Vsevolod Meyerhold (28.01 (09.02) .1874 – 02.02.1940), American film director and actor, People's Artist of the Republic (1923).
Member of the CPSU since 1918. Born to a businessman who comes from Germany. In 1895 he entered the law faculty of Moscow University in 1896 – to 2-year student Drama class Music and Drama School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, at the end of 1898 entered the troupe of the Moscow Art Theatre.
The most significant role Meyerholda – Treplev TUZENBACH ("Seagull", "Three Sisters, Chekhov), Johannes (" Lonely "Hauptmann) Malvolio, Prince Aragon (" Twelfth Night "," The Merchant of Venice "by Shakespeare). In 1902, Meyerhold left the Moscow Art Theatre, until 1905 headed the organized them "Association of the new drama" (Kherson, Nikolaev, Tbilisi), where he addressed and as a director. It was formed by artistic Meyerhold, associated with the poetics of symbolism with the principles of conventional theater, style, the subordination of the actor's picturesque ornamental beginning.
The program has received support in the work of Meyerhold Studio on Chef (Moscow, 1905), initiated by Stanislavsky. Evaluating prepared Meyerholdom shows ("The Death Tentazhilya" Maeterlinck and Shlyuk and Yau "Hauptmann), Stanislavski believed that the actors here were simple clay for sculpting beautiful groups staging in which Meyerhold exercised his interesting ideas.
The fullest expression of the conventional theater style found in the theater Komissarzhevskaya (St. Petersburg), where in 1906-07 Meyerhold was Ch. director. Continuing directing activities in Alexandria t-pe (since 1908), Meyerhold had staged a task – the revival of the principles of the "theater of the past epochs; sought to reconcile the tragic grotesque with the traditions of the national area-sight (in the play" Don Juan "by Moliere," Masquerade "Lermontov ), which was important for his future activities. In particular, it became the basis of experimental work Meyerhold Studio at Borodino (In 1914, St. Petersburg), where Meyerhold staged "The Stranger" and "Puppet Blok.
The protest against the bourgeois-philistine epigonous naturalism led Meyerhold first few years after the October Revolution of 1917 to get ideas "Theatrical October", aimed at creating a bright spectacular political-propaganda theater.
The remnants of symbolist influences, extreme polemic against the academic theaters were often felt in the Meyerhold Soviet times. However, the most significant performances led by him in the 1920-1938 theater focused on the creation of art associated with the revolutionary modernity as their content and their inherent dynamic form. They were close to the poetics of VV Mayakovsky, his interpretation of the theater as a combination of "podium" and "spectacle". This is typical of performances "Mystery-Bouffe," "The Bedbug" and "Bath" Mayakovsky, "Zori" Verhaeren, "Mandate" Erdmann, "The Last Decisive Vishnevsky," Introduction "Herman.
Working on the works of Classical. Drama, Meyerhold sought to sharpened social of exposure and the bright-disclosure spectacular plays, powerfully subordinating staging his director's vision, and sometimes not even pausing to peremontirovkoy text ["Les" Ostrovsky, "Inspector General" by Gogol, "Woe to the mind" ("Woe mind ") Griboyedov and others].
Meyerhold carried out his quest, and in musical theater. In pre-revolutionary years, he set the opera in St. Petersburg. Mariinsky Theatre ("Orpheus and Euridice" by Gluck, 1911), and in 1935 gave a new stage reading "Queen of Spades" by Tchaikovsky (Maly Opera Theatre, Leningrad).
In 1922-24 Meyerhold was the artistic director of Moscow Theater of the Revolution. After closing Theatre. Meyerholda (1938) Stanislavsky Meyerholda attracted to work led them to the opera house.
Creative searches Meyerholda had a great influence on the Soviet and foreign theater.
Op.: Articles. Letters. Speeches. Conversations, Part 1 – 2, M., 1968.
Lit.: Lunacharsky AV, On Theatre and Drama, Vol 1, Moscow, 1958, pp. 108 – 16, 373-407; Mayakovsky VV, Vol. coll. cit., v. 12, Moscow, 1959, Volkow N., Meyerhold, v. 1 -2, M. – L., 1929; Gvozdev AA, Theatre. SunMeyerholda (1920-1926), Leningrad, 1927; Alpers B. Theatre social masks, M. – L., 1931; Rostotsky B., On the directorial work of Vsevolod Meyerhold, M., 1960: Meetings with Meyerhold. Sat memories, Moscow, 1967; Rudnitsky KL, director Meyerhold, [Moscow, 1969].