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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.

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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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.

Photo of Meyerhold in his study with wayang golek puppet

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

Photo portrait of Meyerhold in his study. КП 319555/2. Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.

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.

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.

Film still taken mid-dissolve of the Owl—a spy in Strike—and the owl with which he is juxtaposed. Other spy/animal juxtapositions in the film are the Monkey, the Bulldog, and the Fox.

Film still of the Owl in Strike

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

Film still of the Owl, one of four spies juxtaposed with animals in Eisenstein’s Strike (released April 1925).

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 film still, Eisenstein, in blazer, tie, and cap, looks out at the viewer of the film. The background behind him is filled with a large poster that introduces the term "montage of attractions" and advertises the May 8, 10, 12, and 13 performances of Wiseman.

Film still of Sergei Eisenstein from Wiseman

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

Sergei Eisenstein, still from film clip used 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). Copyright © A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, Moscow.