Meyerhold Theatre (TIM). Four playbills.

One of 1 000 and 3 000 copies printed.
Rare playbills for the Meyerhold Theatre.

These playbills were prepared for the following performances: The Forest (based on A. Ostrovsky's play; premier night – 19 January 1924), The Mandate (play by Nikolai Erdman; premier night – 20 April 1925), Roar, China! (play by Sergei Tretyakov; premier night – 23 January 1926) and The Government Inspector (based on N. Gogol's play; premier night – 9 December 1926).
First three playbills were issued for the Meyerhold Theatre tour in Tashkent (the Uzbek SSR) and the last one – for the Moscow performance. It was the debut for five actors who studied at the Meyerhold's own school. The leading actors - Meyerhold's wife Zinaida Reich, Sergey Martinson and Erast Garin – were also participated in it.
Sergei Tretyakov's play Roar, China!, directed by Meyerhold's student V. Fyodorov, became one of the most famous and successful productions in the history of Soviet theatre. It was performed in many cities across the Soviet Union and theatres around the world. This playbill includes extract from Nikolai Bukharin's article (published in Pravda newspaper on February 2, 1926). Bukharin, former Stalin's chief ally, was ousted from the Poltburo in 1929 after arguing against Stalin's policy of collectivization. He remained Stalin's leading political opponent until his execution in 1938. After that his name was banned and his books were put in libraries special storage section or just destroyed. The author of the play, soviet poet Sergei Tretyakov was arrested and executed in July 1937.
At the beginning of the 1930s during the Stalin's campaign against all avant-garde art and experimentation the Meyerhold Theatre was proclaimed antagonistic and alien to the Soviet people. It was closed on 7 January 1938 and Vsevolod Meyerhold was arrested on 20 June 1939. Shortly afterwards, his wife Zinaida Reich was killed by unknown person in their apartment. Meyerhold was executed on 2 February 1940.