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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. ProQuest Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI' BEYOND STANISLAVSKY: THE INFLUENCE OF RUSSIAN MODERNISM ON THE AMERICAN THEATRE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Valleri L Robinson, M.S. ***** The Ohio State University 2001 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Thomas Postlewait, Adviser Professor Joseph Brandesky Adviser Professor Esther Beth Sullivan Department of Theatre UMI Number 3031257 UMI' UMI Microform 3031257 Copyright 2002 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT Russian modernist theatre greatly influenced the development of American theatre during the first three decades of the twentieth century. Several developments encouraged the relationships between Russian artists and their American counterparts, including key tours by Russian artists in America, the advent of modernism in the American theatre, the immigration of Eastern Europeans to the United States, American advertising and consumer culture, and the Bolshevik Revolution and all of its domestic and international ramifications. Within each of these major and overlapping developments, Russian culture became increasingly acknowledged and revered by American artists and thinkers, who were seeking new art forms to express new ideas. This study examines some of the most significant contributions of Russian theatre and its artists in the early decades of the twentieth century. Looking beyond the important visit of the Moscow Art Theatre in 1923, this study charts the contributions of various Russian artists and their American supporters. Certainly, the influence of Stanislavsky and the Moscow Art Theatre on the modem American theatre has been significant, but theatre historians^ attention to his influence has overshadowed the contributions of other Russian artists. especially those who provided noa-reaiistic approaches to theatre. la order to understand the extent to which Russian theatre influenced the American stage, this study focuses on the critics, intellectuals, producers, and touring artists who encouraged interaction between Russians and Americans, and in the process provided the catalist for American theatrical experimentation. The key figures in this study include some leaders in the Yiddish intellectual and theatrical communities in New York City, Morris Gest and Otto H. Kahn, who imported many important Russian performers for American audiences, and a number of Russian émigré artists, including Jacob Gordin, Jacob Ben-Ami, Benno Schneider, Boris Aronson, and Michel Fokine, who worked in the American theatre during the first three decades of the twentieth century. UL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my adviser, Tom Postlewait, for his guidance and expertise, which made this study possible, i greatly appreciate his generosity, his time, and his enthusiasm for my project. I thank Beth Sullivan, who has been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement throughout my studies at The Ohio State University. I also thank Joe Brandeslqr for our discussions of Russian theatre and for his close readings of my work. I wish to thank my colleagues at The University of Arizona for their encouragement. I am grateful to my family, especially Sylvia and Ralph Robinson, Jr., for years of loving support. I am particularly indebted to David J. Hohman, who has done so much to make writing this dissertation possible. IV VITA December 28, 1972 Bom, South Shore, Kentucky 1994 B.A. English, Eureka College, Eureka, Illinois 1996 M.S. Theatre Arts, Illinois State Universtiy, Normal, Illinois 1996-2000 Graduate Teaching Associate The Ohio State University 2000-present Adjunct Instructor The University of Arizona PUBLICATIONS “Greek Tragedy on the American Stage by Karelisa Hartigan.” Book review. Theatre Studies 42 (1997): 86-87. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Theatre TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ........................................................................................................ ü Acknowledgments................................................................ tv .............................................................. V List of Figures.............................................................................................. vit introduction.................................................................................................... I Chapters: L Russia in the American Imagination.......................................................... 19 2. The Commodification of Russian Theatre................................................. 81 3. Revolutionary Art/Revolutionary Politics............................................. 141 Conclusion.................................................................................................. 207 Bibliography................................................................................................. 214 VI LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 2.1 Morris Gest....................................................................... 137 2.2 “Warning of Pirates” Flier.................................................. 138 2.3 Section of Balieffs Chauve-Souris 1922 Souvenir Program Cover..................................................................................139 2.4 Ralph Barton cartoon of Audience in Balieffs Chauve-Souris 1922 Souvenir Program.............................. 140 3.1 “Blue Blouses” photo with caption fromTheatre Arts Monthly, January 1926 ...................................................... 204 3.2 Neighborhood Playhouse production ofThe Dybbuk. Photo with caption fromTheatre Arts Monthly, February 1926 ..... 205 3.3 Boris Aronson design for Unset Theatre. Photo with caption from Theatre Arts Monthly, February 1926 ...........................206 VII INTRODUCTION The first third of the twentieth century is an exciting era in America’s artistic history as technological advances and changes in the nations’ demography and economy made Americans broadly aware of and concerned with international cultures, politics, and art. Advancements in communications, travel, and finance coupled with waves of immigration, world war, and revolutionary activities encouraged international artistic experimentation. In the early part of the twentieth century, American artists and intellectuals increasingly came into contact with and looked to European artists as they sought new ideas in art, music, and performance to parallel the emerging modem society. Inevitably, as many American theatre artists came into contact with these important European artists and their ideas, they sought to change a number of standard theatrical practices and ideas about theatre and its value and purpose in the United States. Of course, this innovative spirit sprang firom many sources and grew in numerous directions, but some key events, such as important publications, artistic tours, and collaborations, helped to establish important relationships between Americans and European theatrical innovations. The discovery of the writings of notable theorists played an important role in the spread of European ideas to Americans. For example, Gordon Craig’s ideas greatly influenced the thinking of the young scenic designers Robert Edmund Jones and Lee Simonson, who became leaders in the movement toward the “new stagecraft.” Early in the twentieth century, many American artists, Jones and Simonson among them, also visited European theatres and brought back new ideas and strategies for making theatre. In the 1910s and 1920s, several important European artists worked or performed in the United States. The opportunities to work with or to see the work of such figures as Max Reinhardt, Harley Granville-Barker, Jacques Copeau, and the Abbey Players, for instance, greatly affected the work of innumerable American artists. Additionally, the American theatre companies that grew out of the “Little Theatre Movement” encouraged the production of works by leading European modernist playwrights