| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Contents | ||
Meyerhold was born in Penza on 28 January ( 9 February) 1874 into the family of a Russian-German wine manufacturer Emil Meyerhold. After completing school in 1895 he began the study of law at the Moscow University which he never completed. On his 21st birthday, Meyerhold converted to Orthodox Christianity, and accepted "Vsevolod" as an Orthodox Christian name. His acting career began when he became a student of the Moscow Philharmonic Dramatic School under the guidance of Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko , co-founder of the Moscow Art Theatre where Meyerhold later served as an actor.
Having left the Moscow Art Theatre in 1902, Meyerhold indulged himself in a number of theatrical projects, acting both as a director / producer and actor. The numerous projects of Meyerhold served as an arena for experiment and creation of new staging methods. Meyerhold was one of the most fervent advocates of symbolism in theatre, especially when he worked as the chief producer of the Vera Kommisarzhevskaya drama theatre in 1906- 1907.
Meyerhold continued his search for theatrical innovation in 1907- 1917, while working with imperial theatres in St. Petersburg, introducing classical plays in an innovative manner, and staging works of controversial contemporary authors like Fyodor Sologub , Zinaida Gippius , and Alexander BlokAlexander Blok ( , 1880- 1921) was a famous Russian poet. He was one of the most important of the Symbolists, and his first book Stikhi o prekrasnoi Dame Songs to the Beautiful Lady 1904) created a sensation with its idealized views of feminine beauty and. In their plays Meyerhold tried to return to acting in the principles of Commedia Dell'ArteAntoine Watteau's commedia dell'arte player of Pierrot, ca 1718-19, traditionally identified as "Gilles" ( Louvre) Commedia dell'arte ( Italian, meaning "comedy of professional artists") was a form of improvisational theater which began in the 16th centur, rethinking them for the contemporary theatrical reality. His theoretical concepts of the ‘conditional theatre’ were elaborated on in his book On Theatre in 19131913 is a common year starting on Wednesday. click on link for calendar) Events January-March January 30 House of Lords rejects Irish Home Rule Bill February 1 New York City's Grand Central Station opens as the world's largest train station. February 3 Th.
The revolutions in 1917 made Meyerhold one of the most enthusiastic activists for the development of the new Soviet Theatre , joining the Bolshevik Party in 1918Events January January 8 President Woodrow Wilson announces his " Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I. February February 3 The Twin Peaks Tunnel begins service in San Francisco as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world (11,920 feet long)., taking up posts with the Theatrical Council of the Bolshevik Government, and finally opening his own theatre, the theatre that bears his name until now. Meyerhold fiercely confronted the principles of theatrical academism, claiming them incapable of finding a common language with the new reality. Meyerhold’s methods of scenic constructivism and circusisation of theatre were used in his most successful works of the time: MayakovskyVladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky ( July 7 (O. July 19 (N. 1893 April 14, 1930) was among the foremost representatives for the poetic futurism of early 20th century Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union. He was born the third child in Bagdadi, Georgia where’s Mistery-Bouffe, Fernand Crommelynck 's Le Cocu Magnifique, and Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin ’s Tarelkin’s Death. Mayakovsky collaborated with Meyerhold several times, and it is said that Mayakovsky wrote The Bed Bug especially for him; Meyerhold continued to stage Mayakovsky's productions even after the latter's suicide. The actors participating in Meyerhold’s productions acted according to the principle of biomechanics, the system of actor training that was later taught in a special acting school created by Meyerhold.
Meyerhold was strongly opposed to socialist realism, and in the beginning of the 1930s, when Joseph Stalin clamped down on all avant-garde art and experimentation, his works were proclaimed antagonistic and alien to the Soviet people. His theatre was closed down in 1938, and a year later Meyerhold was arrested and imprisoned. He was brutally tortured and forced to make a confession, which he later recanted before the court. He was sentenced to death by firing squad on 1 February 1940. The date of his death is unclear; some sources say he was executed on 2 February 1940. He was cleared of charges posthumously in 1955.