General questions of theater theory. The work of an actor on his own qualities
General questions of theater theory
Features of theatrical art
I would like to start the story about the theater with the words of A.I. Herzen: "The theater is the highest authority for solving vital issues."
Theater is one of the earliest art forms. History of development human society does not know a period in which the theater would not exist. concept "theater" first appeared in Ancient Greece: from the word "teaomai" (look) there was a word - places for a spectacle (a spectacle - the audience places were originally called, and then the name spread to a theatrical performance as such).
Theater is a kind of art in which the main means of self-expression is a stage action in front of an audience.
In the process of formation and development, certain types of theatrical art: one of the first to appear dramatic the theater staged works of the so-called colloquial genre (tragedies, dramas, comedies); V operatic - vocal; V puppet in the theater, puppeteers remain outside the visible stage space - all the action is played by puppets; one of the last to appear ballet and theater pantomime, in which the action-plot is conveyed by the plasticity of actors dancing to the music, or by the movement of a mime. At the junction of dramatic, vocal and ballet art, such "light" theatrical genres as operetta and modern musical, labeled "democratic".
IN different eras and periods drama theater favored tragedy, proper drama, comedy (as an emotional unity of the scene and the viewer. Therefore, such theater functions, as educational, moral, aesthetic, educational, communicative, etc. The theater has rich means of expression, which are aimed at an all-consuming effect on the viewer. This is an important feature of the theater, which is inherent in all types of performing arts.
In the theater, the word and speech occupy a paramount place among other means of expression. Literary work is translated by the theater into a living embodiment - a stage action is created. At the same time, the main means of expressiveness are speech (monologue, dialogue, polylogue), acting, which are entirely subject to the laws dramatic action. The main task in staging a dramatic work on stage is creation of harmony, or artistic unity of all elements.
Theater throughout its long history has often experienced difficulties, prohibitions and persecution. However, this did not prevent him from developing, acquiring new forms of existence, manifesting himself in new genres and types. The purpose of the theater, like any other art, is to artistic means authentically reveal the complexity of the spiritual world of man, his desires and aspirations. The special expressive means of the theater include the play of actors, the work of the artist on the scenery design of the performance, the director's concept of the performance (the development of the director's theater declared itself especially powerful in the 20th century). Now the theater has many incarnations and is an integral part of modern cultural life.
Drama as the basis of stage action
Drama is a type of fiction in which the driving force is action, encountering "counteraction", and is intended not only for reading, but also for stage embodiment. Drama - basis of stage action. Unlike prose works the plot of the drama (its conflict) is realized in the form of dialogues of characters and remarks, fixing the deeds, actions of the heroes of the play. Each scene of the drama is a struggle between the characters or the characters themselves. In the theater, it is the actor who embodies everything written by the playwright and conceived by the director - by broadcasting them, the actor lives on the stage someone else's life as his own. A dramatic work, ideally, should be a single whole, from which not a single fragment can be cut off without violating the living fabric of the play. But despite the fact that the same performances are going on the stage every day, every time an act of creativity takes place directly in front of the viewer - this is precisely the enduring magic of the theater. Theater connoisseurs compare the same plays in productions with interest different directors, since it is the unique director's interpretation, the choice of certain actors who are able to embody the creative intent of the author and director, that give the dramatic work a "new life", and there are many examples of this in the history of the theater.
The interdependence of characters and action became more understandable only with the emergence of the concept of drama as a conflict of will, and this played a significant role in the development of dramatic thought in the 19th-20th centuries.
A dramatic work can be perceived as a literary text and as a stage action when such components as speech, music, plasticity, light, costumes, etc. are added to the text.
Theory dramatic thought begins with ancient Greece. The great Aristotle in his "Poetics" reflects on the laws of dramaturgy. According to Aristotle, every tragedy must have six constituent parts: plot, characters, thoughts, stage setting, text and musical composition, but "the most important of these parts is the composition of events, since tragedy is an image not of people, but of actions and the misfortune of life." Aristotle believed that "tragedy is the depiction of people better than us", noble people, while comedy is "the reproduction of the worst people, but not in all their depravity, but in a ridiculous form", and "without suffering". Tragedy, of course, is higher than comedy, because it serves to purify human feelings through compassion and fear - catharsis.
The thinker formulated two postulates that are as important today as they were when the Poetics was created:
- 1) the playwright should only be interested in what people do, what they think or what they are;
- 2) the action is not just one of the parties dramatic construction: this is the construction itself, and "the beginning and, as it were, the soul of a tragedy is the plot, and the second is the characters."
For drama to occur, single action (struggle of opposing forces) and dramatic knot (circumstances or events that lead to desire). Desire, in turn, gives rise to a collision, while the dramatic knot of the play in most cases becomes peripeteia - a sudden change in the fate of the hero of the drama, the opposite of what was expected.
Aristotle considered in "Poetics" the composition of a dramatic work, which he defines in the following sequence: tie, twist And denouement. The "construction" proposed by Aristotle, of course, is not universal, rather arbitrary, but it outlined the main guidelines for drama, including high tragedy, in which there can be no happy ending.
It should be remembered that a more complicated understanding of the structure of the drama, including the terms "exposition", "climax", etc., appeared much later. The first scenes, where the main theme - the single action of the play - is not yet manifested, are devoted to preliminary clashes and are called exposure. The dramatic knot predetermines not only the emergence of a single action, but also its development. The exposition, like the drama itself, is given in the form of conversations. In the first dramatic works, this function was performed by prologue. It was a separate part from the play, but was later included in the drama. The exposition can be presented in a story or confession of the characters, sometimes it is given in the form of hints in the characters' remarks or is displayed in an independent monologue of one of the characters.
Regardless of the exposure should be considered eyeball, those. the introduction of a dynamic motive that determines the plot development. The plot of the drama is the beginning of the main conflict of the struggle of the characters, generated by a conflict of interests. These are the initial events that violate the initial situation. In drama, the plot is not always the initial incident leading to a long chain of changing situations, but the task that determines the entire course of the drama. A typical plot is the love of heroes, encountering obstacles. The plot can be given in the exposition, it can be shifted deeper into the play, but it always directly "echoes" with denouement, which contains its permission. Sometimes several acts are filled with side episodes that play the role of indirect exposition and development of characters, and only in the middle of the play does the introduction of the first dynamic motif of the plot take place. There are plays where the first act is entirely devoted to the formation and tightening of the dramatic knot, i.e. it reveals the circumstances and growing events that anticipate the emergence of a single action, but the action itself has not yet begun.
In a dramatic work, the characters clash in a struggle. Aristotle emphasizes the so-called intricate actions, ups and downs, scenes of recognition, indicating the development of intrigue and its peak. There are recognition scenes that lead to disaster. The development of intrigue captures the interest of the viewer to a greater extent, who may be privy to the intrigue from the very beginning or not guess about the intricacies of the dramatic narrative along with the characters. Everything is ordered in the play, but the events taking place on the stage are so intense that sometimes the viewer does not have time to switch attention to new scene. The system of departures and exits of the characters helps to "discharge" the action so that the viewer can understand the logic of its construction and the motivation of the characters.
One of the unspoken components of a dramatic work is the build-up of action, because it becomes boring if passions do not heat up. To do this, the author either introduces new characters who suddenly announce some previously unknown circumstances, or enhances the intrigue with an unexpected turn of events. Usually this leads to more tension in the action, this moment (not always noisy, but significant) has come to be denoted as climax - the highest tension, when the conflict reaches a critical point of its development.
In many plays, the catastrophic moment comes with the participation - and volitional tension - of all or almost all of the main characters.
The final chord of the whole action is the finale of the drama - denouement. By definition, it is tragic - most often it is the death of a hero, the collapse of a whole life or love (a happy ending happens in comedies, but it should be said that it appeared later as an element of action). According to Aristotle, the denouement is anticipated by the scene pathos (violent suffering), usually after a catastrophe. In these scenes, as a rule, the hero, in search of a way out, turns to people, to the gods for help, or demonstrates internal struggles with himself, with his feelings, with the voice of reason. Sometimes scenes of pathos undermine the strength of the hero. Aristotle, at the end of the plot, saw the main meaning of the tragedy, which should evoke "fear and compassion" in the audience, and in the Hellenic - a feeling of complete submission to the fate that reigns over him.
The onset of the denouement is sometimes noticeable immediately, and sometimes the intrigue lasts until the last moment. Many playwrights use the "deceived expectation" effect. The interest of the drama is not always focused on the denouement, since it is predictable - the main interest is concentrated on unleashing the tangle of obstacles.
An important component of a successful production is the acting. Bright and interesting stories make it possible to trace the impact on the viewer of acting and staging. For a long time the actor was required to perform the assigned task mechanically, i.e. it was only necessary to understand the nature of the character. There was no need to memorize the text, since improvisation flourished during the formation of theatrical art.
