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1Имагология и компаративистика. 2024. № 21. С. 95-114 Imagology and Comparative Studies. 2024. 21. pp. 95—114
Original article UDC 792.03
doi: 10.17223/24099554/21/5
The emergence of the conditional theater and its implications for the theatrical scenery (scenic design - the structure of the play and mise-en-scène - costume design)
Moayyad Hamza
Luminus Technical University College, SAE Jordan, Amman, Jordan, m. [email protected]
Abstract. Vsevolod Meyerhold was one of the most influential theorists of the conditional theater who actively promoted creative models he laid out in his articles, speeches, and lectures. This study analyzes Meyerhold's perspective of the conditional theater, drawing on the available modern sources. In relation to Meyerhold and other pioneers of this theatrical approach, the article aims to clarify the concept of the conditional theater in terms of scenery. The author focuses on the specificity of theatrical conditionality and the origins of Meyerhold's artistic creativity in his theorizing about the politics of theater, which depends on the use of the viewer's imagination and their involvement in the theatrical play.
Keywords: conditional theater, Meyerhold, scenery design, theatrical costume design, mise-en-scene, stage perception, positive viewer
For citation: Hamza, M. (2024) The emergence of the conditional theater and its implications for the theatrical scenery (scenic design — the structure of the play and mise-en-scene — costume design). Imagologiya i komparativistika — Imagology and Comparative Studies. 21. pp. 95-114. doi: 10.17223/24099554/21/5
© M. Hamza, 2024
Hamza M. The emergence of the conditional theater and its implications
Научная статья
doi: 10.17223/24099554/21/5
Возникновение условного театра и его влияние на театральные декорации (сценография -структура пьесы и мизансцена - дизайн костюма)
Моайяд Хамза
Колледж политехнического университета Люминус, филиал в Иордании, Амман, Иордания, [email protected]
Аннотация. Мейерхольд был одним из самых влиятельных теоретиков условного театра и активным пропагандистом творческих моделей, построенных на основах, которые он излагал в своих статьях, речах и лекциях. В данном исследовании на основе доступных современных источников XXI в. анализируются взгляды Мейерхольда на специфику театрального зрелища в условном театре. Применительно к Мейерхольду и другим пионерам этого театрального подхода статья преследует цель прояснить концепцию условного театра в ее применении в области декораций. Определяется специфика театральной условности и раскрываются истоки художественного творчества у Мейерхольда в его теоретизировании о политике театра, зависящего от задействования воображения зрителя и вовлечения его в разыгрываемую перед ним театральную игру.
Ключевые слова: условный театр, Мейерхольд, сценография, дизайн театрального костюма, мизансцена, сценическое восприятие, позитивный воспринимающий
Для цитирования: Hamza M. The emergence of the conditional theater and its implications for the theatrical scenery (scenic design — the structure of the play and mise-en-scène — costume design) // Имагология и компаративистика. 2024. №21. С. 95—114. doi: 10.17223/24099554/21/5
Introduction
The conditional theater emerged and crystallized as an artistic trend of the creative theatrical process in the late 19th - early 20th centuries to oppose realism and, mainly, naturalism in theater. The source of the conditional theater stems from physiological experiments on a group of dogs in 1901 by the famous Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. Firstly, Pavlov
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rang a bell whenever he gave food to his dogs, but after a while, he stopped giving food to see that the dogs headed to the place where they used to receive food and salivated whenever they heard the bell ringing, though was no smell of food there. The phenomenon was called the conditioned reflex. In 1903, Pavlov's assistant, Ivan Tolchinov, contacted the Natural Sciences Council in Helsinki to report about these findings, and in the same year, Pavlov presented his results at the 14th World Medical Congress in Madrid. His experiments awarded him the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1904.
Pavlov's scientific breakthrough coincided with the interactive intellectual and experimental movement in the Russian theater in the early 20th century. After splitting from the Moscow Art Theatre in 1902, Meyerhold began his experiments to later become one of the most prominent critics of theatrical realism, basing his conclusions on the theory of conditioned reflex by Pavlov, who had become a star and even a national hero for all Russians.
Meyerhold argued that theater had always depended on the viewers' conditioned emotional response, which causes communication between the receiver and the sender in the theater. Greek actors, who presented in the daytime, would carry a torch in front of the audience and stroll so that the audience would realize that the scene takes place at night. Even in the Stone Age it was enough for an ancient man to wear an animal attribute -for instance, deer horns - to play the role of a deer. This made Meyerhold interested not only in physiology, but also in the history of theater. The lectures on theater history he gave to his student contributed much to his theory about the conditional theater. At the same time, Meyerhold emphasized the futility of simulating nature in the theater, which caused his split from the Moscow Art Theatre in 1902.
