Theatrical art of the 19th century. Russian theatrical art

The theater of the 19th century was characterized by loud, full of passion monologues, spectacular positions, preparing theatrical departures, that is, having effectively completed his scene, the actor emphatically theatrically retired, causing applause from the audience. Complex life experiences and thoughts disappeared behind theatrical feelings. Instead of complex realistic characters, stereotyped stage roles accumulated. The officials who ran the "imperial" theaters stubbornly sought to turn them into places of easy entertainment.

Two great events in theater life mark the end of the 19th century - the birth of the dramaturgy of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov and the creation Art Theater. In Chekhov's first play, Ivanov, new features were revealed: the lack of division of characters into heroes and villains, the unhurried rhythm of action with great internal tension. In 1895, Chekhov wrote a large play called The Seagull. However, the performance staged by the Alexandrinsky Theater based on this play failed. Dramaturgy required new stage principles: Chekhov could not sound on stage without directing. Pioneering work was appreciated by the playwright, theater teacher Nemirovich-Danchenko. Which, together with the actor director Stanislavsky, created a new Art Theater. The true birth of the Art Theater took place in October 1898 during the production of Chekhov's "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich". What they saw on the stage was not actors playing the “audience”, but genuine living people talking to each other in the most ordinary, not upbeat tone, as if at home. People moving freely and even turning their backs to the viewer (which seemed particularly daring). The sincerity and simplicity of the game, the naturalness of halftones and pauses touched everyone with their truthfulness. Moreover, even those who played weekend and wordless roles were not mannequins, but created their own little artistic image. The members of the team that created the performance, guided by the director's will, were imbued and soldered by a single task. And this created an ensemble unprecedented in the Russian theater until then, striking with its general consistency. In December, the premiere of "The Seagull" took place, which has been the emblem of the theater ever since. The whole performance was built on mood, on barely noticeable in outward expression mental movements, unusual images which could not be shown, depicted, they had to merge with them, they had to be lived. The production of "The Seagull" contributed to the birth of the famous formula: "not to play, but to live on stage." For the performance, Stanislavsky came up with mise-en-scenes that had never been in the theater. Thus, together with Chekhov, that diversity was created, which largely determined further ways theater development. It required new technology acting performance. After all, living on stage is many times more difficult than presenting. And Stanislavsky creates his own system of psychological realism, aimed at reproducing the "life human spirit". And Nemirovich-Danchenko develops the doctrine of the "second plan" when much unspoken is guessed behind what has been said.
In 1902, at the expense of the largest Russian philanthropist S. T. Morozov, the well-known building of the Moscow Art Theater was built. Stanislavsky admitted that "the main initiator and creator of the social and political life" of their theater was Maxim Gorky. In the performances of his plays "Three", "Petty Bourgeois", "At the bottom" was shown the heavy share of the workers and the "lower classes of society", their rights, the call for revolutionary restructuring. The performances were held in crowded halls.
A further contribution to the stage production of Gorky's drama is associated with the name of Vera Fedorovna Komissarzhevskaya, who was close to revolutionary circles. Languishing from the treasury, which stifled the imperial stage, she left it and created her own theater in St. Petersburg. In 1904, the premiere of Summer Residents took place here. Gorky's plays became leading in the repertoire of the Komissarzhevskaya Theatre.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a new theatrical genre emerged. In 1908, in St. Petersburg, V. A. Kazansky opened the first theater of one-act plays in Russia. The theater on Liteiny was the third theater of the entrepreneur (after Nevsky Farce and Modern). The playbill of the theater was full of terrible names: “Death in the arms”, “On tombstone" and so on. Critics wrote that the theater was engaged in anti-artistic, irritable work. The spectators poured in. The Foundry Theater had a predecessor - the Parisian theater " strong sensations”, headed by the creator and author of the plays Andre de Lord. The Russian theater imitated him from the repertoire to specific means of influencing the public. But the spirit of Russian life did not resemble the atmosphere of the Parisian inhabitants. The attraction to the terrible, the repulsive, seized various layers Russian public. After two months, interest in the theater faded. main reason that the theater of horrors could not compete with the horrors of Russian modernity. The programs of the theater changed a lot, three years later the genre designation "Theater of Miniatures" was assigned to the theater. The number of theaters of miniatures increased markedly after 1910. Actors, for the sake of profit, move from drama to theaters of miniatures, many drama theaters somehow making ends meet, and theaters of miniatures grew like mushrooms after rain. Despite the different names and genre designations of the newly emerged theaters, the nature of their performances was the same. Programs were built from one-act comedies, operas, operettas, ballets.

