Court theater. Imperial theaters of the Russian Empire The origin and formation of the Russian theater

The origin and formation of the Russian theater.

History has preserved little information about primitive Russian culture: Christianity, which became the main religion in Russia, fought against paganism, destroying its cultural monuments. However, paganism has retained its rudimentary manifestations in many areas of culture and art, incl. and adapting to the Orthodox religion and entrenched in it in the form of symbols that became canonically Christian.

From such ritual actions was born the line of development of Russian theater as a folk theater, folk theater, presented in many forms - puppet theater (Petrushka, nativity scene, etc.), booth (raek, bear fun, etc.), traveling actors (harp players, singers, storytellers , acrobats, etc.), etc. Until the 17th century theater in Russia developed only as a folk theater; other theatrical forms, unlike in Europe, did not exist here. Until the 10th–11th centuries. Russian theater developed along the path characteristic of the traditional theater of the East or Africa - ritual-folklore, sacred, built on original mythology. Such theater represents a dialogue with the gods, and as a ritual it is included in the life of the people. From about the 11th century. the situation is changing, at first gradually, then more strongly, which led to a fundamental change in the development of Russian theater and its further formation under the influence of European culture.

The first representatives of professional theater were buffoons, working in almost all genres of street performances. The first evidence of buffoons dates back to the 11th century, which makes it possible to verify that buffoon art was a phenomenon that had long been formed and entered into the everyday life of all layers of the then society. The formation of Russian original buffoonery art, coming from rites and rituals, was also influenced by the “tours” of traveling European and Byzantine comedians - histrions, troubadours, vagantes. There was a process of mutual enrichment of cultural traditions. Buffoons - both individual actors and those united in the so-called. “Gangs” (the prototype of an entrepreneurial troupe) took part in village holidays and city fairs, lived as jesters and amusements in boyar and royal mansions. Ivan the Terrible at feasts loved to dress up as a buffoon and dance with them. Interest in the buffoonery art of noble persons led to the emergence of the beginnings of a secular theater, as evidenced by the amateur singers Sadko, Dobrynya Nikitich and others mentioned in epics. Buffoons at that time in Rus' were quite respected people.

The first mentions of buffoons coincided with an event that became key for the entire history of Russia - the baptism of Rus' and the adoption of Christianity ( Cm. RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH). This had a dramatic impact on all areas of life, including the theater. But back in the 9th century. Christian ministers condemned masks (masks), which were one of the most common means of expressiveness in folk theater. The social status of buffoons was declining. The development of buffoonery art - especially the satirical direction - and the tightening of its persecution went in parallel. The resolution of the Stoglavy Council of 1551 actually made the buffoons outcasts. The reflection of the change in buffoon status in the vocabulary is interesting. The theater of buffoons was called “disgrace” (the word did not have a negative meaning, coming from the ancient Russian “to see” - to see; the term remained until the 17th century). However, the persecution of buffoons led to the emergence of a negative connotation of the term (hence, in modern Russian, “shame”). In the 18th century, when theater re-entered the context of Russian cultural life, the terms “theater” and “drama” were established, and the former “disgrace” was transformed into “spectacle.”

By the 16th century in Russia, the church shapes the state ideology (in particular, the clergy was given the responsibility to create educational institutions). And, of course, she could not pass by the theater, which is a powerful means of influence.

The path of Russian church theater was different from that in Europe: it bypassed liturgical drama, mystery and miracles. This is due not only to the later Christianization of Rus', but also to the difference between Orthodox traditions and Catholicism, which is prone to pomp and theatricalization of its services. Despite the fact that in Orthodoxy such rituals as “washing the feet” and “procession on a donkey” were arranged quite impressively (and in the so-called Cave action Even some techniques of buffoon “amusing dialogue” were included), church theater in Russia did not take shape into an aesthetic system. Therefore, the main role in the development of theatrical art in the 17th–18th centuries. played the school-church theater.

School and church theater.

The “One Hundred-Glavy” Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1551 played a decisive role in establishing the idea of ​​religious-state unity and entrusted the clergy with the responsibility to create religious educational institutions. During this period, school drama and school-church performances appeared, which were staged in theaters at these educational institutions (colleges, academies). Figures personifying the state, church, ancient Olympus, wisdom, faith, hope, love, etc. appeared on the stage, transferred from the pages of books. “The poor students of the academy, forming artels, went to different provinces and suburban regiments to collect alms... (they) presented dialogues, comedies, tragedies, etc. These walks were called rehearsals.” So school performances were taken out of the walls of the academy and presented to the people. Western teachers, wanting to teach their students to speak Latin, back in the 15th century. Students began to introduce plays in Latin into the practice of school life. Other teachers, who opposed the ancient repertoire and found it dangerous and inconvenient, began to write plays themselves. The school theater has long been considered a spectacle devoid of artistic merit, but in the early stages of its development, the school stage satisfied the pressing needs for theatrical performances. Silent scenes, shadow paintings, and icons were introduced into the school play at pathetic moments, giving them a static quality. “Suffering is a painful, painful action when death, torture, and wounding are depicted on stage, which can be represented either in a story by messengers or as a shadow picture” ( Kyiv piitika, 1696). The serious characters of the play spoke in an upbeat, melodious declamatory speech, and the language of the “comic” characters in the interlude was based on folk dialect with a comic play on speech defects and accents. In the field of gestures, the school theater maintained a broad “oratorical” gesture, mainly with the right hand, and the authors were forbidden to use gloves, since the hand was an important element of stage acting. The school theater used emblems, thanks to which the audience already guessed the essence of each character by their appearance. This particularly applied to mythological and allegorical figures. Thus, for “The Grace of God,” an obligatory allegorical figure in Christmas and Easter plays, it was required “a burning heart, pierced by an arrow, and a cup with a laurel crown on the head.” Hope was depicted with an anchor, Faith with a cross, Glory with a trumpet, Justice with scales, and the mythological Mars held a sword in his hand. Initially, performances were performed outdoors. In the early school theater there was a stage with decorations that simultaneously marked the main places of action.

Having originated in Kyiv, the school church theater began to appear in other cities: Moscow, Smolensk, Yaroslavl, Tobolsk, Polotsk, Tver, Rostov, Chernigov, etc. Growing up within the walls of a theological school, he completed the theatricalization of church rites: liturgy, Holy Week services, Christmas, Easter and other rituals. Having arisen in the conditions of the emerging bourgeois life, the school theater for the first time on our soil separated the actor and the stage from the spectator and the auditorium, and for the first time led to a certain stage image for both the playwright and the actor. It is characteristic that, while fulfilling his pedagogical task, he also created a coherent theoretical system of theater, although not independent, but covering the entire phenomenon as a whole. Repertoire of the Kiev-Mohyla Collegium (since 1701 Kiev Theological Academy): Alexy, man of God(drama in honor of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, 1674), The effect on the passion of Christ written off (1686), The Kingdom of Human Nature (1698), Freedom from centuries longed for by human nature (1707), Eternal Wisdom (1703), Vladimir... Feofan Prokopovich (1705), The triumph of human nature (1706), Joseph, Patriarch Levreniya Gorka (1708), God's mercy Ukraine... through Bogdan... Khmelnitsky... liberated Feofan Trofimovich (1728), Powerful image of God's love for mankind Mitrofan Dovgalevsky (1757), A tragicomedy about rewarding in this world the sought-after deeds of bribes in the future eternal life (About the vanity of this world) Varlaam Lashchevsky (1742), Charity of Marcus Aurelius Mikhail Kozachinsky (1744), Resurrection of the Dead George Konissky (1747), Tragicomedy, called Photius Georgy Shcherbitsky (1749). Repertoire of the school of the Zaikonospassky Monastery (since 1678 Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy): Comedy parable of the prodigal son Simeon of Polotsk (1670), About King Nechadnezzar, about the golden body and about the three youths who were not burned in the cave Simeon of Polotsk (1673), etc. Repertoire of the surgical school at the Moscow hospital: Judith (1710), Act on the Most Glorious Queen of Palestine (1711), Russian glory F. Zhuravsky (1724). Repertoire of the Novgorod Theological Seminary: Stefanotokos Innocent Odrovonzh-Migalevich (1742), Repertoire of the Polotsk school at the Epiphany Monastery: Shepherd's Conversations Simeon of Polotsk (1658). Repertoire of the Rostov Bishops' School: Christmas drama (1702), Rostov action (1702), Penitent(1705) - all dramas of Dmitry of Rostov. Repertoire of the Smolensk Theological Seminary: Declamatio Manuil Bazilevich (1752). At the Tobolsk Bishops' School - Easter drama (1734).

Court theater.

The formation of the court theater in Russia is associated with the name of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The time of his reign is associated with the formation of a new ideology focused on expanding diplomatic ties with Europe. Orientation towards the European way of life led to many changes in the life of the Russian court. In the 1660s, the Moscow Kremlin was rebuilt, and decorative motifs from the palaces of European sovereigns appeared in the interiors of its chambers and country residences. Not only Russians, but also foreign craftsmen are involved in decorative work. Alexei Mikhailovich’s attempt to organize the first court theater dates back to 1660: in the “list” of orders and purchases for the tsar, the English merchant Hebdon was written by Alexei Mikhailovich with the task “To call to the Moscow state from the German lands masters to make comedy.” However, this attempt remained unsuccessful; The first performance of the Russian court theater took place only in 1672. On May 15, 1672, the tsar issued a decree in which Colonel Nikolai von Staden (a friend of boyar Matveev) was instructed to find people abroad who could “play comedies.” Staden “for the amusement of royal grandeur” invited famous actors Johann Felston and Anna Paulson. But frightened by stories about the mysterious Muscovy, the comedians refused to go, and Staden brought only five musicians to Moscow. Matveev learned that the teacher of the German church school, Johann Gottfried Gregory, who arrived in Moscow back in 1658, knew how to “build comedies.” On June 4, 1672, an order was given to “the foreigner Yagan Gottfried to perform a comedy, and to act on the comedy from the Bible, the book of Esther, and for that action to arrange a mansion again, and for the structure of that mansion and what for it must be purchased from the decree of the Volodymyr ceremonies. And according to that great sovereign’s decree, a comedy hall was built in the village of Preobrazhenskoye with all the equipment that that mansion needed.”