Vsevolod Meyerhold, the theorist of the conditional theater
Meyerhold's interest in theatrical conditionality was launched by his artistic, philosophical, and aesthetic discord with Konstantin Stanislavski in 1902. However, Meyerhold's split from the Moscow Art Theatre and decision to change his creative approach was triggered by Valery Bryusov's article "The Unnecessary Truth (about the Moscow Arts Theater)" published in World of Art. In his "Lectures on Directing 1918-1919",
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Meyerhold qualifies Bryusov as a futurist among writers for theater: Bryusov criticizes Stanislavski's method, which was rather innovative for that time, and argues that the attempt to transfer what he calls the realistic truth to the stage was futile. Bryusov's criticism inspired Meyerhold to leave the Moscow Art Theatre and begin his artistic career, research, and experiments in theatrical art independent of Stanislavski and his teacher Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. In 1907, Meyerhold published his first article where he outlined his theory of the conditional theater. He continued to work on it throughout his artistic life to find the way to resist the portrayal of natural/realistic truth on the stage. What happened between 1902 and 1907, and what factors helped Meyerhold crystallize the first outlines of a new, almost iconoclastic approach?
Meyerhold considered audience an essential component in his theory of the conditional theater, since spectators become active co-creators of the performance, reacting to the system of signs, hints, and symbols. Thus, the director involves spectators into the process of forming an integrated general picture, enabling them to capture the idea and purpose of the performance. According to Meyerhold, the most influential in the conditional theater were visual elements (decorations, makeup, and costumes), stage movements and the rhythm of the scene in general. The mimicry of nature was blamed as the greatest enemy of the conditional theater. Neither the actor nor the spectator can forget that what is on the stage is not a simulation of life but rather a theatrical performance. Meyerhold believed that in this way, he could save theater from the figurativeness corresponding to reality and thus preserve its mystery.
Meyerhold was not the only one who responded to Bryusov's call -among those who criticized the theatrical realism was Evgeny Vakhtangov. However, Vakhtangov's response came late compared to that of Meyerhold, only after the early death of this theater pioneer. We can even regard it as a response to Meyerhold's activities rather than to Bryusov's criticism. Vakhtangov worked as a lecturer in the Art Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre, and in his fifth lecture on October 23, 1914, he said, "In the theater, there must be no real life; otherwise, all this becomes far from art, and even just (rude natural)" [1. P. 132].
Mikhail Chekhov also joined this trail. He is considered a most prominent theater pioneer in the 20th century, who also began his career in the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov played Hamlet in Edward Gordon Craig's
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production and had an opportunity to see Craig's experiments closely
to understand theatrical conditionality and how it was applied to Shakespeare's texts. In his note about Twelfth Night, he said, "All characters and circumstances have been dealt with by Shakespeare within a context far from realistic" [2. P. 81].
The Russian theater of the 19th century
As it has been mentioned before, Meyerhold concluded that reproducing life and reality in the theater was useless and even deadly for the theater that was based on conditionality. This idea became universal among those who confronted Stanislavski's method and the tradition of the Meiningen Ensemble. Meyerhold's approach contributed to the emergence of a new conditional scenery to fit the principles of the future theater, as he called the conditional theater.
