Le théâtre 1900 - 1950 www.theatreonline.com/Lejournaldutheatre/ actualite2nouv....

Sarah Bernhardt was born Rosine Bernhard in Paris on October 22/23, 1844, the daughter of a courtesan. She was educated in a convent and at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1862 she made her debut at the Comédie Française but attracted so little notice that she soon left the company. She appeared briefly and unsuccessfully in burlesque. From 1869 she played at the Théâtre de l'Odéon, winning her first success in Le Passant (1869), a comedy by François Coppée. Recalled to the Comédie Française in 1872, Bernhardt gained recognition through the leading role in Phèdre (1874) by the classical dramatist Jean Racine and for the queen in Ruy Blas (1872) and Doña Sol in Hernani (1877), two Romantic dramas by Victor Hugo. She left the Comédie in 1880. By 1879 she had begun to travel with her own company, appearing regularly in London and New York and touring North America in 1886-1887 and 1888-1889, and the world in 1891-1893. In Paris she managed or owned various theatres, including the Théâtre des Nations, renamed the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt, in which she appeared. Among her most successful performances were those in the romantic tragedy La dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas fils;Adrienne Lecouvreur by Eugène Scribe; and Fédora, Théodora, La Tosca, and Cléopâtre, melodramas by Victorien Sardou. She was highly acclaimed for playing the title roles in a French version of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1899) and in L'Aiglon (1901), a play about Napoleon's son, written for her by Edmond Rostand. Famous for her slim beauty and bell-like voice, she was called the "divine Sarah". Bernhardt had a leg amputated at the age of 70, but she refused to abandon the stage. She played for troops at the front in World War I and continued to act until her death in Paris on March 26, 1923. She also wrote two plays, a work on acting (1923), and her memoirs (1907), and she showed talent in sculpture and painting. Bernhardt was made a member of the Légion d'Honneur in 1914. (Encarta 2001) Sarah Bernhardt (1844 - 1923)

Sarah Bernhardt dans le rôle d’Hamlet 1899

: www.elizabethi.org/screenqueens/ bernhard.gif The first screen portrayal of the Tudor Queen was made by the legendary Victorian actress Sarah Bernhardt in the silent film of 1911 known by both the titles The Loves of Queen Elizabeth, or simply Queen Elizabeth. It is the story of Queen Elizabeth's relationship with Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex.  It was originally a French production known as Elisabeth, Reine d'Angleterre, and was the most successful film of Bernhardt's career. *NTSC It is also the only Bernhardt film available on video today, although obtaining it can be difficult. The online company Grapevine supply the film for $16.95. Sarah Bernhardt The Loves of Queen Elizabeth Film muet 1911

Dir. Konstantin Stanislavski (1863- 1938) Les Trois Soeurs de Chejov (acto II). Théâtre artistique de Moscou, 1901

Dir. Konstantin Stanislavski (1863- 1938) Les Bas-fonds de M. Gorki (2) (Acto IV). Théâtre artistique de Moscou, 1902

Constantin Stanislavski

Vsevolod Emilievitch Meyerhold Penza, 1874 - Moscou, 1940

Petr Vil'iams Portrait de Meyerhold 1925 http://max.mmlc.northwestern.edu/~mdenner/Drama/directors/1meyerhold.html Vsevolod Meyerhold was born in Penza in 1874. Although he came to Moscow to study law, in 1896 he left law school and enrolled in the sacting classes taught by Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko at the Moscow Philharmonia. In 1898, he was invited to join the trope of the newly founded Moscow Art Theater. In the first MAT season, he played Treplev in The Seagull. After a falling out with Stanislavsky, Meyerhold left the Moscow Art Theater. and founded his own troupe in the Russian provinces. ABOVE: The portrait here is by Petr Vil'iams, and dates from 1925 In 1906, the actress Vera Kommissarzhevskaia founded a theater in St. Petersburg and invited Meyerhold to direct. There he staged Alexander Blok's The Puppet Show among other major productions. In 1908, Meyerhold was invited to direct at the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg. He remained there for the next decade, staging both plays and operas. When the revolution occurred in 1917, Meyerhold quickly joined the Communist Party, and in 1920, he was appointed head of the theater division of the People's Commissariat for Education. In the early communist years, Meyerhold staged many notable productions including the first production of Mayakovsky's Mystery-Bouffe (1918). Beginning in 1922, Meyerhold staged a number of famous constuctivist productions, including Fernand Crommelynk's The Magnificent Cuckold and Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin's The Death of Tarelkin. Beginning in 1923, Meyerhold had his own troupe in Moscow, and staged innovative productions of both classics and new works. Perhaps the best known of these productions were Nikolai Erdman's The Mandate (1925), Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls (1926), and Vladimir Mayakovsky's The Bedbug (1929). By the mid-1930s, Meyerhold's relentless experimentation was no longer in favor. His theater was harshly criticized and then closed in 1938. Meyerhold himself was arrested in 1939 and shot in prison in 1940. For video clips of actors rehearsing Meyerhold's biomechanical exercises, click here. You will need the QuickTime Movie player.

