Yevgeny Vakhtangov
Yevgeny Vakhtangov | |
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| Born | Yevgeny Bagrationovich Vakhtangov 1 February 1883 Vladikavkaz, Terek Oblast, Russian Empire |
| Died | 29 May 1922 (aged 39) Moscow, Russian SFSR |
| Occupation(s) | Actor Theatre director |
| Years active | 1911–1922 |
Yevgeny Bagrationovich Vakhtangov (also spelled Evgeny or Eugene;
He is known for his distinctive style of theatre, his most notable production being Princess Turandot in 1922.Early life and education
Vakhtangov was born to an
Career
Vakhtangov rose in the ranks at the Moscow Art Theatre, and by 1920 he was in charge of his own theatre studio. Four years after his death, the studio was named
Technique
Vakhtangov was greatly influenced both by the theatrical experiments of Vsevolod Meyerhold and the more psychological techniques of his teachers, Konstantin Stanislavski and Leopold Sulerzhitsky, and the co-founder of the MAT Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. His productions incorporated masks, music, dance, abstract costume, avant-garde sets as well as a detailed analysis of the texts of plays and the psychological motivations of its characters.
On the
The German theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht argued that Vakhtangov's approach was "the Stanislavski-Meyerhold complex before the split rather than its reconciliation". Brecht outlined the main aspects of Vakhtangov's work as:
- Theatre is theatre.
- The how, not the what.
- More composition.
- Greater inventiveness and imagination.
He identifies a commonality with his own 'demonstrating' element in acting, but argues that Vakhtangov's method lacks the social insight and pedagogical function of Brecht's own Gestic form: "when Vakhtangov's actor says 'I'm not laughing, I'm demonstrating laughter', one still doesn't learn anything from his demonstration".[4]
Notable productions
His most notable production was Princess Turandot,[5][6] based on the play Turandot by Carlo Gozzi, which has played at the Vakhtangov Theatre ever since 1922 (the year of his death).
Another famous production directed by Vakhtangov in the same year was
Death and legacy
Vakhtangov died of
In 2017, film director Qmars Mootab made a documentary film about him, Vakhtangov.[7]
Bibliography
- Евгений Вахтангов. Документы и свидетельства: В 2 т. / Ред.-сост В.В. Иванов; ред. М.В. Львова, М.В. Хализева. М.: Индрик, 2011. Т. 1 – 519 с., илл.; Т. 2 – 686 с., илл.
- Евгений Вахтангов в театральной критике / Ред.-сост. В.В. Иванов. М.: Театралис, 2016. – 703 с.; илл.
References
- ^ "About The Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow". Archived from the original on 2021-09-17. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
- ^ a b Martin Banham. The Cambridge guide to theatre, Cambridge University Press, 1995, p. 1157:"Armenian born, Vakhtangov studied law at Moscow University before enrolling at A. I. Adashev’s drama school, where he was taught by, among others, Leopold Sulerzhitsky."
- ISBN 9781136979552.
- ^ From a note probably written in the 1930s. See Brecht (1964, 237-238).
- ^ "Princess Turandot (1922) / Eug. Vakhtangov Theatre". Eug. Vakhtangov Theatre (in Kyrgyz). Retrieved 13 December 2021.
- ^ Malaev-Babel, Andrei (8 April 2016). "Yevgeny Vakhtangov: A Critical Portrait". Critical Stages/Scènes critiques. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
- ^ "Vakhtangov (2017) - Reference View - IMDB". IMDb.
Further reading
- Vladislav Ivanov. S. An-sky, Evgeny Vakhtangov and The Dybbuk // The worlds of S. An-sky. A Russian Jewish Intellectual at the Turn of the Century / Ed. by Gabriella Safran and Steven J. Zipperstein. California, Stanford. Stanford University Press, 2006. P. 252–265, 480–481.
- Владислав Иванов. Евгений Вахтангов и Михаил Чехов. Игра на краю или театральный опыт трансцендентального // Русский авангард 1910–1920-х годов и проблема экспрессионизма / Редкол.: Ю.Г. Коваленко и др. М.: Наука, 2003. С. 464–478.
- Brecht, Bertolt. 1964. Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic. Ed. and trans. John Willett. British edition. London: Methuen. ISBN 0-8090-3100-0.
- Carnicke, Sharon M. 1998. Stanislavsky in Focus. Russian Theatre Archive Ser. London: Harwood Academic Publishers. ISBN 90-5755-070-9.
- Malaev-Babel, Andrei. 2011. The Vaktangov Sourcebook. Ed., trans. and with an Introduction by Malaev-Babel, Andrei. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-47268-5.
- Farber, Vreneli, 2008. Stanislavsky in Practice: Actor Training in Post-Soviet Russia (Artists & Issues in the Theatre, Vol. 16. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-1-4331-0315-5
External links
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