Revolutionary Theatre

by Leach; Robert

• ISBN13: 9780415032230
• ISBN10: 0415032237
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-08-02
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Revolutionary Theatreis the first full-length study of the dynamic theatre created in Russia in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution. Fired by social and political as well as artistic zeal, a group of directors, playwrights, actors and organizers collected around the charismatic Vsevolod Meyerhold and attempted to achieve in the theatre what Lenin and his comrades had achieved in politics: the complete overthrow of the status quo and the installation of a new, utterly different regime. Until now the efforts and influence of this idealistic and radical group of theatrical avant-gardes has been largely unacknowledged as the oppressive reign of Stalin condemned many of them to death and their work to oblivion. In this enlightening work Robert Leach reveals in fascinating detail their roots, their achievements and their legacy.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
List of Abbreviations and Terms
Preface and Acknowledgements
Transliteration
Dramatis Personae
Before the Revolution	p. 1
The Popular Theatre	p. 1
The New Theatre	p. 8
The Ancient Theatre	p. 11
The Futurist Theatre	p. 16
Petrograd 1917-1920	p. 22
An Entirely New World	p. 22
'Stand and Marvel'	p. 31
The Theatre Epidemic	p. 36
Theatre of a New Scale	p. 42
Circusisation	p. 50
Moscow 1920-1921	p. 59
October in the Theatre	p. 59
Dawns of the Proletkult	p. 69
Theatres of Revolutionary Satire	p. 82
Workshops of Communist Drama	p. 91
'A Spectacle Most Extraordinary'	p. 97
Revolutionary Theatres 1921-1921	p. 104
The Master	p. 104
Theatre Experimental and Heroic	p. 114
The Dance of Life	p. 120
The Factory of the Eccentric Actor	p. 130
The World Turned Upside Down	p. 134
Back to Ostrovsky	p. 142
Two Sergei Mikhailoviches	p. 151
'What Has Happened to Us All?'	p. 162
A Tangled Web	p. 162
Blue Blouses	p. 168
I Want a Baby	p. 174
Chronology	p. 187
Notes	p. 201
Select Bibliography	p. 214
Index	p. 218
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.