Thoughts from Meyerhold

Ron Weiss

Meyer hold reading

Theory w Michael

9/27/23

A big point in this reading was the comment about Stanislavsky, claiming that the theater of the future would be able to hold the real sky. This is followed by a claim that we can already show the audience, a real sky, if we didn’t promise naturalism. If the expectation is not that it will be “real,” then we can garner the same results without the technology to produce a real sky inside.

No surprise but I think there’s a more exciting way. There’s two options, take the theater outside or take the theater inside a virtual reality. We know what side specific, but I think it is about time that we start thinking about virtual reality as a form of theater because it is. Or at least can be. Immersion is already happening in our homes with virtual reality headsets and I think there is possibility for more. Great art can come from creating work in the virtual space with the processes. We already use in theater and film.

What this really breaks down to though, is that everything we start to work on, could be put up in any space. part of the analysis process should be considering what is the proper space for this work. If we truly believe that everything is part of the visual tax, we cannot expect to get the most out of a production if we don’t consider the space where we put it up. So often we start with a theater, and are told to find a production to put up in that space. That feels so backwards! When filmmaker set out to make a work, they don’t start by saying “ here is the house we have to shoot in, so let’s write some thing about this.” no! They begin with a story and the story dictates where they go. even if they do, begin with a Location, that is often not the ideal circumstance. Plus, once they have found the locations through the writing. There is an entire team delegated to finding the right real life location for the action to happen. Filmmakers seem to do an excellent job of recognizing that everything is part of the visual text. Honestly, that makes a lot of sense! It makes sense, because all they have to worry about is the framing within the camera, through the creation of the art, it forces its maker to consider every square inch of that screen. That is where they’re focus stops. (I would be curious to hear about a film maker that is considering where, when, how their work will be watched, and creating rules that force that into existence. I’ve heard of movies only being screened in theaters, but is there so much more possibility than just being screened in a movie theater?)

In our world, it’s a little bit more difficult because we have to worry about not just being on stage, but what is in the house. The reality is that whether or not we give attention to these spaces, they will affect the audience, and they will affect the story. It is such a waste to let go of these tools, so let’s use them!