Abstract
This chapter demonstrates that what was truly decisive for V. E. Meyerhold after having seen (instead of reading or imagining) a Kabuki performance had, after all, nothing to do with the authenticity of the “Kabuki” performance he saw, or with the veracity of his understanding of Kabuki theatre, but had everything to do with his perception of such a performance as a confirmation of the ideas that had been fermenting in his mind. Thus, the “new light” shed by his direct experience of the “Kabuki” theatre he witnessed was not predicated on the actual authenticity of the gazed, but rather, on the preconditioned desire of the gaze. Meyerhold’s perception of Kabuki theatre and Japanese theatre in general must be understood in the context of his theory and practice. His ahistorical and practical approach to theatrical traditions—“welding the unweldable”—necessitates the refraction, and thereby, the displacement and re-placement, of the essence of those traditions out of their historical-social contexts, as exemplified in his use of Japanese and Chinese theatre.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Two Russian collections (1968 and 1978) of Meyerhold’s articles, letters, speeches, and conversations note that Meyerhold saw the Kabuki troupe (led by Ichikawa Sadanji) in Paris in 1928 (Meyerhold 1968, vol. 2, 555, n. 3, 1978, 117, n. 5). Following its Russian source, a two-volume German translation of the 1968 Russian collection notes that Meyerhold saw Kabuki in Paris in 1928 (Meyerhold 1979, 554, n. 325). In her translation of Aleksandr Gladkov’s work on Meyerhold, Alma Law notes that “Meyerhold did not see any genuine Japanese theatre until 1927 when the Kabuki theatre toured Paris” (Gladkov 1997, 156). Elsewhere, Law remarks that “Meyerhold would not see that [‘authentic Kabuki theatre’] until the late 1920s” (Law and Gordon 1996, 20). In her French translation (published in 1980) of Meyerhold’s previously mentioned conversation on January 15, 1931, Béatrice Picon-Vallin likewise notes that “Meyerhold saw the Kabuki Theatre troupe in Paris in 1928” (Meyerhold 1980, 248, n. 3). More than a decade later, in her translation (published in 1992) of Meyerhold’s conversation with the provincial directors dated January [February] 11, 1935, Picon-Vallin again notes that Meyerhold saw the Kabuki theatre “During his stay in France in 1928” (Meyerhold 1992, 378, n. 1). In her monograph Meyerhold (1990), she states in detail that Meyerhold “finally attended in Paris in late 1928 a performance of Kabuki given by the troupe of Ichikawa Sadanyi (sic),” which Meyerhold said “confirmed” his “knowledge” and “intuitions” he acquired in the Oriental theatre, starting from his experience of Ganako’s [Hanako’s] performances in 1909 (Picon-Vallin 1990, 48). In the 1999 reprint of the same work, the same text remains unchanged, but an erratum was added. In this erratum, while making the correction that Meyerhold did not see Ichikawa Sadanji and his troupe perform in the Soviet Union and suggesting that he must have seen Tsutsui Tokujirō and his troupe perform in Paris in 1930, Picon-Vallin adds, without providing evidence, that “Meyerhold would have been able to talk with Sadanyi (sic) who is, with his actors, on a visit to Paris from September 14 to 19, but he has not been able to see them play, because there has not been a performance” (Picon-Vallin 1999, 426). As I will demonstrate in the following, while in Paris, Meyerhold neither saw Sadanji and his troupe perform nor spoke with the Japanese actor.
- 2.
The advertisements (beginning with the dress rehearsal of Le Révizor offered by the troupe) by the Théâtre de Montparnasse in Le Figaro ran from June 16 through August 20, 1930.
- 3.
Meyerhold may have learned about Nō from an article on the art of Japanese theatre (Fischer 1900–1901), by Adolf Fischer, an Austrian Oriental art collector and connoisseur who often travelled to Japan. Indeed, at the end of his article, Meyerhold listed Fischer’s article as one of his references (Meyerhold 1968, vol. 1, 161, 1973, 142). While mentioning, in passing, the Nō stage, Meyerhold, like Fischer, associated its performance with Western opera (Meyerhold 1968, vol. 1, 148, 1973, 130; Fischer 1900–1901, 489).
- 4.
See the chapter “How Does the Billy-Goat Produce Milk? Sergei Eisenstein’s Disintegration and Reconstitution of Kabuki Theatre.”
