Meyerhold Bound: Montažstroj's “Vatrotehna (2.0)” and the Barbaric Discipline of the Machine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11649/ch.2017.011Keywords:
Montažstroj, re-performability, physical theatre, avant-garde theatre, radical performanceAbstract
The paper deals with Montažstroj’s two versions of Vatrotehna performance, inspired by Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound and Meyerhold’s tragic execution. Context of both performances is analyzed, especially in the light of re-performability in post-sociorealist and neo-capitalist conditions. Montažstroj’s performances are, hence, seen as radical in situ performance praxis, community oriented, and deeply rooted in traditions of avant-garde theatre. Therefore, questions like iterability, social proxemics and political engagement of the performance arise as most important. Aeschylus’ plot intertekst and Meyerhold’s performative intertext thus function as a platform for re-examining and re-performing in a rigid, utmost barbaric biomechanical mode, furthermore – in totally mediatized and mechanicocentric society.
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