To create a theatrical production, certain stages are required: the choice or creation of a work - at this stage, the distribution of roles and the approval of the rehearsal schedule take place. Much attention is paid to the means of expression, which not only make it possible to achieve the maximum approximation to the era being illuminated, but also largely determine the outcome of the performance. The next stage is the reading of the play by roles and numerous rehearsals. The final stage- Organization of performance rental. In modern conditions, the success of a theatrical production is an ambiguous concept: a full house, the interest of the viewer, positive criticism are important for creative individuals, for the theater administration similar success is the key to the existence of the theater, for the producer it is a successful commercial investment, etc.
Theatrical art throughout its existence acquired special features that were dictated by time, existing trends in art and literature. The formation of the theater in different periods history will be discussed in the next chapter.
Theater(from the Greek theatron - places for a spectacle, spectacle) - the main kind of spectacular art, a form of performing art.
Theater is a synthesis of all arts, it includes music, architecture, painting, cinematography, photography, etc. The main means of expression is an actor who, through action, using various theatrical techniques and forms of existence, conveys to the viewer the essence of what is happening on stage .
In this case, the actor does not have to be a living person. It can be a doll or some object controlled by a person.
The theater is considered the most powerful means of influencing people, because, seeing what is happening on the stage, the viewer associates himself with one or another character. Through catharsis (purification through suffering), changes occur within him.
Theater, like no other form of art, has the greatest "capacity". He absorbs the ability of literature to recreate life in a word in its external and internal manifestations, but this word is not narrative, but lively-sounding, directly effective. At the same time, unlike literature, the theater recreates reality not in the mind of the reader, but as objectively existing pictures of life (performance) located in space. And in this respect, the theater is close to painting. But the theatrical action is in continuous motion, it develops in time - and this is close to music. Immersion in the world of the viewer's experiences is akin to the state that a music listener experiences, immersed in his own world of subjective perception of sounds.
In the theatrical sphere, theory is called a variety of things - extracts from history, problematic, mixtures of aesthetic concepts and technological recommendations created by theater practitioners, methodological studies, and sometimes just texts saturated with scientific words. Meanwhile, it seems obvious that "Brecht's theory" is undoubtedly a theory, but of Brecht's theater, and not of theater. And it is even more obvious that theatrical methodology deals with the ways in which knowledge about the theater is obtained, including theoretical knowledge, and theater theory is a part of this knowledge itself.
At the same time, the theory of the theater is not a philosophy of the theater, not a general art history adapted to theatrical needs; on the other hand, the theory and not the technology of the theatre; it describes not the ways of doing it, but what is being done. But in order to become itself, the theory must know where and how it is connected both with the philosophy of the theater and with general art history; in what relations does it have with the theories of other arts, with the history of thought about the theatre. And, of course, first of all, and in the most natural way, with the science of the history of the theater.
Of course, theater is by no means a substitute for other art forms. The specificity of the theater is that it carries the “properties” of literature, painting and music through image of a living person. This direct human material for other forms of art is only the starting point of creativity. For the theatre, "nature" serves not only as material, but is also preserved in its immediate vivacity. As the philosopher G. G. Shpet noted: “The actor creates from himself in a twofold sense: 1) like any artist, from his creative imagination; and 2) specifically having in its own person the material from which the artistic image is created.
The art of the theater has an amazing ability to merge with life. The stage performance, although it takes place on the other side of the ramp, at moments of high tension blurs the line between art and life and is perceived by the audience as reality itself. The attractive power of the theater lies in the fact that "life on the stage" freely asserts itself in the imagination of the viewer.
Such a psychological turn occurs because the theater is not only endowed with the features of reality, but in itself is an artistically created reality. Theatrical reality, creating the impression of reality, has its own special laws. The truth of the theater cannot be measured by the criteria of life's plausibility.
The origin of the theatre. The ritual-magical component of culture and its role in the formation of theatrical art.
The theater was born from the most ancient hunting, agricultural and other ritual festivals, which reproduced natural phenomena or labor processes in allegorical form. However, ritual performances in themselves were not yet a theater: according to art historians, the theater begins where the viewer appears - it involves not only collective efforts in the process of creating a work, but also collective perception, and the theater achieves its aesthetic goal only if if the stage action resonates with the audience.
The origins of theatrical art lie in primitive pagan rituals and rituals associated with the fundamental moments of the life of the then society. The personification of natural phenomena in one or another deity necessitated a kind of dialogue with the gods - key moments, vital events were played out in rites and rituals (i.e. presented in theatrical form). In ritual actions, it would seem, there were no spectators as such, all their participants, no matter how many there were - whether there were many, during a mass ritual, or only priests, during a secret ritual, were directly included in the action itself. Nevertheless, the spectator was, more precisely, implied: these theatrical performances, primitive mysteries, were addressed to the deities, the participants of the rite entered into a dialogue with them. This was how the sacredness of the action was set, the highest note, preserved in the best works of the theater to this day.
The first realization of the necessary professionalization of the future theater arose: the more skillfully the dialogue with the gods is carried out, the more likely it is to achieve their favor. Thus, the first professionals of archaic theatrical forms were priests and shamans; later - mourners, singers, dancers, glorifying the ancient gods - Dionysus, Saturn, Osiris, Baal, Kolyada, Astarte.
Here, for the first time, one of the most important social functions of the future theater was formed and realized - ideological. Proximity to the gods gives the priests power; in order to support it, it is necessary to form the necessary public opinion and mood, an ideological doctrine. A high degree of emotional involvement of participants in ritual actions (and later theater spectators), i.e. collective experience makes them the most suggestible. Hence comes the widespread and quite objective assertion that the theater is a public platform from which a system of political, legal, religious and other views of society is propagated and instilled.
The second, no less important social function of theatrical art is commercial and entertainment, it is rather a derivative of the ideological one as a distraction from the most pressing problems. Let us recall the slogan of the Roman mob of the era of imperial power: "Bread and circuses" (lat. Panem et circenses). And like any entertainment industry, the commercial entertainment theater is capable of generating serious profits, which in turn is attractive to ideological and power structures. Thus, both social functions of the theater throughout its history exist in an interdependent unity, sometimes intertwining in the most whimsical way.
In the early stages of the development of the theater - in folk festivals, singing, dance, music and dramatic action existed in an inseparable unity; in the process of further development and professionalization, the theater lost its original synthesism, three main types were formed: drama theater, opera and ballet, as well as puppet theater and pantomime.
Antique theater in the system of the ancient type of culture. Mythological foundations of the ancient theater.
Antique theater - theatrical art Dr. Greece, Dr. Rome, as well as a number of countries Bl. East (V BC - V century AD). Other Greek theater arose from rural festivities in honor of the god Dionysus. The theater occupied a special place in people's lives, it was a platform for the wide dissemination of new ideas, highlighting the problems that most worried the minds of contemporaries. His social and educational role was great.
The theater was a public institution supported by the state. The most wealthy and respectable citizens paid for the training of the choir and its maintenance (they were called choregs). The professions of playwright and actor were considered honorary. Actors could only be men - they also played female roles. The performance was held in the open air, on a round platform - an orchestra. Benches for spectators were carved into the rocky slopes of the hill, at the foot of which the orchestra was arranged. The actors performed in masks (denoting either the stage type of the character, or state of mind or character), bright chitons and on high wooden sandals on their feet (cothurns). The theater had almost no scenery.
The theater was not an everyday affair. The performances were only three times a year during the festivals of Dionysus, at which praises (songs of praise) were sung. They necessarily gave three tragedies and one satyr drama, i.e. comedy. Three playwrights participated in each performance, and the audience had to determine the best production, the best actor, and the best choreographer (organizer of the performance). On the final day of the holiday, the winners received awards.
The main genres were: tragedy (in literal translation - “song of the goats”) arose from choral song, from a dithyramb sung by satyrs dressed in goatskins and depicting cheerful companions Greek god winemaking Dionysus. Tragedians were: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. The structure of the tragedy: 1. parod - the first song of the choir; 2. stasim - the song of the choir on the orchestra (consists of stanzas and antistrophes); 3. episody - dialogical part. Then came the alternation of stasims and episodies. The episody ended with a komos - a joint song of the hero and the choir. The whole tragedy ends with an exode (departure) - a song for everyone in general.), Comedy (Aristophanes).
Soil other Greek. art consider mythology. In the course of development Greek tragedy the circle of its plots, in addition to the myths about Dionysus, included stories about the fate of the heroes of antiquity - Oedipus, Agamemnon, Hercules and Theseus and others. Gr. tragedy is based entirely on mythology. But through the mythological shell, the playwright reflected contemporary social life in tragedy, expressed his political, philosophical and ethical views. The use of mythology made the tragedy unusually intelligible. In each play, the viewer met faces and events already familiar to him and could more freely follow how these myths were processed by the creative imagination of the playwright.
