Directed Culture: The Spectator and Dialogues of Power in Early Soviet Theater By Howard Douglas Allen A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Victoria E. Bonnell, Chair Professor Ann Swidler Professor Yuri Slezkine Fall 2013 Abstract Directed Culture: The Spectator and Dialogues of Power in Early Soviet Theater by Howard Douglas Allen Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology University of California, Berkeley Professor Victoria E. Bonnell, Chair The theater played an essential role in the making of the Soviet system. Its sociological interest not only lies in how it reflected contemporary society and politics: the theater was an integral part of society and politics. As a preeminent institution in the social and cultural life of Moscow, the theater was central to transforming public consciousness from the time of 1905 Revolution. The analysis of a selected set of theatrical premieres from the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 to the end of Cultural Revolution in 1932 examines the values, beliefs, and attitudes that defined Soviet culture and the revolutionary ethos. The stage contributed to creating, reproducing, and transforming the institutions of Soviet power by bearing on contemporary experience. The power of the dramatic theater issued from artistic conventions, the emotional impact of theatrical productions, and the extensive intertextuality between theatrical performances, the press, propaganda, politics, and social life. Reception studies of the theatrical premieres address the complex issue of the spectator’s experience of meaning—and his role in the construction of meaning. The evolving historical context and the changing institutional foundations of theater altered the interpretive contexts of performance. The discussion of interpretive communities and audience tastes draws on reviews in the contemporary press and the data from theater surveys conducted during the 1920s. The theaters continually sought to align their aesthetics with the demands of the regime and the preferences of theatergoing publics. In addition, ideology served as a form of currency in the polemics among theater directors and theater critics who were engaged in the contest for dominance in the theater world. The theater spectator became a central ideological figure invoked by warring interpretive communities in these ongoing dialogues of power. The theater became politicized under Soviet rule; under Stalin it became a deformed expression of mass politics. 1 Contents List of Illustrations iii Acknowledgements v Note on Transliteration vi INTRODUCTON: ENTERTAINING IDEAS 1 The Spectator and Dialogues of Power Directed Culture: The Bolshevization of Theater The Experience of Meaning 1. THE THEATER AS A CULTURAL INSTITUTION 18 The Politics of Theater in Late Tsarist Russia The Conventions of Naturalism The Moscow Art Theater as a Cultural Institution 2. THE MOSCOW ART THEATER IN REVOLUTIONARY RUSSIA 42 The Moscow Art Theater in the Aftermath of 1917 The Theatrical Production of The Lower Depths A Case Study of Reception A Special Spectator 3. THE EXPERIENCE OF REVOLUTIONARY THEATER 77 The Dawn as Revolutionary Theater The Experience of the Spectator The Public Criticism of The Dawn 4. THE BOLSHEVIK PARTY, PROLETKULT AND THE DIRECTED AUDIENCE 124 Proletkult as a Sociocultural Movement Are You Listening, Moscow? An Analysis of the Production and Its Reception The Critical Division 5. THEATER DURING THE ERA OF THE NEW ECONOMIC POLICY 159 The Tastes of the Theatergoing Public The Soufflé at The Theater of the Revolution Interpretive Communities and the Meanings of The Soufflé 6. THE PROLETARIAN PLAYWRIGHTS AND THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION 206 The New Administration of the Theater The Political Context of Bread The Dominance of RAPP During the Cultural Revolution CONCLUSION: THE POWER OF THEATER 238 i Bibliography 249 ii Illustrations In the Introduction: Figure 1. Konstantin Stanislavsky 3 Figure 2. Vsevolod Meyerhold in Red Army cap 7 Figure 1.1 Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko 22 Figure 1.2 Tsarina Irina in Tsar Fëdor Ioannovich 23 Figure 1.3 Lobby of the Moscow Art Theater 25 Figure 1.4 The Moscow Art Theater Auditorium 26 Figure 2.1 The Lower Depths, Opening Scene 49 Figure 2.2 Kvashnya, the Dumpling Peddler 49 Figure 2.3 Nastya, the Prostitute 50 Figure 2.4 Bubnov, the Cap Maker 50 Figure 2.5 Satin 52 Figure 2.6 Luka 52 Figure 2.7 Luka’s Entrance 53 Figure 2.8 The Baron 53 Figure 2.9 “Is There A God?” 56 Figure 2.10 The Actor Recites 57 Figure 2.11 Satin’s Speech 60 Figure 2.12 “The Actor Has Hung Himself” 63 Figure 2.13 The Moscow Art Theater on Tour, 1922 71 Figure 3.1 Krupskaya and Lenin 78 Figure 3.2 Anatoly Lunacharsky 78 Figure 3.3 Hérénien 81 Figure 3.4 The Dawn, Plan