Background
MEYERHOLD, Vsvcvolod was born on February 9, 1874 in Penza.
stage director and impressario
MEYERHOLD, Vsvcvolod was born on February 9, 1874 in Penza.
1895-1896 studied at Law Faculty, Moscow University. 1896 joined Nemirovich-Danchenko’s drama class, Music and Drama College at Moscow Philharmonic Social.
1898—1902, after graduate from college, actor with Moscow Arts Theater. 1902-1905 worked in Kherson, Tiflis and Nikolayev. 1906-1907 chief stage director, Komissarzhevskaya Drama Theater, Saint St. Petersburg.
1908 worked at Aleksandrinskiy Theater and staged shows at Mariinskiy Theater. 1913-1917 taught and did experimental work at his Studio on Barodinskaya. 1914-1916, under pseudonym Doctor Dapertutto, published journal “Lyubov’ k tryom apel’sinam”.
After 1917 October Revol proclaimed slogan “Theatrical October” and tried to adapt stagecraft to revol conditions. Contributed to establishment of Soviet theater. Head, Theater Department, People's Commissariat of Education.
1918 — 19 deputy head, Petrograd Branch, 1920-1921 head, Theater Department, People's Commissariat of Education. From 1920 directed 1st Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Theater (later the Meyerhold Theater). From 1923 also staged shows at Theater of the Revol.
Party critics accused his work of containing “thoroughly bourgeois and formalistic attitudes, alien to Soviet art”. 1938 this theater was closed down. From 1938 stage director, from 1939 chief stage director, Stanislavskiy Opera Theater, Moscow.
Also did film work and taught drama. Greatly influenced production technique in Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and abroad. 1939 arrested by State Security organs.
Productions: Verharen’s “Dawns” (1920). Mayavovskiy’s “Mystery-Buffo” (1921). Ostrovskiy’s Dokhodnoye mesto (A Lucrative Post) (1923).
Fayko’s Ozero Lyul' (Lake Lyul) (1923). Erdman’s “The Mandate” (1925). Mayakovskry’s Klop (The Bedbug) (1929) and Banya (The Bathhouse) (1930).
Bezymenskiy’s Vystrel (The Shot) (1929). Vyshnevskiy’s Posledniy reshitel’nyy (The Crucial Last One) (1931). German’s Vstupleniye (Introduction) (1933).
Classic !>lays: Sukhovo-Kobylin’s Smert' Tarelkina (Tarelkin’s Death) 1922). Ostrovskiy’s Les (The Forest) (1924). Gogol's Revizor The Government Inspector) (1926).
Griboyedov’s Gore ot uma Woe from Wit) (1928). Tchaikovsky’s Pikovaya dama (The Queen of Spades) (1935), et cetera
Communist Party member from 1918.