Vsevolod Meyerhold

The Early Years

V. E. Meyerhold, considered one of the 20th century's greatest theatrical innovators, was born on February 10, 1874 in the Russian town of Penza. His parents were Prussian citizens, and his father operated a successful liquor business. His childhood home has been preserved as the Penza Theatre Museum.

Meyerhold studied Law at Moscow University for two terms. During this period, he relinquished his German Protestant upbringing and joined the Russian Orthodox Church. He also married his first wife, Olga Munt, with whom he had three daughters. (NB. Meyerhold's grandaughter, Maria Valentei, is the founder and curator of the Meyerhold Memorial Apartment and appears on this site narrating the Full Videotour and the Audiotour.)

At this time, Meyerhold became increasingly fascinated with the art of theatre. He had first participated in theatrical performances during high school, but, as the century closed, his interest became serious. He registered for an acting class at the Moscow Art Theatre School, supervised by the co-founder of the theatre, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. Between 1898 and 1902, he worked at the Moscow Art Theatre where he was an actor in a wide range of productions, including The Seagull (see 3D model of the set of Act I) and The Death of Ivan the Terrible.

The Fertile Years

1902-1907

Meyerhold's career as a stage director began in 1902 and lasted for 37 years. He directed more than 290 productions. His earliest work was characterized by an interest in realism, similar to that of Stanislavsky at the Moscow Art Theatre. From 1902 to 1906, he ran The New Drama Touring Company, where he also acted on occasion (e.g. in Acrobats).

In a series of productions at the Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre in 1905, Meyerhold broke away from realism and demonstrated his uniquely creative approach to directing for the first time. Some of these explorations, such as The Death of Tintagiles by Maeterlynck and Schluck and Jau by Hauptmann took place in a laboratory environment and were not open to the public.

Meyerhold was the first Russian director to develop a symbolist style of theatrical representation. This was while working at Vera Komissarzhevskaya's Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1906 - 07. His productions of Maeterlynck's Sister Beatrice, Blok's The Fair Ground Booth, Andreyev's Life of a Man, and other plays marked his departure from the realistic theatrical tradition. This period of

Meyerhold's work was analyzed in his first book of performance theory, Theatre: History and Techniques (1907).

1908-1918

The next important phase of Meyerhold's creative activity, from 1908 to 1918, was devoted to instituting reforms at the great Imperial theatres in St. Petersburg, i.e., the Alexandrinsky Theatre (see 3D model of its interior), and the Mariinsky Opera. There the director worked at synthesizing classical performance traditions with modern interpretations. For example, Moliere's theatrical techniques were integrated into his own production of Don Juan, and elements of Russian romanticism from the early 19th century were blended into The Storm by Ostrovsky and Masquerade by Lermontov.

Concurrently, Meyerhold was operating theatre studios, intending to improve the training of actors to prepare them to participate in these productions. The focus was on developing the skills of traditional, non-realistic theater styles. For example, techniques of the commedia dell'arte were practiced in their original form and then applied to post-symbolist works such as A. Blok's poetic dramas The Fair Ground Booth and The Beautiful Lady. In addition, using the pseudonym Dr. Dapertutto, Meyerhold created dramatic performances and pantomimes at small artistic cabarets like the House of Interludes.

This was also a time of extraordinary collaborations. Meyerhold combined his talents with those of outstanding painters of The World of Art group. Among those who created striking designs for his productions were Alexander Golovin, Leon Bakst, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Nikolai Sapunov, and Sergei Sudeikin.

Meyerhold's contribution to the directing of opera was also notable. He developed new and distinctive productions of masterpieces by Gluck, Wagner, Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, and other composers while working with the best performers including the world-famous bass Fyodor Shalyapin.

The accomplishments of this amazing man did not stop there. In 1912, Meyerhold reached outside the boundaries of Russia to produce La Pisanella by D'Annunzio at the Châtelet Théâtre in Paris. The same year, he wrote his theoretical tract The Show Booth. In the late teens, he experimented with cinema, directing The Portrait of Dorian Gray, based on Wilde's novel, and A Strong Man by Przybyszewski.

The intelligentsia of Russian society responded enthusiastically to Meyerhold's great theatrical innovations. However, Imperial officials were not so pleased. They exerted heavy pressure to reform, demanding that Meyerhold revert to a conventional, realistic style for the Emperor's theatres.

As a result, the October revolution of 1917 was especially significant to. Meyerhold and other avant-garde artists. They were pleased by the collapse of the conventional bourgeois arts establishment. They looked forward to having the freedom to engage in bold and modern cultural experiments under the revolutionary Bolsheviks.

Meyerhold even joined the Social Democratic (later Communist) Party in 1918. This was a risky decision, since as that time it was impossible to anticipate the direction the rapidly changing political tides in Russia were going to flow. Still, Meyerhold was the auteur of the Revolution's first professional theatre production, Mystery-Bouffe, based on Mayakovsky's play (1918). Shortly afterwards, the anti-Bolshevik White Army arrested and imprisoned him. While incarcerated, he was treated for tuberculosis.