To discover this alternative scene, Meyerhold had to go through two stages: firstly, to diagnose the status quo, which the Meiningen Theatre had established in Europe in general and in Russian theater in particular, even before the emergence of Stanislavski's method; secondly, to represent the most appropriate alternative to the traditional theater. In the introduction to his lecture about the Meiningen Theatre, Meyerhold refers to what they know in Russia as the Museum of Ethnography, where there are models of everyday life of different people, folklore, and civilizations from other times. He points out that the management of these museums does not, of course, bring all these exhibits from the countries of origin but only makes copies of them, "Likewise, the Meiningians staged such plays as Julius Caesar, or Shylock, or Uriel Acosta." Meyerhold adds, "Although there is no photographic device, what happens, in this case, is the same as that of the photographic camera" [3. P. 231]. At the same time, Meyerhold considered the dominant influence on Stanislavski's work as of a director continued to be the Meiningen Theatre. Meyerhold comments, "Stanislavski did not deny that he was, at that time, under the influence of his impressions of the Meiningen Ensemble and studied with them. Later Stanislavski tried to get rid of this effect, especially when he got a copy of The Seagull, but he could get only a little away from their influence" [3. P. 120]. Despite the validity of Meyerhold's perspective of Stanislavski's being influenced by the Meiningen Theatre early in his artistic career, we should not forget
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that Meyerhold's lectures date back to 1919, while Stanislavski continued to practice until 1938. The first Stanislavski's book was published in 1924,
with the first English edition in New York following the next year. It should also be emphasized that The Seagull opened the Moscow Art Theatre in 1889, so Stanislavski was mainly influenced by the Meiningen Theatre before his artistic career in the Moscow Art Theatre. In his book My Life in Art, Stanislavski admits that more than once, he undertook exploratory tours to gather stage props that he could use in the Moscow Art Theatre. "I organized an exploratory tour in several cities with merchants and collectors of old objects and in villages with peasants and fishermen, who, as I was told, had a lot of goods hidden items in their boxes," said Stanislavski, "Antique shops were collecting their goods from them" [4. P. 208]. That was just before the opening of the Moscow Art Theatre. Still, Stani-slavski confirmed that due to the lags, all theatrical designers worked on vulgar templates, which he wanted to overthrow them in his revolutionary theater. For example, in his opinion about theatrical costumes he says, "The costume issue at the time was also bad: almost no one cared about historical costumes, no material, cloth, or books were collected from museums. There were three styles in costume shops: Faust, Huguenot, and Moliere" [4. P. 207]. Here we can conclude that Stanislavski believed in the need to simulate the historical costume, precisely what the Meiningen Ensemble did.
Meyerhold rejected the theater based on the simulation of nature and the rule of museum life, which he believed to be far from theatrical art. Though it was the secret to the success of the Meiningen Ensemble, Meyerhold doubted whether this success was of theatrical nature or related to "something else." According to Meyerhold, the nature of theater does not tolerate such costs in the embodiment of reality. If a director wants to stage Hamlet in this way, it would be necessary to hold the audience for long hours, which is impossible. For this, the Meiningen Ensemble deliberately deleted many scenes, incapable of implementing all of Shakespeare's text. For example, in Hamlet, although Shakespeare did not write from outside the theatrical play process, he was an actor before addressing the writing and fully knew the stage requirements in his time. So, what was the conditional alternative that Meyerhold found?
Meyerhold refers to the history of the theater, "Playwrights who wrote plays for the theater very often doubled as directors, actors, and playwrights,
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such as Shakespeare, Moliere, Euripides, etc. It was not for nothing that they wrote and it was not for nothing that they showed the number of scenes and indicated the time of each scene, and suddenly these plays had to be remade, so they are no longer the plays of Shakespeare, but the synthesis of the Meiningen Ensemble and others. They changed these plays so much that Shakespeare was probably rolling over in his grave" [3. P. 297].
The mystery was in the simplicity adopted by Shakespearean theater in scenic design, accompanied by the ingenuity of acting - this is what Meyerhold emphasized. He gave details of how these playwrights dealt with the theatrical scenic design, "Thanks to the structure of the English theater - in such a way that when they hung a carpet on the stage, it was possible to arrange a special room above the carpet, above which there were special balconies, so that, for example, in order to place Juliet on the balcony, it was enough for her to go out onto this balcony. Then, when the act was over, there was a moment when the curtain opened, a niche was built in which a crypt could be built where Romeo found Juliet buried, etc. This was a simplified production in the English theater in the 16th century" [3. P. 231].
Meyerhold does not attribute credit to himself in rejecting the museum's natural spectacle and goes towards simplicity in decorations, acknowledging the leadership of Craig, "The first person to rebel against such productions was a certain Gordon Craig, English director. He wrote a whole book against them, in which he (since he was an Englishman, he stood up for Shakespeare's [plays]) says that it is impossible to treat Shakespeare this way, that Shakespeare demands a different performance" [3. P. 232]. Meyerhold sees Craig as the vector of his creativity towards simplicity as an alternative. "Gordon Craig drew attention to this simplification, realizing that only such a simplified production makes it possible to present Shakespeare without shortchanging his plays and staging them the way the playwright dreamed of' [3. P. 233].
To illustrate this, it is necessary to dwell on Craig, especially on his discord with the Russian theater. Craig's visit to the Moscow Art Theater and his work on Hamlet contributed much to the ideas of conditionality and simplicity in scenic design among the most prominent pioneers of the Russian theater in the 20th century. For example, in his book My Life in Art, Stanislavski writes about close friendship that immediately arose between Craig and Sulerzycki, "He immediately became good friends with
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Sulerzycki. They felt the presence of talent in each other and were always together" [4. P. 334-335]. Sulerzycki was Vakhtangov's supervisor in the Moscow Art Theatre. Vakhtangov is thought to be influenced by Craig's ideas, which made the former close to Meyerhold in his aesthetic views.