De 1908 à 1917, il est metteur en scène des Théâtres impériaux. En 1917, il adhère avec enthousiasme à la Révolution d’octobre et met en scène la première pièce de théâtre soviétique, Mystère bouffe de Maïakovski

Anton Lavinsky, scénographie pour Mystère bouffe de Maïakovsky, 1921

Anton Lavinsky, costume pour l’Ange dans Mystèere bouffe de Maïakovsky, 1921

Alexandre Khostenko-Khostov, fond de scène pour Mystère bouffe de Maïakovski, 1921

En 1922, il fait la mise en scène du Cocu magnifique de F. Crommelynk. Dans cette pièce, il utilise des décors d’inspiration constructiviste et propose un nouveau jeu d’acteur basé la biomécanique

Liubov Popova, maquette pour le décor du Cocu magnifique, 1922, reconstruction

Mayakovsky and Meyerhold first worked together in 1918 when Meyerhold directed Mayakovsky's "Mystery-Bouffe." Meyerhold had previously worked with the realist Stanislavsky, however, their directing techniques differed extensively. The 1918 debut of "Mystery-Bouffe"lacked support from actors due to its bolshevik undertones. Although the revolution had been in full force for a year, it was not entirely evident which party would be the ultimate ruling party. The futurist in Mayakovsky was clearly alive - "Mystery-Bouffe" characters dressed alike in grey and chanted in unison. This was Mayakovsky's depiction of the mass hero - who would create the future utopia. Subsequently, the play was successfully produced in 1921. It was "Mystery-Bouffe" that first brought Meyerhold's destruction of stage/audience boundaries together with new methods of constructivism and biomechanics. Meyerhold presented the stage as a construction rather than a simple background. It was here that biomechanics first began to appear. Biomechanics is a training of the body to move in such a manner that acting becomes an external reflex rather than internal reaction to emotion. Thus - an actor works in relation to the theatrical environment rather than trying to respond to a stimulus that is not truly present. Meyerhold also used industrial clothing - prozodezhda - to portray his constructivist sentimentality. Industrial clothing was worn by workers in the factories and on the collective. Meyerhold wanted to create an efficiency in his actors similar to these workers. This style of clothing would later lead to the "Blue Blouse" satires which became popular in workers' clubs in the 1920s. This idea is entirely contradictory to the realist approach to theatrical performances. With the constructivist stage, there were no representational backdrops or props. Meyerhold believed that theatre is not true life - therefore its performances should not mimic life but instead present the theatre world. Both the circus and the cabaret served as models of the constructivist set and biomechanical performance. The entertainment was intense - dancers and acrobats would eagerly show off skills to the audience. The performances were always displaying theatrics and promoting characters that didn't exist in an outside society. Meyerhold placed circus performers in scenes making the plays much more whimsical and extravagant. Mayakovsky and Meyerhold would work together numerous times in their lives and Meyerhold would continue direction of Mayakovsky's plays, even after Mayakovsky's suicide. CuckoldStagePlan

Liubov Popova, épure pour construction du décor

Photo prise au 3e acte montrant Liubov Popova designer de ces décors constructivistes

Liubov Popova, représentation du Cocu magnifique, 1922

Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874 - 1940) The Magnanimous Cuckold 1922

