Meyerhold: A Revolution in Theatre FROM THE PUBLISHER
Vsevolod Meyerhold began his theatrical career as an actor with the Moscow Art Theatre but he left after four years to establish himself as a director in the remote provinces. At Stanislavsky's invitation he returned to Moscow and founded an experimental studio to find a new direction for the Art theatre's work. Absorbing influences from Maeterlinck, the Russian Symbolists, commedia dell'arte and Oriental theatre, Meyerhold went on to develop a theatrical style that exploded the conventions of naturalism. His re-evaluations of the Russian classics culminated in his masterpiece, the 1926 production of The Government Inspector. In 1917, he supported the Bolshevik cause and was the pioneer of revolutionary theatre, but this great innovator fell foul of the Stalinists and was executed in 1940 on concocted charges of treason and espionage. Edward Braun takes us through the journey of this extraordinary life of experiment and discovery. He uses eye-witness accounts to bring to life Meyerhold's productions, their genesis, the problems the director encountered and the inventive solutions he provided. Braun describes Meyerhold's rehearsal techniques and exercises and provides an acute assessment of his continuing influence on contemporary theatre. In this fully revised and greatly expanded edition of his book The Theatre of Meyerhold, Edward Braun draws on papers only now being made available in Russia to describe the director's last days, his final tragic confrontation with the NKVD.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Legendary Russian theater director Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874-1940) led the revolt against naturalism and flouted Stalinist socialist realism with his avant-garde productions incorporating mime, constructivist sets, musical scores and formalized scenery. His scenic invention and use of cinematic techniques culminated in his 1926 staging of Gogol's The Government Inspector as well as reinterpretations of classics such as Pushkin's Queen of Spades. Braun, a drama professor in England, sees Meyerhold as a supreme director-poet for whom the theater was designed to shatter the audience's complacency. Decked out with 145 photographs of set reproductions, costumes and posters, Braun's vibrant study restores Meyerhold's radical legacy for contemporary theater. This revision of a work first published in 1979 draws on a wealth of newly discovered writings by Meyerhold, as well as KGB files released since 1989 that tell the full story of the director's arrest, torture and execution after being falsely labeled a foreign agent by Stalin. (Sept.)
Library Journal
This revised and expanded edition of Braun's The Theatre of Meyerhold (Drama Bk., 1979) offers a fascinating study of the great Russian theater director. Braun (drama, Univ. of Bristol) has taken advantage of a wide range of new scholarship and a wealth of recently revealed writings and other material by Meyerhold himself, including rehearsal transcripts, production notes, and letters. Sadly, it is the 1989 release of KGB documents that enables Braun to offer a detailed account of Meyerhold's final months, from his last public appearance in 1939 to his execution in 1940. Braun's narrative style is clear and avoids unnecessary jargon, and 50 new illustrations enliven the text. This excellent, comprehensive appraisal of a unique theatrical career that has had broad, long-lasting influences on Western theater is recommended for all academic libraries with theater or Russian/Soviet studies programs.-Susan L. Peters, Emory Univ., Atlanta
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