Vsevolod Meyerhold's views on the Soviet theatre

Proletarian culture was one of the most debated subjects during the 1920s and 1930s. Not only artists, but also politicians (Lenin, Trotsky, Bukharin, etc.), tried to determine what should be included or not in proletarian culture. Cultural heritage was the central issue in those debates. The main ideologists of Proletcult, Bogdanov, Pletnev, and Kerzhentsev, asserted to conserve masterpieces of the past. In the early 1930s, the question was still debated. The article deals with the issue of cultural heritage in Meyerhold's performances. Meyerhold's views on traditions and innovations in theatrical art are examined in the context of proletarian culture. One of the Meyerhold's performances ("The Last and Decisive") is analyzed. The author concludes that the original Meyerhold's interpretation of acceptable theatrical traditions did not correlate with the party line on culture. The 1930s were the time of the establishment of socialist realism as the norm. The cultural situation allowed diversity in interpretations. The forthcoming consolidation of socialist realism orthodoxy led to the elimination of artworks inconsistent with it from the cultural sphere. Firstly, the performance "The Last and Decisive" was banned; secondly, Meyerhold's theater was closed.