Part I
Vakhtangovâs theatrical youth 1
The city of Vladikavkaz
Fathers and sons
When trying to fathom the roots of some of his younger contemporariesâ artâthe art that seemed to have distorted the worldâ Konstantin Stanislavsky wrote:
I think that organically I can no longer understand much in the aspirations of present-day-youth. One must have courage to admit this. [âŠ]
We spent our youth in a Russia that was peaceful; in which there was plenty for few. The present generation has grown up in the midst of war, hunger, world upheavals, transitional era, mutual misunderstanding and hate. [âŠ] The new generation almost does not know the joy that we knew, it seeks and creates joy in new environments, and tries to make up for those years of youth that it has lost.
(Stanislavsky 1953: 464â65)
Yevgeny Vakhtangovâs childhood and youth fell in the period of Russian history when the dividing line of the revolution was sensed in every aspect of societyâs life. Vakhtangov himself will speak of this fateful line in one of his articles:
The red line of the Revolution divided the world into the âoldâ and the ânew.â There is no corner of human life through which this line has not passed, and there is no person who has not felt it in one way or another.
(Sourcebook 2011: 165)
Needless to say, the dividing line of the revolution did not bypass a Russian family, creating a dramatic gap between âfathers and sons.â Vakhtangovâs family was not an exception. Vakhtangov belonged to the generation of the theatre artists born in a turbulent time when art, theatre, was no longer considered the domain of wealthy connoisseurs. The dividing line of the revolution made art a powerful weapon in a struggle between the new and the old. At that time, art almost exclusively became a domain of the new progressive middle class, or rather of a âsocial stratum,â known as the Russian intelligentsia.
Yevgeny Bogrationovich Vakhtangov was born on February 13, 1883, in the southern Russian City of Vladikavkaz1 into the family of wealthy Armenian tobacco manufacturer Bograt (Bogration)2
Vakhtangov. Bograt came into his tobacco factory and his fortune through his marriage to Yevgenyâs mother Olga (nĂ©e Lebedeva). Vakhtangovâs biographers disagree on the atmosphere of Vakhtangovâs childhood. One thing is certainâBograt Vakhtangov was a tyrannical person, accustomed to being the master, both in his business and in his home. Bogratâs harsh treatment of his own father Sarkis, Yevgenyâs grandfather, led to the proud old manâs suicideâ this tragic childhood memory must have left a deep imprint on Vakhtangov. A house painter, proud of his background and of his Armenian heritage, Sarkis could not accept his sonâs rusificationâthe price of doing serious business in the Russian empire.
In his childhood and youth, Vakhtangov seemed to be more sympathetic with his fatherâs factory workers than he was with his fatherâs business. He became a member of Arzamasâa secret circle, named after the progressive Russian author Maxim Gorky. (The tsarist government sentenced Gorky to exile in the southern city of Arzamas.) Members of the circle gathered at a private home to further their social, political and philosophical education. Together they read and discussed the works of Gorky, Tolstoy, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Marx and Lenin.
Much to his fatherâs disappointment, Yevgeny showed no interest in learning to manage the family tobacco factory, and dedicated all his time free from studies to amateur theatricals. Bograt disapproved of his sonâs theatrical aspirations; in fact, he did not accept them until after Vakhtangov won his acclaim as the famed Moscow Art Theatreâs director and actor.
Some of Vakhtangovâs biographers (Smirnov-Nesvistsky 1987: 13) insist that there is no evidence that Bogratâs actual treatment of Yevgeny was cruel (see Figure 1.1). Despite the old manâs frequent threats and open disapproval, the young Vakhtangov, this Prince Royal, still enjoyed freedom and the means to do what he wanted. Trying to avoid angering his father, however, he undertook some of his theatre projects in secret (or under an assumed name).
Vakhtangovâs literary talents became apparent rather early. Besides poetry and articles written for his high school newspaper, he wrote several autobiographical sketches. Two such sketches, written by a 19-year-old Yevgeny, give us insight into the Vakhtangov family atmosphere. They describe an unalterable routine of family life, where every activity, every relationship and even every conflict are reenacted with ritualistic precision.
One of Vakhtangovâs sketches describes a family gathered for a traditional noontime coffee. In the sketch, the high school student Yasha (recognizably Vakhtangov) revolts against the senseless and onerous gathering. Even this revolt, however, appears to be routine and predetermined. Vakhtangov-the-author stresses that all the participants in the family scene, including his rebellious self, play permanently established roles.
Charactersâ behavior, as described by Vakhtangov, appears programmedâevery human impulse steeped in the forever routine. Members of the family seem to be deprived of free willâwound-up mechanical toys that think and feel:
In the next instant, Yashaâs sister will appear from the next room, wearing her long loose housecoat. Silently, she will sit at the table ⊠Having sat there for awhile, she will get up, and then bring a book. She is nearsighted, and she holds the book close to her eyes, and never hunches.
Yasha waits for his other sister, Nina, to come in. He waits angrily, while biting his cigarette holder.
âLet her come ahead of me, so that not to disrupt the routine domestic harmony, created by our familyââhe thinks, while holding himself to his chair.
(Ivanov 2011 vol. I: 36)
In another sketch, we encounter a father delivering âa daily talkâ to his son. The father, recognizably Bograt, reproaches Yevgeny for avoiding his duties as an heir. He accuses his son of acting a role. In the fatherâs view, Yevgeny is only preaching ânon-exploitation,â and
Figure 1.1 Vakhtangovâs family, 1895. Vakhtangov standing next to his father Bograt, second from the left. Courtesy of Vakhtangov Theatre Museum.
neglecting to help the factory workers in practice, while eating their bread. Once again, the theme of the social role-acting appears in the sketch:
Yashaâs father pretends that he is reading a lecture on worldly wisdom in front of an entire audience of youth, who are lost, and whose life forces are going to waste.