- 5.
For more, see the chapter “How Does the Billy-Goat Produce Milk? Sergei Eisenstein’s Disintegration and Reconstitution of Kabuki Theatre.”
Bibliography
Alpers, B. [1931] 1977. Teatr sotsial’noi maski (The Theatre of the Social Mask). In B. Alpers, Teatral’nye ocherki (Theatrical Essays), vol. 1, 27–162. Moskva: Iskusstvo.
Anderson, Joseph L. 2011. Enter a Samurai: Kawakami Otojirō and Japanese Theatre in the West. Tucson, AZ: Wheatmark.
B. 1902. IAponskaia truppa v Peterburge (The Japanese Troupe in Petersburg). Kavkaz (The Caucasus), 82 (Mar. 28): 3.
Banu, Georges. 1981. Meyerhold et le modelé du théâtre asiatique. Revue d’Histoire du Théâtre 2: 116–142.
Beliaev, Iurii Dmitrievich. 1902. Aktery i p’esy (Actors and Plays). St. Petersburg: Ia. Bermana.
Bonch-Tomashevskii, Mikhail. 1912–1913a. IAponskii teatr (Japanese Theatre). Maski (Masks) 4: 64–75.
Bonch-Tomashevskii, Mikhail. 1912–1913b. Na prazdnike iskusstva teatra (At the Celebration of Theatre Art). Maski 5: 65–75.
Brandon, James R. 1982. The Theft of Chūshingura: Or The Great Kabuki Caper. In Chūshingura: Studies in Kabuki and the Puppet Theater, ed. James R. Brandon, 111–146. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Braun, Edward. 1995. Meyerhold: A Revolution in Theatre. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press.
Brillant, Maurice. 1930. Notes et Réflexions: Spectacles d’Asie. La Vie Intellectuelle 7: 488–514.
Chulkov, Georgii. 1999. Gody stranstvii (Years of Journeys). Compiled by M. V. Mikhailova. Moskva: Ellis Lak.
Conrad, N. 1928. The Japanese Theatre “Kabuki” in U.S.S.R. Weekly News Bulletin (The Press Section of the Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries) IV (34–35) (Sept. 1), 6–7.
Copeau, Jacques. 1990. Copeau: Texts on Theatre. Edited and translated by John Rudlin and Norman H. Paul. London: Routledge.
de Bucsahr, Christian. 1930. Les Représentations des Artistes Japonais au Théâtre de Pigalle. Ambassades et consulats, May 15: n. p.
de Pawlowski, G. 1930. La troupe japonaise au théâtre Pigalle. Le Journal, May 6, 4a.
d’Houville, Gérard. 1930. Chronique des Théâtres de Paris. Le Figaro, May 12, 5.
Demeter, Edmond. 1930a. Le Théâtre Meyerhold de Moscou va débuter à l’Apollo. La Volonté, June 4, 5.
———. 1930b. V. Meyerhold nous parle du théâtre russe. Le Soir, May 20, 5.
Downer, Lesley. 2003. Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha Who Bewitched the West. New York: Gotham Books.
Dullin, Charles. 1946. Souvenirs et notes de travail d’un acteur. Paris: Odette Lieutier.
Eisenstein, Sergei. 2005. Eizenshtein o Meierkhol’de: 1919–1948 (Eisenstein on Meyerhold: 1919–1948). Compiled by Vladimir Zabrodin. Moskva: Novoe Izdatel’stvo.
Evreinov, Nikolai N. 1909. Liubovnuiu reklamu (Love Advertisement). Teatr i iskusstvo (Theatre and Art) 49 (December 6): 876. Reprinted in Nikolai N. Evreinov, Pro scena sua. Rezhissura. Litsedei. Poslednie problemy teatra (Pro scena sua. Directing. Actors. Recent Problems of the Theatre), 110–111. St. Petersburg: Kn-Vo “Prometei,” 1913.
Fischer, Adolf. 1900–1901. Japans Bühnenkunst und ihre Entwicklung. Westermanns illustrierte deutsche Monatshefte 89: 489–514.