1919-1930

Upon his release by the Red Army, Meyerhold moved to Moscow and was appointed Head of the Theatre Department of Narkompros, a kind of Bolshevik Culture Ministry. He held this position during 1920 and 1921. There, Meyerhold originated a program of new Russian theatre, based on ideas of democratic theatricality similar to Renaissance aesthetics. In this format, combined with some avant-garde features, Meyerhold created productions for his new company, called RSFSR First Theatre. They included The Dawn (1920) and Mystery-Bouffe (second version, 1921). These works were not supported by Bolshevik leaders, and were sharply criticized by Lenin's wife N. Krupskaya in the leading party newspaper, Pravda. As a consequence, the theatre was closed, and Meyerhold was fired from his position.

In 1922, Meyerhold founded his experimental company (named the Vsevolod Meyerhold Theatre a year later). He worked with this organization for 16 years. Most of the actors were trained by Meyerhold himself and his closest collaborators. The training technique was Biomechanics which Meyerhold developed. (see Video and Panoramics archives, and Research archive on this topic),

In productions of the early twenties, Meyerhold presented his approach to Constructivism, or Theatre Productivism, featuring abstract, intensely dynamic, anti-realistic and non-representational action, aimed at creating an "independent reality" on stage. Productions included The Magnanimous Cuckold by Crommelynck (1922) and The Death of Tarelkin by Sukhovo-Kobylin (1923). He also produced highly theatrical Renaissance-inspired events using some elements of political cabaret, including The Forest by Ostrovsky (1924, see 3D model of the set design) and D.E. based on contemporary novels (1924). At the same time, Meyerhold created several performances for wider audiences at the Revolution Theatre, such as A Lucrative Post by Ostrovsky and Lake Lyul by Faiko. Bolshevik reaction to these works was profoundly negative; the attack was directed toward their lack of realistic clarity and political relevance.

Beginning in the mid-twenties, productions by Meyerhold were based on the aesthetics of the tragic grotesque. Some of them were seen outside Russia on tours to Germany and France through 1930. They included Bubus the Teacher by Faiko (1925), The Mandate by Erdman (1925), and Woe to Wit by Griboedov (1928). Perhaps the best known of this series is The Government Inspector by Gogol (1926). The latter production was one of the most complicated philosophic and apocalyptic phantasmagorias in the European arts of the 20th

century, similar to the painting of Picasso or Dali, the music of Shostakovich or Britten, or the novels of Mann or Kafka. (See Video and Photo archive.)

Meyerhold's work continued. Though the avant-garde production of Tretyakov's play I Want a Child was banned, in the late 1920s Meyerhold succeeded in producing two incisive political satires by Mayakovsky, The Bedbug (1929) and The Bathhouse (1930). He also participated as an actor in The White Eagle, a grotesque-style film directed by Yakov Protazanov (1928).

In 1929, Meyerhold moved, with his family, to his last home in Moscow. The site is now Meyerhold's Memorial Apartment. (See Video Tour and 3D Panorama)

The Final Years

Under strict censorship throughout the 1930s, Meyerhold attempted to convey the tragic spirit of his productions indirectly and covertly, through subtext and atmospheric innuendo. This was characteristic of A List of Assets by Olesha, Prelude by Germann, Krechinsky's Wedding by Sukhovo-Kobylin, and Lady of the Camellias by Dumas (fils), as well as the opera Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky which was produced at the Maly Opera Theatre in St. Petersburg.

Despite this depressing time, Meyerhold developed an exceedingly ambitious project -- the design for a new building for his theatre. He wanted to realize his ideal of generating highly technical, multistage theatre action in a three-dimensional space, with the vigor and energy of a market place. Construction began, but the building was never completed.

Meyerhold's standing with Stalin's regime was increasingly precarious. His last new production which the censorship officials allowed to run was 33 Fainting Fits by Chekhov (1935). The visionary director was accused of being an anti-Soviet formalist and of being unable to create politically accurate performances for the Soviet proletariat.

In 1939, Meyerhold was arrested and accused of anti-government political activities. He was executed in Moscow on February 2, 1940.

http://www.meyerhold.org/

VSEVOLOD MEYERHOLD

Meyerhold was born on February 10th, 1874 (January 28th, 1874 according to the old calendar) in the Russian town of Penza.  His parents were Prussian citizens, and his father (Emil Meyerhold) was a successful

wine manufacturer.  His childhood home has since then been preserved as the Penza Theatrical Museum.

After completing school in 1895, Meyerhold studied law at Moscow University for two terms.  During this period, he relinquished his German Protestant upbringing and joined the Russian Orthodox Church, accepting Vsevolod as his Orthodox Christian name.  He also married his first wife, Olga Munt, with whom he would have three daughters.  At this time, Meyerhold became increasingly fascinated with the art of theatre.  He had first participated in theatrical performances during school, but as the century closed, his interest became serious.  He registered for an acting class at the Moscow Philharmonic Society’s Music and Drama School, in the course of Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, co-founder of the Moscow Art Theatre.  Upon graduation, he was accepted into the troupe of the Moscow Art Theatre where he would act from 1898 to 1902, performing in a wide range of productions, including The Seagull (Treplyev), The Three Sisters (Tuzenbach), Antigone (Teiresias) and The Death of Ivan the Terrible (Ivan the Terrible).

