Elements of Design 1ELEMENT OF DESIGN By (Student’s Name)Professor’s Name College Course Date
Elements of Design 2ELEMENT OF DESIGNMeyerhold and Brecht shared most artistic, personal and professional similarities. Theyshared most visions for theatre but they come from the different cultural perspective. Theyshaped the characteristics of theatre around their characteristics. They are both believed to havethe legacy that lives to date (Francis 2016). Brecht had a desire of creating a theatre perspectivein which he altered the way an audience participated in the performance (Francis 2016).Meyerhold too shared the same desire though, they were coming from different perspectives.Their perspectives were different in terms of the stage and other designs that surround it. Theelements involved in the design include lighting, props, stage, and sound. Focusing on stagesetting, this essay looks at the two theatrical practitioners (Meyerhold and Brecht) and theirdifferent ways of reasoning (Charlton 2016). Meyerhold and Brecht both shared the idea of human constructivism. They believed thathuman could change through what they saw on theatre. They, however, had different ideas onhow to make these changes in people. Brecht, who was a German, believed in exposing theaudience to twisted realities. The audience who sees the performance would then reflect andchange. Meyerhold believed that in order to make people change, he had to create symbolism.He created symbolism through use of materialism and improvisation of the scenes. It is this maindifference that influenced how the two set up a stage. Meyerhold believed in an act that emphasized value for movements and acrobatics.(Meyerhold 2014). He encouraged the use of stage movement to any other accompaniments suchas music, light, props and other stage settings. He, therefore, incorporated physical training andgymnastics to allow his performers make movements on stage. This kind of training had aninfluence on the stage set up. Meyerhold’s theatrical performances required a wide stage area.
Elements of Design 3The audience kept a good distance from the stage. In one of Meyerhold’s performances, hedeconstructed the idea of the “box without a fourth wall.”(Whitefield 2017). His stylization ofthe stage area, was made so that it is able to accommodate exercises and flashes of so manymovements. An example can be drawn from Meyerhold’s classical performances of the Vietnamwars. He used ramps to eliminate the audience from the stage. The ramps were used in the play.Real army vehicles passed through the ramps symbolizing war that was ongoing in Vietnam.Bretch’s idea on stage setting is quite contrary to Meyerhold’s. He exposed the audienceto a series of events from the audiences’ comfort. He set a stage where everything happened atthe exposure of the audience. He insisted in trying to make the stage as natural as possible. This,therefore, required the stage to be propped so much. The propping of stage is done so that itimitates natural environment. The stage, therefore, should be as small as the room trying to beimitated. It should fit the acting descriptions. The audience are supposed to be very near thestage. By being near, the audience will notice even the tiniest details. Each room’s detail issupposed to communicate immensely to the audience. The chain of events leads to frequentchange of the stage into several shapes that will fit the imitated natural environment. It involveschanging of the stage from one set to another for every scene. He employed the use of breaks andcommercials. In one of his performance, he had some performers standing at the back of theaudience, who led the audience in singing a chorus. The audience had to look back, and by theend of the chorus, the stage was already furnished with new props different from the scene thathad just ended. He again introduced the use of curtains on the stage. The curtains, behind theperformer on stage, are supposed to be arranged during the continuance of an act. By the time theact is done, the stage for the next scene is already set.
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