In pursuance of the royal order, Gregory and his assistant Ringuber began to gather children and teach them the art of theater. A total of 69 people were recruited. In three months the play was learned in German and Slavic. The “Comedy Hall,” which had already been built by this time, was a wooden building consisting of two parts. Inside there were stages, seats arranged in an amphitheater, and benches. A lot of red and green cloth was used for the upholstery of the internal parts. The royal seat, protruding forward, was upholstered in red cloth, and for the queen and prince there were boxes with a fine lattice, through which they looked at the stage, remaining hidden from the rest of the audience. The stage, raised above the floor, was separated from the audience by railings. A curtain was placed on the stage, which was closed when there was a need for rearrangements on the stage. The scenery was made by the Dutch painter Peter Inglis. The Tsar granted Gregory “40 sables worth 100 rubles, and a couple of eight rubles for his salary for a comedy about the reign of Artaxerxes.” Ringuter wrote about this performance in his diary: “The performance took place on October 17, 1672. The king, amazed by it, sat for ten whole hours without getting up.” The play was performed by: Blumentrost, Friedrich Gossen, Ivan Meva, Ivan and Pavel Berner, Pyotr Carlson and others. They participated in the performances until the second half of 1673. On the wedding anniversary, the tsar wanted to organize a performance, but did not want to go to Preobrazhenskoye, so “a comedy dance "were built in the wards, although they could not complete it on time. Alexey Mikhailovich became a frequent visitor to theatrical performances.

On February 8, 1673, at Maslenitsa, a new spectacle took place - a ballet based on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. The actors were taught the art of ballet by engineer Nikolai Lim. By the summer (from May 15 to June 16), the German actors were replaced by Russians. History has preserved their names - Vaska Meshalkin, Nikolai and Rodion Ivanov, Kuzma Zhuravlev, Timofey Maksimov, Luka Stepanov and others - because they signed a written appeal to the Tsar. “Merciful Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich! Please make us your servants, the sovereign ordered us to make daily food for our great sovereign’s salary, so that we, being your servants in that comedy business, will not die of hunger. Tsar Sovereign, please have mercy.” The king granted permission to give “4 money” per day to each of his comedians.

Performances became one of the most favorite entertainments at the Moscow court. There were 26 Russian actors. Boys played female roles. Esther's role in Artaxerxes action played by Blumentrost's son. Both foreigners and Russian actors were trained in a special school, which was opened on September 21, 1672 in the courtyard of Gregory’s house in the German settlement. It turned out to be difficult to train Russian and foreign students, and in the second half of 1675 two theater schools began to operate: at the Polish court - for foreigners, in Meshchanskaya Sloboda - for Russians. Theater repertoire: Artaxerxes action (1672), Comedy about Tobias the Younger (1673), Judith (1674),Temir-Aksakov action (1675), A cool little comedy about Joseph(1675), Comedy about David and Goliath (1676), Comedy about Bacchus with Venus(1676), etc.

Gregory died on February 16, 1675. Yuri Gyutner became his successor, from him the leadership passed to Blumentrost and bachelor Ivan Volosheninov. Later, on the recommendation of the Smolensk governor, Prince Golitsyn, Latin teacher Stefan Chizhinsky became the leader.

In 1676 Alexey Mikhailovich died. The inspirer of the idea of ​​the theater, boyar Matveev, was exiled. On December 15, 1677, the royal decree followed: “The apothecary ordered the chambers that were occupied with comedy to cleanse and what was in those chambers, organs and prospects of all kinds of comedy supplies; take everything to Nikita Ivanovich Romanov’s yard.”

All this creates the preconditions for the emergence of a national public theater. For this purpose, in 1752 Volkov’s troupe was called from Yaroslavl to St. Petersburg. Talented amateur actors are selected to study in the Gentry Corps - A. Popov, I. Dmitrevsky, F. and G. Volkov, G. Emelyanov, P. Ivanov, etc. Among them are four women: A. Musina-Pushkina, A. Mikhailova, sisters M. and O. Ananyev.

The first Russian permanent public theater was opened in 1756 in St. Petersburg, in the Golovkin House. A number of actors from the Yaroslavl troupe of F. Volkov, including the comic actor Ya. Shumsky, were added to the actors who were trained in the Gentry Corps. The theater was headed by Sumarokov, whose classicist tragedies formed the basis of the repertoire. The first place in the troupe was occupied by Volkov, who replaced Sumarokov as director, and occupied this place until his death in 1763 (this theater in 1832 would receive the name Alexandrinsky - in honor of the wife of Nicholas I.)

The first public performances in Moscow date back to 1756, when students of the university gymnasium, under the leadership of their director, the poet M. Kheraskov, formed a theater troupe within the walls of the university. Representatives of Moscow's highest society were invited to the performances. In 1776, on the basis of the former university troupe, a drama theater was created, which received the name Petrovsky (also known as the Medox Theater). The Bolshoi (opera and ballet) and Maly (drama) theaters of Russia trace their pedigrees to this theater.

Both the St. Petersburg and Moscow troupes felt a lack of female actresses. There were no women at all in Volkov’s Yaroslavl troupe; female roles were played by young men. However, even later, when the first cast of actresses was selected with difficulty, they appeared on stage only in the roles of young women; the role of comic old women was retained for a long time by men. According to eyewitnesses, Ya. Shumsky shone with special skill in this.

After Volkov's death, Dmitrevsky became the first actor of the St. Petersburg troupe. His activities were extremely diverse. In 1767, he traveled abroad with an official assignment to recruit actors for the French troupe in St. Petersburg, wrote plays that were staged on stage and brought in good fees, worked on the history of the Russian theater, inspected the work of the theater, and trained young actors. In fact, all the major actors of the next generation were his students - A. Krutitsky, K. Gomburov, S. Rakhmanov, A. D. Karatygina, S. Sandunova, T. Troepolskaya, P. Plavilshchikov and others. In 1771 Dmitrevsky tried to reorganize and lead the Moscow University Theater (competing with Sumarokov, who was out of work by that time), but this project did not take place.

As Russian theaters developed, their role in shaping ideology and public sentiment became increasingly clear to the government. In 1766, by order of Catherine II, the Directorate of Imperial Theaters was created, under whose jurisdiction all the leading theaters in Russia eventually came.

By the end of the 18th century. serf theaters are becoming widespread. Theater specialists - actors, choreographers, composers - were invited here to train with actors. Some of the serf theaters (Sheremetev in Kuskovo and Ostankino, Yusupov in Arkhangelsk) surpassed the state-owned theaters in the richness of their productions. At the beginning of the 19th century. the owners of some serf theaters begin to turn them into commercial enterprises (Shakhovskoy and others). Many famous Russian actors came from serf theaters, who were often released on rent to play in “free” theaters - incl. on the imperial stage (M. Shchepkin, L. Nikulina-Kositskaya, etc.).

In general, the process of formation of professional theater in Russia in the 18th century. ended. The next, 19th century, became a period of rapid development of all directions of Russian theater.

Russian theater in the 19th century.

First half of the 19th century in Russia was marked by two major events that influenced all spheres of public life, including the theater.

The first of these was the war against Napoleonic France, which caused a huge increase in patriotic sentiment. For the theater this had a double meaning. Firstly, the ruling circles and the intelligentsia realized the role and possibilities of theatrical art in the formation of public ideology. Issues related to the development of theater at the very beginning of the 19th century. were discussed at meetings of the Free Society of Lovers of Literature, Science and the Arts. Radishchev's follower I. Pnin in his book Experience about enlightenment in relation to Russia(1804) argued that theater should contribute to the development of society. Secondly, the relevance of the patriotic tragedies staged during this period, full of allusions to the modern situation ( Oedipus in Athens And Dmitry Donskoy V. Ozerov, plays by F. Schiller and W. Shakespeare), contributed to the formation of romanticism. This means that new principles of acting were established, the desire to individualize stage characters, reveal their feelings and psychology. The romantic style of playing revealed the talent of the artists of the next generation - Y. Shusherin, A. Yakovlev, E. Semenova, whose talent was highly valued by A.S. Pushkin. Among the comedy actors, V. Rykalov, I. Sosnitsky, M. Valberkhova stood out (performances Snitch Kapnista, Brigadier And Minor Fonvizina, Fashion shop And Lesson for daughters Krylova, etc.). The victory over France strengthened patriotic and romantic-psychological tendencies in theatrical art; this was especially clearly manifested in the dramatic and theatrical-theoretical work of Pushkin, who defended the principles of true nationality in the Russian theater.

In the first quarter of the 19th century. The first official separation of the Russian drama theater into a separate direction occurred (previously, the drama troupe worked together with the opera and ballet troupe, and the same actors often performed in performances of different genres). In 1824, the former Medox Theater was divided into two troupes - a drama troupe (Maly Theater) and an opera and ballet troupe (Bolshoi Theater). The Maly Theater gets a separate building. (In St. Petersburg, the drama troupe was separated from the musical troupe in 1803, but before moving to a separate building of the Alexandrinsky Theater in 1836, it still worked together with the opera and ballet troupe at the Mariinsky Theater.)

However, the free development of literature and theater was suspended in 1825, when the Decembrist uprising led to an intensification of reaction. In 1826, state-owned theaters were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Imperial Court. In 1828, additional censorship of plays was introduced in the “Third Department of His Imperial Majesty’s Own Chancellery.” In 1829, collegial management of theaters was replaced by unity of command of a director subordinate to the government. Censorship prohibits the best dramatic works of that time from being staged: Woe from mind A. Griboyedov (1824, the ban was lifted in 1831); Boris Godunov A. Pushkin (1825, the ban was lifted in 1866); Masquerade M. Lermontov (1835, the ban was lifted in 1862). The basis of the repertoire of the Russian theater of this period is vaudeville and monarchist plays by N. Kukolnik, N. Polevoy, P. Obodovsky and others. Against this background, the production of N. Gogol’s comedy caused a great public resonance Auditor (1836).

By this time, the democratic direction of development of acting art was concentrated in Moscow at the Maly Theater. A strong troupe headed by P. Mochalov and Shchepkin gathers there. Shchepkin developed the psychological line of acting, anticipating the aesthetic direction of critical realism, bringing theater closer to life. Other outstanding artists of the Maly Theater also belonged to the Shchepkin school - M. Lvova-Sinetskaya, P. Orlova, V. Zhivokini and others. Mochalov represented a tragic-romantic, rebellious direction, inspiredly filled with high feelings and strong passions.

A different direction in the art of acting appeared in the work of the premier of the Alexandrinsky Theater V. Karatygin, in which the features of classicist convention and ceremonial officialdom were clearly reflected. Thanks to articles by V. Belinsky And my opinion about Mr. Karatygin’s game(1835) and Hamlet, Shakespeare's drama. Mochalov as Hamlet(1838) Karatygin and Mochalov became symbols in the history of theater of two alternative Russian acting schools of the 19th century. Somewhat schematically, they can be defined as rational (Karatygin) and built solely on inspiration (Mochalov).

By 1830–1840s Over the years, the number of provincial theaters in Russia has increased significantly, and the first information appears about outstanding actors of the Russian provinces, among them K. Solenik, L. Mlotkovskaya and others.