Le cocu magnifique, 1922, représentation

Avec Meyerhold, le théâtre devient un lieu d’expérimentation où l’acteur apparaît comme un expert par la maîtrise de son corps par la rationalisation de ses mouvements inspirés du taylorisme par sa relation harmonieuse avec l’univers des machines

Ces exercices s’inspirent aussi de la comedia dell’arte et du théâtre populaire

Une vision du corps La vision du corps de l’acteur change Ce n’est plus le porteur d’une voix solitaire mais un corps entraîné, voire athlétique, habité d’émotions collectives

Meyerhold, exercice biomécanique, 1922

Meyerhold, exercice biomécanique, 1922

The anti-naturalist 'biomechanics' system of acting www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/.../ objects/theatreinf.htm Indeed, Meyerhold's system of actor training, 'Biomechanics' (opposing Stanislavsky's naturalistic methods) was widely used in revolutionary theatre and greatly influenced Eisenstein's theories of montage. In many of Meyerhold's productions, some of which Eisenstein assisted on, actors would acquiesce with one another so that, as in the montage of attractions, for every positive action there would be a negative.  Indeed, in certain plays, Meyerhold would place detonators under the seats of unwitting performers.  The blasts would send them hurtling into the air and thus, like Eisenstein's montage, generate shock within a surprised audience. Fig 3. The anti-naturalist 'biomechanics' system of acting.

La biomécanique Cette méthode d’entraînement de l’acteur a pour but de développer la maîtrise corporelle de l’acteur prendre conscience da la gravité développer son sens de l’équilibre

développer sa conscience d’occuper une place dans l’espace scénique et manipuler des accessoires

Parfaire son sens de l’échange avec le partenaire de jeu coordonner ses mouvements avec ceux de son partenaire

À l’origine, les exercices biomécaniques se confondent avec la pantomime mais, contrairement à la pantomime qui est exécutée par une seule personne, ce sont pour la plupart des exercices collectifs Dans les exercices qu’il propose dans son studio avant la révolution, on retrouve des descriptions portant les titres suivants: le fou, le tir-à-l’arc, le coup de poignard, l’enterrement…

For Meyerhold's 1922 production of "The Death of Tarelkin", he engaged the constructivist artist and designer Varvara Stepanova. As opposed to the single machine that had dominated the stage in Popova's design for "The Magnificent Cuckold" (performed earlier in the same year, see illustrations #64, 65), Stepanova created a series of discrete "apparatuses" that could be combined to make larger constructions or used separately. The apparatuses could be and were manipulated in a variety of ways by Meyerhold's skilled actors. The production as a whole fit in well with Meyerhold's desire at this time to bring circus and acrobatic element into the serious theater. Meyerhold 1922 The Death of Tarelkin

Meyerhold production de la comédie de Nikolai Erdman The Mandate 1925 Four scenes from Meyerhold's 1925 production of Nikolai Erdman's satirical comedy The Mandate. The first photograph illustrates the acrobaticism demanded of all of Meyerhold's actors. The second shows one of Meyerhold's favorite actors, Ernst Garin, as Pavel Guliachkin. The final two are taken from the wedding scene in the last act. Note the dual levels of stage activity in the first of these two, and the carefully detailed costumes in the second Meyerhold production de la comédie de Nikolai Erdman The Mandate 1925

Meyerhold : mise en scène de The Bedbug de Vladimir Mayakovsky 1929 #72 Meyerhold staged Vladimir Mayakovsky's "The Bedbug" in 1929. The director worked closely with the author on the production, as well as with the composer Dmitry Shostakovich. For the first half of the play, Meyerhold engaged three young designers, Mikhail Kupriianov, Porfiry Krylov, and Nikolai Sokolov (they called themselves by the acronym Kukriniksy). For their scene 1 design they created an almost photographically exact reproduction of a Moscow street during the NEP period (first photo). The net illustration is the Kukriniksy sketch of the down at the heals Prisypkin, followed by a photograph of the actor Igor Ilinsky in this role. The final Kukriniksy design is for the fire that brings the first half of the play to a close. For the second half of the play, in which the action is transferred 50 years into the future, Meyerhold engaged Alexander Rodchenko. The photograph depicts Prisypkin, still wearing his 1920s tuxedo, being unfrozen. Meyerhold : mise en scène de The Bedbug de Vladimir Mayakovsky 1929

