ISSN 2411-0795
ISSN 2411-0795
Keywords: metaphor, metaphorical language, metaphor as the basis of drama, mechanisms of metaphor formation, metaphor in "The Government Inspector" by Vsevolod Meyerhold, metaphors in the performances of Eimuntas Nekrošius, metaphor in the play "K.I." Kamy Ginkas, hybrid performances of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, erasing genre boundaries in theater, Chekhov Festival in Moscow 2001, Georg Buchner "Woyzeck", sound-visual image in modern theater, Heiner Goebbels, Christophe Marthaler, Gerard McBurney, Alexander Bakshi, Ilya Epelbaum
Available in the on-line version with: 30.03.2025
Bakshi L.S. Metaphorical Language in Modern Theater: Mechanisms of Formation. // Theory and History of Art. 2025. N 1, p.169–189 https://doi.org/10.24412/2411-0795-2025-1-169-189.
This article outlines the development of metaphorical theater, where new artistic thinking, language, dramaturgy and fundamentally new models of stage art are being created. In literature, metaphor is understood as a word or expression used in a figurative meaning, which is based on the comparison of an object or phenomenon with some other on the basis of their common characteristic. Theatrical metaphor is a multimodal image that arises at the intersection of languages of different types of art to express the essence of meaning or create the generalization behind a specific story. At the same time, metaphor needs no explanation. Independent comparison (interaction) of the incomparable provokes the viewer to complete connections. Famous finales from "The Government Inspector" staged by Vsevolod Meyerhold, "A Month in the Village" by Anatoly Efros, and "Macbeth" by Eimuntas Nekrošius are one of the most remarkable works in in history of theatre and are commonly referred to as stage meta-backgrounds.
The director's theater, which appeared at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and developed as an art of interpretation, sought to turn the theater into a temple of Art, drawing set designers, costume designers, composers, lighting designers, and choreographers into the orbit of co-creation. By the end of the 20th century, the most famous literary works began to be interpreted as a myth that could be retold in one's own words or even acted out on stage without words.
The author reveals the something particular and individual from the general and brings it out. The myth "sees" the universal behind the individual. Author's art belongs to a specific time, "speaks" about a specific person. Myth is about the eternal and universally significant. Performances of this direction are most often hybrid, cross-genre forms based on the interaction of different means of theatrical expression — drama, music, spectacle, circus, pantomime, ritual. Among them there are "The Street of Crocodiles" by Gerard McBurney, "Black on White", "Hashirigaki" by Heiner Goebbels, "Genesis" by Romeo Castellucci. In this country, the first examples of this kind of metaphorical theater are "Siddur-Mystery" and "Polyphony of the World" by composer Alexander Bakshi in collaboration with directors Valery Fokin and Kama Ginkas. In these performances, the initiatory role of the word is missing and the principles of drama are changing.
In contrast to the interpretative theater, the theater of the word appears, where literary storytelling dominates, and all other components are of little significance or are completely absent.