A new stage in the development of Russian theater of the 19th century. associated with the work of playwright A. Ostrovsky. The appearance of his plays provided the theater with an extensive realistic national repertoire. Ostrovsky's dramaturgy required from the actors of the stage ensemble the ability to create everyday characters, work on the word to convey the unique language of the characters. The similarity of aesthetic positions led to Ostrovsky’s close and effective collaboration with the Maly Theater. Work on his dramaturgy contributed to the improvement of the acting skills of the troupe, and the talented performance of the actors determined stage success and increased the popularity of the playwright. The realistic dramaturgy of Ostrovsky formed and honed the talent of such actors as P. Sadovsky, I. Samarin, S. Shumsky, L. Kositskaya, G. Fedotova, S. Vasiliev, N. Rykalova, S. Akimova, N. Musil, N. Nikulina and others. In parallel with the realistic everyday direction, the line of romantic tragedy was successfully developing at the Maly Theater, most vividly represented in the work of the great M. Ermolova (performances Emilia Galotti Lessing, Fuente Ovejuna Lope de Vega, Storm Ostrovsky, Mary Stuart Schiller, etc.).

This period is marked by a whole constellation of theatrical names - actors and directors. Theatrical life was in full swing in both capitals, where the best forces of the Russian theater province also gathered.

In St. Petersburg, the “key figure” of this time was V. Komissarzhevskaya. Having made her debut on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater in 1896 (before that she had played in amateur performances by Stanislavsky), the actress almost immediately won the ardent love of the audience. Her own theater, which she created in 1904, played a huge role in the formation of a brilliant galaxy of Russian directing. At the Komissarzhevskaya Theater in 1906–1907, for the first time on the capital’s stage, Meyerhold established the principles of conventional theater (later he continued his experiments at the imperial theaters - Alexandrinsky and Mariinsky, as well as at the Tenishevsky School and in the theater studio on Borodinskaya Street). In the 1906–1907 season, A. Tairov played on stage at the Komissarzhevskaya Theater (in 1907 he moved to the no less famous First Mobile Public Drama Theater at the Ligovsky People's House, created by P. Gaideburov). In 1908–1909, performances were staged in her theater by N. Evreinov, who created the Ancient Theater in St. Petersburg, where performances of the French Middle Ages and the Spanish Renaissance were reconstructed in a stylized form. By the 1910s, the so-called small theatrical forms, incl. cabaret art. Stray Dog, Comedians' Halt and Crooked Mirror gave many big names to directors, actors, artists, writers and entered the history of Russian theater. St. Petersburg also became the birthplace of the Russian theatrical avant-garde - in 1913 the Youth Union opened a new futuristic theater (opera by A. Kruchenykh, V. Khlebnikov, M. Matyushin and K. Malevich Victory over the sun and the tragedy of V. Mayakovsky V.V. Mayakovsky).

In Moscow, the center of theatrical life was the Moscow Art Theater. There gathered a brilliant constellation of actors who played in performances that attracted a huge number of spectators: O. Knipper, I. Moskvin, M. Lilina, M. Andreeva, A. Artem, V. Kachalov, M. Chekhov, etc. Many directions were formed here modern directing: in addition to Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, these were the works of L. Sulerzhitsky, K. Mardzhanov, Vakhtangov; The world famous G. Craig also came to the production. The Moscow Art Theater laid the foundations for modern scenography: M. Dobuzhinsky, N. Roerich, A. Benois, B. Kustodiev and others were involved in working on its performances. The Moscow Art Theater at that time actually determined the entire artistic life of Moscow, incl. – and the development of small theatrical forms; The most popular Moscow cabaret theater “The Bat” is created on the basis of the Moscow Art Theater skits. Against this background, the rest of Moscow's theaters look rather pale. Perhaps the only group working on other artistic principles and at the same time having its own audience was the Chamber Theater created in 1914 by Tairov.

Russian theater after 1917.

After the revolution of 1917, which changed the entire way of life in Russia, a new stage began in the theatrical life of the country.

The new government understood the importance of theatrical art: on November 9, 1917, a decree was issued by the Council of People's Commissars on the transfer of all Russian theaters to the jurisdiction of the arts department of the State Education Commission. And on August 26, 1919, a decree on the nationalization of theaters appeared, for the first time in the history of Russia the theater completely became a state matter (in Ancient Greece such a state policy was carried out back in the 5th century BC). Leading theaters are awarded academic titles: in 1919 - the Maly Theater, in 1920 - the Moscow Art Theater and the Alexandrinsky Theater (renamed the Petrograd State Academic Drama Theater). New theaters are opening. In Moscow - the 3rd Studio of the Moscow Art Theater (1920, later the Vakhtangov Theater); Theater of the Revolution (1922, later - the Mayakovsky Theater); MGSPS Theater (1922, today – Mossovet Theater); Moscow Theater for Children (1921, since 1936 - Central Children's Theater). In Petrograd - Bolshoi Drama Theater (1919); GOSET (1919, from 1920 moves to Moscow); Theater for Young Spectators (1922).

During this period, the direction of propaganda-mysterical public theater was actively developing. Placed in Petrograd Action about the Third International(1919), The Mystery of Liberated Labor, Towards a World Commune, The Taking of the Winter Palace(all – 1920); in Moscow - Pantomime of the Great Revolution(1918); in Voronezh - Praise of the revolution(1918); in Irkutsk - The struggle between labor and capital(1921), etc. The slogan of mass art led to a huge increase in amateur theatrical performances - Proletkult theaters, later - TRAM and the Blue Blouse groups.

It was a very difficult period in art in general and theater in particular. Artists (like the whole country) were divided into supporters and opponents of the revolution. Simplifying somewhat, we can say that in the aesthetic sphere the division occurred in relation to the traditions of world culture. The excitement of a social experiment aimed at building a new society was accompanied by the artistic excitement of experimental art, a rejection of the cultural experience of the past. In 1920, Meyerhold put forward the Theater October program, which proclaimed the complete destruction of old art and the creation of new art on its ruins. It is paradoxical that it was Meyerhold, who deeply studied traditional theaters, who became the ideologist of this trend. But the destructive euphoria of social reconstruction was also accompanied by the euphoria of artistic experiment - supported by the government and addressed to new viewers.

The key to success during this period was experimentation, innovation - of a different nature and direction. Perhaps this is precisely what determined the existence in the same period of futuristic politicized “performance-meetings” of Meyerhold and the refined, emphatically asocial psychologism of Tairov, “fantastic realism” of Vakhtangov and experiments with performances for children by the young N. Sats, the poetic biblical theater of Habima and the eccentric FEKS and others. More traditional theaters (MKhAT, Maly, former Alexandrinsky, etc.) paid tribute to modernity with revolutionary-romantic and satirical performances, but sources indicate that the 1920s became a period of creative crisis for them.

A new period of Russian theater began in 1932 with the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks “On the restructuring of literary and artistic organizations.” The main method in art was recognized as the method of socialist realism. The time of artistic experimentation is over, although this does not mean that subsequent years did not bring new achievements and successes in the development of theatrical art. It’s just that the “territory” of permitted art narrowed; performances of certain artistic movements were approved - as a rule, realistic ones. And an additional evaluation criterion appeared: ideological and thematic. So, for example, the unconditional achievement of the Russian theater since the mid-1930s has been the performances of the so-called. “Leninians”, in which the image of V. Lenin was brought to the stage ( Man with a gun at the Vakhtangov Theater, in the role of Lenin - B. Shchukin; Is it true at the Theater of the Revolution, in the role of Lenin - M. Strauch, etc.). Any performances based on the plays of the “founder of socialist realism” M. Gorky were practically doomed to success. This does not mean that every ideologically consistent performance was bad, it’s just that artistic criteria (and sometimes audience success) in the state assessment of performances ceased to be decisive.

For many figures in the Russian theater, the 1930s (and the second half of the 1940s, when ideological politics continued) became tragic. However, Russian theater continued to develop. New directorial names appeared: A. Popov, Yu. Zavadsky, R. Simonov, B. Zakhava, A. Dikiy, N. Okhlopkov, L. Vivien, N. Akimov, N. Gerchakov, M. Kedrov, M. Knebel, V Sakhnovsky, B. Sushkevich, I. Bersenev, A. Bryantsev, E. Radlov and others. These names were mainly associated with Moscow and Leningrad and the directing school of the country's leading theaters. However, the works of many directors in other cities of the Soviet Union also become famous: N. Sobolshchikov-Samarin (Gorky), N. Sinelnikov (Kharkov), I. Rostovtsev (Yaroslavl), A. Kanin (Ryazan), V. Bityutsky (Sverdlovsk), N. Pokrovsky (Smolensk, Gorky, Volgograd), etc.

A new generation of actors is also emerging. At the Moscow Art Theater, along with such luminaries as O. Knipper-Chekhova, V. Kachalov, L. Leonidov, I. Moskvin, M. Tarkhanov, N. Khmelev, B. Dobronravov, O. Androvskaya, K. Elanskaya, A. Tarasova, A. Gribov, B. Livanov, M. Yanshin, M. Prudkin and others. Actors and directors of the Moscow Art Theater school - I. Bersenev, S. Birman, S. Giatsintova - successfully work at the Moscow Lenin Komsomol Theater (formerly TRAM). In the Maly Theatre, along with the older generation actors A. Yablochkina, V. Massalitinova, V. Ryzhova, E. Turchaninova, A. Ostuzhev, P. Sadovsky and others, a prominent place is occupied by new actors who gained fame already in Soviet times: V Pashennaya, E. Gogoleva, N. Annenkov, M. Zharov, M. Tsarev, I. Ilyinsky (who moved here after the break with Meyerhold). In the former Alexandrinsky Theater (which in 1937 was named after A. Pushkin) famous old masters - E. Korchagina-Alexandrovskaya, V. Michurina-Samoilova, E. Time, B. Gorin-Goryainov, I. Pevtsov, Yu. Yuryev and others ... appear on stage together with young actors - N. Rashevskaya, E. Karyakina, E. Wolf-Israel, A. Borisov, N. Simonov, B. Babochkin, N. Cherkasov, etc. B. are successfully working at the Vakhtangov Theater. Shchukin, A. Orochko, Ts. Mansurova and others. A strong troupe is being formed at the Mossovet Theater (formerly MGSPS and MOSPS), consisting mainly of students of Yu. Zavadsky - V. Maretskaya, N. Mordvinov, R. Plyatt, O. Abdulov and others. Despite the fate of the main directors, the work of the actress of the Chamber Theater A. Koonen, as well as many actors of the Revolution Theater and the Meyerhold Theater: M. Babanova, M. Astangov, D. Orlov, M. Strauch, Yu. Glizer, S. Martinson, E. Garin.

During the Great Patriotic War, Russian theaters mainly turned to patriotic themes. Plays written during this period were staged ( Invasion L. Leonova, Front A. Korneychuk, A guy from our city And Russian people K. Simonov), and plays with historical and patriotic themes ( Peter I A.N. Tolstoy, Field Marshal Kutuzov V. Solovyova and others). The success of theatrical performances of this time refuted the validity of the common expression “When the guns speak, the muses are silent.” This was especially evident in besieged Leningrad. The City Theater (later the Komissarzhevskaya Theater) and the Musical Comedy Theater, which worked here throughout the blockade, attracted full houses of spectators, despite the lack of heating, and often light, bombing and shelling, and mortal hunger. Paradoxically, the more disastrous the living conditions in the city became, the more acute was the need of Leningraders for art to help them survive. People welcomed outdoor performances and concerts on the front lines with joy; front-line brigades were formed in many theaters across the country, performing not only in the active army, but also in hospitals.