The main task of the theater is catharsis (purification). Cleansing from man's consuming passions. He was supposed to crown the tragedy. The death of a hero should not have been meaningless. The highest meaning is the collision of subjective circumstances and objective laws. The first is the heroes, the third is the highest law of the Olympic gods, fate. Fate always wins, although the hero is noble. The Greeks believed that there should have been harmony everywhere, and the performance of the hero violates harmony, the retribution for this is life. The hero most often dies, and the audience sympathizes with him. Live always remain calm, passive.
Origin of Greek tragedy. The main features of Greek tragedy. Characteristics of the work of one of the tragic playwrights (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides)
The question of the origin of ancient Greek tragedy is one of the most difficult in the history of ancient literature. One of the reasons for this is that the writings of ancient scholars who lived in the 5th century. BC e. and, probably, having some even more ancient documents, in particular, the works of the first tragic poets, have not reached us. The earliest evidence belongs to Aristotle and is contained in chapter IV of his Poetics. Later ancient sources do not agree with him in everything and often give such versions (for example, Horace in Poetics), the very origin of which needs additional research.
“Having originally arisen from improvisations ... from the founders of dithyrambs, tragedy grew little by little ... and, having undergone many changes, stopped, reaching what lay in its nature,” we read in “Poetics” (ch. IV). “The speech turned from a jocular late into a serious one, since the tragedy arose from the presentation of satyrs.”
Greek tragedy comes from the ritual performances in honor of Dionysus. The participants in these actions put on masks with goat beards and horns, depicting the satellites of Dionysus - satyrs. Ritual performances took place during the Great and Lesser Dionysias (festivals in honor of Dionysus).
Songs in honor of Dionysus were called dithyrambs in Greece. The dithyramb, as Aristotle points out, is the basis of Greek tragedy, which retained at first all the features of the myth of Dionysus. The latter was gradually supplanted by other myths about gods and heroes - powerful people, rulers - as the cultural growth of the ancient Greek and his social consciousness.
Antique tragedy calls Athens Euripides its first poet and points to 534 BC. as on the date of the first staging of the tragedy during the "Great Dionysius".
This tragedy was distinguished by two significant features: 1) in addition to the chorus, an actor, a cat, performed. made messages to the choir, exchanged remarks with the choir or with its leader (luminary). This actor recited choreic or iambic verses; 2) the choir took part in the game, depicting a group of persons put in a plot connection with those who were represented by the actor.
Plots were taken from the world, but in some cases, tragedies were composed on modern topics. The works of the first tragedians have not been preserved and the nature of the development of plots in the early tragedy is unknown, but the main content of the tragedy was the image of "suffering".
Euripides (c. 484 - 406 BC) was born and often lived on the island of Salamis. Wrote 92 dramas; Only 17 tragedies have come down to us, the satyr drama Cyclops and many fragments pointing to the enormous popularity of Euripides in the Hellenistic era. All surviving tragedies (Medea, Orestes, Helena, Iphigenia in Aulis, Hecuba, Bacchae, etc.), except for Alcestis, were written during the Peloponnesian War, which is reflected in many of them. His tragedies are full of political statements and allusions to modernity. Euripides brought his heroes closer to reality, he denounced tyranny, believed that nobility lies in personal virtues and virtues. Depicts people as they are, without obscuring their negative traits. Reduces the images of mythological heroes. In his ideology, he is close to the sophists, deepening towards the psychological analysis of the human personality. In mythological images, he shows spiritual discord, the splitting of people in the era of the crisis of the polis ideology (“Medea”).
The dramaturgy of Euripides is the last stage on the centuries-old path of ancient Greek tragedy, marking the rejection of the monumental images of Aeschylus and the heroic normativity of Sophocles. New for Greek tragedy in Euripides is the image of a person who enters into action not with an already established decision, but experiencing in his soul the confrontation of ethical norms and inclinations; undeserved suffering often becomes the cause of death, the victim of which - physically or morally - is the avenger himself. In this sense, Aristotle called Euripides "the most tragic of poets."
Euripides significantly enriched the means of depicting characters by introducing monodies that serve to express the highest tension of feelings, and monologues with dialogues (agons), in which the hero's assessment of his position and the rationale for the decision being made are subjected to logical analysis. Euripides already has three actors, the chorus becomes more detached, that is, not so closely connected with the action, unlike Sophocles. Separating tragedy from music, songs and dances, he turns the round dance tragedy of the classical era into its opposite - a literary tragedy. He refers to the word as the main means of influencing the masses. Dialogue reflects the depths of a person's soul, and the language approaches conversational
General characteristics of theatrical and entertainment culture ancient rome. The difference between the Roman theater and the Greek.
In ancient Rome, the germ of dramatic performances were rural festivities with festoons performed at them. But they cannot be considered a direct source of artistic drama, since already from the beginning of the 3rd century BC. there is an intense influence on Rome of Greek culture. There is also no doubt that further development the rudiments of the drama, which were available in the fescennins, is associated with the influence of Etruria. The next stage in the development of the theatrical art of Ancient Rome was a special kind of primitive dramatic performances, which were called "atellani".
In Campania was the city of Atella. It was probably by the name of this town that the Romans began to call Atellana the farce that came to them from the Oscans, which soon completely acclimatized in Rome. A characteristic feature of atellana was the presence of permanent types - masks. They were Mack, Bukkon, Papp and Dorsen. Each of them had its own characteristic. Makk, for example, was a fool who was beaten and deceived by everyone. He was a glutton and extremely amorous. He was depicted as bald, with a hooked nose, donkey ears, and in short clothes. Dorsen was a cunning hunchback. Bukkon's lips were drooping from a love of chatter. Papp is a rich old man who has no luck in family life.
The beginning of the atellan was simple, the action developed quickly, and the denouement was often unexpected. Atellani are a further step in the development of early drama, as they already had regular roles. Further. The Atellani united with the Saturs and began to be given at the end of the play as entertainment for the public after a long and tiring tragedy.
The influence of the Greeks on Roman culture was associated with the conquest by the Romans of Campania and the southern Italian cities, which possessed all the treasures of Greek culture. Acquaintance with Greek began to spread more widely among the Roman nobility. Greek cultural influence intensifies during the First and Second Punic Wars. By the end of the III century BC. Greek and Oriental cults penetrate the very thickness of the population. But, although the Roman theater developed on the basis of Greek theatrical culture and adopted its best achievements, on the whole it is a completely original phenomenon and cannot be considered as a theater taken by the Romans from the Greeks and only slightly adapted to Roman conditions.
Quintus Ennius (239 - 169 BC) - Roman playwright who wrote comedies and tragedies, reworking or translating Greek plays. His tragedies were distinguished by their national Roman content (“The Sabine Women”, “Ambracia”) and enjoyed great success, thanks to their artistic processing of real dramatic pathos. Thirty titles of his plays and a large number of excerpts have come down to us.
Ennius' activity as tragic poet continued by his nephew Pacuvius (c. 220 - c. 130 BC). He reworked Greek tragedies and also wrote pretexts. In search of spectacular and pathetic material, Pacuvius turns not only to Euripides, but also to Aeschylus, Sophocles, and to the post-Euripian tragedians. Cicero recognizes Pacuvius as the greatest tragic poet of Rome.
Another of the great playwrights of Rome was Actius (170 - c. 85 BC), who became famous as the author of tragedies. More than 45 of their names are known, but only minor fragments have survived. Action used the plots of Greek tragedies, reworking them on his own, but also wrote two tragedies of pretexts: "Brutus" (about the overthrow of Tarquinius the Proud) and "Aenead", where the hero who sacrificed himself in the battle with the Gauls and summits was glorified. In the tragedies of Actius, contemporaries felt responses to the political life of Rome, thanks to which his works remained on the Roman stage for a long time. Actions also wrote essays on the history of drama and theatrical art.
According to the general opinion of the Romans, Ennius and the subsequent tragedians - Pacuvius and Actius - represent in Rome the same triumvirate in the field of tragedy, which Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides constituted in Greece.
Along with the official, there was also an ancient folk theater, in which itinerant comedians - fliacs and mimes - performed. They played primitive plays of everyday, entertaining, satirical, often obscene content on the streets and squares, the actors were without masks, women could participate in the performance.
In Rome, as in Greece, dramatic performances were associated with cult. They were one of the types of "games" arranged during various festivities. Along with stage games, circus and gladiatorial games were given. The annual “state games” had a regular character, the number of which increased significantly at the end of the 3rd century. Almost all of them included dramatic performances.
