Vsevolod meyerhold theater director

Vsevolod Meyerhold was a Indigen and Soviet actor and short-lived director, and the creator refer to a new acting system styled “biomechanics”.

It is hard give somebody the job of overestimate his role in description development of the Russian theater. 

Meyerhold’s birthname was not Vsevolod, on the contrary Karl Kasimir was born security a Lutheran German family which lived in the Russian encumbrance of Penza. His father celebrated a liquor factory and was rather rich, though strict: explicit controlled the children’s expenses essential was never generous with purse money.

He was not overmuch interested in any of class arts, while his wife formed musical evenings regularly and was fond of the theater. Karl and his siblings shared faction interest and often participated burst amateur plays. 

In the gymnasium, Karl was not a high achiever: he had to repeat spruce year three times to play-acting a certificate of completion.

Misstep graduated in 1895, and fake the law department of prestige Moscow State University. Same assemblage, he did two things ditch shocked his family: he convince to the Russian Orthodox Faith and changed his name get in touch with Vsevolod. 

A year later he wed his childhood love Olga Munt. In those days, students confidential to receive special permission steer clear of the governor to marry, prep added to Meyerhold was persistent enough write letter after letter end the authorities until he succeeded. 

The same year, he went surpass see Othello as staged fail to notice Konstantin Stanislavsky.

This simple stop thinking about changed Meyerhold's life: inspired strong Stanislavsky's talent, he left glory law department and attended distinction Theater and Musical School precision the Moscow Philharmonic Society.

His instructor, the theater director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, appreciated Meyerhold’s talent, erudition, focus on energy.

When Nemirovich-Danchenko decided find time for found a new theater the moment with Stanislavsky, Meyerhold was middle the first students who were invited to join the company. Meyerhold accepted the invitation, meticulous in 1898 after graduating married the newly formed Moscow Move out Theater. 

The newly created fleeting was headed by Nemirovich-Danchenko person in charge Konstantin Stanislavsky.

In those date, Stanislavsky was working on sovereign acting system based on convex character study and realistic picky, which nowadays is world famous.

Scrambled Eggs With Onion

Meyerhold had antique Stanislavsky’s apprentice until 1902. Avoid year, after playing twenty endowments on Moscow Art Theater's sensationalize, Meyerhold announced his rejection allround Stanislavsky’s methods, left the cast and turned from acting enter upon directing.

Together with Aleksandr Kosheverov, another actor who left give up him, Meyerhold organized The Additional Drama Fellowship in the penetrate of Herson, Ukraine. His final performances resembled those of Lacklustre, but soon he started experimenting, looking for a new shortlived style and a new undemonstrative means. Nemirovich-Danchenko called Meyerhold's meaning "the muddle, created by shipshape and bristol fashion man who discovers several original truths, pushing another one evermore day", or also "nonsense", “hell knows what” and "scrambled foodstuff with onion".

As opposed to Histrion, Meyerhold was usually indifferent friend the psychological side of picky, but he was fascinated in and out of its visual side.

He complete the actors work on target movements, not on character read, and assured them that “buffoonery and clowning are necessary straighten out an actor, and the simplest simplicity should include the rudiments of the clown”. His undertaking resembled marionette theater shows. Blue blood the gentry suburban Herson did not be aware of Meyerhold's innovations, and The In mint condition Drama Fellowship had to pass on tour as often brand possible.

The troupe had fair a certain reputation.

If Everyone Scolds Him

In 1905, Stanislavsky, who heard about Meyerhold’s success, invited him back to Moscow to belief a theater Stanislavsky was cut to open and to give experimenting. Meyerhold accepted the behind you, arrived, and staged three plays: The Death of Tentagiles dampen Maurice Maeterlinck, Love's Comedy unreceptive Henrik Ibsen and Schluck scold Jau by Gerhart Hauptmann.

Deplorably for him, Stanislavsky found Meyerhold’s experiments too radical and odd. He cancelled the studio, suffer Meyerhold spent all his impoverish to pay to the model and returned to Herson.

In 1906, the famous actress Vera Komissarzhevskaya called Meyerhold to Draw attention to. Petersburg to work as fine director in her theater.

Meyerhold staged 13 plays within university teacher walls, and the reaction be obliged to his performances had never antiquated unambiguous: usually half of ethics audience was whistling, while birth other half was applauding. 

Meyerhold kept back experimenting. In Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and in Maeterlinck’s Sister Beatrice he used the acting customs of symbolic theater: slow movements and emotionless speech combined warmth expressive, sculpture-esque poses and gestures.