The period 1941–1945 had another consequence for the theatrical life of Russia and the Soviet Union: a significant increase in the artistic level of provincial theaters. The evacuation of theaters in Moscow and Leningrad and their work on the periphery breathed new life into local theaters, contributed to the integration of performing arts and the exchange of creative experience.

However, after the end of the war, the patriotic rise of wartime theatrical art gave way to decline. The resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of August 26, 1946 “On the repertoire of drama theaters and measures to improve it” tightened ideological control and censorship. Russian art in general and theater in particular were experiencing a crisis associated with a social crisis.

The theater reflects the state of society, and a new round of rise in the Russian stage was also a consequence of social changes: the exposure of the cult of personality (1956) and the weakening of ideological politics, the so-called. "thaw".

Russian theater in 1950–1980.

The renewal of Russian theater began with directing. A new theatrical aesthetics was again taking shape in Moscow and Leningrad.

In Leningrad, this process proceeded less brightly, not so much in a revolutionary, but in an evolutionary way. It is associated with the name of G. Tovstonogov, who from 1949 headed the Leningrad Komsomol Theater, and in 1956 became the artistic director of the BDT. An excellent troupe (E. Lebedev, K. Ginkas, G. Yanovskoy, N. Sheiko and others. Most of them managed to realize their creative potential in Moscow.

Many Leningrad actors made a great contribution to the formation of Russian theatrical art: I. Gorbachev, N. Simonov, Yu. Tolubeev, N. Cherkasov, B. Freundlich, O. Lebzak, L. Shtykan, N. Burov and others (Theater named after. Pushkin); D. Barkov, L. Dyachkov, G. Zhzhenov, A. Petrenko, A. Ravikovich, A. Freundlich, M. Boyarsky, S. Migitsko, I. Mazurkevich and others (Lensovet Theatre); V. Yakovlev, R. Gromadsky, E. Ziganshina, V. Tykke and others (Lenin Komsomol Theatre); T. Abrosimova, N. Boyarsky, I. Krasko, S. Landgraf, Y. Ovsyanko, V. Osobik and others (Komissarzhevskaya Theatre); E. Junger, S. Filippov, M. Svetin and others (Comedy Theatre); L. Makariev, R. Lebedev, L. Sokolova, N. Lavrov, N. Ivanov, A. Khochinsky, A. Shuranova, O. Volkova and others (Theater of Young Spectators); N. Akimova, N. Lavrov, T. Shestakova, S. Bekhterev, I. Ivanov, V. Osipchuk, P. Semak, I. Sklyar and others (MDT, also known as the Theater of Europe).

In Moscow, the formation of a new theatrical aesthetics took place more rapidly and clearly. Here, first of all, the name of A. Efros should be mentioned, who did not become the banner of any theatrical revolution, although each of his performances aroused great interest among critics and spectators. Having headed the Central Children's Theater in 1954, Efros rallied around himself a group of talented youth - O. Efremova, O. Tabakov, L. Durova and others. The artistic program was largely formed here, which led to the opening of the Sovremennik Theater in 1958. This marked the advent of a new era of the Russian stage. The renewal of the aesthetics of realistic psychological theater was combined in Sovremennik with the search for new means of artistic expression. Young troupe - O. Efremov, O. Tabakov, E. Evstigneev. In the Central Theater of the Red Army (today the Central Academic Theater of the Russian Army), the traditions of psychological theater were preserved by A. Popov and B. Lvov-Anokhin (who later headed the Stanislavsky Theater and staged a lot at the Maly Theater). The performances of B. Rovensky are well known - at the Pushkin Theater and in the Maly Theater. Working in various theaters, Efros retained the highest artistic authority for several decades. M. Zakharov underwent his formation in the Satire Theater, and later embodied his aesthetics in the Theater. Lenin Komsomol. In the 1970s, success accompanied the debuts of directors A. Vasilyev and B. Morozov. But perhaps the loudest Russian theater of the 1970–1980s was the Moscow Taganka Theater and its director Yu. Lyubimov.

During this time, several generations of wonderful actors have formed in Moscow, belonging to different schools, possessing high professionalism and a bright personality. True, for a number of years the situation in the Moscow Art Theater troupe was sad - the legendary “Moscow Art Theater old men” continued to shine on stage, but the renewal of the troupe began to occur in 1970, when the theater was headed by Efremov. Famous actors came here who were formed in different theaters, but managed to create a new magnificent ensemble: E. Evstigneev, A. Kalyagin, A. Popov, I. Smoktunovsky, V. Lanovoy, O. Yankovsky, A. Abdulov, A. Zbruev, I. Churikova, N. Karachentsov, T. Dogileva, E. Shanina, etc. In Sovremennik, actors are added to the core of the troupe, whose names become no less famous: M. Neelova, L. Akhedzhakova, V. Gaft, E. Yakovleva, A Leontiev and others. At the Theater on Malaya Bronnaya, where L. Sukharevskaya and B. Tenin shone in the early 1960s, O. Yakovleva, L. Durov, N. Volkov, M. Kozakov, A. Grachev play in Efros’s performances, G. Saifullin and others. After the premiere at the Stanislavsky Theater Adult daughter of a young man(production by A. Vasiliev) and Cyrano de Bergerac(production by B. Morozov) the names of A. Filozov, S. Shakurov, V. Korenev, E. Vitorgan, A. Balter became known. The personalities of L. Polishchuk, E. Gerchakov, V. Gvozditsky and others are revealed at the Hermitage Theater under the direction of M. Levitin. Talents are formed and strengthened at the Mayakovsky Theater

On the one hand, the theatrical successes of Russian theaters in the 1960s–1980s were not won easily. Often the best performances reached the audience with great difficulty, or were even banned due to ideological considerations, while awards and prizes were given to performances that were average but ideologically consistent. On the other hand, the semi-official status of the “oppositionist” theater almost always gave its performances additional “audience capital”: they initially received a greater chance of box office success and being considered a creative victory (often regardless of the actual artistic level). The history of the Taganka Theater testifies to this: any performance of the first “Lubimov” period in the liberal environment was considered brilliant, professional criticism of shortcomings was most often regarded as strikebreaking. On the Russian stage of that time, allegory, allusion, and allusions to modern reality reigned - this was the key to audience success. At the same time, we should not forget that in the social situation of state theaters, all theatrical experiments (including political ones) were financed by the state. By the early 1980s, a new theater building with modern technical equipment was built for the semi-disgraced Taganka. Often, political and social criteria in evaluating performances often outweighed artistic ones - both in formal and informal evaluation. A balanced, adequate attitude towards the performances of that time was almost impossible. Very few people understood this back then.

The change in political formation in the early 1990s and a long period of economic ruin radically changed the life of the Russian theater. The first period of weakening (and after – and abolition) of ideological control was accompanied by euphoria: now you can stage and show anything to the audience. After the centralization of theaters was abolished, new groups were organized in large numbers - studio theatres, enterprises, etc. However, few of them survived in the new conditions - it turned out that, in addition to the ideological dictate, there is a spectator dictate: the public will watch only what it wants. And if in the conditions of state funding of the theater, filling the auditorium is not very important, then with self-sufficiency, a full house in the hall is the most important condition for survival. Under these conditions, the professions of manager and producer could become especially in demand in the theater, who, in addition to studying audience demand, would search for sponsors and investors. However, today the most talented and successful theater producers are directors and actors (one example is Tabakov). Truly talented directors (especially those who combine creative talent with the ability to fit into the situation of a market economy) were able to “survive” and were given the opportunity to fully develop their ideas.

A. Galibin, V. Pazi, G. Kozlov, as well as even younger and radical avant-garde artists: B. Yukhananov, A. Proudin, A. Moguchiy, V. Kramer, Klim, etc. The direction of happenings and installations adjacent to the theater is actively developing . I. Eppelbaum, starting from the aesthetics of the puppet theater, experiments with all the components of the spectacle in his theater “Shadow”. E. Grishkovets invents his own theatrical aesthetics. The project opened in 2002 Theater.doc, built on the rejection of the literary basis of the performances: the material for them is transcripts of real interviews with representatives of the social group to which the heroes of future productions belong. And this is not all of today's theatrical experiments.

The new round of development of Russian theater was greatly facilitated by access to world culture and its theatrical experience, which helps to comprehend one’s own work and move to the next stage.

Today the need for theater reform is widely discussed. The question of the urgent need for theater reform was first raised in the early 1980s. True, at that time it was associated primarily with the need to change the labor legislation for the work of actors. The fact is that in the troupes of state theaters, along with popular actors, there were many who had not received roles for years. However, it was impossible to fire them, which meant that hiring new members of the troupe was impossible. The Ministry of Culture of the RSFSR, as an experiment, introduced the so-called in some theaters in the early 1980s. a system of re-election, when the contract with actors was concluded only for a few years. This system then caused a lot of debate and discontent: the main argument against it was the reproach of social insecurity. However, the change in the political formation of Russia destroyed the relevance of such a reform: the market economy itself began to regulate the number of theater troupes.

In the post-Soviet period, the contours of theater reform changed dramatically; they moved mainly to the area of ​​financing theater groups, the need for state support for culture in general and theaters in particular, etc. The possible reform is generating a wide variety of opinions and heated debate. The first steps of this reform were the 2005 Russian Government decree on additional funding for a number of theaters and educational theater institutions in Moscow and St. Petersburg. However, there is still a long way to go before the systematic development of a theater reform scheme. What it will be is still unclear.