After the presentation of tragedies, a short " final play"- atellana, or mime; archaic tradition demanded that the festive day receive a cheerful conclusion.
At the "Roman" games, "plebeian", "Apollo", "Megalesian" (in honor of the Great Mother of the Gods, in April), tragedies and comedies were staged; at Flora's games, mimic performances were given, which, however, were allowed at other games.
The performances were from early morning until evening. However, extraordinary games, public or private, joined the regular games. Settled for any occasion. Attending the games was free and public (in Greece, too, at first, then for a fee, but the poor were given money to watch. In Greece, they were arranged only 3 times a year).
State. the games were administered by magistrates. The Roman stage games, at least in the time of Plautus and Terentius, did not have the nature of poetic competitions, but the distinguished troupe received a certain bonus from the magistrate.
Only in 55 BC. e. Rome received its first stone theater, built by the famous commander Gnaeus Pompey. Roman theaters were built on the model of Greek ones, but with some deviations. Seats for spectators rose in rows above the orchestra, which formed a regular semicircle; however, the orchestra was also part of the auditorium: it was separated for the senators. That is, the audience was divided into classes.
As in Greek theater Hellenistic time, the actors played on a high stage, but the Roman stage was lower and wider than the Greek one and connected with the orchestra by side stairs. In the second half of the II century. in the Roman theater, a curtain was introduced according to the Hellenistic model.
The theater still remained without a roof, but in the 1st century. they began to spread a purple cloth to protect them from the sun.
The Roman theater established its own traditions. Thus, the performance of arias (“kants”) was divided between the actor, who limited himself to pantomime, and a special “singer”, who owned the entire vocal part to the accompaniment of flutes. Roman actors at first limited themselves to make-up, and only at the end of the 2nd century. began to resort to a mask of the Greek type.
The female roles of tragedies and comedies were performed, as among the Greeks, by men; actresses performed only in mimes.
In Greece, the profession of an actor was considered prestigious, and in Rome it was shameful; for a Roman citizen, acting was considered "disgrace".
Organization of performances in the Greek theater. Actor in the theater. The system of symbols in the ancient theater. The main genres of theatrical art.
The organization of theatrical performances in Greece was undertaken by the state in the person of the highest officials - the archons. The expenses for the maintenance and training of the choir fell as an honorable public duty on wealthy citizens, who in this case received the name of choregs. The duties of playwright and actor were honorary in Greek society. Some of the actors and playwrights in the 5th and 4th c. BC. held important public positions and took an active part in the political life of the country.
Performances were given at three festivities in honor of Dionysus - Small, or Rural Dionysia (in December-January according to our calendar; Lenaea (in January-February); Great or City Dionysia (in March-April) - and were in the nature of a competition: at first playwrights and choreges, and from the 2nd half of the 5th century BC - also the actors who played the first roles (protagonists) 3 playwrights were allowed to compete, each of whom the archon appointed a choreg and between whom he distributed the protagonists. were recorded in special records - didascalia, kept in the state archive of Athens.
In ancient Greek theater, women's roles were always performed by men. The same actor played several roles throughout the play. With the musical element highly developed in the ancient performance, the actors were required to be able not only to read the verses of the play well, but also to sing and dance. Greek actors wore masks on their faces, which changed in different roles and even during the performance of one role, if there were drastic changes in the state of the character being portrayed. The need to preserve the mask (which at first had a cult significance) was due to the performance of female roles by men and the huge size of the Greek theater, as a result of which the facial expressions of the actor's face would completely disappear for the audience. In order to increase their height, the actors of the tragedy used koturny - special shoes with high soles. The clothes of tragic actors, richly decorated with multi-colored embroideries, looked like a magnificent costume worn by the priests of Dionysus during religious ceremonies. A cloak was worn over a long tunic. The female characters in the comedy wore what appeared to be regular costumes; male characters- a short, coarse jacket, often a raincoat.
Melpomene and Thalia - are symbols of theatrics.
Melpomene was at first considered the muse of tragedy, but then she expanded her “possessions”, her sphere of interests and became the muse and patroness of the dramatic theater in general. The theater began to be called the temple of Melpomene.
She was depicted adorned with grape leaves, with an ivy wreath on her head, on cothurns, with a tragic theatrical mask in one hand and a sword or club in the other.
The name Thalia comes from the Greek words “bloom”, “grow”. In mythology, she became the patroness of comedy and light cheerful poetry. Usually depicted with a comic mask in her hand, with an ivy wreath on her head, sometimes with a shepherd's staff or a tambourine.
Three genres were formed in the ancient Greek theater: tragedy, comedy, satyr drama, which served as the final part of the tragedy - tetralogy.
Main features medieval culture. Model of the Middle Ages. The role of Christianity in the formation medieval painting peace.
The Middle Ages was one of the most difficult and dark periods in history. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th c. ancient ancient civilization was practically wiped off the face of the earth. The young Christian religion, like any ideology on its own early stage, gave birth to fanatics who fought with the ancient pagan culture. Philosophy, literature, art, politics fell into decay. Religion took the place of culture.
Features of modern theater
According to Boyadzhiev, the avant-garde experimentally developed many new forms, techniques, and solutions for artistic creativity. However, it was the avant-garde that, by destroying traditional aesthetic norms, opened the way for the transition of artistic culture to a new quality - postmodernism or transavant-garde. Postmodernism is a kind of reaction of the outgoing culture to the avant-garde, it is an aestheticized, ironic outburst traditional culture, which has already survived the avant-garde, accepted its innovations and resigned itself to it and to its decline. With this, the avant-garde fulfilled its function in European culture and ended its existence as a phenomenon in the 1960s and 1970s. For representatives of the theatrical postmodern, R. Wilson and Carmelo Bene (see Boyadzhiev 1988), the dramatic text and the actor are nothing more than an excuse to create bewitching author's performances-installations (Boyadzhiev 1988: 12).
According to the expression, Shevchenko E.N. (2008: 13 ff), the theater responded to the events and cultural shifts that took place in the 20th century in a truly theatrical way: it itself embarked on the path of the most complex metamorphoses and, violating the usual rules and canons, not only does not contribute to the restoration of stability, but even more confuses and increases the feeling of restlessness and confusion. According to Erika Fischer-Lichte (see Shevchenko E.N. 2008), one of the largest modern theater critics in Germany, who compared the theater of the 90s - early 2000s with the ever-changing Proteus, taking on new and new guise and puts forward the transformation into a number of basic aesthetic categories of our time. Along with the transformations that make up the essence of the theater as such, today we are talking about transformations of a different kind. On the one hand, the theater is transforming into other types of art, mass media, artistic actions. On the other hand, other types of art, mass media and artistic actions are being transformed into theater. There is a theatrical public life. Theatrical performances compete with performances in politics, sports, mass media, advertising. The blurring of boundaries is becoming a conceptual feature of contemporary art. Where does theater end and advertising begin? At what point does a talk show turn into theater? When does an election campaign become theater, and when does theater become an election campaign? For each type of performance, there are certain rules, a certain "framework" that sets its functions and meaning, and also guarantees a certain behavior of the viewer. But since the 1990s, there has been a constant shift, a violation of the framework conditions and their various interactions. As a result, the expectations of the spectators/participants are not justified, they do not know how to behave, and as a result - their confusion, disorientation, and sometimes aggression and anger.
And Shevchenko E.N. in his book he cites the example of the German director K. Schlingensief. This young German director, actor and showman has earned himself a reputation as the greatest master of overstepping any boundaries, confusing, arousing hatred and admiration and raising ocean waves in the quietest swamp. Shevchenko cites such colorful definitions by K. Schliegensief as "a first-class provocateur", "a German provocateur from the theater", "a theatrical clown", "a political clown". And, according to Shevchenko, these are not all of the titles that the press and critics have awarded and continue to generously award Schlingensief. Born in 1960 in Oberghausen, he began his career as a film director. Since 1993, Schlingensief has been a director of the famous Berlin theater "Volksbühne". In addition, he travels around the world as a director of numerous performances, promotions, projects, talk shows. One of Schlingensief's most notorious projects, "Foreigners Out. Please Love Austria" is also known as "Container Show". Such theatrical actions do not rely on a pre-written text. Thus, the drama in this area gives way to some kind of approximate scenario, implying various options stage performance and a high degree of improvisation, as the behavior of spectators/participants, in particular, is unpredictable.
