무대 연출론 : 20 세기 연극 관객의 위상 재정립의 시발 (始發) - V. E. 메이어홀드 ( 1874 ~ 1940 ) 의 연극관과 작업을 중심으로 (2000)

Theatre spectators have to play an active role in a theatrical event, because its completion needs their active participation. In the early times of the history of theatre audience was one of the important elements of theatre. But in the baroque period theatres with proscenium stage began to be built up in Italy and later in many european countries. Consequently the house was divided into two parts, stage and auditorium. From that time on audience was deprived of its important role. Especially the realistic plays in the 19th century forced spectators to remain as passive receivers and to peep into the show through the fourth wall. In the 20th century there have been a variety of reflections on this aspect. The experimentalists and the avantgarde have made various attempts to give spectators back their orginal role in theatrical events. One of them was of no doubt the russian director V. E. Meyerhold who was in full activity in 1920s after the October Revolution. He was, as we know, the initiator of `biomechanics` and the `constuctive stage`. But this essay shows relatively little interest in his accomplishments in these respects. It shows more interest in his productions, with which he tried to induce spectators to participate productively. Meyerhold began his theatrical career as actor in the realistic theatre. Before long he began to direct and took a stand against this kind of theatre, because of its hypnotic effects. He devoted himself to the symbolistic plays with allusive characteristic, which demanded, he thought, the emotional participation and active interpretation of the spectators. From that time on he took a growing interest in the question of theatre audience. Earlier than any other director in our century he perceived their co-productive activity in a theatrical event. He called audience as the `fourth creator`, parallel with playwright, actor and director. As a director he wanted to produce theatrical theatre, not literal one. He gathered his ideas on theatre from the studies on the history of theatre, music, painting, architecture and other artistic genres, and lately through the experience in film productions. His aesthetics covering `stylization`, `grotesque`, `mask`, etc. was revolutionary. We can see nowadays many devices on the stage, which Meyerhold tried to realize on his stages eighty years ago. He was in a real sense a revolutionist on the modern stage, as Edward Braun rightly estimated. But one of the most significant accomplishments he made was the refixation of the status of theatre audience. Meyerhold was the first director in the 20th century who tried to check the reactions of spectators. He wanted to make shows which could appeal to as many spectators as possible. After the Revolution he could find in the proletariat the very audience he had longed to have. He designed various kinds of devices to make spectators participate in theatrical events. Although he could not realize his ideas on audience in full scale, he was of no doubt a forefather of the experimental and avantgarde theatre in the 20th century. Nowadays, we are living in the world, in which multiple media of filmic image dominate our every day lives and in consequence the survival of theatre would be threatend, whose life lies in the live relationship of human beings. With the example of Meyerhold we have to try to return theatre audience its old role, so that the theatre should survive, whatever media of filmic image might be coming.