In addition, this poison1 itself, as Meyerhold calls it, influenced another pioneer of the Russian theater, also through Hamlet staged in the Moscow Art Theatre - Mikhail Chekhov, the actor who played Hamlet. After leaving Russia, he introduced an alternative methodology to the practice of actor training. Thus, Craig's influence on the most prominent opponents of Stani-slavski's approach is undeniable both in acting according to the art of experiencing or the art of representation. Moreover, in the case of condi-tionality versus realism, Meyerhold named Craig's ideas the poison which spread the infection and hit the Russian theater, "They started talking about Gordon Craig as if they had been poisoned" [3. P. 133]. Craig's role in crystallizing the ideas of Meyerhold's conditional theater cannot be overestimated.
Stanislavski also understood Craig's work. In My Life in Art, he dwells on his collaboration with Craig, so it is obvious that he was aware of what Craig wanted to do in stage design. Craig dismissed all these vulgar designs and turned to simple curtains, which could be placed on the stage in infinite harmony and diversity, giving hints of architectural designs such as corners, gaps, streets, turns, galleries, towers, and others. These hints were aided by the imagination of the spectator, who thus became one of the active creators of the production." [4. P. 334] Stanislavski was aware of the principle of the positive-active spectator who participates in the performance through imagination. At the same time, he was mindful of the principle of simplicity in theatrical scenic design. Stanislavski adds, "Craig dreamed of staging the entire performance without intermissions or the use of the curtain. The audience was to see no stage in the theater. The screens were to serve as an architectural continuation of the auditorium and were to harmonize, blend with it. But at the beginning of the performance the screens were to move gracefully and their lines were to take on new combinations. At last, they were to grow still. From somewhere there would come light that would give them a new picturesqueness, and the spectators
1 According to Meyerhold, Craig's ideas spread through the Russian theater like an
irresistible poison. The expression here has positive connotations.
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were to be carried away, as if in a dream, to some other world which was only hinted at by the artist, but which became real in the imagination of the spectators." [4. P. 345]. Here, Stanislavski reveals the primary source of many of Meyerhold's arguments and that Craig is considered one of the constants of the conditional theater. He emphasizes Craig's role in spreading these ideas, as Meyerhold did.
Though familiar with Craig's ideas, Stanislavski kept repeating the idea that the existing opportunities did not allow Craig's vision to be realized. He recognizes Craig's talent but simultaneously emphasizes that he is a painter, alluding that many of his ideas are beautiful and convincing in paintings only but not necessarily successful on the scene, in other words: in the reality of the theatrical process.
To present Meyerhold's view of the conditional scenic design, we are to review the most critical aspects of the theatrical scenery that Meyerhold touched upon and begin with decorations.
Decorations in the conditional theater
Meyerhold favored the use of simple decorations that could be used in several scenes. For example, he recommended using partitions, which go out on the sides and can be painted on both sides so that they can be used in separate places, "Having such screens, you can place them in different directions. You can have them not only in three doors, but also in more. If you have a supply of these screens, you can place them this way (draws). So, they can serve as a gate, once installed, they will serve as a door, etc." [3. P. 241].
At the same time, Meyerhold pointed out his opinion about theatrical curtains. Through an analytical study of theater history, he noted that ancient theater did not use curtain. He suggested that two people install a piece of colored cloth on two sticks to move the light curtain in all directions to get plenty of possibilities and make any adjustment desired by the director without closing the main curtain in front of the stage. This proposal reminds us of Craig's for Hamlet in the Moscow Art Theatre, which Craig could not implement as he wanted. Meyerhold commented, "The most important thing is that the craft is easy. The Japanese and Chinese take this into account, but we Russians take little account of this, we do everything terribly firmly and do not spare the wood. This is partly due
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to the fact that we have an abundance of wood" [3. P. 242]. Perhaps this was precisely the reason why the curtains in Craig's Hamlet collapsed (Stanislavski was the executive director of the production). In My Life in Art, Stanislavski admits that he used canvas on wooden frames, and this is what Meyerhold means in his words. Again, he indirectly criticizes the Moscow Art Theatre and its prominent director.