At the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century, the passion for luxurious productions, completely devoid of artistic ideas characteristic of the style of the pre-revolutionary Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters. First class in their own way artistic composition collectives of a number of opera houses only in a difficult and tense struggle won back their creative achievements. One of the founders of the World of Art association, S. P. Diaghilev, organized the Russian Seasons in Paris - performances by Russian ballet dancers in 1909-1911. The troupe included M. M. Fokin, A. P. Pavlova, V. F. Nezhensky and others. Fokin was a choreographer and artistic director. Designed performances famous artists A. Benois, N. Roerich. The performances of "The Sylphs" were shown ( Chopin's music), Polovtsian dances from the opera "Prince Igor" by Borodin, "The Firebird" and "Petrushka" (music by Stravinsky), and so on. The performances were a triumph for the Russian choreographic art. Artists proved that classical ballet can be modern, excite the viewer. Best productions Fokine were "Petrushka", "The Firebird", "Scheherazade", "The Dying Swan", in which music, painting and choreography were one.

In the second half of the 19th century popular genres comedy, vaudeville and drama. Although vaudeville changed under the influence of public sentiment: it still had a light plot, but the circle of its characters expanded: petty officials, slum dwellers, and Russian townsfolk appeared on the stage. It suited the taste. The operetta was gaining popularity: it hinted at something that could not be spoken about directly. The genres of melodrama and small comedy, depicting the life of the common people, developed.

Direction and relevance of Russian plays of the 19th century

But these works were too light for a thinking viewer who wanted to see reality on stage with its social, moral, philosophical problems. The most relevant topic was the appeal to Russian modernity.

This determined the dramaturgy and repertoire of the theater of the 19th century, which raised the most significant questions:

the problem of fathers and children,
position of a woman
corrupt practices,
a person's personal freedom.

The raznochinets intellectual became the hero of modern times: this was the ideal of the spectators, overwhelmed by the ideas of democracy and populism.

Ostrovsky - the first experiments with Russian reality

The theme of Russian reality received the most complete embodiment in the works. Ostrovsky's plays depicted the most unattractive aspects of life: hoarding, ignorance, the fate of a Russian woman, the humiliating position of the intelligentsia. revealed moral and social conflicts characteristic of contemporary reality. A special role in his dramas and comedies was assigned to the psychological interpretation of the behavior and character of the characters.

Ostrovsky created the methods of new drama, which began to talk about the problems of concern to Russian society. .

The post-reform village: the clash of patriarchal values and capitalism

One of the most pressing issues of the 60-70s. there was a question about the position of the peasantry: the post-reform village, the destruction of the patriarchal way of life, the relationship between the capitalist and agrarian worlds. These problems excited the audience and were reflected in the work of playwrights.

One of the first such works was the play A. F. Pisemsky "A bitter fate". In it, for the first time on the Russian stage, perfect image a peasant: tenacious, hard-working, conscientious, who, having committed a crime, nevertheless surrenders to justice, unable to cope with guilt. But the viewer took this play coolly: she did not condemn serfdom, the image of the master was too soft, and the drama of the Russian peasant woman was not fully disclosed.

The topic of capitalism, which has a detrimental effect on the village, is devoted to drama by V. A. Krylov "Near the money". The new time brought drunkenness, debauchery, greed to the villages, destroyed, according to the author, the ideals of morality and purity. Capitalism, Krylov believes, is an evil that leads to the degradation of the individual.

A similar problem is typical for drama by L. N. Tolstoy "The Power of Darkness". The writer depicts the Russian village, where, as a result of economic changes, moral principles are being broken, and the capitalist world, which is trying to impose its own laws, is hostile to the life of the Russian peasant. Old foundations are crumbling: leading role money plays in relations between people, guardians of traditions die, monstrous crimes against conscience, morality, and personality are committed solely on the basis of personal gain. But the heroes of Tolstoy's play have not completely lost themselves: at the end they see clearly and deeply repent.

Speaking about the fate of the Russian village, playwrights pay attention to moral problem the process of capitalization of society. They are interested in conflicts between the traditional and new ways, the destruction of moral principles, the emergence of new types of peasants, and the problems of the future.

Historical drama: new genre for Russian theater

Russian theater of the 19th century introduced into the repertoire historical drama genre. The reason for its appearance was a surge of interest in Russian history. At first, plays were staged on the stage, where the historical component was only a background for a melodramatic plot:

"Hof Junker" by Kukolnik, "Oprichnina" and "Ice House" by Lazhechnikov.

Later, however, a deep understanding came to the fore. historical events. The play started

L. May " royal bride”, continued by Ostrovsky’s plays “Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk”, “Tushino”, D. V. Averkiev “ Mamaevo massacre"," Kashirskaya antiquity", A. K. Tolstoy "Death of Ivan the Terrible".

The authors tried to find an explanation in the past for the processes that took place in the socio-political life of Russia. Everyone had a different approach: Ostrovsky and Tolstoy condemned despotism, Averkiev idealized the traditional way of life.

