Non-naturalistic approach

Meyerhold's belief that the performance style of realism reduced the expressivity of the actor because it was based on tiny and small behaviors of the character (Pitches, 2003, pp.47-50), and most importantly it denied the audience their right to imagine. Meyerhold felt that imagining and creating are personal attributes; not everyone shares the same imagination, yet through the spectrum of a non-naturalistic approach a particularly fertile performance can occur.

Activity

Using the script below, perform the words and actions realistically, and then perform them using Meyerhold's basic training. Film both versions and upload them in a group space. Comment on each others performances, discussing the differences of the two videos.

Script from Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.

Madam Ranevsky: Please don't go; I want you.

Trophimof: Be free, be free as the wind.

Discuss

1. What was your experience acting in a non-naturalistic way' in a realistic play?
2. What reaction did you have as an audience member to your peers improvised performance?
3. Why did Meyerhold reject the style of realism in theatre?
4. What does he mean that non-naturalistic theatre ,can provide a fertile ground for an audience's imagination?

Stylisation

Stylisation draws on ,the physical expressivity of the actor's movements and dialogue and Meyerhold often experimented with this through the use of tableaux.

Jonathon Pitches' exercise for a natural and stylized tarantella in Ibsen's The Doll's House is a very useful exercise to do to help you understand stylisation from an actor's and audiences point of view (Pitches, 2003, pp.-50-53). Read through this in the text below.