• Incorporation of Vsevolod Meyerhold’s theatrical ideas into the stage practice of the USA: The directorial activity of Herbert Biberman

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DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2023-2-32-62

EDN: ZXOCUM

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Maxim M. Gudkov

Senior lecturer of Department of interdisciplinary art studies and practices of the Faculty of liberal arts and sciences
Saint Petersburg State University, Russian State Institute of Performing Art
Saint Petersburg, Russia
E-mail: m.gudkov@spbu.ru

Incorporation of Vsevolod Meyerhold’s theatrical ideas into the stage practice of the USA: The directorial activity of Herbert Biberman

Abstract

The study focuses on the incorporation of Vsevolod Meyerhold’s theatrical methodology to American stage practices specifically through the directing activities of Meyerhold’s follower in the US Herbert Biberman. The characteristic of the main ways for exporting Meyerhold’s ideas overseas are provided. Among them — the arrival of American theatrical figures in Moscow, studying with the master at the Meyerhold’s Moscow State Theatre, as well as the translation and publication of Soviet theatrical literature about the director and his method. The reception of Meyerhold’s stage work is given by theatrical figures of the USA (among them — Brooks Atkinson, Henry Dana, Norris Houghton). On the basis of Biberman’s first two productions, the material for which was Soviet dramaturgy — “Konstantin Terekhin (Rust)” by Vladimir Kirshon and Andrey Uspensky and “Roar, China!” by Sergey Tretyakov — the continuity of the stage practice of the American director to the Meyerhold’s theatrical principles is revealed. The Broadway production of “Rust” was distinguished by poster expressiveness and conciseness of style, generalized and relief techniques of the acting. In the performance based on Tretyakov’s play, Biberman built expressive, almost graphic mise en scene and acting angles. The author presents an analysis of “Meyerholdovsky” theatrical ideas overseas on the basis of materials from the collections of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (newspaper and magazine reviews) and the Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts (RGALI, Moscow), as well as documents from the Houghton Library at Harvard University and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. The work is aimed at expanding both the understanding of Vsevolod Meyerhold’s theatrical ideas in the United States and the stage fate of Soviet plays in America.

Keywords

Vsevolod Meyerhold, Soviet theatre, Herbert Biberman, American theatre, Broadway, Vladimir Kirshon, play “Konstantin Terekhin (Rust)” (“Rzhavchina”), Sergey Tretyakov, play “Roar, China!” (“Richy, Kitay!”).

For citation

Gudkov M.M. Incorporation of Vsevolod Meyerhold’s theatrical ideas into the stage practice of the USA: the directorial activity of Herbert Biberman. Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2023, no. 2, pp. 32–62.

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2023-2-32-62

EDN ZXOCUM

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Received: 09.12.2022

Revised: 05.04.2023

Accepted: 25.04.2023