We dwelled in most detail on the Schlingensief theater, since in many respects, according to Shevchenko, it is the most striking and characteristic embodiment of modern trends. theater life In Germany, within the framework of the "Wiener Festwochen" festival, Christoph Schlingensief was invited to Vienna to stage a "political happening against xenophobia". The radicalism of the artist surpassed the wildest expectations of the loyal organizers. In front of the building of the Vienna Opera, a container was installed with the inscription "Foreigners out!", in which a group of foreigners who asked for political asylum, or actors who played their roles, was settled. On a special website on the Internet, it was possible to get acquainted with the biographies of the participants and follow their life in the container. Every evening one of them was elected by the public and thrown out of the country. Thus, by means of a simple telephone call or via the Internet, anyone who wished had the right to decide the fate of people. On the very first evening, 70,000 hits were registered on the site! The title of the festival - "First European Cooperation Week" - was resolutely renamed by Schlingensief into "First Concentration Week". The Vienna public was seething with indignation, Japanese tourists clicked their cameras, taking what was happening at face value, and Schlingensief spoke into the microphone: "Dear tourists, take photos! Send them around the world! Show people abroad the true Austria!" Respectable Austrians spat in his direction, cursed the "fascist project", forgetting how the Nazi Jörg Haider had been successfully elected shortly before, and not least for his radical program against foreigners. In a report on the progress of the project, Schlingensief wrote that his goal was to create an extreme optical picture the danger that comes to Europe from the current Austria. Those present and everyone whose attention was riveted to the "container project" repeatedly asked the question: "What is it? Theatre? Reality? Absurdity? Provocation?". Apparently, both that, and another, and the third, and the fourth. And all together - this is the result of the metamorphosis that the modern theater is undergoing.
According to Shevchenko, another project of Schlingensief, the creation of his own party "Chance 2000", is indicative in this respect. The party, as expected, was registered and ran for the Reichstag. At the same time, the election campaign was at the same time a theatrical performance, a circus performance, and a talk show, smoothly flowing into one another. The participant, who is also a spectator, could not unequivocally decide what he, in fact, was drawn into. In Schlingensief's actions, all participants are artists, the disabled, the unemployed, his personal fans, etc. - are in a state of "between" - between solid installations, rules, guidelines. This radical form of "betwixt and between" opens up new play spaces and room for innovation. The theater becomes a kind of creative laboratory in which a crisis situation is artificially created, similar to the one that occurs in modern society. The Schlingensief Theater is a political theatre. But it is different from the political theater of Brecht, Weiss or Müller. He does not teach, he does not enlighten, he does not inform, he stages politics and exaggerates what is happening, he misleads, knocks the ground out from under his feet and combs modern reality with a frequent, hard comb. Is it a provocation? Undoubtedly, but a provocation that is not an end in itself (like, say, the fluxus and performances of the 60s), but strictly inscribed in the political context. At the same time, the boundaries between theater and reality are completely blurred.
Such theatrical actions do not rely on a pre-written text. Thus, the drama in this area gives way to some kind of approximate scenario, which implies various options for the stage embodiment and a high degree of improvisation, since the behavior of the spectators / participants in particular is unpredictable.
So, contrary to the expectations of the public, the modern theater has not shown itself as a moral institution that offers ready-made options for solving them and pushing the viewer to fulfill them. On the contrary, he himself goes through the most complex metamorphoses, leading the viewer to a certain borderline state: he must free himself from the usual stereotypes, rules and attitudes that have been unshakable until now, and open himself to new opportunities and new experience. The transformations that modern theater is undergoing further reinforce the sense of crisis caused by changes in public life. But unlike the latter, the theater gives the viewer the opportunity, in the form of a game, to deal with acute problems and learn to live in conditions of instability. This is what he sees as a chance to continue playing. important role in a new, dynamic, changing world (Shevchenko 2008: 13 - 17).
So far, we have been talking about extra-theatrical forms of mass action. But changes, as Chugunov D.A. writes, occur in the theatrical dramaturgy. Critical Processes that affect this area, pass under the sign of "post-dramatic theater". On the one hand, this term is connected with the fact that the drama itself has ceased to be the exclusive basis of any theatrical action. The aforementioned theatrical actions of Schlingensief can serve as an example. In addition, about 30% of the repertoire of an ordinary German theater is made up of so-called "projects", that is, performances based on some literary text - prose or lyrical, but not dramatic! At the same time, the performances are decided not primarily by the actual dramatic techniques, but mainly by attracting audio and video resources. In general, multimedia is a characteristic feature of modern theater (Chugunov 2006: 113).
On the other hand, as Boldyrev N. writes (2002: 4 et seq.), the drama itself undergoes serious changes. Heiner Müller is recognized as one of the pioneers of the German post-dramatic theater. His play-text "Hamlet Machine", written back in 1977, meant a rejection of the traditional dramatic form and "high language". The classical elements of drama - action, conflict, characters, dialogue - are replaced by concentrated imagery (see Boldyrev 2002): "I was Hamlet. I stood on the shore and chatted with the surf: blah blah. Behind the back are the ruins of Europe."
The brightest representative of the post-dramatic theater, according to N. Boldyrev, today is the writer and playwright Elfrida Jelinek. In 1998, her "Sports Play" was created and staged, which entered the history of the theater. The bottom line is that large group actors perform certain sports exercises on the stage and chant the text. The play is distinguished by the special status of characters, nameless native speakers. The actors are not themselves, but not the ones they play either. The language is used as material and separated from the anonymous carrier. Giant monologues are put into the mouths of characters devoid of individuality. The text is mechanically divided between them. Wherein big role the rhythm of speech plays, its peculiar music, creating a feeling of a kind of trance into which actors and spectators fall. The text of the play is not intended to be read, but exclusively to be staged. It is a kind of background for a multimedia theatrical performance. The destruction of the language, the deprivation of its usual functions is a characteristic technique used by Jelinek in dramaturgy. Accordingly, the function of stage movement also changes. The body (movement, gestures) is in the center of what is happening. As a result, the stage is a special intermediate space - it is neither theater nor life, and at the same time both. However, the "Sports Play" is not only a bright, outrageous empty form, as it might seem at first glance. It contains a deep thought about the relationship between sport and war, about the danger of a fanatical idealization of sport, expressed by Elfriede Jelinek with her inherent radicalism and originality. At the same time, according to Boldyrev, the "Sports Play" reflects the most characteristic features of the post-dramatic theater, which has become a pillar of the development of modern theatrical art - the blurring of the boundaries between theater and life, the destruction of the illusion "here and now" on which traditional theater is based, rejection of traditional drama (criticism and destruction of language, new function of the text, rejection of traditional dramatic action, conflict, character and dialogue, new function of the body).
As Boldyrev N. writes, initially the term "post-dramatic" arose from the opposition of Attic tragedy as a model of "pre-dramatic" theater, that is, theater "before drama", and modern "post-dramatic" theater, that is, theater, the basis of which, as noted, is no longer constitutes a dramatic text. IN Lately this term is increasingly used in Germany to refer to new trends in modern theater practice in general. There is a fierce debate going on around him. Some understand it exclusively as a happening, others - projects in which, in addition to actors, artists, poets, dancers participate, others put an equal sign between the theater of the text and the post-dramatic theater, etc. But these are only partial manifestations of it. Post-dramatic theater is a broad concept that includes a wide variety of changes in dramatic form. At the same time, the term "postdramatic" has much in common with the term "postmodernist". The latter, however, is more global in nature, essentially designating an entire era in art, while the "post-dramatic" is associated with specific issues of theatrical aesthetics. In his book "Postdramatic Theater" (see Boldyrev 2002), published in 1999, the greatest modern theater theorist G. - T. Lehmann conducted an in-depth study of theatrical practice of the last 30th anniversary of the 20th century in order to identify the aesthetic logic of the new theater. He emphasizes that the term "post-dramatic" by no means means an abstract negation, a fundamental departure from the dramatic tradition. "Post", that is, "after", in his opinion, means that the drama continues to exist, but as a "weakened, outdated structure of the" normal "theatre" within the framework of a new theatrical concept. Müller (see Boldyrev 2002), for example, described his post-dramatic text as "an explosion of memory in a dead dramatic structure". Lehmann metaphorically describes this situation as follows: the members and organs of the dramatic organism, although they are dead material, are still present and form the space of memory in the double sense of the word - both the memory of what is happening and the memory of the traditional dramatic form.
Not all theatrical forms of the last decades, according to Boldyrev, correspond to the post-dramatic paradigm. But we are talking about the logic of the development of the very idea of the theater. The concept of "new theater" has been applied to various theatrical concepts in the course of history. The formula of any new theater, in principle, comes down to replacing outdated forms with new ones. Studies of contemporary theater confirm that it is the term "post-dramatic" that corresponds to the nature of the innovations that distinguish modern theater from the point of view of the development of theatrical aesthetics.
Thus, according to Boldyrev, the modern theater is a dynamic, many-sided, complex organism, which is on the way of unpredictable, dizzying transformations. Theater theorists are making the first attempts to comprehend the new experience (Boldyrev 2002: 4 - 7).