Meyerhold cites all these examples to point out how his students should walk, not to mimic him or replicate his experiences, but most importantly, to give examples of the enormous potential that the conditionality can open to a director even if he does not have a huge budget. Moreover, he talks about his experience, "In my Studio I did the following: two orthogonal bamboo sticks carried a tulle, on which I sewed stars with sparkles, and it gave the impression of a starry sky. Against this background, a small bridge stood out, and the characters stepped onto this humpbacked bridge. ... I think, canvas is heavy and should be replaced with calico, which is convenient for decoration. It is good to apply paints on it, and it holds them well. If this calico becomes wrinkled during transportation, you can iron it. In general, I recommend thin tulle or calico in theater, which creates a magical impression" [3. P. 242].
The same artistic style can be observed in Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. A scene plan in The Good Person of Szechwan. Zurich, 1943
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The positive spectators, who are not allowed to be integrated into the spectacle, are necessary and even essential in Brecht's theater, which is not
devoid of political tendency.
Brecht was free to express his political ideas and declare that he was looking to serve them, while Meyerhold was confined to the artistic context only. Yet, he was not merciful to the Stalinist repression machine.
To reach these goals, Brecht adopted a set of techniques, mostly in terms of text:
1. third person narration;
2. citation from the past;
3. actor or character directly addressing the audience.
In the scenic design, Brecht adopted the following techniques:
1. breaking the fourth wall;
2. removal of the elements of illusion from the stage;
3. use half-curtains in decorations as an alternative to creating illusion and realism on stage;
4. brightly lit stage throughout the performance;
5. minimal props;
6. use of signals at the beginning of each scene;
7. decorations changing in front of the spectator.
All this led to what became known as the alienation1 effect in Brecht's Theatre, where the spectators never forget that they are in the theater and watching a theatrical play, not a real-life scene. This technique creates a theater that addresses the mind rather than feelings. However, this does not mean that Brecht has eliminated feelings from his theater. He asserts that one of the foundations of his understanding of art is that great art naturally and directly influences feelings. However, it is a conscious feeling that does not eliminate dialectical thinking and does not prevent spectators from thinking about their reality, thus playing their role in social change.
Therefore, all the means and techniques of epic theater fall under the concept of the conditional theater. Brecht added the idea of actor's coming out; however, it corresponds to the principles of the conditional theater, which also seeks to oppose naturalism and aims at contributing to the spectators' imagination. All the techniques of the conditional theater generate the alienation effect, even if Meyerhold did not use the same term.
1 Verfremdungseffekt in German: Making strange, Distancing, Alienation.
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Meyerhold is known for his attack against the fourth wall. He quoted Anton Chekhov as saying, "Yes, the stage requires a certain conditionality; you do not have the fourth wall, apart from that, the stage is an Art, reflecting the essence of life. There is no need to bring extra items to the stage" [5. P. 51]. This quotation could be ascribed to Brecht, which shows the general trend of theatrical art development in the early twentieth century. Meyerhold explains what Anton Chekhov was referring to, "Is there a need to clarify Chekhov's opinion concerning theatrical naturalism? This theater relentlessly searched for a fourth wall, leading it to several absurdities." [5. P. 51].
The review of Meyerhold's lectures shows that there is another source of the idea of simplicity in the scenic design and the need to activate the spectator's imagination - the East Asian Theatre. Meyerhold provides many examples of theatrical conditionality in Japanese and Chinese theater, relating to acting, interaction with theatrical decorations and props, and spectators' co-creation through their imagination. In other words, positive spectators, in this case, contribute through their imagination to the playgroup in the process of completing the stage deficiencies.
The architecture of the theatrical stage and the mise-en-scene
Meyerhold was interested in theatrical architecture and its impact on the nature of theatrical performance. In this context, theatrical architecture refers to both the stage and auditorium and their relationship. In his artistic principles, or even in the 1918-1919 lectures, Meyerhold viewed the structure of the stage as directly influencing the mise-en-scene. He even considered it would be better to subject the stage structure to the requirements of the mise-en-scene rafter than design the mise-en-scene according to the current stage.
Meyerhold asserts the need not to deal with the place as something ready for the artist to adapt to it and also searched for the stage theater suitable for theatrical conditionality. He appeals to the same primary sources, namely, advances in physiology, history of theater, Bryusov' views, Gordon Craig's creativity, Japanese and Chinese theater, and manifestos of futurism. Through his in-depth study of the history of theater, Meyerhold concludes, "Future theaters will take from ancient scenes the charms of their primitiveness. I would like to tell you about ancient scenes. Their main feature is theatrical conditionality. It was perceived as a special charm and a special advantage of the theater - it was valued and loved."