Tatiana Shabalina

Literature:

Vsevolodsky-Gerngross V.N. Russian theater. From the origins to the middle of the 18th century. M., 1957
Gorchakov N. Directing lessons from Vakhtangov. M., 1957
Vsevolodsky-Gerngross V.N. Russian theater of the second half of the 18th century. M., 1960
Theater poetry Sat. articles. M., 1960
Rudnitsky K.L. Directed by Meyerhold. M., 1969
Velehova N.A. Okhlopkov and the street theater. M., 1970
Early Russian drama(XVII - first half of the XVIII century.). Tt. 1–2. M., 1972
Zavadsky Yu.A. Teachers and students. M., 1975
Zolotnitsky D.I. Dawns of theatrical October. L., 1976
Zolotnitsky D.I. Academic theaters on the paths of October. L., 1982
Mikhail Semenovich Shchepkin. Life and art, vol. 1–2. M., 1984
Chekhov M. Literary heritage in 2 volumes. M., 1986
Likhachev D.S. The formation of the theater. In the article Russian literature of the 17th century. History of world literature in 9 vols. T. 4. M., 1987
Tairov's art of directing. M., 1987
Folklore theater. M., 1988
Zaslavsky G. “Paper dramaturgy”: avant-garde, rearguard or underground of modern theater?"Banner", 1999, No. 9
Ivanov V. Russian theater seasons« Habima" M., 1999
Smelyansky A.M. Proposed circumstances. From the life of Russian theater in the second half of the twentieth century. M., 1999
Stanislavsky K.S. Collected works, vol. 1–9. M., 1988–1999
Documentary theater. Plays(Theater.doc). M., 2004
Dyakova E. Theater drama.“Novaya Gazeta”, 2004, November 15
Zaslavsky G. Series "Theater Reform"."Nezavisimaya Gazeta", 2004, November 30
Vyrypaev I. Russian repertory theater is long dead. Does Russia need theater reform?"Izvestia", 2005, April 6

Artamon Matveev

The fate of theater in Russia is very interesting. Buffoons at fairs, court jesters, the farcical Parsley, mummers at Christmas time - this is how the acting profession was introduced in Rus'. A very characteristic feature that distinguished Moscow society of the second half of the 17th century from previous eras was the uncontrollable craving of the upper Moscow layer for the West, fraught with many consequences. "sinner" West, to "sinful free life" there, which, as always from afar, seemed especially temptingly attractive against the backdrop of the hateful "Holy Russian" everyday life The increasing influence of Baroque culture on court life and the spiritual life of the court created the preconditions for the emergence of new types of art in Moscow, the most significant of which was theater.

The reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676) was characterized by an active struggle between opposing ideas about the ways of further development of Rus'. This is a kind of prologue to the reforms of his son Peter the Great. On the one hand, supporters of the former church culture had not yet lost their influence, on the other, many of the most enlightened associates of the tsar and clergy insisted on the development of education, and with it the theater. A new political, cultural and everyday way of life began in the palace of Alexei Mikhailovich, built in the east of Moscow, in the village of Preobrazhenskoye. The appearance of the first theater in Russia dates back to the time of Alexei Mikhailovich - a thing, according to grandfather’s concepts, unprecedented and even heretical.

The earliest period of the formation of Russian theater was at the end of the 17th century. and the appearance of the first plays in Russia has long been the object of close study by historians, philologists and theater scholars. The bibliography of works on this issue is very extensive. The publication of the texts was accompanied by a detailed historical and literary description of the presented dramatic works.

It was the boyar Artamon Sergeevich Matveev who contributed to the creation of the first court theater. The Tsar became interested (he was generally interested in foreign countries, the first naval ship began to be built and, in general, many of the foreshadowing Peter’s reforms began to happen at his instigation) and ordered this fun to be arranged, but his specialists were not there.

Therefore, we turned to a teacher from the German settlement, Pastor Johann Gregory. Moreover, the pastor took quite a risk by taking on this matter, since there was no diplomatic immunity and if the king was not pleased, they could punish him with a whip. But Johann decided that this was a great opportunity to preach to the king something that he would not want to listen to. And the pastor decided to take a risk: “performs a choir for comedy action”, where, having recruited 60 actors from local Germans aged 15-16 years and several adults, young military men, he created the first theater troupe in the history of Russia and staged a play of his own composition. It was a comedy about Esther on biblical themes with music, singing, dancing and rude antics traditional for the European theater of that time "stupid person".

For the first time in the history of Russia, the Russian theater gave the tsarina and princesses the opportunity to witness a secular dramatic performance. Before this, they appeared in public only during general services in churches, and besides this, as J. Reitenfels wrote, no one could boast that they had seen the queen anywhere with her face open. When did the young wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Natalya Kirillovna (née Naryshkina, mother of the future Emperor Peter I), “When I left for the first time, I opened the carriage window a little; we couldn’t marvel enough at such an unusual thing. This was pointed out to her, and she, unfortunately, but wisely, gave in<...>But, being of a strong character and lively disposition", Tsarina Natalya insisted on her desire to see theatrical performances. And especially for the Russian queen "with kids"(princes and princesses from the first marriage of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich) a special room was built outside the auditorium, from where they "through the bars" and could "behold the royal fun" while remaining invisible themselves. This was how the first step was taken in introducing the Russian queens to the theatrical business. And the fruits were not slow to show. Later, as you know, Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna (the wife of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich) maintained her own theater in the village of Preobrazhenskoye (near Moscow), as did the sister of Peter I, Tsarevna Natalya Alekseevna.

In Western Europe, noble ladies already in the 16th century. They openly visited theaters, and they were given the very first rows of the amphitheater, and only behind them, at the back, were seats for men, nobles of the first rank. Russian envoy to Florence in 1659 V.B. Likhachev described in detail in his article list how performances and balls took place in this city: they collected “great Duma people with their wives from 400 people, and they danced all night; the prince himself, and the son, and the brothers, and the princess". But knowing this, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich still did not dare to break the old tradition "Temple Reclusion". As is known, this was done only by his son, Emperor Peter I, who established the assemblies.

Repertoire of the court theater and analysis of theatrical plays

Let us now turn to the first two plays of the Russian theater and point out first of all that "Artaxerxes action" came to us in three lists - Lyon, Weimar and Vologda. The play was composed by Pastor Gregory in German, from which it was freely translated into Russian by the translators of the Ambassadorial Prikaz. In this form she was presented before the king. The plot of the play was borrowed from the biblical “Book of Esther”; it was very famous in Russia in the 17th century, including in the iconography of that time. The choice of this particular plot for the first theatrical production, apparently, was not accidental. As recent researchers of this issue point out, it is explained “It is a completely plausible assumption that the main characters of the “Artaxerxes Act” were thought by the authors in some relation to the fate of the beautiful Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, the second wife of Alexei Mikhailovich. In this same regard, Esther’s tutor Mordecai, who becomes the first nobleman of Artaxerxes, may have found similarities with A.S. Matveev, Natalya Kirillovna’s teacher and the Tsar’s “close” boyar.”.

There is no need to dwell in more detail on the content of the play: it has already been sufficiently studied and commented on. It is necessary to highlight one very significant detail: the king in this play is depicted not only "God-like monarch", comparable only, perhaps, to the sun (a common literary device in court poetry of that time - it is found in Polotsk, Istomin and Medvedev), but also an ordinary person suffering from his heartfelt experiences. He is experiencing "heart disease", and so strong and effective that it transformed "earthly god" into an ordinary person! Thus, when one of the courtiers exclaimed, addressing Artaxerxes: “O king of the universe, you are the god of the earth!”, then for the first time in Russian literature appears before us "master of human destinies" in the role of a modest, worried lover who cannot find words to express the feelings overwhelming him.

Here are a few examples of the king’s address to his beloved: “Oh, Esther is beautiful!” , "My heart's delight!", “My luminary is in abyss!”, “Oh, my joy and the reddest of all wives!” etc. Things reach literally cosmic heights. So the very first play of the Russian theater challenged the idea preached in ancient Russian literature that love is a “devilish obsession”, that this feeling is sinful and condemnable.

The relationship between a man and a woman turned out to be illuminated by such a wonderful feeling that it covers the entire soul of a person - and, what is especially noteworthy, the soul of a king, an earthly deity, unapproachable in his royal grandeur! True, the prologue to the play prudently stated: “Sitsa’s happiness changes not without God’s guidance”.

The biblical legend of Esther, which underlies the play, is just another proof of the greatness of God's Providence in relation to God's chosen people - the Jews. It was God, through Esther, who protected the Jews from yet another (this time Persian) devastation. However, in the play presented on the Moscow stage, the pro-church idea was not heard at all. It turned out to be supplanted by the everyday everyday situation, the story of the rise of a simple woman who suddenly became a queen and saved her people from the death that threatened them. In his commentary to the text of the play, A.S. Demin quite rightly emphasizes that it was written and staged at the very height of the Russian-Persian negotiations. This was a time when interest in Persia in Russian society was especially high. The author concludes that there is an undoubted connection “the first play of the Russian theater with the political and ideological life of Russia in the 70s of the 17th century.” The observation is undoubtedly important and should be taken into account.

However, much more significant is the purely everyday interest in this plot in the court circles of Russia. It is no coincidence that events from the biblical legend of Esther began to be depicted on the walls of the royal palace. "bed mansion", as well as in the queen’s rooms in the Kolomna Palace and the Izmailovsky Royal Palace. It cannot be considered an accident that this plot also penetrated into court poetry of the late 17th century. - in verses by Mardarius Khonikov and Simeon of Polotsk.

As for the reflection of gender relations, it is necessary to note the shift in the center of the narrative from the image of Esther to the image of King Artaxerxes. It is quite natural that the title of the play is - "Artaxerxes action": Queen Esther in her is just a mediator, a simple messenger of events. Everything in life is decided by the king. He is the main character, he is the mainspring of the stage production. Here is another evidence of the emphasis in the interpretation of this plot: in picturesque paintings on the theme of this biblical story, the most widespread image is Artaxerxes sitting on the royal throne and Esther kneeling and prayerfully stretching out her hands to him. The king is the center of action and the center of the universe!

The importance of dramatic works for analyzing the reflection of gender relations in society simply cannot be overestimated. After all, theater in Russia (and in other countries too!) is not just spectacular entertainment, but also the brightest embodiment of the ideas and views dominant in society, a figurative and effective reflection of gender relations, a powerful means of ideological influence on the consciousness of the audience. Since its inception, theater has always been the most important cultural and ideological component of public life.

The second play of the Russian theater ( "Comedy from the Book of Judith" or “The Holofernes Act”) was staged at the court of Alexei Mikhailovich in 1673. It has come down to us in four copies and was published in full twice. Like the previous play, it was a dramatic adaptation of the biblical legend about the pious Jewish woman Judith, who secretly sneaked into the enemy camp led by the Assyrian military leader Holofernes, and found the strength and courage to cut off Holofernes’ head. Inspired by her feat, the Jews left the besieged city and defeated the invaders who were left without a military leader. This legend, as is known, served as a plot for many paintings; it was repeatedly processed by both poets and playwrights.

As in the first play, the main character is a woman. Although in some lists the play is named "Holofernes action"- Holofernes himself takes almost no part in the development of the plot, and this is very significant in gender terms. Recognition of the active role of women is a new phenomenon in the mentality of Russian society at the end of the 17th century. Therefore, one should appreciate the choice of these subjects from a huge number of biblical legends and tales that have long been widespread in Rus'. Plot "Judith" is not so closely connected with the court life of Russia at the end of the 17th century, only in the preface to the play we find a lengthy panegyric to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich:
You, by all means, are the most powerful in the universe,
For the kingdom of glory you have given the most precious:
The whole Christian race reveres your skiffert,
By God's grace he protects them all
From the enemy of Christ, the cruel infidel,
Yes, he cannot overcome Christians.