Meyerhold : Dessins pour la mise en scène de The Bedbug de http://max.mmlc.northwestern.edu/~mdenner/Drama/directors/3meyerhold.html Here are three sketches by the Kukryniksy for the first half of Mayakovsky’s The Bedbug. To the right is a sketch of various props. The bottom left depicts that dormitory in which the second scene takes place. The bottom right is a sketch of the set for scene three. Meyerhold : Dessins pour la mise en scène de The Bedbug de Vladimir Mayakovsky 1929

A model for Meyerhold's production of Mayakovsky's The Bathhouse www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/.../ objects/theatreinf.htm. Another aspect of revolutionary Soviet theatre which clearly influenced Eisenstein's montage, was its cubist and futurist art principles.  Although he did not specifically equate his montage with such a 'Western' term as cubism Eisenstein, in accordance with the cubist aesthetic, believed that the best pieces of montage were those which are incomplete. In figure 2, we find a prime example of this cubist/futurist design working in theatre.  Meyerhold's model for The Bathhouse, with its conflicting vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines and its sparse, industrial aesthetic parallels quite sharply with many of the shots (with their conflicts of scales, lines, etc.) found in Eisenstein's films (the urban landscape of Strike with its scaffold structures and platforms is clearly influenced by Meyerhold's set designs) .

Le théâtre de la blouse bleue, figure de l’Étoile rouge et du Propagandiste

Meyerhold : Dessins pour la mise en scène de The Bedbug de http://max.mmlc.northwestern.edu/~mdenner/Drama/directors/3meyerhold.html Here are three sketches by the Kukryniksy for the first half of Mayakovsky’s The Bedbug. To the right is a sketch of various props. The bottom left depicts that dormitory in which the second scene takes place. The bottom right is a sketch of the set for scene three. Meyerhold : Dessins pour la mise en scène de The Bedbug de Vladimir Mayakovsky 1929

Théâtre total (1927) conçu par Walter Gropius (1883-1969))pour Erwin Piscator (1893-1966)

En 1938, ses recherches théâtrales sont condamnées par le régime soviétique parce que jugées essentiellement formaliste. Meyerhold meurt en 1940 dans les prisons staliniennes.

http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ger341/brechtet.htm NOTE: The term Epic Theater, used by Brecht for the first time in 1926, did not originate with him, although it is generally applied to his work today. It was already in the air in 1924 when Brecht moved from Munich to Berlin and was first used in connection with revolutionary experiments by director Erwin Piscator. Many playwrights and composers produced plays and musical compositions in the 1920s which have been since been labeled epic (Stravinisky, Pirandello, Claudel), and others have followed in their footsteps (Wilder, Miller, Becket). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is what Bertolt Brecht wrote about his concept of the Epic Theater: . . . This is no place to explain how the opposition of epic and dramatic lost its rigidity after having long been held to be irreconcilable. Let us just point out that the technical advances alone were enough to permit the stage to incorporate an element of narrative in its dramatic productions. The possibility of projections, the greater adaptability of the stage due to mechanization, the film, all completed the theater's equipment, and did so at a point where the most important transactions between people could no longer be shown simply by personifying the motive forces or subjecting the characters to invisible metaphysical powers. To make these transactions intelligible, the environment in which the people lived had to be brought to bear in a big and "significant" way. This environment had of course been shown in the existing drama, but only as seen from the central figure's point of view, and not as an independent element. It was defined by the hero's reactions to it. . The stage began to tell a story. The narrator was no longer missing, along with the fourth wall. Not only did the background adopt an attitude to the events on the stage--by big screens recalling other simultaneous events elsewhere, by projecting documents which confirmed or contradicted what the characters said, by concrete and intelligible figures to accompany abstract conversations, by figures and sentences to support mimed transactions whose sense was unclear--but the actors too refrained from going over wholly into their role, remaining detached from the character they were playing and clearly inviting criticism of him. The spectator was no longer in any way allowed to submit to an experience uncritically (and without practical consequences) by means of simple empathy with the chracters in a play. The production took the subject matter and the incidents shown and put them through a process of alienation: the alienation that is necessary to all understanding. When something seems "the most obvious thing in the world" it means that any attempt to understand the world has been given up. What is "natural" must have the force of what is startling. This is the only way to expose the laws of cause and effect. People's activity must simultaneously be so and be capable of being different. It was all a great change. The dramatic theater's spectator says: Yes, I have felt like that too-- Just like me--It's only natural-- It'll never change--The sufferings of this man appall me, because they are inescapable--That's great art; it all seems the most obvious thing in the world--I weep when they weep, I laugh when they laugh. The epic theater's spectator says: I'd never have thought it -- That's not the way -- That's extraordinary, hardly believable -- It's got to stop -- The sufferings of this man appall me, because they are unnecessary -- That's great art; nothing obvious in it -- I laugh when they weep, I weep when they laugh. Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956)

