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Page 1 of 6 Jörg Bochow (Academy for Performing Arts Baden-Wuerttemberg) ‘Meyerhold and contemporary theatre. A critical reflection’ At the end of the twentieth century, German theatre had seen a revival of interest in Meyerhold’s approach to theatre, in particular in his Biomechanics. Young directors like Thomas Ostermeier and Claudia Bauer and many young actors adapted Meyerhold’s methods in their work. Fifteen years later this interest in the modern aesthetics of the early twentieth century is confronted with new concepts of presenting individual and social identities on stage. How do Meyerhold’s concepts work within contemporary performance strategies? Where do the inherent philosophical and aesthetic conflicts lie? Philip Brehse (Open Space Performunion) ‘A tale of experiencing Biomechanics: from the Living Theatre’s reconstruction to own theatre work’ New York-educated actor, former collaborator of the Alchemical Theatre Laboratory and the Living Theatre who witnessed attempts to reconstruct Biomechanics and incorporate it in contemporary theatre practice, talks about his creative adventure with Meyerhold’s technique. Ma³gorzata Jab³oñska (Jagiellonian University, Kraków) ‘Meyerhold’s Biomechanics: actor training based on the paradigm of prearranged experience’ Meyerhold recognized the need for actors who are aware of their place in the multi-element composition of the performance – by consciously manipulating their body and voice, actors should become responsible co-creators. Biomechanics emerged in response to that need and changed the paradigm of the actor’s work. Developed through experiment, biomechanical training is not an acting technique to be copied, but the script of ‘prearranged experience’ that can be actualized, allowing the actor, on the level of somatic experience, to understand the general principles of the profession, and to use them in composing their actions in any given context. Olga Kuptsova (Gerasimov State University of Cinematography) ‘Discovering Pushkin: Pushkin’s dramatic works in Meyerhold’s theatre pedagogy in the second and third decades of the twentieth century’ As a drama theorist and theatre pedagogue, Meyerhold ‘discovered’ the stageability of Pushkin’s dramas and refuted the claim that they are ‘dramas to be read’. We will address the following themes: Pushkin as the author of ‘conditional theatre’ (uslovnyi tieatr); the historico-literary examination of Pushkin’s dramatic technique; the ‘Gonzaga–Karatigin–Pushkin line’ in Meyerhold’s Saint Petersburg productions; inclusion of Pushkin’s dramatic works in the educational activities at the Meyerhold Studio, in the Classes for Mastership of Scenic Productions (KURMASCEP) and in the State Higher Theatre Workshops (GWYTM); work with KURMASCEP participants on 25 tableaux from Boris Godunov; Pushkin as the creator of grand manière (grand style); the brochure A. S. Pushkin’s ‘Boris Godunov’. Performance Materials and Meyerhold’s ‘New Russian notebook’. |