Meyerhold's career as a stage director began in 1902 and would last for 37 years.  In total, he would direct more than 290 productions.  His earliest work was characterized by an interest in realism, similar to that of Stanislavski at the Moscow Art Theatre.  From 1902 to 1906, he ran the New Drama Touring Company, a troupe of young actors that traveled throughout the Russian provinces giving performances.  Within three seasons he himself performed close to one hundred different roles, and directed plays by Maeterlinck, Chekhov, Gorky, Ibsen, Hauptmann and others.  At first, his performances were staged along the lines of typical Moscow Art Theatre productions, but soon Meyerhold began to discover new methods, composing his own theatrical language.

In 1905, having heard about Meyerhold’s experiments, Stanislavski invited him to continue his work at the Moscow Art Theatre Studio on Povarskaya.  Here, Meyerhold broke away from realism and demonstrated his uniquely creative approach to directing for the first time with his versions of The Death of Tintagiles by Maeterlinck and Schluck und Jau by Hauptmann.  Unfortunately these productions were never seen by the general public, first being performed in a laboratory environment, and thereafter abandoned when Stanislavski decided to refrain from officially opening the studio.  Regardless, Meyerhold continued to experiment, returning to his New Drama Touring Company.

In 1906, Vera Komissarzhevskaya invited Meyerhold to become the main director of her theatre in St. Petersburg, where he would make his name as the first Russian director to develop a symbolist style of theatrical representation.  In a single season he premiered 13 productions, all of which called up heated debate.  In Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler and Maeterlinck’s Sister Beatrice, Meyerhold demonstrated the structural principles he had developed for symbolist performance: a shallow stage, decorations resembling a mural, slow movements of the actors, gestures

and poses that have the expressiveness of sculpture, and cold emotionless intonation.  For Andreyev’s The Life of Man, Meyerhold cultivated a brilliant lighting score, and in Blok’s Balaganchik, he ironically re-examined symbolist imagery.  Komissarzhevskaya however, did not find it easy to work with Meyerhold, and in 1907 she asked him to leave the theatre.  

From 1908 to 1918, Meyerhold worked in the great Imperial theatres of St. Petersburg, the Mariinsky Opera and the Alexandrinsky Theatre in particular, where he was devoted to synthesizing classical performance traditions with modern theatrical reality.  This was also a time of extraordinary collaboration - Meyerhold combined his talents with those of outstanding painters from the World of Art group.  Among those who created striking designs for his productions were Alexander Golovin, Leon Bakst, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Nikolai Sapunov, and Sergei Sudeikin.  In tandem with these artists, he employed various methods of stylisation to revitalise outdated scenic forms.  Meyerhold integrated Moliere's theatrical techniques into his production of Don Juan, and blended elements of early 19th century Russian romanticism into The Storm by Ostrovsky and Lermontov’s Masquerade.  Meyerhold also made a point of introducing controversial contemporary drama into the Imperial repertoire, staging Tolstoy’s Living Corpse, Sollogub’s Hostages of Life, and Gippius’ Green Ring amongst others.

Concurrently, Meyerhold was running a number of theatrical studios, where he  strove to improve upon current methods of actor training, as a means of preparing performers for his productions.  He focused on developing skills from traditional, non-realistic theatrical styles, paying particular attention to the commedia dell’arte, Russian fairground plays, circus acts, and pantomime.  He believed in cultivating actors who have complete control of their body and voice, and who are capable of carrying out the director’s commands within the prescribed tempo-rhythm.  From these investigations, and under the pseudonym of Dr. Dapertutto, Meyerhold created a number of dramatic performances and pantomimes at small artistic cabarets.  Employing the theatrical techniques in which he had drilled his students, he staged a number of post-symbolist works, such as Blok’s verse plays Balaganchik and The Unknown Lady, as well as a variety of performances based upon commedia-style situations and characters, the most memorable being The House of Interludes.  In 1913, Meyerhold compiled his theories developed during this period of exploration, and laid them out in his book On Theatre as a concept for a ‘conditional theatre’, which would stand in opposition to theatrical naturalism.

There was hardly a boundary which Meyerhold was unable to cross.  In addition to his theatrical explorations, he experimented with cinema, directing versions of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and The Strong Man by Przybyszewski.  He even reached beyond the borders of Russia herself, staging D’Annunzio’s La Pisanella at the Châtelet Théâtre in Paris.  At the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Meyerhold

made a notable contribution to opera as well, developing new and distinctive productions of masterpieces by Gluck, Wagner, Mussorgsky, Stravinsky and other composers, while working with the country’s best performers, most notably the world-famous bass Fyodor Shalyapin. 

The Russian intelligentsia responded enthusiastically to Meyerhold's great innovations.  However, Imperial officials were not so pleased.  They exerted heavy pressure upon him, demanding that Meyerhold revert to a conventional, realistic style for the Emperor's theatres.  As a result, the October revolution of 1917 was especially significant for Meyerhold, as well as for other avant-garde artists.  They were pleased by the collapse of the conventional bourgeois arts establishment, and looked forward to having the freedom to engage in bold and modern cultural experiments under the revolutionary Bolsheviks.

