УДК: 792.075

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2025-4-256-270

EDN: BUVUKX

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Nina A. Shalimova

Dr. Sc. in Art Studies, Professor of Russian Theatre Department
Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS)
0000-0003-2295-9768, nislanava@rambler.ru

Commissioner Pierrot. Notes on the Creative Personality of Vs.E. Meyerhold

Abstract

The personality of the great theatre director is examined in the article as an integral and internally unified psychological reality, traces of which are in different ways revealed in his stage creations. The focus is on the psychological truth and integrity of the actor in relation to the real life. By noting the moment of the young Meyerhold’s rejection of the path predetermined by his social origin, the author insists that everything further in his “life in art” occurred “under the dictation” of his personal existential “I”. The article reveals the German “artistic and aesthetic element of culture” within Meyerhold’s personal sphere; it highlights how the young actor perceived the ideas and artistic-literary lessons of Nietzsche, Hoffmann, Heine, Wagner, and Toller; traces of this perception are uncovered in the actor’s and director’s repertoire of the master. In particular, according to Meyerhold’s “Germanness”, the non-realization of the image of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich is explained, and the role of Baron Tuzenbach is emphasized. Relying on the literal translation of the title of Shenton’s play “Acrobats” (Circusleute — circus people), the author writes that the actor interpreted and performed the clown Landovsky as a Circusmann (a man of the circus), and the role of Pierrot — as a Theatermann (a man of the theatre). In Meyerhold’s artistic biography, the roles of Pierrot and the Commissioner are considered as generalized and symbolic.

Keywords

V.E. Meyerhold, V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, K.S. Stanislavsky, Russian theatre, directing, Moscow Art Theatre, A. Blok.

For citation

Shalimova N. A. Commissioner Pierrot. Notes on the Creative Personality of Vs. E. Meyerhold. Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2025, no. 4, pp. 256–270.

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2025-4-256-270

EDN BUVUKX

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Received: 28.09.2025

Revised: 03.11.2025

Accepted: 12.11.2025