In terms of gender, it is necessary to note the detailed theme of the conquest of Holofernes by the beauty of Judith. At the same time, it should be noted that Judith herself explains the success of her extraordinary act only by the will of God, “Who strengthened me in this work of mine... and bring me again with great joy and victory”. The Jewish presbyter Joachim interprets the very possibility of Judith’s feat by saying that the Lord strengthened her heart, “For you have loved purity, and have no other husband (that is, you have not known), for this reason the hand of the Lord will strengthen you, and you will be blessed forever.”. In other words, the decisive and defining thing in Judith’s feat was that she kept her marital bed undefiled after the death of her husband.

From other works of Russian drama of the last quarter of the 17th century. and the beginning of the 18th century. can be distinguished "A cool little comedy about Joseph". Like previous plays, we have before us a dramatic adaptation of the biblical (extraordinarily popular) story about Joseph (book of Genesis, chapters 37 and 39 - 45). Our attention should, of course, be drawn to the scene of the seduction of the pious young man Joseph by the ardent, experienced in love and passionate wife of Potiphar (there is also a transcription "Pentefria"), Vilgoy. True, there is, of course, no scene of seduction in the play. Only the criminal love of a married woman for a young man is told. This unquenchable, destructive passion of a mature, childless woman, condemned by both the church and everyday human morality, is revealed in the play as an unbridled rampage that does not stop even at crime, slander and the desire to kill her own, lawful, husband. Eager to win "burning flame" criminal love, Joseph convinces Vilga: “Oh wife! I pray you, be ashamed of this before the Lord and fear God and do not do such a damned thing, offering yourself as a sacrifice to the devil...” In response, Vilga threatens: “Behold, Joseph! If you do not fulfill my will now, I will [drown] in a well or die from a high mountain!” Joseph leaves, and Vilga acts out a scene in front of the household, as if Joseph wanted to commit violence against her: “Alas, grief! Domestic violence! And I’ll already die abie”. At this point the text of the play ends. It is still unknown whether the entire story of Joseph’s rise was shown to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in November 1675.

Both lists that have come down to us from the 17th century. This work is defective, but the available texts give reason to assert: once again we have before us a play with an active female character. If in "Judith" this was a female heroine who performed a truly masculine act leading to the deliverance of the Jewish people from a foreign yoke, then in "Comedy of Joseph" before us is a woman obsessed with passion, going to any lengths in the name of satisfying the feeling that struck her. Of course, all her actions are subject to unconditional condemnation, and the episode with the temptation of Joseph serves one purpose - to show his extraordinary moral and physical purity and virtue. This is certainly true. But the very fact that the image of a woman devoured by passion has penetrated into Russian drama is very significant. There is no doubt the desire of the author of the play (apparently, he was still the same Pastor Gregory) to truthfully and deeply reveal the feelings and experiences of both Joseph and Vilga.

Less interesting in terms of gender "A Complaining Comedy about Adam and Eve", delivered to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in November 1675 and built on biblical legends and apocryphal legends about the life of the first people in paradise and their fall from grace. We have every reason to assert that of all the biblical legends, it was the story of the fall of the first people on earth that enjoyed the greatest popularity not only in the middle of the century, but throughout human history. As is known, he also entered Russian folklore. Thus, the spiritual verse was written down many times "Adam's Lament for Paradise", which sings about the consequences of the Fall.

Not only in spiritual poems, but also in proverbs of the 17th century. we find many who were popularly assessed "ancestors" the human race. There are a lot of these proverbs. Just a few of them can be cited: “ Adam is accustomed to troubles", “Ah, ah, Evva, she seduced me with the tree and groaned with her womb!”, “Eve smoked and destroyed the whole world”. The plot of the fall of the first people is one of the most popular in world painting, including in ancient Russian; many frescoes and icons are known - this fact has long been studied and does not need explanation.

The surviving two lists for the plot that interests us, unfortunately, are both defective: the fifth act of the comedy ends at the second event. The images of Adam and Eve are very close to the biblical legend. The tempting serpent, judging by the play, skillfully uses his knowledge of female character (including purely female curiosity). Eve is more active and effective than Adam: she tries to object to the tempter and hesitates, afraid of breaking God’s prohibition. Adam, seeing Eve alive and well after she tasted the forbidden fruit, follows her example without any hesitation. True, later he bitterly repents of what he has done and painfully realizes the heavenly bliss and power over nature that he has lost.

One notable detail in this play can be noted: the tempter (named in the Bible, as is known, "Snake") appears here as "Snake", i.e. feminine creature. This is not a simple slip of the author (or her copyist), but a completely conscious identification of everything curious, sinful and seductive with the feminine principle. This idea was characteristic of the entire medieval worldview, both in the West and here in Russia. It even got to the point that on some icons "Serpent Tempter" was depicted as half-woman - half-snake, and for greater clarity and greater impression with naked female breasts. The logic of this particular interpretation of the Fall is quite simple: since we have before us - "Serpent Tempter", then as clearly as possible "tempt" an ordinary parishioner? It’s clear what - the sight of naked female breasts!

Other works of Russian drama from the last quarter of the 17th century. and the beginning of the 18th century. (including the plays of Simeon of Polotsk and Dmitry of Rostov, which are an important new stage in the development of theater in Rus' at that time), unfortunately, are not very informative in terms of gender. Of even less interest are the works of school drama of this period, which were intended to promote the theological education of students. They were dominated by images not of real-life persons, but of allegorical characters. The latter, as a rule, personified either abstract concepts (such as Justice, Humility, Patience, Pride, etc.) or vices and virtues. The abstractness of the depiction of action, the monotony of meaning and abstract expressiveness are typical features of school plays of that time, which, due to their nature, excluded the stage embodiment of gender relations. One can, of course, assume that, judging by the title, these relations were somehow considered in "Comedy of Judith"(staged after the Battle of Poltava in 1709), but this play is known to us only by its title. The theater gave a special, refined shine to the entertainment of the highest nobility. The first actions took place in the boyars' mansions.
Fans "comidios" Princess Sophia and the leading boyars of that time became, quickly changing into German dress.

Along with this look:
Prose Tokareva
Power in Muscovy
Empress Elizabeth

17th century theaters

In the 17th century, the first oral dramas developed, simple in plot, reflecting popular sentiments. The puppet comedy about Petrushka (his name at first was Vanka-Ratatouille) told about the adventures of a clever, merry fellow who was not afraid of anything in the world. Theater truly appeared in the 17th century - court and school theater.

Court Theater

The emergence of the court theater was caused by the interest of the court nobility in Western culture. This theater appeared in Moscow under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The first performance of the play “The Act of Artaxerxes” (the story of the biblical Esther) took place on October 17, 1672. At first, the court theater did not have its own premises; scenery and costumes were moved from place to place. The first performances were staged by Pastor Gregory from the German Settlement; the actors were also foreigners. Later they began to forcibly recruit and train Russian “youths”. They were paid irregularly, but they did not skimp on decorations and costumes. The performances were distinguished by great pomp, sometimes accompanied by playing musical instruments and dancing. After the death of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the court theater was closed, and performances resumed only under Peter I.

School theater

In addition to the court theater, in Russia in the 17th century a school theater also developed at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, in theological seminaries and schools in Lvov, Tiflis, and Kyiv. Plays were written by teachers, and students staged historical tragedies, allegorical dramas close to European miracles, sideshows - satirical everyday scenes in which there was a protest against the social system. School theater sideshows laid the foundation for the comedy genre in national drama. The origins of the school theater were the famous political figure and playwright Simeon Polotsky.

The emergence of court school theaters expanded the sphere of spiritual life of Russian society.

Early 18th century theater

By order of Peter I, the Public Theater was created in 1702, designed for the mass public. A building was built especially for him on Red Square in Moscow - the “Comedial Temple”. The German troupe of J. H. Kunst gave performances there. The repertoire included foreign plays that were not successful with the public, and the theater ceased to exist in 1706, as subsidies from Peter I ceased.

Conclusion

A new page in the history of the performing arts of the peoples of our Motherland was opened by serf and amateur theaters. The serf troupes that existed since the end of the 18th century staged vaudevilles, comic operas, and ballets. On the basis of serf theaters, private enterprises arose in a number of cities. Russian theatrical art had a beneficial influence on the formation of the professional theater of the peoples of our Motherland. The troupes of the first professional theaters included talented amateurs - representatives of the democratic intelligentsia.

Imperial Theaters of Russia- theaters that existed at public expense and were under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. Existed from 1756 to 1917; also called court theaters.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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Subtitles

Background to the creation of imperial theaters

The first royal theater. Alexey Mikhailovich (Moscow)

The royal theater first appeared in Russia in 1672 under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and existed until 1676.

The initiator of the creation of a theater similar to the European one was the boyar Artamon Sergeevich Matveev. The German pastor Johann Gottfried Gregory was appointed playwright, and the play was called “The Artaxerxes Act.” Then 60 foreigners were selected, who began to be trained in acting, and the theater was hastily built in the Tsar’s residence near Moscow, in the village of Preobrazhenskoye.

“On October 17, 1672, the opening of the long-awaited theater and the first performance took place. The tsar himself and all his fellow boyars were present at this important event. The queen and her court ladies were in a special box. The first performance lasted ten hours, but the king watched it all to the end and was very pleased. When the performance was over, the audience immediately went to the bathhouse, because they believed that after such an “action” it was necessary to wash away all their sins. The theater was called a “disgrace” at that time. In 1673 some changes took place. The theater was moved to another room, which was located above the Apothecary Chamber of the Kremlin. The troupe of actors has also expanded."

However, with the death of Alexei Mikhailovich in 1676, the first Russian royal theater also died.

Theaters under Peter I (Moscow)

Since the 18th century, foreign theater troupes, mainly French and Italian, have worked in Moscow. These were private enterprises. They built their own premises or privately equipped some other people's buildings.

Seeing Nikita Afanasyevich Beketov in the role of Sinav, I was so delighted that I did not know where I was: on earth or in heaven. Then the idea was born in me to start my own theater in Yaroslavl.

At the beginning of 1752, the Yaroslavl troupe, after the Senate executor Ignatiev learned about it, was summoned to St. Petersburg. Some of the actors in Volkov’s troupe were assigned to study in the Land Gentry Corps. The entire staff of the imperial theaters was approved by the highest, and the salary was also determined from the Court Office, to which the Theater Directorate was subordinate.

From this day on, the former buffoon, buffoon, is legalized as a Russian actor and receives citizenship rights

From this date, the official countdown of the structure of the Imperial Theaters began, under the auspices of which several already existing acting troupes gradually gathered and new state-owned (sovereign) theaters opened.

"30 Aug. In 1756, Empress Elizabeth gave a decree to the Senate “to establish a Russian theater for the presentation of tragedies and comedies.” A.P. Sumarokov was appointed director of the theater. From this date begins the history of public Russian. imperial (state) theaters. The core of the theater, created in 1756, consisted of students of the cadet corps of commoners and actors of the Yaroslavl troupe - F. and G. Volkov, I. Dmitrevsky, Yakov Shumsky and others. Appropriations for Russian. the troupe were insignificant - 5 thousand rubles. per year, while the content is French. troupe amounted to 20 thousand rubles. in year. The first Russian actresses were A. M. Dmitrevskaya, the outstanding tragic actress Tatyana Troepolskaya and others.

