Alexandra Exter set design for a square in Verona Romeo and Juliet 1921

 

Meyerhold said this in 1901; yet, it was not for another sixteen years that he would act upon his developing theories of what the new theatre should entail. The year of 1917 opened up many possibilities for the theatre, and Meyerhold took advantage of them to the full extent. After the revolutions of 1917 left Russia in the hands of the Bolsheviks, Meyerhold was inspired to take action by involving the masses in a theatrical revolution—or, what he named a "Theatrical October." Henceforth, a form of propagandist theatre developed throughout the country. One thing was for certain: the theatre had to reflect society and, of course, advocate the Bolshevik regime as much as possible—usually with no subtlety. Thus, the Soviet Avant- garde theatre quickly became filled with propaganda.

 

Alexandra Exter curtain design Romeo and Juliet 1921

 

Russian avant-garde theatre developed new techniques that would completely erase and discredit the old, as were the Bolshevik politicians. It was a time when the degenerate past could only be reconciled by grasping the unknown, yet golden future. Meyerhold based his new form of theatre on the society and politics of history. He related the actor to the worker, the stage to the street; the audience became participants in his mass spectacles; and, above all, the theatre was to becime a space of functionality. This functionality paralleling the proletarian struggle towards communism—all must work to achieve the goal. The actor needed to work on the stage, the stage needed to work on the actor, unnecessary decor had to leave the stage (ahem, the petit-bourgeois got the boot), and the entire process of production was to set work, work, work with only the bare necessities until the goal was achieved. Though this goal was not completely worked out, a goal was visualized in the distance and through rehearsals, practice, participation, the goal would soon become clear . . . perhaps.

 

 

Liubov Popova design for a garden in front of the house Romeo and Juliet 1920

 

 

In 1920, Meyerhold was appointed as the head of the Department of the Commissariat for Enlightenment. Through this position, he "argued for the creation of aesthetic forms that would contain and express the spirit of the Revolution."(Baer 45) Soon, his vision of a practical, utilitarian art, which condemned all that was decorative and depictive, and raged alongside the cultural revolution would be found, but not without a series of failed efforts.

 

 

 

How did this new vision effect . . .

 

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