The realism of the plays, divorced from reality

The requirements of realism on the stage by the end of the 19th century, unfortunately, sometimes led to a schematic depiction of reality. Logically complete works turned into a set of paintings, where the author artificially imposed his idea. Attempts to thoroughly explain the cause-and-effect relationships of this or that phenomenon of reality sometimes led to boredom and inexpressiveness. Playwrights created semi-dramas and semi-comedies. The real Russian reality has become an aesthetic criterion, but it was precisely this reality that, in all its manifestations, was alien to true realism. Depth, sincerity and psychologism were preserved, but contempt for true beauty appeared, without which theater as an art form cannot exist. This led to an almost complete ossification of the theatrical genre.

Most playwrights tried to follow the traditions of Ostrovsky, but they only copied reality, ineptly trying to moralize it. Their plays deviated further and further from genuine literature and could only satisfy an audience with extremely poor taste. The stage setting has lost the veracity of the image, has lost its individuality. The scenery moved from one play to another, often without any connection with the nature of the work. The same was true for the costumes of the characters.

Acting art of the turn of the century

The acting has suffered. The performers copied the style of playing and Sadovsky, but supplemented it with melodramatic effects. It was believed that the role did not need to be rehearsed: inspiration should have spoken for the actor.

Neglect of the development of roles and staging of the voice led to the disappearance of the plasticity of movements, the beauty of the game. The performers preferred to copy their predecessors without bothering to delve into the nature of the character and the content of the play.

There was a decline acting art. It often happened that one performer and many inept extras played. classical plays were not available to them. The old models left, the new ones did not appear, and instead of the images of living people, only their roles were presented on the stage. The theater was collapsing, and the life that actors and playwrights tried so hard to embody was leaving it.

Realism in the Russian theater of the late 19th century broke away from real life, replacing it with a fake performance. This problem was solved only at the beginning of the 20th century.

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The Russian theater in the nineteenth century was distinguished by a certain duplicity - on the one hand, it continued to react sharply to various social and political changes in the state structure, and on the other hand, it improved under the influence of literary innovations.

Birth of great masters

At the beginning of the 19th century, in Russian stage art, romanticism and classicism were replaced by realism, which brings a lot of fresh ideas to the theatre. During this period, many changes take place, a new stage repertoire is being formed, which is popular and in demand in modern dramaturgy. The nineteenth century is becoming a good platform for the emergence and development of many talented playwrights who, with their work, make a huge contribution to the development of theatrical art. The brightest person in the dramaturgy of the first half of the century is N.V. Gogol. In fact, he was not a playwright in classical sense of this word, but, despite this, he managed to create masterpieces that instantly gained world fame and popularity. Such works can be called "The Government Inspector" and "Marriage". These plays are very graphic full picture public life in Russia. Moreover, Gogol did not sing of it, but on the contrary, sharply criticized it.

"Inspector" N.V. Gogol

At this stage of development and full formation, the Russian theater can no longer remain satisfied with the previous repertoire. Therefore, the old will soon be replaced by the new. Its concept is to depict a modern person with a sharp and clear sense of time. The founder of modern Russian dramaturgy is considered to be A.N. Ostrovsky. In his works, he very truthfully and realistically described the merchant environment and their customs. Such awareness is due to a long period of life in such an environment. Ostrovsky, being a lawyer by education, served in court and saw everything from the inside. With my works talented playwright created a psychological theater that sought to glimpse and reveal as much as possible internal state person.

"Thunderstorm" A.N. Ostrovsky

In addition to A.N. Ostrovsky, in theatrical art 19th century other outstanding masters of the pen and the stage made a great contribution, whose works and skills are the standard and indicator of the pinnacle of mastery. One of these personalities is M. Shchepkin. This talented artist performed great amount roles, mostly comedic. Shchepkin contributed to the exit acting beyond the existing patterns at that time. Each of his characters had their own individual traits character and appearance. Each character was a person.

In the nineteenth century, the Russian theater continues, on the one hand, to react sharply to political and social change in the country, and on the other hand, to correspond to literary changes.

Almost the entire century in Russian literature passes under the sign of realism, which is replacing both outdated classicism and romanticism. The nineteenth century gives the national theater the names of playwrights who, in fact, clean slate create a theatrical repertoire that is still in demand today.

In the first half of the century, N.V. Gogol. Not being a playwright himself, he managed to create real masterpieces of world dramaturgy - the plays "The Inspector General" and "Marriage", which presented the viewer with a large-scale picture of the life of the then Russian society and sharply criticized it.

It was at the premiere of The Inspector General that Emperor Nicholas I uttered the legendary phrase “Everyone got it, but I got it the most!”, realizing who is depicted under the mask of the Governor.

At this time, the theater can no longer be satisfied with the old repertoire, it strives to show a modern person who is keenly aware of the time. playwright who created literary basis modern Russian theater, and became A.N. Ostrovsky.

A lawyer by training who served in court, Ostrovsky got an excellent idea of the environment that he would then describe in his immortal plays. Describing manners in detail and realistically merchant environment, he creates, first of all, a psychological theater that tries to look inside a person.