Meyerhold became one of the most enthusiastic activists of the new Soviet theatre, even joining the Social Democratic (later Communist) Party in 1918.  This was a risky decision at the time, seeing as it was impossible to anticipate the direction in which Russia’s rapidly changing political tides would flow.  To mark the first anniversary of the revolution, Meyerhold staged Vladimir Mayakovsky’s Mystery Bouffe, putting to use all of his research into the expressive possibilities of mass spectacle, folkloric poetry, traditional fairground performance and circus clowning.  These two masters would continue to work together frequently throughout the next decade, producing most notably The Bedbug (1929), which it is said Mayakovsky wrote especially for Meyerhold.  Even after Mayakovsky’s suicide in 1930, Meyerhold would continue to stage the great poet’s works.  Shortly after their first production of Mystery Bouffe in 1918 however, Meyerhold was arrested and imprisoned by the anti-Bolshevik White Army.

Upon his release by the Red Army, Meyerhold moved to Moscow and was appointed Head of the Theatre Department of Narkompros (the People’s Commissariat for Enlightenment), a position he would hold from 1920 to 1921.  Developing a programme known as Theatrical October, he defined the theatre’s fundamental goals as service to the revolution and the full revitalisation of theatrical art.  Meyerhold fiercely confronted the principles of theatrical academicism, claiming that they were incapable of finding a common language with the new reality.  Combining his Theatrical October beliefs with scenic constructivism and a performance style taken from the circus, Meyerhold began staging productions with his new company, the RSFSR First Theatre, including The Dawn (1920) and Mayakovsky’s second edition of Mystery Bouffe (1921).  These works were not supported by Bolshevik leaders and were sharply criticised by Lenin's wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, in the leading party newspaper, Pravda.  As a result, the theatre was closed and Meyerhold was fired from his position at Narkompros for excessive radicalism.

In 1922, Meyerhold founded the experimental company with which he would work for the next 16 years, receiving the title of the Meyerhold Theatre in 1923.  Under the sobriquet of the State Experimental Theatrical Studio (GEKTEMAS), he trained his actors in a special system of theatrical performance, the core of which he had developed himself: Biomechanics.  Through this training, Meyerhold strove to cultivate performers that could impart geometrical precision, acrobatic lightness and agility, and athletic bearing upon a theatrical spectacle.

During this period, Meyerhold made some of his most acclaimed works, beginning with The Magnificent Cuckold by Fernand Crommelynck (1922) and The Death of Tarelkin by Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin (1923).  In his productions of the early twenties, Meyerhold presented his approach to Constructivism, or Theatrical Productivism, featuring abstract, intensely dynamic, anti-realistic and non-representational action aimed at creating an independent reality on-stage.  He also produced a number of highly theatrical performances, including The Forest by Ostrovksy and D.E. (1924), drawing upon elements of political cabaret and commedia dell’arte.  At the same time, Meyerhold created several performances for a wider range of audiences at the Theatre of the Revolution, namely A Profitable Position by Ostrovsky and Lake Lyul  by Faiko.  Bolshevik reaction to these works was profoundly negative, attacking the pieces’ lack of realistic clarity and political relevance.

By the mid-twenties, Meyerhold began to create productions based on the tragic grotesque, a number of which were even seen outside of Russia on tours to Germany and France.  Stagings from this period included Faiko’s Bubus the Teacher (1925), The Mandate by Erdman (1925), and Woe from Wit by Griboyedov (1928), but perhaps the best known work from this series was Gogol’s Government Inspector (1926).  This production was one of the most complicated philosophic and apocalyptic phantasmagorias of the 20th century European arts scene, similar in style to the paintings of Picasso and Dali, the music of Shostakovich and Britten, and the novels of Mann and Kafka.

As the decade drew to a close, Meyerhold continued his work, but under increased attention from the censors.  Although his avant-garde production of Tretyakov's I Want a Child was banned, Meyerhold did succeed in producing two of Mayakovsky’s incisive political satires: The Bedbug (1929) and The Bathhouse (1930). 

By the 1930’s however, working conditions became nearly impossible.  While Stalin clamped down on all avant-garde art and experimentation, Meyerhold remained strongly opposed to socialist realism.  Under strict censorship, he attempted to convey the tragic spirit of his productions indirectly and covertly, through subtext and atmospheric innuendo. This was characteristic of his work on A List of Assets by Olesha, The Prelude by Germann, Krechinsky's Wedding by Sukhovo-Kobylin, and Tchaikovsky’s opera The Queen of Spades, which Meyerhold staged at the Maly Opera Theatre in Leningrad in 1935.  In the same year,

Meyerhold directed Dumas-fils’ The Lady of the Camellias which became a legend of the Russian theatre, giving voice to the clearly tangible dissonance of the times.