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[3. P. 57]. There are many elements related to the theatrical stage, which can be used, for example from Greek theater. The stage of the Greek theater was designed taking into account the natural circumstances that accompanied the birth of the Greek theater itself. It is known that on the religious holiday of Dionysius, Athenian theater was attended by the entire city. Of course, it is impossible to stage a play, even in its first primitive forms, on a level platform with so many spectators lined up in many rows. The back rows cannot see what is happening on stage, no matter how high the stage is from the ground level. This problem was solved by forcing the audience to sit on the slope of a mountain in an originally mountainous setting, while the performance is performed at the foot of this slope, where a stage is erected. Consequently, the idea of the auditorium of the Greek theater was naturally associated with the urgent need to perform a certain function.
Meyerhold speaks about the moving stages of medieval theater, especially in mystery plays. The scenes were built with vehicles moving after the scene was completed, followed by another car carrying a new stage in front of the crowd gathered in the town square. "It is known that in Spain in the 14th-15th centuries there were cases when eight to twelve people held the platform with the actors playing on it on their shoulders" [3. P. 58]. All these examples point to Meyerhold's idea of using conditionality in theatrical scenery so that the artistic mind of the director might decide the nature of the stage structure and mise-en-scene necessary for the play, and not for insertion into a theater box, square or amphitheater.
The stage structure is determined based on the director's requirements. Meyerhold refers to the history of theater to take advantage of it in the formation of the theater of the future, as he calls his conditional theater, "The director must be aware of all forms of historical and contemporary theater, related to different historical eras, and themes from various texts. The status of any theatrical text on the stage, its massages, and everything in it depends on the director" [3. P. 82].
Speaking about the structure of the stage, Meyerhold gives great importance to the mise-en-scene. Having explored the techniques of conditional decorations and the history of theater in the Middle Ages, the scenic designs of the Globe, Chinese and Japanese theater, Craig's practical experience and the benefit he got from the revolutionary nature of futuristic movement, Meyerhold sought to study the theatrical mise-en-scene and scenery. For this reason, it was necessary to develop a mise-en-scene
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compatible with the theatrical conditionality. In this context Meyerhold explains his definition of mise-en-scene to his students, "What is mise-en-scene? This is the layout, which can be achieved after the concept of the play has been defined in general terms, since it is similar to the actor's gesture, which complements and clarifies the dialogue" [3. P. 107]. The word 'mise-en-scene' comes from French and literally means 'placing on the stage'. It is used to describe the stage design and arrangement of actors in scenes for a theater or film production, including elements of visual dialogues (atmosphere, decorations, props, actors' movement) and, which is of utmost importance, actors' interaction with all these elements.
All these elements are part of the director's work, which he defines in accordance with his vision. It explains the emergence of the term mise-en-scene in its current understanding with the emergence of the director's career. For this reason, the concept of mise-en-scene was linked to direction. However, the director deals with the text and its analysis, music and stage design, acting and everything on stage. Thus, mise-en-scene is just one of the director's tasks. Moreover, this is exactly what Meyerhold means when he uses this term. He warns of the consequences of ignored correlation between the performance and stage architecture and advocates the resistance to the dominant form of the theatrical stage and the need to adapt and change the form in proportion to the idea of the performance. As an example, he talks about how he connected the stage to the audience by installing a tilt on the proscenium. In the accompanying diagram, Meyerhold shows a hand-drawn theatrical movement on the stage, with the audience seated in the middle of the stage as events unfold around them. Meyerhold presented this scheme to his students at lectures in 1918-1919.
Fig. 2. The stage with the audience in the center
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In this context, Meyerhold studied Japanese and Chinese theater styles and stage designs. The following scheme drew his attention and focused on the nature of the conditional relationship between stage and audience provided by such a theater structure and its direct impact on the mise-en-scene.
As it can be seen in Meyerhold's drawing (Fig. 3), three corridors, coming out of the stage, can be used by actors for their movement. The space in between is planned for the audience. Meyerhold specifies the public access and exit methods in the auditorium. The same composition and stage structure naturally produces a mise-en-scene of another kind suitable for those scenery structures.
Meyerhold does not recommend reproducing this form of Kabuki, but draws inspiration from it and thinks in such a way as to allow the creation of stage forms that serve the content and resist the ready-made formation of the box theater or others, which narrow the imagination within the usual theatrical stage.
Having compared various forms of theater (Chinese, Japanese, Ancient, Medieval, Shakespearean), Meyerhold finds out that there is something in common between them, that all these theaters are open-sided and rely on simple trims, that these decorations can be introduced from the front of the theater in front of the public, and they do not need to be dropped from the top or enter from the sides. Yet, Meyerhold warns against introducing innovations in theatrical decorations without taking into account the text of the play and the appropriateness of these decorations, which can lead to distortion of innovations, "The famous English director Gordon Craig
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Су*
Fig. 3. A stage of a Kabuki theater
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was especially unlucky in this regard. Some of his inventions, having been transferred to the Russian stage, were subjected to such distortion that they had nothing in common with the productions of Gordon Craig himself." [3. P. 77].