Ostrovsky subtly feels the coming social changes and depicts the collapse of established merchant traditions, the impoverishment and moral decline of the nobility, the growing role of money in human relations. He vividly and accurately describes the new heroes of life, enterprising, rather cynical and dexterous: Glumov (“Enough of simplicity for every wise man”), Lipochka (“Bankrupt”), Paratov (“Dowry”).

Almost all of Ostrovsky's works were successfully staged at the Moscow Maly Theatre, which in this century became the best theater empire.

The nineteenth century gave the national theater a whole galaxy of outstanding stage masters, whose names have become legends forever. One of the founders of the Russian acting school is M. Shchepkin.

Story creative way M. Shchepkina is the history of the national theater of the first half of the nineteenth century. Being a serf and starting his career with the consent of his master, Count Volkenstein, Shchepkin becomes an actor at the Maly Theater and plays a huge comic repertoire.

His success in comedies was largely determined by the external data of the actor (a tendency to be overweight and small in stature). But at the same time, Shchepkin also possessed an amazing talent, which allowed him to perfectly cope with a variety of roles.

It was Shchepkin who sought to bring acting out of the framework of stereotypes, each character in his performance possessed many bright details behavior and appearance. In addition, Mikhail Semyonovich carefully developed the character's line of behavior, built a role pattern on a sharp change in the character's behavior.

Without a doubt, the heyday of Shchepkin's career coincided with the appearance immortal works Russian dramaturgy. Shchepkin understood the imperfection of the plays of the early 19th century and enthusiastically accepted the emerging dramatic works A. Griboyedov, N. Gogol, A. Sukhovo-Kobylin, A. Ostrovsky, that is, the material that every actor dreams of playing today. So, M. Shchepkin played Famusov in Woe from Wit, Gorodnichiy in The Government Inspector, Kochkarev in Marriage.

The history of Russian theater in the second half of the 19th century is inextricably linked with the name of M. Yermolova. This outstanding actress created an entire gallery on the stage of the Maly Theater during her career. female images classical dramaturgy. Ermolova's repertoire included high tragedy(“The Maid of Orleans” by Schiller, “Macbeth” by Shakespeare, “The Sheep Spring” by Lope de Vega), and domestic drama(plays by V. Alexandrov and V. Dyachenko).

P. Sadovsky contributed to the formation of realism on the Russian stage. His best work- roles in the plays of A. N. Ostrovsky and N. V. Gogol. Sadovsky became famous as a versatile, characteristic actor, one appearance of which attracted the attention of the auditorium.

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Influenced European culture in Russia since late XVIII V. appears and modern theater. At first, it is still developing on the estates of large magnates, but gradually the troupes, gaining independence, on a commercial basis, passed into the rank of independent ones. In 1824, an independent drama troupe Small Theatre. In St. Petersburg in 1832, the Alexandrinsky Drama Theater appeared, patrons are still large landowners, nobles and the emperor himself, who dictate their repertoire.

The leading role in the Russian theater acquires enlightenment sentimentalism. The attention of playwrights attracted inner world a person, his spiritual conflicts (dramas by P. I. Ilyin, F. F. Ivanov, tragedies by V. A. Ozerov). With sentimental tendencies, there was a desire to smooth out life's contradictions, features of idealization, melodramatism (the works of V. M. Fedorov, S. N. Glinka, etc.).

Gradually, the themes characteristic of European classicism are developed in dramaturgy: an appeal to the heroic past of their homeland and Europe, to an ancient plot (“Marfa Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novgorod” by F. F. Ivanov, “Velzen, or the Liberated Holland” by F. N. Glinka, "Andromache" by P. A. Katenin, "The Argives" by V. K. Kuchelbeker, etc.). At the same time, such genres as vaudeville (A. A. Shakhovskoy, P. I. Khmelnitsky, A. I. Pisarev) and the family play (M. Ya. Zagoskin) developed.

During the first quarter of the 19th century in the Russian national theater, a struggle is unfolding for the creation of a new, nationally original theater. This task was carried out by the creation of a truly national, original comedy by A. Griboedov "Woe from Wit". work innovative value appeared historical drama Pushkin "Boris Godunov", the author of which grew out of the forms of the court tragedy of classicism and romantic drama Byron. However, the production of these works was held back for some time by censorship. The dramaturgy of M. Yu. Lermontov, imbued with freedom-loving ideas, also remains outside the theater: his drama “Masquerade” in 1835-1836. banned three times by censorship (excerpts from the play were first staged thanks to the perseverance of the actors in 1852, and it was played in full only in 1864).

The stage of the Russian theater in the 1930s and 1940s was mainly occupied by vaudeville, pursuing mainly entertainment purposes (plays by P. A. Karatygin, P. I. Grigoriev, P. S. Fedorov, V. A. Sollogub, N. A. Nekrasov , F. A. Koni and others) “At this time, the skill of talented Russian actors M. S. Shchepkin and A. E. Martynov, who were able to identify the contradictions of real life behind comic situations, to give created images genuine drama.