In spite of all that stood in his way, Meyerhold continued to develop an exceedingly ambitious project: the design of a new theatre.  He wanted to create a space capable of supporting highly technical, multi-stage theatrical action, imparting the vigour and energy of a marketplace.  Construction began, but he would never see the building completed.

Meyerhold's standing with Stalin's regime had become increasingly precarious.  The final production of his which the censor allowed to run was 33 Fainting Spells, based upon three vaudevilles written by Anton Chekhov.  After fighting off years of veiled attacks, Meyerhold was finally proclaimed an anti-Soviet formalist and accused of being unable to create politically accurate performances for the Soviet proletariat.  In 1938, his theatre was officially closed, and only his old teacher, Konstantin Stanislavski, would come to his aid, inviting the condemned director to work with him at the small opera theatre he was running at the time. 

In July 1939, Meyerhold was arrested and accused of anti-governmental political activities.  He was brutally tortured and forced to make a confession, which he later recanted before the court.  He was sentence to death by firing squad and executed the day after on February 2nd, 1940.  In 1955, he was cleared of charges posthumously.

http://www.meyerhold.ru/en/biography/

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Vsevolod Meyerhold was born in Penza in 1874. Although he came to Moscow to study law, in 1896 he left law school and enrolled in the sacting classes taught by Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko at the Moscow Philharmonia. In 1898, he was invited to join the trope of the newly founded Moscow Art Theater. In the first MAT season, he played Treplev in The Seagull. After a falling out with Stanislavsky, Meyerhold left the Moscow Art Theater. and founded his own troupe in the Russian provinces.

In 1906, the actress Vera Kommissarzhevskaia founded a theater in St. Petersburg and invited Meyerhold to direct. There he staged Alexander Blok's The Puppet Show among other major productions. In 1908, Meyerhold was invited to direct at the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg. He remained there for the next decade, staging both plays and operas.

When the revolution occurred in 1917, Meyerhold quickly joined the Communist Party, and in 1920, he was appointed head of the theater division of the People's Commissariat for Education. In the early communist years, Meyerhold staged many notable productions including the first production of Mayakovsky's Mystery-Bouffe (1918). Beginning in 1922, Meyerhold staged a number of famous constuctivist productions, including Fernand Crommelynk's The Magnificent Cuckold and Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin's The Death of Tarelkin. Beginning in 1923, Meyerhold had his own troupe in Moscow, and staged innovative productions of both classics and new works. Perhaps the best known of these productions were Nikolai Erdman's The Mandate (1925), Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls (1926), and Vladimir Mayakovsky's The Bedbug (1929). By the mid-1930s, Meyerhold's relentless experimentation was no longer in favor. His theater was harshly criticized and then closed in 1938. Meyerhold himself was arrested in 1939 and shot in prison in 1940.

For video clips of actors rehearsing Meyerhold's biomechanical exercises, click here. You will need the QuickTime Movie player.

http://max.mmlc.northwestern.edu/~mdenner/Drama/directors/1meyerhold.html

História do Teatro

segunda-feira, 10 de novembro de 2008

ABOVE: The portrait here is by Petr Vil'iams, and dates from 1925

Vsévolod Meyerhold

Por Dirce Thomaz e Fernanda Henrique

“Chorei. Tive vontade de fugir. Aqui só se fala de forma. Beleza, beleza, beleza! Quanto à idéia, um grande silêncio, e se chegam a mencioná-la, é de tal maneira como se fossem ultrajados por ela . Meu Deus. “Comentário de V.Meyerhold referindo-se ao conceito stanislavskiano (Teatro de Arte de Moscou)

Vsévolod Meyerhold que nascera em Penza, na Rússia central em 1874, desde muito jovem tem contato com arte por intermédio de sua mãe, que transmitiu ao filho o gosto pela música e espetáculos. Sua primeira experiência teatral foi aos 18 anos com teatro amador em uma representação escolar, onde atuou e também foi assistente de direção.

Meyerhold foi para Moscou estudar direito, mas abandona a curso e entra na escola dramática, participa do Teatro de Arte Moscou fascinando-se pela arte de Stanislaviski, após algumas experiências no T.A.M Meyerhold começa a discordar do conceito stanislavskiano, em 1902 separa-se de seus mestres e junto com Kocherov monta um grupo chamado “ Sociedade do drama novo “com a tentativa de contrapor a estética naturalista . O próprio Meyerhold percebe a dificuldade em realizar na pratica seus desejos teóricos, mas Stanislaviski que sempre estava em busca do novo e admirava o ex- aluno, mesmo após uma tentativa não bem sucedida, convida-o para juntos abrirem o Estúdio Teatral ;

“Não se tratava de um teatro organizado nem de uma escola para principiantes, mas de um laboratório onde se fariam experiências com atores mais ou menos traquejados"

E mais uma vez essa tentativa não foi bem sucedida, afinal havia entre Meyerhold e Stanislaviski um conflito de gerações: a do “teatro do ator” e a “ teatro do diretor “.Stanislaviski expressa sua inquietação aos experimentos de Meyerhold reafirmando o abismo que existe entre o desejo do diretor e sua realização.

