Vsevolod Meyerhold(1874-1940)
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Vsevolod Meyerhold was born Karl Theodor Kazimir Emil Meyerhold in
1874, in Penza, Russia, into the Russian-German family of Emil
Meyerhold. He converted to Orthodox Christianity on his 21st birthday
and took the name of Vsevolod in memory of the Russian writer Vsevolod Garshin.
After conversion Meyerhold married Olga Mikhailovna (nee Munt) and the
couple had three daughters. Vsevolod Meyerhold dropped out of Moscow
University Law School to become an actor and director. He studied
acting under Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and worked for him at the Moscow Art Theater from
1898 to 1902.
Meyerhold moved to St. Petersburg, where he became the leading advocate
of Symbolism. He introduced new experimental staging methods into
classical plays. After a successful gig as a chief producer at the Vera
Komissarzhevskaya theatre, he was invited to the Imperial Directorship
of Thatres. Meyerhold worked for Imperial Theatres in 1907-1917,
staging both plays and operas. He published a book on innovations in
theatrical productions, titled "On Theatre" (1913), that also included
his theory of 'conditional theatre'. His acting method was different
from that of Stanislavsky's. Meyerhold focused on gestures, poses, and
movements in expressing the outward emotions. He argued that physical
feel and looks will automatically cause emotional expression. His
casting approach was applied by the Russian film directors Sergei Eisenstein,
Sergey Gerasimov, Mikhail Romm. For portrayal of the Bolshevik revolutionaries they
would cast athletic and attractive actors, while the bourgeois
capitalists were played by obese and unattractive actors. Actors from
the Meyerhold's theatre were in demand by film directors.
Meyerhold accepted the Russian revolution and joined the Bolshevik
Party. But he strongly opposed to Socialist realism and was against
censorship and political control of art. His famous productions
included "The Dead Souls" (1926) by Nikolay Gogol and "The Bedbug" (1929) by
Vladimir Mayakovsky. In 1930s Joseph Stalin started the Great Terror of brutal
repressions against intellectuals and experimental artists. Vladimir Mayakovsky was
found dead of a gunshot wound. Meyerhold was proclaimed "alien to the
Soviet people". He was arrested and imprisoned on false accusations.
His theatre was closed down in 1938 and actors became unemployed. His
wife, actress Zinaida Raikh was mysteriously murdered in their Moscow
apartment in 1939. His neighbors Vitali Golovin and Dmitri Golovin were exiled
to Siberian prison-camps. His friends Sergei Prokofiev, Aram Khachaturyan, Anna Akhmatova and
many others were banned from publications and performances.
Meyerhold was executed by the firing squad in February of 1940 (the
exact date of his death is still unclear). He was rehabilitated
posthumously by the Soviet government order that cleared him of all
charges, 15 years after his execution.
1874, in Penza, Russia, into the Russian-German family of Emil
Meyerhold. He converted to Orthodox Christianity on his 21st birthday
and took the name of Vsevolod in memory of the Russian writer Vsevolod Garshin.
After conversion Meyerhold married Olga Mikhailovna (nee Munt) and the
couple had three daughters. Vsevolod Meyerhold dropped out of Moscow
University Law School to become an actor and director. He studied
acting under Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and worked for him at the Moscow Art Theater from
1898 to 1902.
Meyerhold moved to St. Petersburg, where he became the leading advocate
of Symbolism. He introduced new experimental staging methods into
classical plays. After a successful gig as a chief producer at the Vera
Komissarzhevskaya theatre, he was invited to the Imperial Directorship
of Thatres. Meyerhold worked for Imperial Theatres in 1907-1917,
staging both plays and operas. He published a book on innovations in
theatrical productions, titled "On Theatre" (1913), that also included
his theory of 'conditional theatre'. His acting method was different
from that of Stanislavsky's. Meyerhold focused on gestures, poses, and
movements in expressing the outward emotions. He argued that physical
feel and looks will automatically cause emotional expression. His
casting approach was applied by the Russian film directors Sergei Eisenstein,
Sergey Gerasimov, Mikhail Romm. For portrayal of the Bolshevik revolutionaries they
would cast athletic and attractive actors, while the bourgeois
capitalists were played by obese and unattractive actors. Actors from
the Meyerhold's theatre were in demand by film directors.
Meyerhold accepted the Russian revolution and joined the Bolshevik
Party. But he strongly opposed to Socialist realism and was against
censorship and political control of art. His famous productions
included "The Dead Souls" (1926) by Nikolay Gogol and "The Bedbug" (1929) by
Vladimir Mayakovsky. In 1930s Joseph Stalin started the Great Terror of brutal
repressions against intellectuals and experimental artists. Vladimir Mayakovsky was
found dead of a gunshot wound. Meyerhold was proclaimed "alien to the
Soviet people". He was arrested and imprisoned on false accusations.
His theatre was closed down in 1938 and actors became unemployed. His
wife, actress Zinaida Raikh was mysteriously murdered in their Moscow
apartment in 1939. His neighbors Vitali Golovin and Dmitri Golovin were exiled
to Siberian prison-camps. His friends Sergei Prokofiev, Aram Khachaturyan, Anna Akhmatova and
many others were banned from publications and performances.
Meyerhold was executed by the firing squad in February of 1940 (the
exact date of his death is still unclear). He was rehabilitated
posthumously by the Soviet government order that cleared him of all
charges, 15 years after his execution.