Another source of Meyerhold's ideas about the theatrical stage was
Futurism launched in Italy in 1909 with a famous manifesto about poetry. Other Futurism manifestos soon followed to be taken up by all arts. The following quote shows that futurism manifestos influenced Meyerhold, "But how should we divide the stage? The stage is divided into a group of squares so that the scaffold can rise or fall, so we can make what looks like a mobile platform" [3. P. 23]. In his manifesto entitled "The Futurist Stage Design" in May 1915, Enrico Prampolini states, "What will be completely new in the theater as a result of our innovation is the ban on all painted scenery. The stage would no longer have a colored background, but a colorless electro-mechanical architectural structure, enlivened by the chromatic waves of the light source created by electrical reflectors with colored filters positioned and coordinated according to the mood that each dramatic action required." [6. P. 214].
In addition, Meyerhold talks about his experience at the Borodinsky Street Studio, which worked from 1914 to 1917 under his supervision. He mentions that the Italian poet Filippo Marinetti, one of the leaders of Futurism, who co-authored a crucial theater manifesto "The Futurist Synthetic Theatre" with Emilio Settimelli and Bruno Cobra, lectured before his students in the studio, "In one of the classes of the Grotesque groups, Marinetti proposed to a group of people that they present him (Cleopatra), three characters, four proscenium servants1, and the Othello theme for ex improviso2. The students discussed the task, without leaving the (playground), the main scenes of tragedy, which played in no more than three minutes to provide a summary of the Shakespearean tragedy" [7. P. 8].
1 Proscenium servants: characters inspired by Japanese theater traditions. The assistant actor stands at the front of the stage and provides the actor with all the material or assistance he needs in front of the audience. The whole idea is a revolutionary experiment to explore the student's ability to employ Japanese theater traditions in his acting scenes during their preparation under Meyerhold's supervision.
2 Meyerhold here uses the same Latin word as Marinetti used in English: improvisation.
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Costume design in the conditional theater
Meyerhold's special attention to costumes in the conditional theater was
inspired by public performances in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, when the costumes were not into the mainstream fashion and did not use museum copies as those in the Meiningen Ensemble. Meyerhold opposes this type of "theatrical costume" to what he calls a "museum uniform."
What is special about the theatrical costume, according to Meyerhold? "The colorfulness of the costumes plays a special role in the public "street" shows. Its task is to captivate us with its magic. Here, for example, the color red that predominates; it is used in the most tremulous moments of the drama. And all this is not done in vain, not aimlessly. Showroom masters know what a special theatrical form is. For their specifically theatrical purposes, they emphasize all this especially in order to bring out these forms in the mind of the viewer" [3. P. 47]. Meyerhold once again confirms that everything in the theater must be aimed to leave a trace in the viewer's consciousness and keep him aware. Here again, we note that there are "messages", which can be philosophical, sociological, political, or whatever that can motivate the viewer towards "change."
Craig also looked for a particular type of costume. As Meyerhold noticed, "It is not important for Gordon Craig to have the uniform strictly dictated by historical data. What matters to him is something else, the theatrical costume" [3. P. 119]. However, what is Craig's so-called theatrical costume?
Craig does not set specifications for the theatrical costume that he wanted. He wants costume designers to "remain clear and fresh." He added, "For instance, do not trouble about the costume books" [8. P. 32], explaining what he aims at, "You must be utterly independent when you come to think about what you have been looking at. Doubt and mistrust them thoroughly. You will not be so far wrong if you find that they contain many good things. Still, suppose you accept them straight away. In that case, your whole thought and sense for designing a costume will be lost" [8. P. 32]. Craig admits that some fashion books may be helpful, like that of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. But even this work is, rather, a manual for authors of historical novels, "The book about theatrical costume has not yet been written." [8. P. 33]. Moreover, this is an example of the difference between the costumes in cinema/television and theater: designers for the former seek to simulate
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nature and historical truth, while theater needs what Craig calls theatrical costume.