G. V. 1913. Vecher g-zhi Ganako-Oota (Evening of Madame Hanako-Ota). Rampa i zhizn’ (Ramp and Life) 13 (Mar. 31): 10.
Gladkov, Aleksandr. 1997. Meyerhold Speaks, Meyerhold Rehearses. Translated and edited by Alma Law. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers.
Gorchakov, Nikolai A. 1957. The Theatre in Soviet Russia. Translated by Edgar Lehrman. New York: Columbia University Press.
Gumilev, N. 1918. Romanticheskie tsvety: stikhi 1903–1907 (Romantic Flowers: Poems 1903–1907). 3rd ed. St. Petersburg: Prometei.
Hanako (Ōta Hisa). 1917. Kizoku to joyū to no akushu: Rosia kōgyō no omoide (Handshake between a Noblewoman and an Actress: Thoughts on my Performances in Russia). Shin Nihon (New Japan) 7 (6) (June): 25–37.
Ichikawa, Sadanji. 1936. Sadanji geidan (Sadanji on his art). Tokyo: Nankōsha.
Ihering, Herbert. 1930. Im Theater des Westens: Japanisches Theater. Berliner Börsen-Courier (Abend-Ausgabe), October 4, 2.
———. 1961. Von Reinhardt bis Brecht, Vier Jahrzehnte Theater und Film. Vol. III. Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag.
Iureneva, Vera L. 1946. Zapiski aktrisy (Notes of an Actress). Moskva: Iskusstvo.
Kitamura, Yukiko, and Dany Savelli. 2011. L’exotisme justifié ou la venue du kabuki en Union soviétique en 1928. Slavica Occitania 33: 215–254.
Law, Alma, and Mel Gordon. 1996. Meyerhold, Eisenstein and Biomechanics: Actor Training in Revolutionary Russia. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
Leach, Robert. 1989. Vsevolod Meyerhold. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Liausu, Jean-Pierre. 1930. Le spectacle japonais au Théâtre Pigalle. Comœdia, May 2, 1–2.
M. G. [Michael Gershenfel’d]. 1912. Pis’mo iz Odessy (Letter from Odessa). Apollon 2 (15–16): 219–220.
MacCarthy, Desmond. 1930. The Japanese Players. New Statesman, July 5, 408–409.
Meyerhold, V.E. 1914. Klass V s. E. Meierkhol’da (Class of V. E. Meyerhold). Liubov’ k trem apel’sinam: zhurnal Doktora Dapertutto (The Love of Three Oranges: The Journal of Doctor Dapertutto) 4–5: 94–98.
———. 1915. Klass V s. E. Meierkhol’da (Class of V. E. Meyerhold). Liubov’ k trem apel’sinam: zhurnal Doktora Dapertutto 4–7: 208–212.
———. 1968. Stat’i, Pis’ma, Rechi, Besedy (Articles, Letters, Speeches, Conversations), in 2 vols. Moskva: Iskusstvo.
———. 1969. Meyerhold on Theatre. Translated and edited by Edward Braun. New York: Hill and Wang.
———. 1973. Écrits sur le Théâtre, vol. 1. Translated and edited by Béatrice Picon-Vallin. Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme.
———. 1975. Écrits sur le Théâtre, vol. 2. Translated and edited by Béatrice Picon-Vallin. Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme.
———. 1976. Perepiska 1896–1939 (Correspondence 1896–1939). Compiled by V. P. Korshunova and M. M. Sitkovetskaia. Moskva: Iskusstvo.
———. 1978. Tvorcheskoe nasledie V. E. Meierhol’da (The Creative Legacy of V. E. Meyerhold). Edited by L. D. Vendrovskaia and A. V. Fevral’skii. Moskva: Vserossiiskoe teatral’noe obshchestvo.
———. 1979. Schriften: Aufsätze, Briefe, Reden, Gespräche. Vol. 2, 1917–1939. Berlin: Henschelverlag Kunst und Gesellschaft.
———. 1980. Écrits sur le Théâtre, vol. 3. Translated and edited by Béatrice Picon-Vallin. Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme.
———. 1992. Écrits sur le Théâtre, vol. 4. Translated and edited by Béatrice Picon-Vallin. Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme.
———. 1993. Meierkhol’d repetiruet (Meyerhold Rehearses), in 2 vols. Compiled by M. M. Sitkovetskoi. Moskva: Artist. Rezhisser. Teatr.