(Ivanov 2011 vol. I: 37)
Vakhtangovâs sketches give us more than a glimpse into his youth. They provide an understanding of the origins of Vakhtangovâs model of theatre, and his acting methods. At the essence of Vakhtangovâs observations of life, there lies a perception that people are seldom free to fully express their true selves in their daily life. Instead, they hide behind social masks (progressive or regressive) and engage in senseless social rituals. Their true, essential life remains a secret, almost entirely buried behind daily disguises. Already at the age of 19, Vakhtangov was capable of perceiving the deathly, mechanical essence of human routines. He felt the stagnant, constricting nature of âsocial masksâ worn by everyone.
Vakhtangovâs father remains alone at the end of the sketchâhis son just made his theatrical exit. âThe audienceâ is gone, and the mask of the âeducator of youthâ is shed. Bograt becomes his real selfâhe withdraws into his bedroom to nonchalantly read his Stock Exchange Journal; he thinks his sacred, deep thoughts about his son. A completely different, real man looks out from behind the mask.
Vakhtangovâs writings of the period reveal the many-layered, multifaceted personality of the author. The theme of social protest appears next to insightful and witty psychological observations. Elegant humor and irony, including self-irony, is juxtaposed against the theme of complicity with the sufferings of those less fortunate. Dreams of a great destination, of rising above the earth, are found alongside the sense of utter despair, of the futility of human existence.
At this youthful stage of his development, Vakhtangov can not foresee the deathly horror in the mundaneâthe characteristic tendency of some Russian authors, such as Pushkin, Gogol and especially Dostoyevsky. Instead he describes the tedium of the pointless daily routine; in that, he is closer to Chekhovâs perception. As late as 1910, having watched rehearsals for Dostoyevskyâs The Brothers Karamazov at the Moscow Art Theatre, Vakhtangov wrote in his diary:
There is a reality of Dostoyevsky, and then there is a reality of Chekhov, for exampleâyet the same life served as a source [for both of these realities]. Everything I saw on the stage from Brothers Karamazov, is still further removed from the life I understand than what Chekhov gave us.
(Ivanov 2011 vol. I: 205)
Even in the Dostoyevskian soul, âwrecked by todayâs time and conditions,â âsunk into baseness and perversion,â Vakhtangov longs to see the âbright spots,â the inner âtendernessâ (Ivanov 2011, vol. I: 205). Romantic perception of the earthly life as essentially tragic, and yearning for the creative realm, are present in Vakhtangovâs youthful poetry. Earthly existence, as perceived by the young Vakhtangov, may be futile, cruel. However, a man is capable of shedding his vulgar earthly skin in the higher spheres of creativity:
To kick away the earthly sphere, to step into the new world, to embrace the mysterious beauty.
Cursed be the flowers, cursed be the sun, cursed be the fruits, cursed be the ice.
To embrace beautyâthe mysterious beauty that is beautiful with its mystery.
To plunge my thought into the creative sea. To adorn the Thoughtâs regal head with the immortal crown; to create, and, having createdâto fall down at the feet of your creation. To soar in the realm of free thought, to glide among the stars, to caress the particles of light. To tear out my heart, to squeeze out my brain âŠ
The thought of my soul! My life belongs to you. Take it and live. Extinguish the earthly hell with your mighty hand.
(Ivanov 2011 vol. I: 83)
Vakhtangovâs literary experiments reveal a powerful inner life, with a mind and heart capable of reconciling seemingly opposing phenomena. Polarities, such as life and death, the singular and the global, the comical and the tragic, the heroic and the mundane, were embraced by Vakhtangov as opposite parts of one entire whole. As an example, a literary portrait of a high school Greek teacher betrays Vakhtangovâs ability to perceive tragedy behind the pathetic mask. At the same time, this portrait is clearly written by a man with a sensitive heart, capable of complicity.
The influence of the Russian literary tradition, with its compassion toward âthe little man,â is evident in the sketch. The Greek teacher, who is perpetually disobeyed, mocked and humiliated by his students, because of his meekness, resembles the low clerk Bashmachkinâthe main character of Gogolâs tale, The Overcoat. As Vakhtangov projects his teacherâs thoughts, one can almost hear Bashmachkinâs heart-wrenching cry: âWhy do you offend me?â
What is going on in his soul? What does this little man feel? What does he think of, as he nervously fiddles with his watch chain? He does not hear the noise, yelling, and witty remarks ⊠He is deaf ⊠He thinks how little they understand him, and how little they respect his human dignity âŠ
(Ivanov 2011 vol. I: 41)
A human face, and an aching heart peep from under the impenetrable mask of an educator. Vakhtangov exhibits a gift, rare for his age, to see the human being in âan authority.â Similarly, the glimpse of his father Bogratâs inner self, evident in Vakhtangovâs youthful literary portrait, reveals a mature understanding. The old manâs loneliness, his inability to connect with his own family, the misunderstood heart behind the mask of a despotâall this is present in a short sketch.
Vakhtangov will continue âreachingâ to his father through several of his theatrical works, including the character of the family patriarch from Hauptmannâs The Festival of Peace (Vakhtangovâs first professional production). In 1913, Vakhtangov will create the role of Dickensâ cruel toy manufacturer Tackleton in the First Studio of MATâs production of The Cricket on the Hearth. In the role, he will rise to the art of t...