celionati: Mime-Drama and Kaleidoscopic Commedia3
  • Chapter 3: Peregrinus Tyss Meets Pipifax: Eisenstein, the Grotesque, and the Attraction4
  • Epilogue: The Afterlife of a Death Jubilee1
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  • Meyerhold, Vsevolod15
  • Temerin, Alexei9
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Etching foreground: two male figures in half masks face each other, one holding a wooden sword and cape (left), the other playing a guitar (right). Etching background: a man bows to kiss a woman’s hand.

Franca Trippa and Fritellino, etching

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism, Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque, and Chapter 2: Tairov-Celionati: Mime-Drama and Kaleidoscopic Commedia

Jacques Callot, Franca Trippa and Fritellino, plate 23 from Balli di Sfessania (c. 1621). Etching. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gray Collection of Engravings Fund, by exchange, S4.29.7. Photo: Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Etching foreground: two male figures wearing half masks, their hats adorned with long feathers, stand facing one another with crossed swords, one wooden, the other real. Etching background: small groups of people look on.

Taglia Cantoni and Fracasso, etching

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism, Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque, and Chapter 2: Tairov-Celionati: Mime-Drama and Kaleidoscopic Commedia

Jacques Callot, Taglia Cantoni and Fracasso, plate 24 from Balli di Sfessania (c. 1621). Etching. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gray Collection of Engravings Fund, by exchange, S4.28.2. Photo: Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Etching foreground: silhouetted figures sit on an ornately carved frame and peer into the world it encloses. One gazes through a telescope, while another waves a fan, referring back from within the image to the real fans on which Callot’s etching appeared. Etching background: a massive mock battle on Italy’s Arno River, attended by hundreds of onlookers.

The Fan, etching and engraving

From Introduction: Hoffmann’s Prism and Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Jacques Callot, The Fan (1619). Etching and engraving. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of William Gray from the collection of Francis Calley Gray, by exchange, S3.69.1. Photo: Imaging Department © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

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.

Photograph of Meyerhold taken in front of a mirror so that both his face and profile can be seen simultaneously.

Photo of Vsevolod Meyerhold

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Photo portrait of Vsevolod Meyerhold by Alexei Temerin (1929). КП 180170/477. 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

Tom, “Here today, there tomorrow.” Caricature of Vsevolod Meyerhold (1916). КП 180169/1618. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

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.

An illustration of a theater-within-a-theater adorned with bells and larger-than-life candles. Feet can be glimpsed under the stage curtain that two visible figures, left and right, are preparing to raise.

Illustration for Balaganchik

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, illustration for Blok’s Balaganchik: Lyrical Scenes by Alexander Blok, published in the journal Torches (Fakely) 1 (1906): 197. Photo by the author.

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.

Photograph of Meyerhold, in profile, eyes gazing upward, in the white costume of Pierrot.

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.

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.

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.

This journal cover, painted in blue, beige, and orange, depicts a lavishly curtained stage on which a commedia dell’arte actor stands with three enormous oranges as three other actors peek out from the wings.

Cover design for the journal Love for Three Oranges

From Chapter 1: Meyerhold-Dapertutto: Framing the Grotesque

Alexander Golovin, design for the front cover of Love for Three Oranges: The Journal of Doctor Dapertutto, no. 1–3 (1915). PN2007.L5 1915 no. 1/3. André Savine Collection, Rare Book Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, UNC-Chapel Hill.

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