ACTING AND DIRECTING TECHNIQUES OF MEYERHOLD.

BIOMECHANISM AND CONSTRUCTIVISM

As opposed to Stanislavski’s representational style of performance, Biomechanics soon became

the principle behind a non-realistic, stylised and movement-centred system of actor training
developed by Meyerhold between 1913 and 1922.

– It contrasted clearly with Stanislavski’s system, in which the actor first created a character
from within (internal character creation).

– Meyerhold’s biomechanics instructed the actor to develop a character from without, first
employing external movements.

– Biomechanics can be seen as an integral part of both actor training and performances.

– Though the well-known “etudes” were never seen on stage during a performance, and were
relevant only as part of the actor training program.

– Meyerhold believed movement to be the most powerful form of theatrical expression.

– He was influenced by the physical nature of the Commedia dell’Arte, circus acts and
pantomime.

– His actors were trained in gymnastics, circus movement and ballet.

– Like Jerzy Grotowski’s poor theatre, in Meyerhold’s system of biomechanics the actor was
paramount and the central focus.

The actor may now need to be conversant in the laws of mechanics and of proxemics (space)
knowledge, but this knowledge, even if it is expressed in new “scientific terms”, keys into
identical priorities for the performer: the need for precision, for coordination and for clarity of

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expression; and the requirement that an actor has rhythmic understanding and is responsive
and disciplined. Each movement in biomechanics was important and deliberate – superfluous
movements on stage were eliminated.

For the actor, biomechanics involved:

 preparation for an action

 the state of mind and body at the moment of action, and
 the reaction to what follows (Styan)

The basic skills of a biomechanical actor were;

 precision
 balance
 coordination
 efficiency
 rhythm
 expressiveness
 responsiveness
 playfulness and discipline

– Post-1917 (Russian Revolution), Meyerhold began to use industrial-type language, describing

actor movement on stage in terms of efficiency.

– He was influenced by the American industrialist Frederick Winslow Taylor, who believed a
worker in a factory would be more efficient if he broke down his tasks into a series of separate
actions.

– Meyerhold translated Taylor’s concept of efficiency of action into an efficiency of actor

movement for the stage.

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 In Ippolit Sokolov’s article "The Industrialization of Gesture". It is stated categorically that ‘on
stage the actor must become an automaton, a mechanism, a machine.’ He is required to master
‘the culture of industrialized gesture’, that is ‘the gesture of labour, built on the principle of
economy of effort’, the gesture is ‘linear, of a geometric order’. (Konstantin Rudnitsky)

– In 1922 Meyerhold gave a lecture in which he said:

The work of the actor in an industrial society will be regarded as a means of production vital to
the proper organization of the labour of every citizen of that society. (J. L. Styan)

meyerhold-mugshot

– Meyerhold was making direct links with Soviet-Marxist philosophy (Styan), connecting the
efficiency of action in workers for means of production (labour) with the efficiency of
movement for the actor in terms of means of expression.

– Biomechanics was perfectly suited to one of Meyerhold’s other theatrical achievements, that
of scenic constructivism.

– Constructivism was already a popular movement in the visual arts and Meyerhold adapted its
form for theatrical set design in many of the productions he directed.

– Constructivist theatre sets typically included treadmills, ramps, catwalks, trapezes, turning
wheels, multiple levels and machines.

– The most famous Meyerhold production that showed the world both biomechanical acting
and constructivist set design was The Magnanimous Cuckold (1922). Another well-known
production was The Government Inspector (1926).

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The human body was perceived as a machine: man had to learn to control that machine. It was
the theatre’s function to demonstrate the fine tuning of the human ‘mechanisms’. (Konstantin
Rudnitsky)

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 UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, EDO STATE.

FACULTY OF ARTS

DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE ARTS.

NAME:

UDEDIKE VANESSA

MAT NO.:

ART170

COURSE CODE;

THR424

COURSE TITLE;

ACTING AND DIRECTING FOR STAGE AND SCREEN II

ASSIGNMENT;

ACTING AND DIRECTING TECHNIQUES OF VSEVOLOD MEYERHOLD

LECTURER;

DR. WEKPE

JUNE, 2021