| Abstracts |
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Page 5 of 6 Vadim Shcherbakov (State Institute of Theatre Art) ‘The plastic embodiment of paradox’ According to Meyerhold, the chief feature of the grotesque is that is ‘throws the spectator off balance’, targeting hubris, provoking one to think and to understand the structure of the world and soul. In this sense, the grotesque is the sister of paradox. What paradox demands in logic is realized in the spatial arts through the grotesque. Much like paradox, the grotesque combines contradictions into a whole and is able to express, in an extreme way, the essence of ideas and the nature of emotions. Meyerhold’s work is suffused with this understanding of grotesque-paradox. This device expands into a mindset that determines the concepts of performances, the shape of stage situations, the presentation of characters, the visual aspects of the actors’ bodies, their presence on stage, and even movement in biomechanical exercises. Maria Shevtsova (Goldsmiths, University of London) ‘Meyerholdian dimensions in the work of contemporary directors’ In the case of Meyerhold it is preferable to refer to the dimensions of his impact on twentieth- and twenty-first century theatre in Western Europe and the United States rather than to any direct influence. This presentation focuses on Meyerhold’s presence in the work of contemporary directors. Starting from Meyerhold’s notion of the ‘grotesque’ in relation to the actor’s play, scenic and sociopolitical space, my examples are from the work of Peter Sellars, Robert Wilson and from such directors of note in Germany today as Michael Thalheimer and Sebastian Nübling, whose actors exemplify the acting of ‘non-illusion’. |