Of great importance in the development of the Russian theater were the plays of A. N. Ostrovsky, which appeared in the 1950s and raised Russian dramaturgy very highly.

Theater of the 19th century. folk drama Ostrovsky. Artistic innovation of A.P. Chekhov the playwright.

At the beginning of the XIX century, in 1803 under Alexander I imperial theaters for the first time there was a division into a drama and musical troupe, the musical one, in turn, was divided into opera and ballet. The idea of such a division belonged to Katerino Cavos, who himself headed the opera in St. Petersburg. In Moscow, although such a separation officially took place, the musical and dramatic parts were united by a single stage for a long time - until the very opening in 1824 of a new dramatic stage, which eventually became known as the Maly Theater. The Maly and Bolshoy Moscow theaters did not get their names right away, at first they were called that only by comparative characteristics, only with time they gained official status. However, despite the separation of the troupes, both scenes were actually inseparable for a long time due to the general management, administration, general wardrobe and other necessary theatrical attributes.

Gradually, the number of theaters included in the management of the imperial theater office increased. These were St. Petersburg and Moscow state theaters, the troupes of which were located in the Bolshoi and Maly Theater (Moscow), in the Mariinsky, Alexandrinsky, Hermitage Theater, Bolshoy Kamenny (Petersburg). Actors and all other employees of the imperial theaters did not belong to one troupe, but to all theaters, and the officials of the office disposed of them at their discretion, therefore they were easily appointed and reassigned to different stages. It often happened that an actor from the Alexandrinsky Theater was urgently sent to the Moscow Maly Theater, and the St. Petersburg musicians moved to Grand Theatre Moscow. And, accordingly, vice versa. The officials of the imperial office were not worried about the families or other issues of the artists subordinate to them. Officials were also in charge of the repertory part, it depended on them whether or not to accept a play or a musical performance for staging. This did not give way to freedom of creativity, and therefore an increasing place in the history of the Russian theater was occupied by private troupes.

The entire subsequent history of the Russian theater was the history of the dominance of Western European, mainly French, dramatic art. This state of affairs continued for almost a hundred years. The French school of acting, fully acclimatized on the Russian stage and corresponding to the internal character of the repertoire, gave rise to a considerable number of stage artists. The beauty of external techniques characteristic of her, the finishing of the smallest details of the game, the thoughtfulness of the style and dignity of the declamatory side of the performance, together with a deep respect for art, placed the best Russian actors along with the major artistic forces of the West. There were epochs in the history of the Russian theater that were unparalleled in the number of remarkable talents that were simultaneously on the stage. Such was the time of Shchepkin, Shumsky, Mochalov, Sadovsky, Samarin, P. Stepanova, S. VasilyevaE. N. Vasilyeva, Nikiforov, Medvedeva, Martynov, Sosnitsky, sisters Vera and Nadezhda Samoilov and their brother Vasily Samoilov, as well as before that their parents Vasily Mikhailovich and Sophia Vasilievna Samoilov and other artists who worked on the Moscow and St. Petersburg stages.

The 19th century was a discovery of its talents for Russia. The Russian theater, which turned out to be an excellent student and adopted the foundations of Western European culture, began to look for own ways development, in no case at the same time moving away from their teachers - figures of Western European culture. A true good student will always be grateful to the teachers. The birth of the Russian intelligentsia took place.

This time is characterized by the rise of Russian musical art - many Russian original musicians, composers, vocalists, dancers and choreographers began to appear, Russian opera achieved particular success. Music has its own Russian direction, in the development of which the composers of the Mighty Handful played an important role, putting at the forefront of musical works not so much the musical beauty that delights the ear, but the theme, the plot of the musical work.

The first Russian theatrical historiographer was Pimen Nikolaevich Arapov, who prepared for publication the encyclopedic Chronicle of the Russian Theater (St. Petersburg, 1861), which included the entire history of the Russian theater from 1673 to November 26, 1825. Theatrical and music criticism(one of the brightest representatives her - Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov). In St. Petersburg in 1808, the first Russian theater magazine in Russian began to appear - "Dramatic Bulletin", frequency - 2 times a week. The second Russian theater magazine, as it should be according to the tradition of the time, began to be published in Moscow in 1811 - it was called the Dramatic Magazine. And after a few years, the number of various theatrical press, there were several dozen, and they all came out in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

On the theatrical stage, along with the works of classical European drama, domestic works occupied their place. The serious dramas of the outstanding Russian writers Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, as well as the works of less significant writers (Khmelnitsky; Potekhin; Lensky; Tarnovsky), did not crowd out the works of European playwrights, but became one with them. Light French vaudeville did not leave the Russian theatrical stage, but willingly coexisted with the vaudeville of Russian authors, who composed their creations in many respects in the style of French classical vaudeville, but using domestic social and everyday foundations and specifically domestic themes.

In the 19th century, the Russian theater gradually became the spokesman for exclusively Russian social and public ideas. New generations of playwrights, directors, actors are already focusing entirely on the history and social phenomena of Russia.