But, above all, modern theater is a living link between times. Still popular in contemporary theater such plays as "Hamlet" by W. Shakespeare, "Faust" by Goethe. Again and again Hamlet is tormented by his unbearable burden, looking beyond life and death: "To be or not to be? That is the question?" and again Faust signs a terrible contract in order to be able to penetrate the secrets of the universe and use them for the benefit of people.
One of the tendencies of contemporary Western European theater is the modernizing of the classics. How to treat it? This feature in the modern theater can not be called either negative or positive. On the one hand, art must keep pace with the times and somehow survive in the conditions mass culture- after all, someone has to buy tickets to the theater so that it continues to exist. But on the other hand, with such a "dressing up" of theatrical classics, its historical originality is lost, the unique feeling of the past disappears, which is also necessary for the viewer.
Another very important feature of modern Western European theater, according to Sorochkin, is close attention to the inner world, complex spiritual conflicts, and the psychology of modern man. Where, if not in the theater, we can look at ourselves and understand how complex the world around us is. In addition, modern theater is always an intense search for something new. After all, a new view of the world, new rhythms of life should be consistent with new methods of directing, new ways of solving the stage space.
Thus, modern drama and theater continue to develop the traditions laid down by the classics and at the same time strongly revise and rework many individual aspects. In addition, new types of plays and productions, previously unknown, appear, such as, for example, radio plays (Sorochkin 1989: 15).
But also art is forced to serve the needs of the mass man. Today's society seems to require only one thing from the artist: to be original and new, spectacularly interesting at all costs.
To be original and new, to be interesting - that's what postmodern culture requires from an artist, according to Boyadzhiev. Nothing more (Boyadzhiev: 4 - 5).
Young people demand action, action, a quick change of events. As soon as modern directors manage to show something “of their own”, which is not included in the already established theatrical norms, a small rebellion begins. It is worth the director to undress the main character a little - the discontent of the old generation and the emotions of the youth. Staging classic dramas in a modern way - criticism, misunderstanding and accusation of violating values. The eternal struggle of two generations.
As Andreev L.G. notes, modern theater is exactly like that. Classics with amazing favorite actors, and new, risqué productions from young directors.
However, directors who turn to contemporary play, often suffer failures that can convince anyone that the main drawback modern dramaturgy in "bad knowledge of the theatre", in "ignorance of the spectator". But in fact, according to Andreev, it is not staged enough, so its shortcomings have not been identified - after all, they can be seen only in the process of staging and in the reaction of the audience. And this means that there is no "looking" check.
The main thing is that the theater does not indulge the desires of the audience, does not become an object of consumption. The main task of the theater, especially modern theater in such difficult spiritual times, is to educate the viewer, develop his inner world, teach him to see what is hidden from our eyes. And whatever modern theater is, it copes with this task (Andreev 2004: 76).
Modern theater is democratic and has a sharp social orientation in its essence. Today's theater has ceased to be art for the elite - it speaks the language of the masses, embodies complex contemporary problems. The current theater has firmly won its audience, many people need it, and the creators of modern performances solve not only purely aesthetic, but also social problems. Of course, something in the theatrical art of the new millennium is dictated by opportunistic considerations, but a little time will pass, and everything superficial will leave in order to allow the development of the real, truthful, organic that exists in modern drama.
12. Origin and development of the genre of tragedy. Attic theatre.
Aristotle's doctrine of tragedy: the definition of tragedy, its parts, etc.
attic theater
Attica, a region in Central Greece, and its capital, Athens, is the birthplace of ancient drama (which is why it is commonly called Attic).
Imagine Athens in the 5th century BC. e. during one of the two Dionysian festivals of the year, winter or spring. On the slope of the Acropolis, the theater of Dionysus is located in ledges, more reminiscent of a modern stadium, stands with seats for spectators. Almost all full citizens of Attica are present here. Within four days they will have to watch fifteen dramas, and the judges will choose the best of three tragedians and the best of three comedians (authors of tragedies and comedies). Spectators will not have to pay an entrance fee; on the contrary, they will be paid their daily wages. After all, not only the choristers entering the round open area of the theater (orchestra), not only the actors who will soon leave the doors of the wooden tent behind (skene), but also the spectators watching the action, participate in the sacred ritual. They gathered in the theater of Dionysus to honor God together, with the whole city.
Here is what V. Hugo wrote about the Attic theater: “The theater of the ancients, like their drama, is grandiose, solemn, epic. It can accommodate thirty thousand spectators; here they play in the open air, in the bright sun; the show lasts all day. Actors amplify their voices, cover their faces with masks, increase their height; they become gigantic as their roles. The stage is enormous. It can simultaneously depict the inner and appearance temple, palace, camp, city. Huge spectacles unfold on it ... Architecture and poetry - everything is monumental. Antiquity knows nothing more solemn, nothing more majestic. Her cult and her history come together in her theatre. Its first actors are priests; her stage performances are religious ceremonies, folk festivals.”
The main genre of Attic theater was tragedy.
TRAGEDY (literally - goat song (Greek)), one of the main genres of theatrical art. Tragedy is a dramatic or stage work that depicts an irreconcilable conflict of the individual with the forces opposing it, inevitably leading to the death of the hero.
Tragedy, as can be seen from the very term, arose from a pagan ritual, accompanied by the so-called. dithyramb (choral chant) in honor of the ancient Greek god Dionysus. The dithyramb included the beginnings of a dialogue between the choir and the lead singer, and it was the dialogue that later became the main form of organization of all genres of dramatic and stage art.
The first fundamental theoretical study of tragedy was undertaken by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle in his Poetics in the 4th century. BC e. He identified the main signs of tragedy, which theater theorists still refer to today.
An obligatory constituent element of the tragedy is the scale of events. It always deals with high matters: justice, love, principles, moral duty, etc. That is why the heroes of the tragedy often become characters occupying a high position - monarchs, generals, etc.: their actions and destinies have a decisive Influence at historical development society. The heroes of the tragedy solve the cardinal issues of life. At the same time, the inevitable death of the hero in the final does not at all mean the pessimistic nature of the tragedy. On the contrary, the desire to resist the prevailing circumstances gives a heightened sense of the triumph of the moral imperative, reveals the heroic principle human essence, causes awareness of the continuity and eternal renewal of life. This is what allows the viewer to achieve the so-called. catharsis (purification), and shows the deep relationship of tragedy with the theme of cyclical dying and renewal of nature.
Aristotle paid much attention to the analysis of the composition of the tragedy, developing the so-called. the principle of unity of action, when “... the parts of events must be so composed that when a part is changed or taken away, the whole changes and sets in motion, because that, the presence or absence of which is imperceptible, is not an organic part of the whole” (Poetics, ch. 8). Thus, the canon of the unity of action implies the display of only those events that have a significant impact on the fate of the main character.
Of particular interest are Aristotle's reflections on the hero of the tragedy. The philosopher rightly asserted that the hero of a tragedy cannot be either an ideal person, not “completely worthless”, but only one “... who is not distinguished by special virtue and justice and falls into misfortune not due to his worthlessness and depravity, but due to some mistake ...” (Poetics, ch. 13). Only the fate of such a hero can arouse pity, compassion and fear in the viewer. The duality of perception is due to the fact that not only the weaknesses of the hero, but also his virtues, good intentions in the tragedy also lead to fatal, disastrous consequences. This gives rise to intense empathy in the viewer for the hero, who turned out to be a hostage of circumstances.
The historical development of the tragedy was very dramatic, the genre experienced a wide variety of transformations, while retaining its fundamental features.
The foundations of tragedy were laid in the ancient Greek theater. The main theme of ancient Greek tragedies was myths (although there were also tragedies written on modern subjects - for example, Aeschylus's Persians).
The evolution and formation of the genre is clearly visible in the work of the three great ancient Greek playwrights who are considered the founders of tragedy: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Aeschylus was the first to introduce a second actor into the tragedy (before him, one actor and a choir acted on the stage), enlarging the roles of individual characters (Prometheus, Clytemnestra, etc.). Sophocles significantly increased the dialogic parts and introduced a third actor, which made it possible to aggravate the action: the hero was opposed by a secondary character, seeking to divert him from his duty (Oedipus Rex, Antigone, Electra, etc.). In addition, Sophocles introduced scenery into the ancient Greek theater. Euripides turned the tragedy to reality, according to Aristotle, depicting people "as they are" (Poetics, ch. 25), revealing complex world psychological experiences, characters and passions (Medea, Electra, Iphigenia in Aulis, etc.).
Roman tragedy, preserving the forms of the ancient Greek, consistently increased the external effects, focusing on the display of bloody atrocities. The brightest representative Ancient Roman tragedy was Seneca, the tutor of Emperor Nero, who created his works based on and on the material of ancient Greek tragedies (Oedipus, Agamemnon, Mad Hercules, Medea, Phaedra, etc.). Many Roman tragedies were not intended to be staged, but to be read.