Depois de um longo tempo Meyerhold compreende que naquele momento o que dificultava esse “processo de inovação” eram os elementos inconciliáveis que utilizava:dramaturgia simbolista, pintores estilizantes e jovens atores formados pelo realismo psicológico do teatro de arte e, então entende que era necessário formar um novo tipo de ator e só então impor-lhe as novas tarefas.

No mesmo período em que se submete a ser diretor e ator no teatro imperial (Companhia Dramática Alexandria) realiza sua pesquisas do teatro popular usando o pseudônimo de Doutor Dappertutto, neste momento cria o estúdio-escola, onde tem as seguintes matérias:

I - Estudo da técnica dos movimentos cênicos: dança, musica, atletismo, esgrima. Esportes recomendados: tênis, lançamento de disco, barco a vela.

II - Estudo prático dos elementos materiais do espetáculo: cenário, decoração,iluminação do palco;os figurinos e os objetos de cena.

III - Princípios fundamentais da técnica da comedia italiana improvisada.

IV - Aplicação ao teatro moderno dos métodos tradicionais de espetáculo dos séculos XVII e XVIII (estudo sem academismo dogmático nem espírito de imitação).

V – A música do drama

Partindo de um treinamento de técnicas corporais Meyerhold cria um sistema teatral: a biomecânica que permiti o ator dizer com o corpo o que em outros momento foi dito apenas com o texto.”A relação do espaço com o corpo do ator e com seus gestos...”. Neste processo usa-se também o recurso do distanciamento da interiorização (termo mais tarde nomeado por Brecht) substituído pela técnica corporal. Nasce então um novo tipo de encenação ligada com o construtivismo (movimento vanguardista russo de 1920) , onde o palco alem de focar os movimentos dos atores deu espaço para iluminação, artes plásticas fundamentando a teatralidade e a função social.

Meyerhold com o desejo de trazer uma nova encenação, rompe com as formas dramáticas de representação e traz para a cena um novo ator. Com todas estas inovações Meyerhold proporciona a criação também de um novo olhar, pois com a criação de uma nova encenação, de um novo ator pressupõe-se a necessidade da “criação” de um novo espectador.

http://historiadoteatroelt.blogspot.com.br/2008/11/vsvolod-meyerhold.html

Vsevolod Meyerhold

Data de Nascimento:   1874

Data de Falecimento:   1940

Bibliografia

Descendente de alemães, Vsevolod Meyerhold nasceu em Penza, Russia, em 1874. Foi a Moscou estudar direito, mas deixou a escola em 1896 e se embrenhou nas aulas de Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, no Moscow Philharmonia. Em 1898 foi convidado a se juntar a trupe do recém fundado Teatro de Arte de Moscou, de Stanislavski. Templo do

naturalismo e do realismo psicológico, o Teatro de Arte foi a grande escola de Meyerhold, que em 1902 decide percorrer caminhos próprios fundando uma nova trupe, a Sociedade do Drama Novo.

Farto do naturalismo, Meyerhold vai inspirar-se no impressionismo, no cubismo e finalmente no expressionismo alemão para desenvolver uma pesquisa de trabalho muito particular. Propôs uma nova abordagem: um teatro que “intoxicaria o espectador com força dionisíaca do eterno sacrifício”, um teatro estilizado como substitituto da “fantasia apolínea” sugerida pelo naturalismo. A partir de pesquisas com a commedia dell’arte, as improvisações, a pantomima, o grotesco e o simbolismo cênico, desenvolveu uma disposição frontal das personagens com pesquisas voltadas à dicção do ator e com a substituição da cenografia complexa do naturalismo pela iluminação como síntese.

Criou o teatro de linha reta, no qual o ator, juntamente com o autor, o diretor e o público são criadores absolutos do fenômeno teatral. Embora a participação do público fosse apenas emocional, nunca física, através de sua imaginação que deveria ser empregada “criativamente a fim de preencher os detalhes sugeridos pela ação do palco”. Desta forma, libera o ator e força o espectador a passar de uma simples contemplação, ao ato criador: Também aproxima-se do movimento construtivista que buscava no campo das artes plásticas e da arquitetura uma arte baseada no materialismo, desvinculada de toda a herança cultural idealista do passado e, tomando o princípio da beleza funcional e utilitária, elabora a teoria da biomecânica. Desta forma, a criação artística deixa de ser uma cópia do real para se tornar uma reflexão da realidade, priorizando a relação do intérprete com o público através de jogos que pudessem revelar e intensificar os traços psicológicos de ambos.

Meyerhold defendeu a teatralidade e a estilização e propôs uma dialética de opostos: a farsa contra a tragédia e a forma contra o conteúdo de modo a forçar o espectador a encontrar uma visão mais apurada da realidade e “decifrar o enigma do inescrutável”.

Em 1905, Stanislavski estava perdido. Se por um lado gozava de respeito e prestígio por ter encenado as famosas produções de Tchekhov e Gorki, por outro era alvo fácil dos simbolistas que o consideravam ultrapassado. Até este momento, não havia desenvolvido nenhuma teoria significativa sobre o seu método de trabalho. Convida, então, Meyerhold para dirigir mais uma vez o seu Estúdio. Meyerhold traz para o Teatro de Arte algumas das questões que o haviam motivado a deixar a companhia anos atrás, nomeadamente sua aversão ao teatro naturalista e ao realismo psicológico. Mais uma vez, Stanislavski e Meyerhold irão se desentender artisticamente e o projeto de desenvolverem novamente um trabalho em conjunto é desfeito.