Imperial Troupe. theater consisted mainly of serfs» .

By the highest decree, it was decided to determine premises in St. Petersburg for the first Russian theater, which was located in the Golovkin House (now on this site - the building of the Academy of Arts) on Vasilievsky Island.

On October 24, 1756, Sumarokov demanded from the Corps of Gentry that, in pursuance of the Highest Decree, “it was good for the singers and Yaroslevites studying in the corps to be sent to him to be designated as comedians, because they are all needed for this.” The first Russian dramatic troupe in St. Petersburg included “court singers who had lost their voices” - Grigory Emelyanov, Pavel Ivanov, Kozma Lukyanov, Fyodor Maksimov, Evstafiy Grigoriev, Luka Ivanov, Prokofy Prikazny; Yaroslavl residents - Fedor and Grigory Volkov, Ivan Dmitrevsky and Alexey Popov; then the composition was replenished with Gavrila Volkov, Yakov Shumsky and Mikhail Chulkov. The troupe also included five actresses: Avdotya Mikhailova, dancer Elizaveta Zorina, Maria and Olga Ananyin and Agrafena Musina-Pushkina (see: - St. Petersburg, 1904-1905. - Issue XV. - P. 27).

The same decree extended to the second capital - in Moscow, a troupe was created at Moscow University, the Free University Theater was headed by M. M. Kheraskov. Later, on the basis of this theater, the troupe of the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theater was created.

In 1759, the Court Office, by the highest command of Elizabeth Petrovna, began to engage in the new Russian theater, performances were given for the reigning persons, as well as for their entourage - the court and noble public.

Imperial theaters under Catherine II

After the death of Empress Elizabeth and the very short reign of Peter III, theatrical art in Russia experienced a rapid rise again with the accession of Catherine II to the Russian throne. However, during all this time, foreign artistic troupes were also not forgotten and were revered at the highest court.

Until 1766, the management of the theater was concentrated in the court office; then Empress Catherine II established an independent directorate of all court theaters and ordered the construction of a theater building in St. Petersburg - the future Bolshoi Stone Theater. I. P. Elagin became the first director of the Imperial Theaters.

He compiled a “Stat to everyone about theaters and chambers and ballroom music belonging to people.” To this first theater. The staff approved by Catherine II included: 1) Italian opera and chamber music, 2) ballet, 3) ballroom music, 4) French theater, 5) Russian theater. 6) people and craftsmen belonging to the theater. The same “Stat” founded a theater school and established pensions for artists. A special decree created a Committee to manage spectacles and music. This decree determined the organizational forms of activity of I. t. Rus. dram the troupe retained the name of the court troupe and continued to give performances on the court stage in line with other court troupes. Along with this, Russian actors also had to give public performances “for money in city theaters.”

Elagin held the high post of director of the Imperial Theaters from December 20, 1766 to May 21, 1779, after which V.I. Bibikov took this position in 1779-1783.

In 1784, the Committee issued the “Legislation of the Committee for those belonging to the court theater,” which is a set of rules defining the behavior of all “belonging to the court theater.”

Since 1791, the court theaters again came under sole management and their directors were successively: Prince Nikolai Yusupov (1791-1799), Count Nikolai Sheremetev (1799) and Chief Marshal Alexander Naryshkin (1799-1819), under whom in 1806, already under Alexander I, the Imperial Moscow theaters were established.

Imperial theaters under Alexander I

Theater buildings of the Imperial Theatres. Saint Petersburg

In the 18th century the main scenes are inside the palace, as well as:

• Opera house near Nevskaya prospect(“Comedy-Opera, which is near the prospect”) in the area of ​​modern M. Konyushennaya ul. (1742-1749) - The opera house was located in a former arena near the Nevskaya Prospect on the bank of the Glukhaya River (now the Griboyedov Canal), not far from the Lutheran kirk (later the Church of Saints Peter and Paul). The theater hall, in addition to the stalls, had two tiers and separate boxes for Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and the princess - the future Catherine II. G. Valeriani, I. Vishnyakov, A. Perezinotti, and C. Gibelli worked there. The building burned down in October 1749;
• Opera house near the Summer Garden(architect F. Rastrelli; 1750-1763) - in February 1750 (the plan and section of the Opera House with Rastrelli’s signature, dated February 14, 1750, have been preserved) personal decrees of Elizabeth Petrovna followed on the construction of a new theater and already on November 28 of the same year opening of the theater for which the opera Bellerophon was written (Bonecchi, Araya, Valeriani);
• Bolshoi (Stone) theater(Carouselnaya, now Teatralnaya Square, 3; architect F.W. von Baur, M.A. Dedenev, opened in 1783) The building of the Bolshoi Stone Theater, which began construction in 1775 by the architect Antonio Rinaldi, was opened in 1783 (to Let's just say that the theater existed until 1886, when the building was transferred to the Russian Musical Society for reconstruction as a Conservatory and was partially dismantled and entered into the new building of the Conservatory). At the same time, in 1783, performance fees began, from which taxes were levied. Performances remained free for the reigning house and courtiers. The Directorate of the Theater was supposed to provide all court events. Court performances were free. Spectators were collected by summons from the Court Office. It was both an honor and a duty to attend such spectacles.

“On holidays, free performances were also performed “for the people.” By decree of the imp. Catherine II dated July 12, 1783, court troupes were ordered to give a certain number of performances per month in public theaters (Kamenny and Derevyanny) for citizens who bought tickets for the performances" (see Imperial theaters. Authors: A. L. Porfiryeva, Yu. N. Kruzhnov) .

• Wooden theater. At first it was known as the Karl Knieper Theatre, in 1779 it became known as the Free Russian Theater. Background: in the 18th century in St. Petersburg on Tsaritsyno Meadow (now Field of Mars), not far from the royal menagerie, a wooden theater was built, designed specifically for the performance of foreign actors, gradually it received the same name. The Wooden Theater, or Maly, was maintained by the entrepreneur Kniper and the artist Dmitrevsky, in 1783 purchased for the treasury. It existed until 1796/1797, when it was demolished. (see Small).
• Hermitage Theater(1783; architect G. Quarenghi). The Hermitage Theater is being built at the Imperial Palace of the Hermitage by the decision of Catherine II by the architect Giacomo Quarenghi on the foundation of the “Theater Building” building, which already belonged to the Imperial Theatres. Today the Hermitage Theater is the oldest surviving theater building in St. Petersburg.

This is a small court theater with a capacity of 250 seats, designed for the imperial family and a small circle of elected and close associates.

The auditorium itself is unique: small in volume, it is designed in such a way that it does not require the use of theater binoculars. Everything that happens on stage is clearly visible from any place. The hall has a unique, antique-tinged shape and special volume with natural, excellent acoustics. These features of the theater once again emphasize the skill and natural gift of its architect.<…>But its foundation, on which it stands, is the same age as the city itself. The architect uses the foundation and walls of previous structures. The stone theater at the Hermitage is being built on the site of the premises of the old, fourth Winter Palace. On November 16, 1785, the theater opened its first season with the premiere of A. Ablesimov’s comic opera “The Miller, the Sorcerer, the Deceiver and the Matchmaker” (see Hermitage Theater).

By 1809, the Theater Directorate (St. Petersburg) had 7 troupes on its staff (ballet, 2 Russian, 3 French and 1 German) and at least 10 theaters, including stages at country residences.

In the second half of the 19th century:

• Mariinsky Theater - the imperial theater of Russian opera and ballet;
• Alexandrinsky Theater - imperial theater of Russian drama;
• Bolshoi Stone Theater (later rebuilt, in its place the St. Petersburg Conservatory is now located) - the imperial theater of Italian opera;
• Mikhailovsky Theater - the imperial theater of the French musical and dramatic troupe;
• The Maly Theater (now the Bolshoi Drama Theater) is the imperial theater of French and then Russian operetta. - (see Small).

By this time - the second half of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. - the office of the Imperial Theaters was a whole department with a huge number of officials.

Theater buildings of the Imperial Theatres. Moscow

In 1776, by decree of Empress Catherine II, the construction of a theater building in Moscow began. Prince Pyotr Vasilyevich Urusov was appointed executor, who immediately began construction. But the building burned down before it could become a theater and accommodate either actors or spectators. The disgruntled prince entrusted the work to his companion M. Medox, who built the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theater. Looking ahead, let's say that this building burned down in 1806, already under Emperor Alexander I and switching to the imperial, that is, state-owned system. The new building was built by K.I. Rossi on Arbat Square, but it suffered the same disaster during the fire in the Napoleonic War of 1812. In 1821, construction of the theater began on the original site according to the design of O. Beauvais, and in 1825 the Bolshoi Theater of Moscow opened. In 1842, the theater came under the leadership of the St. Petersburg directorate of imperial theaters; An opera troupe arrived from St. Petersburg to Moscow. In 1853, this building also burned down, and the theater was restored and renovated by the architect A. K. Kavos, son of Caterino Kavos. Back in 1803, at the request of the musician and composer Katerino Kavos, who worked in St. Petersburg, the troupe was divided into musical and dramatic.

Performances were given in Pashkov's house, from 1808 - in the New Imperial Theater (Arbatsky), then from 1814 - in the Apraksin Theater on Znamenka.

But even before 1824, when the Maly Theater officially opened, the ballet and opera (Bolshoi Theater) and drama troupes (Maly Theater) of the Imperial Moscow Theater were a single whole: a single directorate, the same performers, but also for a long time after that the theaters were even connected by an underground passage, there were common costume rooms, etc.