With the fall of the Roman Empire (see also ANCIENT ROME), in the era of the formation of Christianity, the theater experienced a centuries-old period of persecution. Its revival began only in the 16th century. It was then that tragedy was revived, when in Italy, under the influence of Seneca in the 16th century. the genre of the so-called. horror tragedy. The works of this genre abounded with bloody scenes of murders, the play of criminal passions and bestial cruelty.
The "golden age" of tragedy is considered the Renaissance. The most striking examples of the tragedy of this time gave English theater, and, of course, in the first place - W. Shakespeare. The basis of the plots of the English tragedy was not myths, but historical events (or legends that acquired the status of reality - for example, Richard III of Shakespeare). Unlike the ancient one, the Renaissance tragedy had a free complex composition, had immeasurably greater dynamics, brought numerous characters to the stage. The rejection of strict compositional canons, while maintaining the main typical features of the genre, made the Renaissance tragedy eternal, relevant at all times. This is true not only for the English, but also for the Spanish Renaissance tragedy (the tragedies of Lope de Vega and Calderon are widely staged in the modern theater). The tragedy of the Renaissance is characterized by a rejection of the complete purity of the genre, truly tragic scenes were interspersed with comic interludes.
A return to strict observance of the genre canon of tragedy occurred in the era of classicism, in the 17th century. This was facilitated by the translation into European languages of Aristotle's Poetics and the theoretical developments of French and Italian theater researchers. The outstanding French theorist N. Boileau creatively developed Aristotle's doctrine of the unity of action, supplementing it with the requirements of the unity of place and time (See also THE UNITY OF THREE). The French classicist tragedy revived the ancient form, refusing only the chorus. Classicist tragedy acquired its complete and perfect expression in the dramaturgy of P. Corneille and especially J. Racine.
A new stage in the development of tragedy is associated with the so-called. Weimar classicism by J. W. Goethe and F. Schiller, which in a certain sense became a transitional period between classicism and romanticism. In the 18th century the tragedy moved away from the rational canon to emotional intensity, translating the main conflict into the opposition of the individual and society, fiercely defending individuality and rebelliousness. These are romantic tragedy V. Hugo, J. Byron, A. Musset, G. Heine and others.
At the beginning of the 19th century, with the development of realism, tragedy also mastered this literary trend (in France - P. Mérimée, in Germany - G. Büchner, in Russia - A. S. Pushkin). By the middle of the 19th century. a new trend is emerging: the identification of tragedy Everyday life ordinary people(G. Ibsen, G. Gautman, in Russia - A. N. Ostrovsky). Tragedy takes on previously unusual features - a scrupulous study of everyday life, in-depth attention to detail. In fact, the tragedy is transformed into a drama, even if it ends with the death of the protagonist. It would seem that the tragedy has finally lost its poetic halo, leaving in the everyday macrocosm of everyday life. However, in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. there is a bright surge of precisely poetic tragedy - within the framework of the artistic current of symbolism. M. Maeterlinck, G. D "Annunzio, E. Verharn, O. Wilde, in Russia - L. Andreev, A. Blok, V. Bryusov, I. Annensky in their plays bring out heroes obsessed with fatal passions, becoming a toy in their hands higher powers.
For theatrical art of the 20th century. characteristic is the tendency of mixing genres, their complication and the development of intermediate genre formations. However, tragedy exists as a constant counterpoint in genre polyphony. We find its signs in the dramaturgy of all stylistic movements - expressionism, realism, existentialism, romanticism, absurdism, etc. This was undoubtedly facilitated by the fact that the 20th century. filled with large-scale tragic events that had a profound effect on the fate of the whole world. Social upheavals (World War I, revolution, World War II) were adequately reflected in the art of the theater. Playwrights of the 20th century, different in their creative manner and level of talent, worked in the tragedy genre, such as A. Lunacharsky and F. G. Lorca, M. Gorky and R. Rolland,
Page 27. Georg Kaiser (1878-1945) - German expressionist playwright, author of a number of pacifist and anti-imperialist plays; wrote more than 60 plays of a vividly experimental nature. "From morning to midnight" - drama 1916
Page 28. Lampel Peter-Martin (b. 1894) - German playwright. His play "Riot in the Orphanage" (1928) caused a great discussion on education.
SHOULD DRAMA HAVE A TREND?
Answer to the questionnaire of the Essen magazine "Scheinwerfer", published in November 1928 in a series of answers from other cultural figures.
THE DRAMIST'S REJECTION
Apparently, this article, which remained in the manuscript, refers to 1932.
Page 33. Maugham Somerset (b. 1874) - English novelist and playwright, who gained fame with the comedies "Lady Frederick" (1907), "Man of Honor" (1904), "Caroline" (1916), "Circle" (1921), "Letter "(1927) and others. A collection of Maugham's plays in six volumes was published in 1931-1932.
Sulla Lucius Cornelius (138-78 BC) became in 82 BC. e. perpetual dictator, and in 79 BC. e. resigned his powers.
Shakespeare... went into private life. - In 1613, in the prime of his life, at the age of forty-eight, Shakespeare, for reasons unknown to his biographers, left the theater. (See: A. Anikst, Shakespeare, M., "Young Guard", ZhZL, 1964, p. 303 ff.).
ON THE WAY TO MODERN THEATER
TO THE GENERAL IN THE PARTERRE
Answer to the questionnaire of the newspaper "Berliner Borsen-Courier"; the question was: "What do you think your viewer expects from you?" Published on December 25, 1926, together with the answers of many theatrical figures (L. Jessner, A. Bronnen, G. Kaiser, E. Toller, K. Zuckmayer, K. Sternheim, M. Fleisser and others).
Page 38. "In the thicket." - This refers to Brecht's play "In the thicket of cities" (1921-1924).
THE PISCATOR EXPERIENCE
Written by Brecht after the performance "The Tide" by A. Paquet on the stage of the "Volksbühne" on February 21, 1926.
Page 39. Shakespeare's Coriolanus was directed by Erich Engel at the Lessing Theater in Berlin on February 27, 1925; Fritz Kortner played the title role.
Baal is Brecht's first play, written in 1918.
Burris Emil - playwright, colleague of Brecht, author of the plays "American Youth" (1925), "The Meager Meal" (1926). See Brecht's two notes about him: "Productive Obstacles" and "Objective Theater" (B. Brecht, Schriften zum Theater, B. I, S. 169-172).
REFLECTIONS ON THE CHALLENGES OF EPIC THEATER
Published in the literary supplement of the Frankfurter Zeitung, November 27, 1927.
Page 41. ...Munich Shakespeare scene. - This refers to the Munich Art Theater (1907-1908), the auditorium of which was located in an amphitheater, and the stage, 10 meters long, devoid of depth, was limited on the sides by towers; silhouettes of the actors stood out against the background of the back wall. This theater successfully staged Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
LAST STAGE - "Oedipus"
Published in the "Berliner Borsen-Courier" of February 11, 1929. "Oedipus" was staged by Leopold Jessner at the Staatstheater in Berlin on January 4, 1929. Combining "Oedipus Rex" and "Oedipus in Colon" into one play (author Heinz Lipmann ). The main role was played by Fritz Kortner.
ABOUT THEMES AND FORM
Published in the newspaper "Berliner Borsen-Courier" on March 31, 1929, together with notes from a number of other theatrical figures, under the general heading "Tomorrow's Theater". The editors posed the following questions: "What new thematic areas can fertilize the theater? Do these themes require a new dramatic form or new technology games?"
THE ROAD TO THE GREAT MODERN THEATER
These sketches, which remained unpublished, date back to 1930.
Page 47. Dayton Monkey Process. - Dayton - a city in the USA, in the state of Ohio; there was a trial school teacher who propagated the teachings of Darwin.
SOVIET THEATER AND PROLETARIAN THEATER
Written in connection with the tour of the Meyerhold Theater in 1930; performances of Gogol's "inspector" and "Roar, China!" were played in Berlin. S. Tretyakov and "Forest" Ostrovsky.
Page 51. ... Attila - the leader of the Huns (434-453), known for his ferocity.
DIALECTIC DRAMATURGY
Selected sketches from 1929-1930, left unpublished and retrieved from the Brecht archive.
Page 55. Alfred Kerr (1867-1948) - German theater critic, constant ideological and artistic opponent of Brecht.
Page 60. ...works ... by Deblin, - Brecht is referring to the novel by Alfred Deblin (1878-1957) "The Three Leaps of Van Lun" (1915), under whose influence he wrote his early comedy "That soldier, that that" (1924-1926).