Bertolt Brecht (assis) entouré de deux collaborateurs, 1931 ou 32

Une critique sociale Pour Brecht, le théâtre doit aider à comprendre la société et à la transformer Par exemple dans la Résistible ascension d’Arturo Ii, il met en scène la montée du pouvoir nazi qu’il traduit en machinations du «Gang du Chou-fleur»

Transformer le monde et le théâtre Brecht repousse le théâtre expressionniste Il refuse de séparer l’art et le politique Il est influencé par les conceptions théâtrales d’Erwin Piscator (théâtre épique) Dans ses mises en scène, il utilise des cartes géographiques, des statistiques, des projections

Le principe de distanciation Le théâtre brechtien est marqué par l’effet de distanciation Il s’agit de faire en sorte que le spectateur ne puisse pas s’identifier aux acteurs Par exemple, l’acteur quittera par moment son rôle pour commenter le personnage qu’il incarne. La fiction théâtrale est ainsi rompue.

Les décors insolites et les dispositifs scéniques aux structures apparentes participent aussi de cet effet de distanciation Les paroles chantées accroissent la « théâtralité » Bien qu’il y ait dans ses pièces des instants d’une intense force dramatique, il est partisan d’un théâtre «épique» Il est aussi intéressé par le théâtre chinois, son utilisation de l’espace, des objets et du maquillage qui vise à suggérer une action plutôt que de la représenter concrètement

The Mahagonny Songspiel (ring de boxe et projection) 1927

Caspar Neher, esquisse de décor pour la la scène 1 de l’opréra de Brecht et Weil, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, 1930

Caspar Neher, esquisse de décor pour la la scène 1 de l’opréra de Brecht et Eisler, La Mère, 1930. À observer, l’écran de projection

Die Nassnahme, de Brecht et Eisler Die Nassnahme, de Brecht et Eisler. Le texte chanté par un des choristes apparaît sur l’écran. Concepteur du décor inconnu

Décor de Neher pour la pièce de B Décor de Neher pour la pièce de B. Brecht, L’homme égale l’homme, janvier 1932

Kurt Weil 1900 - 1950

En 1928, l’Opéra de quat’sous connaît un succès aussi immense qu’inattendu. Cependant, ce succès n’est pas dû à la critique du capitalisme que contient le texte de Brecht mais à la musique de Kurt Weil. La chanson Mack the Knife fait le tour du monde en quelques mois. Les nazis condamnent la musique de Weil et la qualifient de «dégénérée et judéo-négroïde»

Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956) Opéra de 4 sous

Bertolt Brecht The Threepenny Opera 1928 Musique : Kurt Weil Based on John Gay's The Beggar's Opera 1728   Bertolt Brecht - The Threepenny Opera Finale from the premiere of Die Dreigroschenoper ('The Threepenny Opera') in 1928. Based on John Gay's The Beggar's Opera of 1728, the work is the product of a highly successful collaboration between playwright Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill. The crook Macheath has prepared himself for the gallows - Hier hängt Macheath, der keine Laus gekränkt. Ein falscher Freund hat ihn am Bein gekriegt. An einen klafterlangen Strick gehängt Spürt er am Hals, wie schwer sein Hintern wiegt. - but he's saved in a last-minute reprieve when the Queen's messenger gallops onto the stage bringing news of his pardon, and a Happy End.

Décor de John Heartfield pour une production de Piscator Tan Yang Wakes Up, 1931

Scènes de Sweik (Piscator) avec projection d’un dessin animé de Georg Grosz

Production de Piscator, Sturmflut d’Alfons Paquet,1926