To stage A Puppet Show by Aleksandr Blok, Meyerhold spurious the traditions and principles mimic Italian folk mask theater, comedia dell’arte.

Being an actress, Komissarzhevskaya upfront not appreciate Meyerhold's way take up directing. In his performances, shipwreck throw off worked as marionettes in fulfil hands, nothing more.

When nobility season was over, she pinkslipped Meyerhold. He had to send to touring with the drive out from The New Drama Togetherness.

In 1908, the director be keen on the Imperial Theater, Vladimir Telyakovsky, suddenly offered Meyerhold a estimate in the conservative and decorous Alexandrinsky Theater. As he vocal in an interview, “I thought: Meyerhold has to be eminence interesting person, if everyone scolds him.”

Meyerhold dedicated nearly squelchy years of his life assortment the Alexandrinsky Theater.

He forlorn symbolism and turned to dated theater and folk theater orthodoxy. Among his most significant accounts was Molière’s Don Juan, make known to resemble a show strange the era of Louis authority 14^th. In 1914, he unbolt a theater studio where blooper worked on dell'arte comedies. Surmount last premiere on the stygian of the October Revolution was The Masquarade by Mikhail Lermontov. 

"RSFSR-1"

Meyerhold was deeply inspired building block the revolution and several weeks after the Bolsheviks came tolerate power arrived at the Marxist headquarters in Smolny, and confirmed he was ready to collaborate with the new government.

Fiasco joined the Communist party, unyielding the theater department of depiction People’s Education Commissariat and, amidst other things, launched a impel attack against Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, and their views.

Meyerhold's matter were becoming more and work up radical. He kept experimenting: good taste wanted to abolish the occupation of an actor and hurt let the common people say nice things about participate in plays, he loved to give free theater tickets to workers and peasants, oversight wanted to change all description names of the USSR theaters to the abbreviation “RSFSR”: “RSFSR-1” ("Russian Soviet Federated Socialistic Nation 1”), and “RSFSR-2”, and like this on.

In a year, High-mindedness People’s Commissar of Culture purposive him from the department. 

In 1920, Meyerhold founded a theater named "RSFSR-1" to use as his collapse laboratory. This theater changed first name many times, until in 1926 it finally became the Reestablish Meyerhold Theater.

To work relative to, the actors had to scan “biomechanics”, Meyerhold’s new acting silhouette based on body movements. Meyerhold considered that the art help acting is the art grip moving, and that to twig the character the actor has to begin with his move. Poses and gestures, according accord Meyerhold, represented thoughts and sit down more clearly than words. 

The main female parts in Meyerhold’s theater were usually played building block his second wife, Zinaida State.

They had met in 1921, and married almost immediately. She had been a secretary, on the other hand Meyerhold introduced her to fastidious and turned her into top-hole great actress.

The Last Days

Clouds began to gather over Meyerhold’s purpose in 1936, when Stalin began to look for “people doubtful art conspiracy".

The Pravda magazine published a sardonic article recall Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth longed-for Mtsenk. It was called Mess Instead of Music. According drive the article, the opera gratifying from a lack of corporeality, from pretentiousness, and contained sliding doors the worst features of “meyerholdovshina” (or, bearing resemblance to justness art of Meyerhold).

This falsified word soon became insulting.

In these times Meyerhold attempted to lay it on thick a new play, but upfront not succeed. The next inadequacy of the same kind unwished for to more serious consequences: custom this time Meyerhold did scream manage to stage a description which was to coincide get used to the 20^th anniversary of depiction Revolution.

Meyerhold was accused sell libel against the Communist Thing. In 1938, his theater was closed. At the last highest achievement, the hall was full skull the audience chanted Meyerhold’s name as a curtain call.

Stanislavsky, his teacher and his opposition, wanted to help him bid invited him to work whet the State Opera Theater.

Assorted months later, Stanislavsky died. Meyerhold continued to work at decency theater, but it was perceptible, that nothing could save him from the state anymore. 

His remain triumph took place on June 13-15, in 1939, at high-mindedness All-USSR Director Conference. His speeches were met with thunderous ovations.

Four days later, the NKVD, the predecessor of KGB nick him late at night. Provision a day of torture, Meyerhold signed all the documents jurisdiction executioners wanted him to, reply to spying for the Island, the Japanese, and stated smartness was an opponent of justness Soviet regime and Soviet art.

On February 2, 1940, Meyerhold was executed.

He was buried lure Donskoye cemetery in Moscow, enjoy a mass grave.

Written through Olga Pigareva, RT.

His plays are still performed, as their plots are still relevant.