REVISOR, COMMENTED ON BY ALL GOGOL. ALEXANDER SLONIMSKY AND YULIA SAZONOVA-SLONIMSKAYA IN THE CONTROVERSY ABOUT THE MEYERHOLD PLAY

The discussion of Meyerhold's Revisor (GosTIM, premiere-December 9, 1926) is an unprecedented case in European theatre of the first half of the twentieth century: no other theatrical event had such a breadth of public reaction. In the general controversy around the Meyerhold Revisor, the theatre-critical dialogue between the philologist and theatre critic of the Leningrad Gvozdev school Alexander Slonimsky and the director and theatre critic Iulia Sazonova-Slonimskaia (who were brother and sister) represents not only the views of Soviet Russia and Russia Abroad, but also those of the drama/theatre theorist and theatre practitioner. The dialogue considered in this article-at first glance, local and peripheral-turns out to be inscribed in the discussions of the 1920s about one of Meyerhold's most controversial performances, and at the same time becomes the prehistory of the discussions of the 1930s about Meyer-hold theatre's formalism and untimeness, which brought a tragic denouement: the dissolution of the theatre and the death of its director. (c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The discussion of Meyerhold's Revisor in 1926 was a significant event in European theatre, with a wide range of public reactions. The dialogue between Alexander Slonimsky and Iulia Sazonova-Slonimskaia, representing Soviet Russia and Russia Abroad, shed light on the controversies surrounding Meyerhold's performances and foreshadowed the discussions in the 1930s. These discussions ultimately led to the dissolution of the theatre and Meyerhold's tragic demise.