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[THE ANALYSIS OF VSEVOLOD MEYERHOLD’S THEATRE OF MASK] Teatr sotsial’noy maski [i.e. Theatre of the Social Mask]

Alpers, B.

Moscow; Leningrad: Goslitizdat, 1931. Item #1886

132 pp.: 8 pp. of ills. 20.7x13.7 cm. In original publisher’s cardboards. Loss of the pieces of the spine, rubbed. Otherwise in good condition.

Scarce. First edition of this world-renowned book dedicated to the analysis of Vsevolod Meyerhold’s theatre of social mask.
This edition about Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874-1940) and his theatrical practice was compiled by the famous Soviet historian and art critic Boris Alpers (1894-1974) in 1931, at the time when Meyerhold was considered an acknowledged leader of the revolutionary art. In the edition, the author, who personally got to know Vsevolod during their collaboration on the journal Love of Three Oranges (1913-1916), defines general contours of the problem of theatrical mask (an integral part of commedia dell’arte, which was actively used by Meyerhold) and systematizes the enormous material accumulated by the theatre director over the years. Reviewing the creative path and practice of Meyerhold based on the performances he staged, Alpers opens the complete theatrical system created by Vsevolod, in which the image-mask occupies the central place. After tracing Meyerhold’s oeuvre in search of a social mask, Alpers comes to the conclusion that the theater of the mask, having fulfilled its mission is receding into the past: “The system of the theater of the mask has come to an end, it has ceased to move forward, has lost the tendency to expand its boundaries, to the evolution of its forms.» Already in a few years, Meyerhold will begin to substantially rebuild his artistic system. The place of the image-mask in his stage compositions will be taken by an expanded image-character with internal movement
The book came out a few years before Meyerhold was accused of anti-Soviet activity and executed in 1940.
After more than 200 years of obscurity, Commedia dell’arte in Russia took on new life when Meyerhold staged Alexander Blok’s Balaganchik [i.e. The Fairground Booth] in Komissarzhevskaya Theatre in 1906. Drawing on the Italian improvised theatre and the Russian symbolism, the play marked the new beginning for the Russian stage. In 1913, Vsevolod founded a studio on Borodinskaia Street, where he undertook the training of actors for the new kind of theatre. During the rehearsals of a series of plays, Meyerhold developed a system of scenic movement (physical training for actors), Biomechanics, which became an integral part of the 1920s Soviet theatre. Meyerhold’s efforts in popularizing Commedia dell’arte were enthusiastically met by the directors Yevgeny Vakhtangov (1883-1922) and Vakhtang Mchedlov, who incorporated elements of the Theatre of Masks in their productions. Commedia dell’arte went on decline in the late 1920s when Meyerhold shifted his focus towards modernist tendencies.
The edition includes 8 pages of illustrations showing scenes from Meyerhold’s productions: Smert’ Tarelkina [i.e. The Death of Tarelkin] (1922), Bubus (1924), Mandat [i.e. Mandate] (1925), etc.
Overall, an important study of theatre art in the late-1920s USSR.

Price: $250.00