b'and design changed through his exploration ofHe would draw these on the floor of the stage for practice. Over time he began to accept Richardthe actors to follow. The guides would compel Wagners understanding of Gesamtkunstwerkthe performers to move in mathematical, almost (synthesis of the arts), which he originally dis- mechanical ways, almost stripping the perform-missed. He was engrossed by the energy promoteder of gender, race and social inflections, leaving from the inner tensions of the overall design,them as a pure performance body. Johannes Bir-and by 1922 Meyerhold believed that [synthesis]ringer (2013:42) finds this emphasis on designed is exactly what a production should be (Braunchoreography, which is so influenced by the space 2016:254). He found new energy playing with thein which it moves, particularly interesting as it so abstract, material, and metaphysical dimensionsblatantly rejects the expressionism and mimet-drawing on all available media to create newic conventions of the time whilst also running shapes and movements through the involvementcounter to all later realist theatre and essential-of all forms of theatre (Birringer 2013:40). Thisistor deconstructivebody art performance new relationship was first apparent in The Mag- traditions. Indeed, it is the design element of the nanimous Cuckold in 1922. The set, utilitarian,bodily display that is so remarkable. multi-purpose scaffolding consisting of treadmills, ramps, and trapezes, provided a helpful instru- In some ways it feels like a false separation to ment for actors (Shcherbakov 2018:695). Theanalyse the body separately from the design ele-stage not only allowed the actor to explore theirments of both Constructivist and Bauhaus thea-skill as a physical performer but also facilitatedtre. Whilst the two traditions differ profoundly inAdaskina, N., 1987. Constructivist Fabrics and Dress De-a performance in which the forms of the set andtheir relation to political polemic textuality andsign. The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, 5, pp.144-the actors body could blend, in turn creating atemporality, using design to very different effect159. performance aesthetic that suggested a unified re- and ends, they are united in creating a theatre lationship between the performers body and thewhere the body, in its design relation to costume,Barbieri, D. and Trimingham, M., 2017. Costume in Perfor-onstage environment (Barnett 2018:46). Roannspace and movement, was obsessively paramount,mance: Materiality, Culture, and the Body. London: Bloomsbury. Barris (2013:67) concluded that it was in fact thisand in that emphasis opened the door to a newBarnett, D., 2018. Meyerhold; Piscator; Brecht. London: corpus of interactions between the structure andkind of abstract, yet human, theatre. Bloomsbury, pp.13-67. 4. actors, and not the structure itself, [that] was the true construction, an analysis that confirms theBarris, R., 2013. The Life of the Constructivist Theatrical centrality of the body in design.Object. Theatre Journal, 65(1), pp.57-76. Birringer, J., 2013. Bauhaus, Constructivism, Performance. However, it is interesting to note this changePAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 35, no. 2, pg. 44with reference to Schlemmer. Looking at the way Constructivist costumed bodies and stagingBraun, E, 2016. V. Meyerhold, Biomechanics, in Meyer-fit together you can get a sense that they werehold on Theatre, [trans Edward Braun] 4th Edition. London: Bloomsbury, pp. 244-45. 7. Craig, M., n.d. Biomechanics originally translated from separate, intrinsicallyand Meyerhold. [online] RussiaKnowledge. Available at: choreographed designs: biomechanics. The conti- [Accessed 5 May 2022]. nuities between the two, like an actors arm being extended through a parallel trajectory in the set,Schlemmer, O, Moholy-Nagy, L & Molnr, F., 1971. The even after Meyerholds moves towards synthesis,Theatre of the Bauhaus [trans Wensinger, A. S]. Wesleyan Uni-versity Press, Connecticut. feel strangely two dimensional compared to the Bauhaus gestalt. In contrast to ConstructivistRaunig, G., 2008. Bodies, Things, and Social Machines. [online] notation, Schlemmer enabled Bauhaus to contin- Transversal Texts. Available at: [Accessed 5 May 2022]. ually express the bodys unfolding relationshipShcherbakov, V., 2018. Study on the Constructivist Utopia of with space imminently. He made and moved inVsevolod Meyerhold. Advances in Social Science, Education his own costumes, rather than designing them onand Humanities Research, 284, pp.695-701. paper, something that Meyerhold never did (Bar-bieri 2017:139). The Bauhaus stage maintainedTrimingham, M., 2011. The Theatre of the Bauhaus: The Modern the space in which body moved as three-dimen- and Postmodern Stage of Oskar Schlemmer. New York: Routledge. sional. Unlike Constructivist theatre, it was rareTurner, C., 2015. Dramaturgy and Architecture: Theatre, Uto-for a Bauhaus performance to have grand scenery,pia and the Built Environment. London: Palgrave Macmillan, so that Schlemmer could focus on the naturalpp.112-14.geometric lines, or paths of movements, of space. 60 61'