The reconstructed theatre, using every technical means at its disposal, will work with film, so that scenes played by the actor on stage can alternate with scenes he has played on screen. Going further, a dramatic production could become a kind of revue in which the actor uses dramatic, operatic, and film methods, as well as those of the ballet dancer, acrobat, gymnast, clown. And, of course, the play's division into acts, the inflexibility of conventional dramatic structure, must be superseded by episodes after the model of Shakespeare and the dramatists of the old Spanish theatre, making it possible to abandon the antiquated pseudo-classical unities of time and action. We are entering upon a new phase of playwriting. We are creating a new kind of play.
N o t e s and t e x t translated f r o m the Russian by D a v i d Chambers and Daria Krizhanskaya
Staging notes and commentary compiled by Roman KondratenkoAddition a l co m men ta ry trans la ted f r o m the Russian by Andrei Shenin rehearsal notes for this scene, Meyerhold frequently refers to the Chambermaid as usomeOne like Carmen" (trans. note).2. This character was also invented by Meyerhold (trans. note).3. Why do we have several scenes one after another where we have stoves onstage? It can't be by accident. There shouldn't be any accidents in art! Since the plot is sa loose, we need a stove as a starting point for each scene: a "dance from the stove." Also, each scene needs b t &Qm a stove. By the was Osip's monol o p gets "heated" by the Chambermaid's laugh and Khlestalcov's by Annra Ancireevm's presence. &go1 is "heated" by Vertinsky [Ahksatzdy iVikokwk6 (1889-19g1, a
cdehratal Russian Swkf s o n p r i t n and cabmet mtktJ. -MeyerhoidThe Mqed-mM &ojject/Rwkor set &sign for r & at by Roma Kon&a&o and k*tioEl$ arnQ ixqxekd numerous w a n t photos and drawings of the 1926 original {trans. note).
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