Craig believes that the designer's task does not end there. Innovation
alone is not enough if it does not produce a harmonious picture on stage, considering the consistency of color and composition, where the mise en scène plays a decisive role. It is not by chance that Stanislavski defined Craig as a Painter. Craig explains, "Try to make a sketch of a costume for a divine figure and a demonic figure. Of course, all these will be sketches of individual costumes, but the main source of power of this creativity is the ability to see the costume as an element of the whole, of the mass. The eternal mistake of production directors is that they approach mass costumes individually" [8. P. 33]. In his turn, Meyerhold adopts this view almost literally, saying, "They need to see more than just the individual costumes separately, as they are depicted in the painting. They need to take it all together. You need to see what kind of overall picture this gives, what harmony of colors arises here, their range. This is not yet the case, and we live in conditions of barbarism." [3. P. 119].
Meyerhold explains the uniqueness of theatrical costumes and the need to distinguish it from what is known by nature. "Given the essence of public or street shows, we note that everything happening there is magical, unlike in nature or ordinary life. In these shows, the costume plays a role that is different from the one it plays in the regular theater. Interring the public show is like a special kind of ritual. The unusual forms of these shows attract your attention" [3. P. 46]. Of course, this atmosphere passed into farce, then into commedia dell'arte, just as it passed into the plays of Moliere, and earlier into the comedy of Shakespeare. This general atmosphere and theatrical form are necessary for the theater in general; it makes the theater scenes interesting to the spectator and makes the viewer a participant in his PLAY. Meyerhold says, "I must tell you that without these forms of play, and theatrical jokes, the theater will not become interesting. This is true, not only for our theater but also for the theater in general" [3. P. 46].
Conclusion
The conditional theater, with its aesthetic and artistic principles, formed an artistic contrast to what prevailed in the theater influenced by
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the Meiningen Ensemble, the emergence of the Moscow Art Theater, and the success of its performances. The conditional theater responded to the changes that occurred due to the emergence of new artistic movements, ideas, and even scientific discoveries in the early 20th century.
Meyerhold was inspired by the idea of the conditional theater from several sources, each of which contributed to the formation of the Conditional Theater, which he called the Theater of the Future. The most famous sources are the views of Bryusov, the history of theater, physiology, the works of Gordon Craig, oriental theater and the futurism movement.
The conditional theater is based on anti-realism and seeks to find creative alternatives. However, it is Meyerhold who deserves the credit for theorizing this theatrical approach and laying clear foundations for it, focusing entirely on the specifics of theatrical art and the process of its perception.
This approach also emphasizes that the theatrical performance should resist the ready-made stage patterns and try to adapt. Instead, the stage construction should be equipped according to the show's requirements and its mise-en-scene.
This approach to theatrical production prevails nowadays, in contemporary theaters in Britain, for example, as we find major production companies buying or renting a theater building for many years to be able to change the structure of the stage itself, as happened with the performance of The Phantom of the Opera or Lion King. In turn, other modern theaters seek to provide a stage structure that can change and quickly adapt to the various requirements of theatrical performances by using designs for the stage that are easy to change by employing hydraulic cranes and other modern technologies that provide vast options for the director to build and design his scenery.
References
1. Vakhtangov, E. (2000) Eight Lectures in Acting. Translated by Qasem Mohammed. Sharjah: [s.n.].
2. Chekhov, M. (2010) On the Technique of Acting. Translated by Nader Qasem. Sharjah: [s.n.].
3. Meyerhold, V.E. (2011) Lectures. 1918-1919. Translated by Moayyad Hamza. Sharjah: [s.n.].
4. Stanislavski, K.S. (2015) My Life in Art. Translated by Moayyad Hamza. Tangier: [s.n.].
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5. Meyerhold, V.E. (1979) Articles, massages, speeches, conversations. Translated by Sharif Shaker. Vol. 1. Beirut: [s.n.].
6. Rainey, L., Poggi, Ch. & Wittman, L. (eds) (2009) Futurism: An Anthology. New Haven and London: Yale University.
7. Meyerhold, V. (2021) The Legacy of Vsevolod Meyerhold (action plans, lectures, articles, dialogues, speeches, and letters). 1914—1936. Iraq: [s.n.].
8. Craig, E.G. (1957) On the Art of the Theatre. London: Heinemann.
Information about the author:
M. Hamza, assistant professor, Luminus Technical University College. SAE Jordan (Amman, Jordan). E-mail: [email protected]
The author declares no conflicts of interests.
Информация об авторе:
Хамза M. — Ph.D., ассистент профессора Колледжа политехнического университета Люминус, филиал в Иордании (Амман, Иордания). E-mail: [email protected]
Автор заявляет об отсутствии конфликта интересов.
The article was accepted for publication 21.01.2024. Статья принята к публикации 21.01.2024.
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