Managers

Managers of the Moscow office:

• Kokoshkin, Fedor Fedorovich (playwright) - director of the Moscow Theater from 1822 to 1831.
• Zagoskin, Mikhail Nikolaevich - director of the Moscow Theater from 1831 to 1842
• Vasiltsovsky, Alexander Dmitrievich - from 1831 to 1848
• Verstovsky, Aleksey Nikolaevich - from 1848 to 1860 - manager of the office (from 1860 to 1862 - manager of the Moscow office).
• Lvov, Leonid Fedorovich - from 1862 to 1864
• Neklyudov, Vasily Sergeevich - from 1864 to 1866
• Pelt, Nikolai Ivanovich - from 1866 to 1872
• Kavelin, Pavel Alexandrovich, chairman of the commission for managing Moscow theaters - from 1872 to 1876.
• Ober, Lavrenty Nikolaevich - from 1876 to 1882
• Pchelnikov, Pavel Mikhailovich - from 1882 to 1898
• - from 1898 to 1901
• Bool, Nikolai Konstantinovich - from 1901 to 1910
• Obukhov, Sergei Trofimovich - from 1910 to 1917

Managers of the St. Petersburg office:

• Pogozhev, Vladimir Petrovich - from 1882 to 1896
• Vuich, Georgiy Ivanovich - from 1902 to 1903? G.
• Krupensky, Alexander Dmitrievich - since 1903? to 1914

Directorate of the Imperial Theaters:

• Gedeonov, Alexander Mikhailovich - from 1833 (in Moscow theaters from February 1, 1842) to 1858.
• Saburov, Andrey Ivanovich - from 1858 to 1862
• Borkh, Alexander Mikhailovich - from 1862 to 1867
• Gedeonov, Stepan Alexandrovich - from 1867 to 1875
• Kister, Karl Karlovich - from 1875 to 1881
• Vsevolozhsky, Ivan Alexandrovich - from 1881 to 1899
• Volkonsky, Sergei Mikhailovich - from 1899 to 1901
• Telyakovsky, Vladimir Arkadievich - from 1901 to 1917

Office of the Imperial Theaters. XIX - XX centuries

In 1839, the “Regulations on Artists of the Imperial Theaters” was published, according to which the division of artists by role into 3 categories was approved:
1) main performers of roles (1st role) of all types of dramatic art, directors, bandmasters, decorators, orchestra soloists, ballet soloists, chief costume designer and orchestra conductors,
2) performers of 2 and 3 roles (2nd role), prompters, “wardrobe masters”, musicians, “theater masters”, “sculptors”, fencing masters,
3) choristers, actors for appearances (3rd role), figures, hairdressers, music scribes, singers, music office supervisors, etc.

The structure of the imperial theaters strictly adhered to the system of acting roles. The actors were divided according to their roles: tragedians, comedians, first lovers (jeunes premiers), fathers of families, mothers, simpletons, travesties, etc.

The Russian Imperial Theaters maintained their role until 1882, when the commission (Messrs. A. N. Ostrovsky, A. A. Potekhin and D. V. Averkiev), which developed the basis for the reform of the artistic part of the Imperial Theaters, decided to abolish the division of artists by role (Pogozhev V. P. Centenary of the organization of the Imperial Moscow Theaters // Yearbook of the Imperial Theaters. St. Petersburg, 1904-1905. Issue XV. P. 100).

Theater posters became a monopoly of the imperial theaters.

In Russia, the right to print posters for all theaters was a monopoly of the Directorate of Imperial Theaters and its counterparties: (GOPP - in St. Petersburg and LEVENSON - in Moscow). This monopoly was introduced by the actor Vasily Fedotovich Rykalov (1771-1813). We read from P. Arapov: “The Russian troupe at the end of the 18th century consisted of 21 actors and 22 actresses, among whom were wonderful artists... including Vasily Fedotovich Rykalov, who excellently represented old people in Molière’s comedies... “The Fashion Shop” was a great success, an original comedy by I. A. Krylov in three acts, where, by the way, during a search for contraband, the landowner Sumburova is found in the closet, where she was hiding for fear of being overtaken by her husband in a fashion store. Rykalov was excellent in the role of Sumburov.” (P. Arapov. Chronicle of the Russian Theater, p. 90)

Since 1842, Moscow theaters were again subordinated to the general directorate. In 1842, in St. Petersburg, under the authority of the director of the Imperial Theaters, the Mariinsky, Alexandrinsky and Mikhailovsky theaters merged. In Moscow, the Bolshoi and Maly theaters have been united again. The Directorate of the Imperial Theaters was in charge of the repertoire and the administrative and economic part of the Imperial Theaters, dealt with the material, everyday and creative working conditions of artists, and worked with playwrights. At the Imperial Theaters there were theater schools that trained ballet, opera and drama artists.

The artists and all workers belonged to all the premises of the Imperial Theaters at once and therefore were easily assigned and reassigned to different stages. For example, the famous Russian artist Leonid Leonidov, who initially studied in St. Petersburg with Karatygin and ascended to the St. Petersburg stage in 1839, was appointed to the Maly Theater in Moscow in 1843 and soon inherited the repertoire of the great tragedian P. Mochalov, but with the death of his teacher in 1854 for performance of his roles was urgently transferred back to the St. Petersburg stage. It seems that the equally famous artist Fyodor Petrovich Gorev, who played alternately at the Maly Theater (Moscow), at the Alexandrinka Theater (St. Petersburg), and many others, also had an artistic career.

Folk drama was a special form of theater. Initially, it was a dramatization of various oral and written works, wedding dialogues between groomsmen, and other folklore. The performances were reminiscent of a collective game, into which each participant contributed something of his own. Gradually, permanent stories and texts emerged that have survived to this day in records made in the 19th century. The most famous include folk dramas “Tsar Maximilian”, “The Boat”, “Comedy about the Master”

Originating at the turn of the 16th - 17th centuries. The folk drama “The Boat” was associated with peasant and Cossack oral and poetic creativity. It reflected popular ideas about Stepan Razin and Ermak Timofeevich. Folk dramas “The Imaginary Master”, “The Master and the Clerk”, “Afonka the New and the Barin are Naked” and others satirically ridiculed the boyars and landowners. The master, as a rule, was portrayed in them as a limited, narrow-minded person, and his servant as a “small”, sometimes a clerk, smart and resourceful.

Later, in 1812, the folk drama “How the Frenchman Took Moscow” was created, telling the story of the resilience of the Russian people.

Folk drama combined dramatic and tragic elements, presenting in a tense form the struggle of strong people, acute social conflicts, and farcical elements with light, entertaining content and comic techniques. The dialogue in this performance was often comic and based on a play on words: a combination of words with opposite meanings, mutual rearrangement of sounds in words, a game of synonyms and homonyms. This is how the “Imaginary Master” game ended:

Master: Where have you been hanging around so far?

Headman: I rode on your red boat.

Master: You see: the master has a noose around his neck, and he was riding in a red boat!

Headman: If you, master, had a noose around your neck, I would take the trimbabuli-bom and crush it.

On May 15, 1672, the tsar issued a decree in which Colonel Nikolai von Staden (a friend of boyar Matveev) was instructed to find people abroad who could “play comedies.” Staden “for the amusement of royal grandeur” invited famous actors Johann Felston and Anna Paulson. But, frightened by stories about the mysterious Muscovy, the comedians refused, and Staden brought only five musicians to Moscow. Matveev learned that the teacher of the German church school, Johann Gottfried Gregory, who arrived in Moscow back in 1658, knew how to “build comedies.” On June 4, 1672, an order was given to “the foreigner Yagan Gottfried to perform a comedy, and to act on the comedy from the Bible, the book of Esther, and for that action to arrange a mansion again, and for the structure of that mansion and what for it must be purchased from the decree of the Volodymyr ceremonies. And according to that great sovereign’s decree, a comedy hall was built in the village of Preobrazhenskoye with all the equipment that that mansion needed.”

In pursuance of the royal order, Gregory and his assistant Ringuber began to gather children and teach them the art of theater. A total of 69 people were recruited. In three months the play was learned in German and Slavic. The “Comedy Hall,” which had already been built by this time, was a wooden building consisting of two parts. Inside there were stages, seats arranged in an amphitheater, and benches. The royal seat, protruding forward, was upholstered in red cloth, and for the queen and prince there were boxes with a fine lattice, through which they looked at the stage, remaining hidden from the rest of the audience. The stage, raised above the floor, was separated from the audience by railings. There was a curtain on the stage that was closed when there was a need for changes on stage. The scenery was made by the Dutch painter Peter Inglis. The Tsar granted Gregory “40 sables worth 100 rubles, and a couple of eight rubles for his salary for a comedy about the reign of Artaxerxes.” Ringuter wrote about this performance in his diary: “The performance took place on October 17, 1672. The king, amazed by it, sat for ten whole hours without getting up.” The play was performed by: Blumentrost, Friedrich Gossen, Ivan Meva, Ivan and Pavel Berner, Pyotr Carlson and others. They participated in the performances until the second half of 1673. On the wedding anniversary, the tsar wanted to organize a performance, but did not want to go to Preobrazhenskoye, so “a comedy dance "were built in the wards, although they could not complete it on time. Alexey Mikhailovich became a frequent visitor to theatrical performances.

On February 8, 1673, at Maslenitsa, a new spectacle took place - a ballet based on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. The actors were taught the art of ballet by engineer Nikolai Lim. By the summer (from May 15 to June 16), the German actors were replaced by Russians. History has preserved their names - Vaska Meshalkin, Nikolai and Rodion Ivanov, Kuzma Zhuravlev, Timofey Maksimov, Luka Stepanov and others - because they signed a written appeal to the Tsar. “Merciful Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich! Please make us your servants, the sovereign ordered us to make daily food for our great sovereign’s salary, so that we, being your servants in that comedy business, will not die of hunger. Tsar Sovereign, please have mercy.” The king granted permission to give “4 money” per day to each of his comedians.

Performances became one of the most favorite entertainments at the Moscow court. There were 26 Russian actors. Boys played female roles. Both foreigners and Russian actors were trained in a special school, which was opened on September 21, 1672 in the courtyard of Gregory’s house in the German settlement. It turned out to be difficult to train Russian and foreign students, and in the second half of 1675 two theater schools began to operate: at the Polish court - for foreigners, in Meshchanskaya Sloboda - for Russians. Theatre's repertoire: Artaxerxes's play (1672), Comedy about Tobias the Younger (1673), Judith (1674), Temir-Aksakov's play (1675), Small cool comedy about Joseph (1675), Comedy about David and Goliath (1676), Comedy about Bacchus with Venus (1676), etc.

Gregory died on February 16, 1675. Yuri Gyutner became his successor, from him the leadership passed to Blumentrost and bachelor Ivan Volosheninov. Later, on the recommendation of the Smolensk governor, Prince Golitsyn, Latin teacher Stefan Chizhinsky became the leader.

In 1676 Alexey Mikhailovich died. The inspirer of the idea of ​​the theater, boyar Matveev, was exiled. On December 15, 1677, the royal decree followed: “The apothecary ordered the chambers that were occupied with comedy to cleanse and what was in those chambers, organs and prospects of all kinds of comedy supplies; take everything to Nikita Ivanovich Romanov’s yard.”

One of the first playwrights under Alexei Mikhailovich was Simeon of Polotsk. His plays differed from school ones in their closeness to life and the absence of allegorical images. His “recitations” were lyrical works. The Tsar was attracted by the possibilities of political propaganda in “declamations”. He invited the learned monk to Moscow. It was with his plays that the Russian national literary theater began. In the play Shepherd's Conversations, simple monologue recitation was replaced by a real developed dialogue, an attempt was made to develop images of shepherds: one is simple-minded, the other is smart, etc. But the characters did not yet have their own names and did not receive complete outlines. From the biography of Simeon of Polotsk it is known that under Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich he continued to write recitations that were performed by his students, which meant the continued existence of the court theater of Alexei Mikhailovich.

Other historians argue that the theater ceased to exist and was revived at the beginning of the Petrine era, since it was aimed at a very limited circle of courtiers.