for Staging 84 Figure 3.5 Model of the Set, Finale 90 Figure 3.6 Constructivist Set for Tarelkin’s Death 91 Figure 3.7 In the Cemetery, Scene Four 95 Figure 3.8 The Audience at the Meyerhold Theater 98 Figure 3.9 An Audience Survey Questionnaire from the 1920s 102 Figure 3.10 On People’s Square, Scene Seven 109 Figure 3.11 Aleksandr Apsit “Internatsional,” 1918 112 Figure 3.12 The Dawn, Finale 113 Figure 3.13 Meyerhold Wearing a Fez 117 Figure 4.1 Sergei Tretyakov 136 Figure 4.2 D.E. at the Meyerhold Theater 137 Figure 4.3 Pantomime Scene, Act Four 139 Figure 4.4 Portrait of Lenin Unveiled 140 Figure 4.5 Sergei Eisenstein 142 Figure 4.6 Theater Program for the Performance 142 iii Figure 5.1 Map of Moscow’s Working Class Districts 163 Figure 5.2 Map of the Downtown Area 165 Figure 5.3 The Forest at the Meyerhold Theater 166 Figure 5.4 The Raid at the MGSPS Theater 168 Figure 5.5 Boris Romashov 176 Figure 5.6 Tverskaya Street 177 Figure 5.7 Drawing of Anna Babanova as Rita Kern 179 Figure 5.8 The Soufflé, Finale 183 Figure 5.9 The Assembly at the Bank 184 Figure 5.10 Drawing by D. Moor. “The Girl Sang in the Choir” 191 Figure 6.1 Anka in The Poem About the Axe 213 Figure 6.2 A Scene from Tempo 214 Figure 6.3 Vladimir Kirshon 216 Figure 6.4 A Scene from Bread 218 Figure 6.5 The Finale, Mikhailov and Kvasov 221 Figure 6.6 Drawing of Mikhailov, the Bolshevik Leader 224 Figure 6.7 Lyubov Yarovaya 226 Figure 6.8 Scene from The Man with the Briefcase 227 Figure 6.8 Raevsky and Kvasov 232 Figure 6.10 Drawing of “The Battle on the Theatrical Front” 235 In the Conclusion: 1. Egor Bulychev and Others 244 2. Dostigaev and Others 244 3. Maxim Gorky 244 4. Anna Karenina 245 5. Count Vronsky 246 6. The Stalin Constitution 247 Table 1. Moscow Dramatic Theaters, 1925 165 iv Acknowledgements Many people and institutions have supported this project. I wish to thank Victoria Bonnell whose graduate seminars inspired me to undertake the study of theater art and Soviet culture. To borrow a term from Stanislavsky, Ann Swidler encouraged me to develop the sociological “through-lines” of the dissertation. They provided guidance, critical readings, and generous advice. Mel Gordon’s encyclopedic knowledge of Soviet theater was a tremendous resource. He provided me with video footage of theater productions from the era. Yuri Slezkine also read the manuscript and provided critical advice. I wish to express my deep gratitude to all of them. Various institutions funded the archival research in Russia, the collection of source materials, and the writing of the dissertation. I wish to thank the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), the Social Sciences Research Council (SSRC), the American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the University of California-St. Petersburg Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences Faculty Exchange Program, and the Graduate Division, the Institute of International Studies, and the Berkeley-Stanford Program at the University of California at Berkeley. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the State Archive of the Russian Federation, and the Central State Archive of Moscow; the Museum of the Moscow Art Theater and the Bakhrushin State Museum; the Lunacharsky Theater Library; the Russian National Library; the Library of Congress; the Chicago Public Library; and the libraries of the University of California at Berkeley and Northwestern University. Finally, I wish to thank the many others who have contributed in various ways to the dissertation. It is dedicated to the memory of my parents and brother. v Note on Transliteration and Dates In the text, titles of plays, organizations, and journals have been given in English translation, with the original Russian in parentheses or in the notes. Also, I have rendered names and places in their familiar, anglicized forms, such as Nadezhda Krupskaya and Kronstadt. In the notes and the bibliography, the Library of Congress system of transliteration has been used. In February 1918, Russia adopted the new style (Gregorian) calendar used in Western Europe and the United States. The old style (Julian) calendar was thirteen days behind the new style calendar at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution. Hence, the October Revolution, which occurred on the twenty-fifth of the month in 1917, was celebrated on the seventh of November beginning in 1918. vi Introduction: Entertaining Ideas An audience without a history is not an audience. Herbert Blau, The Audience Members of the Moscow Art Theater troupe huddled backstage on the eve of the Bolshevik Revolution on October 25, 1917 listening apprehensively to the buzz in the auditorium. The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov’s play about the demise of a gentry estate was about to begin.