———. 1998. Meierkhol’d: k istorii tvorcheskogo metoda: publikatsii. stat’i (Meyerhold: Towards the History of a Creative Method: Publications. Articles). Compiled by N. V. Pesochinskii. St. Petersburg: Kul’tInformPress.
Mokalsky, S. [Mokul’skii, Stefan Stefanovich]. 1928. The Japanese Theatre and the Soviet Theatrical Managers. Weekly News Bulletin (The Press Section of the Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries) IV, 34–35 (September 1), 7–8. This article is an abridged version of the author’s original article, see S. Mokul’skii, “Iaponskii teatr i my” (The Japanese theatre and us), Zhizn’ iskusstva (Life of Art) 34 (August 19, 1928), 2.
Mokul’skii, S. [Mokul’skii, Stefan Stefanovich]. 1926. Pereotsenka traditsii (Re-evaluation of Traditions). In Teatral’nyi Oktiabr’: sbornik I (The Theatrical October: Collection I), 9–29. Leningrad-Moskva.
Okhlopkov, Nikolai. 1971. On Convention. In Socialist Realism in Literature and Art, a Collection of Essays, trans. C.V. James, 103–126. Moscow: Progressive Publishers.
Ōkuma, Toshio. ed. 1929. Ichikawa Sadanji kabuki kikō (Records of the tour of Ichikawa Sadanji’s Kabuki troupe). Tokyo: Heibonsha.
Picon-Vallin, Béatrice. 1990. Meyerhold. Paris: CNRS.
———. 1999. Meyerhold. Paris: CNRS.
Pil’niak, Boris. 1927. Korni IAponskogo solntsa (The Roots of the Japanese Sun). Leningrad: Priboi.
Popov, A.D. 1979. Tvorcheskoe nasledie (Creative Legacy), vol. 1. Edited by V. V. Frolov. Moskva: Vserossiiskoe teatral’noe obshchestvo.
Rudnitsky, Konstantin. 1981. Meyerhold the Director. Translated by George Petrov. Ann Arbor: Ardis.
Sawada, Suketaro. 1984. Little Hanako. Nagoya, Japan: Chūnichi Publishing.
Shakhmatova, E. V. 1984. Traditsii Vostochogo teatra v estetike Meierkhol’da (Traditions of Eastern Theatre in Meyerhold’s Aesthetic). In Teatral’noe iskusstvo Vostoka. Osobennosti razvitiia (Eastern Theatre Arts. Characteristics of Development), ed. M. P. Kotovskaia, 102–121. Moskva: Gitis.
Smirnova, A. 1967. V Studii na Borodinskoi (In the Studio on Borodino). In Vstrechi s Meierkhol’dom: sbornik vospominanii (Meetings with Meyerhold: A Collection of Memoirs), ed. L.D. Vendrovskaia, 84–113. Moskva: Vserossiiskoe Teatral’noe Obshchestvo.
Tian, Min. 1999. Meyerhold Meets Mei Lanfang: Staging the Grotesque and the Beautiful. Comparative Drama 33 (2): 234–269.
Uvarova, Irina. 2001. Illiuziia istiny po-IAponski, ili Meierkhol’d i IAponskii teatr (The Illusion of Truth in Japanese Style, or Meyerhold and the Japanese Theatre). Mir iskusstv. Al’manakh (World of Art. Almanac) 4: 480–498.
Vasilevskago, L.M. [L. M. Vasilevskii]. 1910. Gastroli g-zhi Ganako (Madame Hanako’s Tour). Ezhegodnik imperatorskikh teatrov (The Yearbook of the Imperial Theatres) 1: 114–116.
Vendrovskaia, L.D. ed. 1967. Vstrechi s Meierkhol’dom: sbornik vospominanii (Meetings with Meyerhold: A Collection of Memoirs). Moskva: Vserossiiskoe Teatral’noe Obshchestvo.
Volkov, Nikolai. 1929. Meierkhol’d. Vol. II, 1908–1917. Moskva-Leningrad: Academia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tian, M. (2018). “Welding the Unweldable”: Vsevolod Meyerhold’s Refraction of Japanese Theatre. In: The Use of Asian Theatre for Modern Western Theatre. Palgrave Studies in Theatre and Performance History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97178-0_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97178-0_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97177-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-97178-0
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)