The acting was still artificially pompous and did not correspond much to the current ideas about theatrical culture. However, time required reforms in this area.

A large role in the formation of the realistic Russian theater is assigned to the work of Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky. The innovative theatrical ideas of Ostrovsky were embodied primarily in the imperial Maly (Moscow) and Alexandrinsky (Petersburg) theaters, and from the imperial stages they moved to private enterprises that worked in the provinces.

With the advent of Ostrovsky, his original creations found excellent performers and interpreters among a brilliant galaxy of actors capable of understanding, assimilating and reproducing the most heterogeneous types. Sadovsky and Shumsky, excellent performers of Moliere types, gave unforgettable samples from Ostrovsky's gallery. The sublime creations of Shakespeare, the comedy of Molière's theatre, and the "Russian soul" of Ostrovsky's heroes - everything was within the power of these great talents, sophisticated by the school.

However, all theatrical innovations after Ostrovsky in the Russian Imperial Theater ended. The bureaucratic office, which subordinated the imperial theaters, was afraid of any cataclysms that could interfere and shake the “official chairs”. All innovations in the dramatic imperial theaters were strictly prohibited - the roles passed from one actor to the next generation without any changes. And new performances were staged within the established permitted limits. Soon after the February Revolution, the Directorate of Imperial Theaters was transformed into the Directorate of State Theaters (director Fyodor Batyushkov), which existed until November 1917.

Time late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century is associated with the formation of new theatrical aesthetics, which at first coincided with revolutionary social transformations.

M. V. Lentovsky saw the theater in the development of the traditions of the areal art, coming from the buffoonery, as gala performances that captivate the audience and turn into mass festivities.

Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko at the Moscow Art Theater became the founders of the psychological theater, developing and supplementing each stage image with a backstory invisible to the viewer, stimulating certain actions of the character.

The aesthetics of Meyerhold was the development theatrical forms, in particular, stage movement, he is the author of the system of theatrical biomechanics. Sincere and impulsive, he immediately embraced revolutionary innovations, looking for innovative forms and bringing them into theatrical art, completely breaking the academic dramatic framework. Tairov worked on the development of theater as a synthetic genre.

Foregger's aesthetic searches lay in the development of theatrical conventions, theatrical plasticity and rhythm, stage parodies, his developments in biomovement turned out to be close to the aesthetics of the Blue Blouse, in the performances of which he also took part.

The Maly Theater unshakably kept the dramatic classical foundations, continuing the historical traditions in the new social conditions.

At the beginning of the 19th century, romanticism and classicism were replaced by realism in Russian stage art, which brought many fresh ideas to the theater. During this period, many changes take place, a new stage repertoire is being formed, which is popular and in demand in modern drama. The nineteenth century is becoming a good platform for the emergence and development of many talented playwrights who, with their work, make a huge contribution to the development of theatrical art. The brightest person in the dramaturgy of the first half of the century is N.V. Gogol. In fact, he was not a playwright in the classical sense of the word, but, despite this, he managed to create masterpieces that instantly gained worldwide fame and popularity. Such works can be called "The Government Inspector" and "Marriage". In these plays, the full picture of social life in Russia is very clearly depicted. Moreover, Gogol did not sing of it, but on the contrary, sharply criticized it.

At this stage of development and full formation, the Russian theater can no longer remain satisfied with the previous repertoire. Therefore, the old will soon be replaced by the new. Its concept is to depict a modern person with a sharp and clear sense of time. The founder of modern Russian dramaturgy is considered to be A.N. Ostrovsky. In his works, he very truthfully and realistically described the merchant environment and their customs. Such awareness is due to a long period of life in such an environment. Ostrovsky, being a lawyer by education, served in court and saw everything from the inside. With his works, the talented playwright created a psychological theater that sought to look into and reveal the inner state of a person as much as possible.

In addition to A.N. Ostrovsky, other outstanding masters of the pen and the stage made a great contribution to the theatrical art of the 19th century, whose works and skills are the standard and indicator of the pinnacle of mastery. One of these personalities is M. Shchepkin. This talented artist has performed a huge number of roles, mostly comedy. Shchepkin contributed to the exit of the acting game beyond the existing templates at that time. Each of his characters had their own individual character traits and appearance. Each character was a person.

Ostrovsky

Creativity Ostrovsky was new to Russian drama. His works are characterized by the complexity and complexity of conflicts, his element is a socio-psychological drama, a comedy of manners. The features of his style are speaking surnames, specific author's remarks, peculiar titles of plays, among which proverbs are often used, comedies based on folklore motives. The conflict of Ostrovsky's plays is mainly based on the incompatibility of the hero with the environment. His dramas can be called psychological, they contain not only external conflict, but also the inner drama of the moral principle.