Apesar de Meyerhold e Stanislavski serem tratados como opostos teatrais – um preocupado com a teatralidade, outro com o conteúdo interno – os dois se admiravam e respeitavam mutuamente. Meyerhold foi sempre um crítico e admirador persistente do Teatro de Arte e declarou certa vez: “serei sempre um aluno de Stanislavski”. Stanislavski, em outra ocasião, o chamou de “filho pródigo”. De fato, os dois estavam sempre em processo de troca.

Quando a Revolução Russa aconteceu em 1917, Meyerhold rapidamente se juntou ao Partido Comunista e em 1920 foi apontado como o cabeça da divisão teatral do People's Commissariat for Education. Desde sempre inquieto, a partir de 1924 começa a divergir do percurso tomado pelo Partido Comunista Soviético, que exige que o teatro desempenhe

uma proposta ideológica na construção do socialismo, com obras que reflitam o cotidiano, conceito básico do realismo socialista. Com a montagem de O Inspetor Geral, em 1926, Meyerhold irá atingir o auge e também prenunciar o fim de sua brilhante carreira. Foi perseguido pela crítica oficial, pela classe teatral e por toda uma geração de artistas. Isolado e solitário, passou a fazer frente ao período mais sombrio do stalinismo. Sua reputação, no entanto, não é de todo abalada. Em 1935, Stanislavski irá dizer: “o único encenador que conheço é Meyerhold”.

Nos mais recentes anos comunistas, Meyerhold encenou várias produções notáveis incluindo a primeira produção de Mystery-Bouffe de Mayakovsky (1918). No começo de 1922, encenou várias produções construtivistas famosas, incluindo The Magnificent Cuckold de Fernand Crommelynk e The Death of Tarelkin de Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin.

Em 1923 tinha sua própria trupe em Moscou, encenando produções inovadoras de clássicos e novos trabalhos. Talvez as mais conhecidas dessas produções foram The Mandate de Nikolai Erdman (1925), Dead Souls de Nikolai Gogol (1926), e The Bedbug de Vladimir Mayakovsky (1929).

Sempre contestadora, a carreira de Meyerhold é ameaçada quando, em 1938, o seu teatro é fechado por decreto, com a justificativa de que ali havia “difamações hostis contra o estilo de vida soviético”. Stanislavski irá surpreender a todos convidando Meyerhold a trabalhar com ele no novo Teatro Ópera Stanislavski. Era uma decisão valente oferecer proteção a alguém que caíra em desgraça diante do sistema. Mas Stanislavski sabia o que estava fazendo e, aceitando as responsabilidades de sua decisão, alegou: “Precisamos de Meyerhold no teatro. Ele é meu único herdeiro”.

Stanislavski morreu em agosto de 1938, aos 75 anos, e foi enterrado ao lado de Tchekhov. Meyerhold morreu em fevereiro de 1940, aos 66 anos, fuzilado na prisão pelas tropas do regime de Stalin. Fora detido algum tempo antes, pelo Congresso Geral dos Diretores Teatrais, por ter se negado a participar da manifestação pública de submissão e retratação artística. Sua mulher, a atriz Zinaída Raikh e também primeira atriz de sua companhia, foi encontrada morta em seu apartamento, pouco tempo depois da prisão de Meyerhold.

MAIS SOBRE A TEORIA BIOMECÂNICA

O ápice das pesquisas ensejadas por Vsevolod Meyerhold foi a teoria que denominou de biomecânica, recurso que, de maneira genérica, transformava o corpo do ator em uma ferramenta, um títere a serviço da mente. As atuações pelo método da biomecânica possuíam movimentos amplos, exagerados (mas não supérfluos) e tensos, incrivelmente tensos. A capacidade comunicativa dos gestos e expressões, ou seja, a linguagem corporal, dentro da biomecânica, subjugou a linguagem oral a ponto de muitas entonações serem feitas de forma quase que inflexível.

Dentro da biomecânica o cinético e o estático têm valores semelhantes, tal qual nos teatros populares nipônicos. E o corpo do ator é entendido como mais um objeto de cena, portanto sua disposição em relação ao cenário tem importante papel como elemento de comunicação visual. Por essas razões, outros elementos típicos do teatro de Meyerhold, como a iluminação, cenário e figurino estilizados e antinaturalistas são essenciais para o perfeito

funcionamento da biomecânica. O cineasta, ex-aluno e amigo de Meyerhold, Sergei Eisenstein, utilizou a técnica da biomecânica em seus filmes Ivan, o Terrível Parte I e Ivan, o Terrível Parte II.