Everything in the plays historically accurately recreates the life of society, from which the playwright takes his plots. New hero Ostrovsky's drama - a simple man - determines the originality of the content, and Ostrovsky creates a "folk drama". He accomplished a huge task - he made the "little man" a tragic hero. Ostrovsky saw his duty as a dramatic writer in making the analysis of what was happening the main content of the drama. “A dramatic writer ... does not compose what was - it gives life, history, legend; his main task is to show on the basis of what psychological data some event took place and why it was so and not otherwise ”- this, according to the author, is the essence of the drama. Ostrovsky treated dramaturgy as mass art educating people, defined the purpose of the theater as a "school of public morals". His very first performances shocked with their truthfulness and simplicity, honest heroes with a "hot heart". The playwright created, "combining the high with the comic", he created forty-eight works and invented more than five hundred heroes.

Ostrovsky's plays are realistic. In the merchant environment, which he observed day after day and believed that the past and present of society were united in it, Ostrovsky reveals those social conflicts that reflect the life of Russia. And if in "The Snow Maiden" he recreates patriarchal world, through which modern problems are only guessed, then his "Thunderstorm" is an open protest of the individual, a person's desire for happiness and independence. This was perceived by playwrights as an affirmation of the creative principle of love of freedom, which could become the basis of a new drama. Ostrovsky never used the definition of "tragedy", designating his plays as "comedies" and "dramas", sometimes providing explanations in the spirit of "pictures of Moscow life", "scenes from village life”, “scenes from the life of the outback”, indicating that we are talking about the life of an entire social environment. Dobrolyubov said that Ostrovsky created new type dramatic action: without didactics, the author analyzed the historical origins of modern phenomena in society. Historical approach to family and social relations- the pathos of Ostrovsky's creativity. Among his heroes are people of different ages, divided into two camps - young and old. For example, as Yu. M. Lotman writes, in The Thunderstorm Kabanikha is the “keeper of antiquity”, and Katerina “carries the creative beginning of development”, which is why she wants to fly like a bird.

The dispute between the old and the new, according to the scholar of literature, is an important part of the dramatic conflict in Ostrovsky's plays. traditional forms everyday life are regarded as eternally renewing, and only in this the playwright sees their viability... The old enters into the new, into modern life, in which it can play the role of either a “fettering” element, oppressing its development, or a stabilizing one, providing strength to the emerging novelty, depending on the content of the old that preserves folk life". The author always sympathizes with young heroes, poeticizes their desire for freedom, selflessness. The title of the article by A. N. Dobrolyubov “A ray of light in a dark kingdom” fully reflects the role of these heroes in society. They are psychologically similar to each other, the author often uses already developed characters. The theme of the position of a woman in the world of calculation is also repeated in "The Poor Bride", "Hot Heart", "Dowry". Later, the satirical element intensified in the dramas. Ostrovsky refers to Gogol's principle of "pure comedy", bringing to the fore the characteristics of the social environment. The character of his comedies is a renegade and a hypocrite. Ostrovsky also turns to the historical-heroic theme, tracing the formation of social phenomena, growth from a “little man” to a citizen.

Chekhov

Chekhov is called "Shakespeare of the 20th century". Indeed, his drama, like Shakespeare's, played a huge turning point in the history of world drama. Born in Russia at the turn of the new century, it has developed into such an innovative artistic system that has determined the future development of dramaturgy and theater throughout the world. Of course, the innovation of Chekhov's dramaturgy was prepared by the searches and discoveries of his great predecessors, the dramatic works of Pushkin and Gogol, Ostrovsky and Turgenev, on the good, strong tradition of which he relied. But it was Chekhov's plays that made a real revolution in the theatrical thinking of their time. His entry into the sphere of drama marked a new starting point in the history of Russian artistic culture. By the end of the 19th century, Russian dramaturgy was in an almost deplorable state. Under the pen of craft writers, the once lofty traditions of drama degenerated into routine clichés, turned into dead canons. The scene is too noticeably removed from life. At that time, when the great works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky raised Russian prose to unprecedented heights, Russian drama eked out a miserable existence. To overcome this gap between prose and dramaturgy, between literature and theater, it was destined for none other than Chekhov. Through his efforts, the Russian stage was raised to the level of great Russian literature, to the level of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. What was the discovery of Chekhov the playwright? First of all, he brought the drama back to life itself. Not without reason did it seem to his contemporaries that he simply offered briefly written long novels for the stage. His plays were striking in their unusual narrative, realistic thoroughness of their manner. This manner was not accidental. Chekhov was convinced that drama cannot be the property of only outstanding, exceptional personalities, a springboard only for grandiose events. He wanted to discover the drama of the most ordinary everyday reality. It was in order to give access to the drama of everyday life that Chekhov had to destroy all the outdated, firmly rooted dramatic canons. “Let everything on the stage be as simple and at the same time as complicated as in life: people dine, only dine, and at that time their happiness is added up and their lives are broken,” said Chekhov, deriving the formula of a new drama. And he began to write plays in which the natural course of everyday life was captured, as if completely devoid of bright events, strong characters, sharp conflicts. But under the upper layer of everyday life, in an unprejudiced, as if accidentally scooped up everyday life, where people "just dined", he discovered an unexpected drama that "constitutes their happiness and breaks their lives." The drama of everyday life, deeply hidden in the undercurrent of life, was the first most important discovery of the writer. This discovery required a revision of the previous concept of characters, the relationship between the hero and the environment, a different construction of the plot and conflict, a different function of events, breaking the usual ideas about dramatic action, its plot, climax and denouement, about the purpose of the word and silence, gesture and look. In a word, the entire dramatic structure from top to bottom has undergone a complete re-creation. Chekhov ridiculed the power of everyday life over a person, showed how in a vulgar environment any human feeling becomes smaller, distorted, how a solemn ritual (funeral, wedding, anniversary) turns into absurdity, how everyday life kills holidays. Finding vulgarity in every cell of life, Chekhov combined a cheerful mockery with good humor. He laughed at human absurdity, but did not kill the man himself with laughter. In peaceful everyday life, he saw not only a threat, but also protection, appreciated the comfort of life, the warmth of the hearth, the saving power of gravity. The genre of vaudeville gravitated towards tragic farce and tragicomedy. Perhaps that is why his humorous stories were fraught with the motive of humanity, understanding and sympathy.

Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" is a combination of comedy - "in some places even farce," as the author himself wrote, with gentle and subtle intrigue. The combination of these two principles allows Chekhov to ambiguously assess what is happening, to give a dual, tragic characterization of the heroes. Ridiculing their weaknesses and vices, the author simultaneously sympathizes with them. Among the heroes of The Cherry Orchard there is not a single purely comic character. So, the aged child Gaev in some moments of his stage life evokes pity and compassion. Epikhodov is not only ridiculous with his endless failures, he is really unhappy! Everything is out of place for him, his love is rejected, his pride constantly suffers. Chekhov does not divide the characters in The Cherry Orchard into positive and negative, they are all equally unhappy, equally dissatisfied with their lives. Chekhov sees the drama of his heroes precisely in their everyday life, so he pays the main attention to the depiction of everyday life, and events are relegated to the background. The plot and composition in the play are purely external, organizing. The very event of the sale of the cherry orchard is inevitable. There is no conflict between Ranevskaya, Gaev and Lopakhin. Ranevskaya and Gaev almost voluntarily give up the cherry orchard and even feel some relief after selling it. “Indeed, everything is fine now,” says Gaev. “Before the sale of the cherry orchard, we all worried, suffered, and then, when the issue was finally resolved, irrevocably, everyone calmed down, even cheered up.” The estate, as it were, is floating into the hands of Lopakhin. Petya Trofimov and Anya do not even try to prevent this. They see their "cherry garden" only in dreams. Thus, Chekhov depicts all events in their natural development, these events themselves do not contain conflict. The main conflict develops in the souls of the characters. It does not consist in the struggle for the cherry orchard, but in dissatisfaction with one's life, the inability to combine dream and reality. Therefore, after buying a cherry orchard, Lopakhin does not become happier, he, like the rest of the characters in the play, dreams of "our clumsy, unhappy life somehow changing" as soon as possible. The peculiarities of the conflict led to changes in the portrayal of dramatic characters. The heroes of the play reveal themselves not in actions aimed at achieving the goal, but in experiencing the contradictions of being. Therefore, there is no intense action in the play, it is replaced by lyrical meditation. The heroes of The Cherry Orchard do not realize themselves not only in action, but also in word. Each spoken phrase has a hidden connotation. There is a so-called "undercurrent", unusual for classical drama. An example of this is the following dialogue of heroes: "Lyubov Andreyevna (thoughtfully). Epikhodov is coming... Anya (thoughtfully). Epikhodov is coming... Gaev. The sun has set, gentlemen. Trofimov. Yes." IN this case words mean much less than the feeling of unsettled life, hiding behind scraps of phrases. Thus, it is in the lyrical subtext that the complex, contradictory spiritual life of the characters is reflected. In the play" The Cherry Orchard"Chekhov creates a special lyrical atmosphere. The author does not give a sharp individual speech characteristics to the characters, rather, their speech merges into one melody. With this effect, the author creates a sense of harmony. And, despite the fact that Chekhov destroys through action, which was the organizing principle in classical drama, his play does not lose its internal unity. It is also important that general construction plays are the mood of each character. Therefore, all the characters are internally very close to each other. On this general mood responds in the drama with some tragic sound: "... everyone is sitting, thinking, silence, you can only hear how Firs mutters softly, suddenly a distant sound is heard, as if from the sky, the sound of a broken string, fading and sad." In the finale, another, even more bleak sound is added to this sound: "You can hear how far in the garden they knock on wood with an ax." Chekhov's innovation as a playwright lies in the fact that he departs from the principles of classical drama and reflects not only problems, but also shows the psychological experiences of the characters through dramatic means.