Para maiores informações: www.meyerhold.org

http://www.opalco.com.br/foco.cfm?persona=autores&controle=137

Vsevolod Emilevitch Meyerhold

Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold, (em russo Всеволод Эмильевич Мейерхольд) Penza, Rússia 28 de janeiro de 1874 - 2 de fevereiro de 1940. Nome artístico de Karl Kazimir Theodor Meyerhold, conhecido apenas por Meyerhold ou Meierhold, um grande ator de teatro e um dos mais importantes diretores e teóricos de teatro da primeira metade do século vinte. Fez parte do Teatro de Arte de Moscou

Executado sumariamente pela ditadura stalinista, sob a acusação de trotskismo e formalismo. Os seus trabalhos artísticos e escritos estiveram banidos até 1955, quando foi reabilitado pela corte suprema da antiga URSS.

Entre 1898 e 1902 participa do Teatro de Arte de Moscou, como um dos principais atores da companhia de Stanislavsky e Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. Em 1905 dirige por um ano o Estudio de Teatro, um anexo do Teatro de Arte de Moscou (TAM), a convite do próprio Stanislavsky. Durante sua vida artística experimenta várias formas de teatro, sendo mais conhecido pelos exercícios de intepretaçao da sua biomecânica e por seu trabalho de experimentaçao teatral, influenciando os principais encenadores do século XX.

Biografia

MeyerholdQuadro de Alexander Y Golovin (1917).

Vsevolod Meyerhold estuda direito, mas em 1896 deixa a escola de direito e entra no Instituto Dramático-Musical da Filarmônica de Moscou, dirigida por Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. Em sua primeira peça no TAM, interpreta Treplev em A Gaivota de Anton Pavlovitch Tchékhov.

Depois de desentendimentos com Stanislavsky sobre as técnicas teatrais, Meyerhold deixa o Teatro de Arte de Moscou e funda sua própria companhia, a Companhia de Artistas Dramáticos Russos, na província de Kherson, Rússia.

Em 1906, a atriz Vera Kommissarzhevskaia funda seu teatro em São Petersburgo e convida Meyerhold para dirigir. Lá ele encena A Pequena Barraca de Alexander Blok entre outras produções. Em 1908 Meyerhold foi convidado para dirigir o Teatro Imperial em São Petersburgo. Permaneceu lá pela década seguinte, encenando peças e óperas.

Com a Revolução Russa de 1917, Meyerhold rapidamente se junta ao Partido Comunista e em 1920, foi apontado como o responsável pela divisão teatral do People's Commissariat for Education. Nos primeiros anos comunistas, Meyerhold encena várias produções notáveis incluindo a primeira produção de Mistério Bufo de Mayakovsky em (1918).

No começo de 1922, Meyerhold encena várias produções construtivistas famosas, incluindo O Cornudo Magnífico de Fernand Crommelynk e A Morte de Tarelkin de Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin. Em 1923, Meyerhold tinha sua própria trupe em Moscou, e encenou produções inovadoras de clássicos e novos trabalhos.

Talvez as mais conhecidas dessas produções foram The Mandate de Nikolai Erdman (1925), Almas Mortas de Nikolai Gogol (1926), e O Percevejo de Vladimir Mayakovsky (1929). Em meados da década de 1930, as implacáveis experimentações de Meyerhold já não eram mais convenientes. Seu teatro foi árduamente criticado e então fechou em 1938. Meyerhold foi preso em 1939 e assassinado a tiros na prisão em 1940.

Produção

O ápice das pesquisas ensejadas por Vsevolod Meyerhold foi a teoria que denominou de biomecânica, recurso que, de maneira genérica, transformava o corpo do ator em uma ferramenta, um títere a serviço da mente. As atuações pelo método da biomecânica possuíam movimentos amplos, exagerados (mas não supérfluos) e tensos, incrivelmente tensos. A capacidade comunicativa dos gestos e expressões, ou seja, a linguagem corporal, dentro da biomecânica, subjugou a linguagem oral a ponto de muitas entonações serem feitas de forma quase que inflexível.

Dentro da biomecânica o cinético e o estático têm valores semelhantes, tal qual nos teatros populares nipônicos. E o corpo do ator é entendido como mais um objeto de cena, portanto sua disposição em relação ao cenário tem importante papel como elemento de comunicação visual. Por essas razões, outros elementos típicos do teatro de Meyerhold, como a iluminação, cenário e figurino estilizados e antinaturalistas são essenciais para o perfeito

funcionamento da biomecânica.

O cineasta, ex-aluno e amigo de Meyerhold, Sergei Eisenstein, utilizou a técnica da biomecânica em seus filmes Ivan, o Terrível Parte I e Ivan, o Terrível Parte II.

Estilização

Segundo Meyerhold estilização era "evitar a reprodução precisa do estilo de uma época ou de um acontecimento determinado, próprio da fotografia. O conceito de estilização deve estar indissoluvelmente unido a idéia de convencionalismo, da generalização, do símbolo. Estilizar uma época ou um acontecimento significa colocar em relevo, com todos os meios expressivos a síntese de uma época ou de um acontecimento determinado; significa reproduzir os traços característicos escondidos, como resultam no estilo velado de fundo de certas obras de arte. (1998, p. 140) "

http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vsevolod_Emilevitch_Meyerhold