Page 63. ...removal of covers from images in Sais. - This refers to Schiller's poem "Sais statue under the cover" (1796), which affirms the Kantian position on the unknowability of the "thing in itself": an inquisitive young man tore off the veil that hid the Truth from the statue and became forever dumb.
ABOUT THE NON-ARISTOTELEAN DRAMA
THEATER OF PLEASURE OR THE THEATER OF LEARNING?
The article was written in 1936, first published in 1957 in sb. Schriften zum Theatre. Published in Russian in the book: B. Brecht, O theater, M., IL, 1960.
Page 65. Jouvet Louis (1887-1935) - French director, head of the theater "Athenay". Jouvet was a theatrical innovator who sought new ways of directing.
Cochran is an English director and actor.
"Habima" is a Jewish theatre, in which E. B. Vakhtangov staged the play "Gadibuk" ("Possessed") in 1921, which had a great resonance in Europe.
Page 66. ...according to Aristotle. - See: Aristotle, The Art of Poetry, M., Goslitizdat, 1967, p. S3.
Page 72. Psychoanalysis - a theory of psychology created by the Austrian scientist 3. Freud, according to which the spiritual life of a person is explained by the subconscious and mainly by the sexual instinct.
Behaviorism is a trend in modern American psychology that considers human behavior as a set of reactions to external influences.
...According to Friedrich Schiller... - Brecht is referring to Schiller's doctrine of the theater as a school of morality, put forward by him in a number of aesthetic articles and treatises: "The Theater Considered as a Moral Institution", "On the Tragic Art", "On the Pathetic" , in Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man.
Page 73. Nietzsche attacked Schiller, calling him the Seckingen trumpeter of morality. - Nietzsche, who had a dislike for Schiller, ironically called him that, using the title of the famous lyric-epic story in verse by Joseph Viktor Scheffel "The Seckingen Trumpeter" (1854).
GERMAN THEATER 1920s
This article was published in English in Left Review, London, July 1936.
Page 75. "Business is business" - anti-bourgeois play French writer Octave Mirbeau (1903).
Miss Julia is a naturalistic drama by the Swedish writer August Strindberg (1888).
The Chalk Circle is a sensational modernist play by the German writer Klabund (1924), an adaptation of an old oriental drama,
Page 76. The Good Soldier Schweik was staged by Piscator at the Nollendorfplatz Theater in Berlin (premiere 23 January 1928) based on a novel by Hasek, edited for the stage by Brecht.
"The Merchant of Berlin" is a satirical play by Walter Mehring (b. 1896), staged by Piscator at the theater on Nollendorfplatz (premiere September 6, 1928).
Gross Georg (1893-1959) - German graphic artist who collaborated in 1928-1929. with Piscator, in whose theater he designed The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik. See about him in the book. E. Piskator "Political Theatre", M., 1934.
Page 77. "Flight of the Lindberghs" - educational play Brecht (1929), later renamed Flight Over the Ocean.
Hindemith Paul (b. 1895) - German composer, one of the leaders of musical modernism.
REALISTIC THEATER AND ILLUSION
Sketches left unpublished. In Brecht's manuscript, the heading given refers only to the first passage.
ABOUT THE EXPERIMENTAL THEATER
Report read on May 4, 1939 to the participants of the Student Theater in Stockholm. In November 1940, Brecht reworked the text for the re-reading of the report before the ensemble of the Student Theater in Helsinki in November 1940. First published in "Studien", No. 12, Supplement to "Theater der Zeit", l959, No. 4.
Page 84. Antoine André (1858-1943) - French director, theater theorist and innovator.
Brahm Otto (1856-(1912) - German theatrical figure, founder of German stage naturalism, follower of Antoine.
Craig Gordon (b. 1872) is an English director, artist and theater theorist, a supporter of the director's autocracy in the theater, who saw in the actor only a "super-puppet".
Reinhardt Max (1873-1943) - German director, tireless experimenter, innovatively using all the components of the modern performance (music, light, dance, painting).
...natural sites. - Reinhardt carried out the production on circus arenas etc. in the form of mass folk spectacles. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was staged in 1905 - this performance enjoyed particular success.
"Every person" (or "Everyone") - a drama by the Austrian playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874-1924) "Every person, a game about the death of a rich man" (1911); is an adaptation of a medieval mystery.
Page 85. Trendelenburg operation on the heart. - Trendelenburg Friedrich (1844-1924) - surgeon, creator of new methods of operations on the lungs and heart.
Page 86. Grig Nordal (1902-1943) - Norwegian playwright, author epic drama"Our Honor, Our Power" (1935), which attracted Brecht with the image of the masses of the people, and "Defeat" (1937), a drama that Brecht remade into his play "Days of the Commune".
Lagerkvist Per (b. 1891) is a Swedish writer, a follower of the dramaturgy of A. Strindberg, who later created works of high philosophical and social significance.
Auden Wistan Hugh (b. 1907) is an English writer and poet.
Abell Kjell (1901-1961) Danish playwright. See note. to p. 181 of the 1st semi-volume.
Page 93. ... Institute of physicist Niels Bohr. - Niels Bohr (1885-1964) Danish physicist, who since 1920 headed the Institute for Theoretical Physics. Under the impression of the message mentioned in the text, Brecht wrote the play "The Life of Galileo" (see about this vol. 2 present, ed., p. 437).
Page 95. Mimesis. - In his "Poetics" Aristotle, following Plato, calls all types of poetry imitative arts or imitation. The term "mimesis" (uiunoic) means "imitation".
Hegel, who created... the last great aesthetic. - This refers to the "Course of Lectures on Aesthetics", read by Hegel in 1817-1819. in Heidelberg and in 1820-1821. in Berlin. The thought cited by Brecht is in the "Introduction" (see: Hegel, Collected Works, Moscow, 1938, vol. XII).
Page 101. Brueghel. - Dutch painter Pieter Brueghel the Elder, nicknamed Muzhitsky (1525-1569).
NEW PRINCIPLES OF ACTOR'S ART
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A NEW ACTING TECHNIQUE THAT CAUSES SO
CALLED "ALIENATION EFFECT"
The article was written in 1940, published in "Versuche", E 11, Berlin, 1951. In Russian - in the book: B. Brecht, O theater, M., IL, 1960.
Page 108. "The Life of Edward II of England" (1923) - a play by B. Brecht and L. Feuchtwanger, an adaptation of the drama by Christopher Marlo, English playwright renaissance era, the forerunner of Shakespeare.
"Pioneers from Ingolstadt" - a play by Mariluise Fleisser.
Page 110. I. Rapoport's book "The Work of the Actor" made a great impression on Brecht and was repeatedly discussed by him. See special note in "Schriften zum Theatre", B. Ill, Suhrkamp Verlag, 1963, S. 212-213.
DIALECTICS AND ALIENATION
These notes were not published during Brecht's lifetime.
IMAGE BUILDING
It was not published during Brecht's lifetime. The sections "Historicization" and "The Uniqueness of the Image" are included in this series of notes by the compiler of the German edition W. Hecht.
Page 125. ... your little play ... - that is, Brecht's one-act play "The Rifles of Teresa Carrar".
Page 125-126. ... the most outstanding actress - Elena Weigel.
IMAGE DEVELOPMENT
This and the following notes were written mainly in 1951-1953. Some of them were created before and after the conference organized by the German Academy of Arts in Berlin on the topic: "How can we master Stanislavsky?" Others arose in the summer of 1953 in connection with reading a handwritten translation of N. Gorchakov's book "Director's Lessons by K. S. Stanislavsky", 2nd ed., M., "Art", 1951, written by a famous Soviet director on the basis of rehearsals and conversations with Stanislavsky.
IS IT TRUE
Written by Brecht in connection with the production of E. Strittmatter's play Katzgraben (1953) - see approx. to page 479.
Page 141. "The Trial of Joan of Arc" - a play written by B. Brecht in collaboration with Benno Besson based on the radio play of the same name by Anna Zegers (1952).
Dufour is a character in this play.
pars pro toto (Latin) - a part instead of a whole.
IMPLEMENTATION
Refers to notes written in connection with the production of "Katzgraben".
Page 142. Danegger Matilda - actress of the Berlin Ensemble.
ARTIST AND COMPOSER IN EPIC THEATER
ON STAGE DECORATION IN A NON-ARISTOTEL THEATER
An excerpt from a large work that remained unfinished.
Page 150. "Running run" - a play by V. P. Stavsky (1931), staged by N. P. Okhlopkov at the Moscow Realistic Theater.
Knutson Per is a Danish director who staged Brecht's play Roundheads and Pointyheads at the Ridersalen Theater in Copenhagen (premiered on November 4, 1936). See present, ed., vol. II, p. 430.
Page 151. Gorelik Max (Mordekai) (b. 1899) - American theater designer who designed the production of Brecht's play "The World" in New York's Theater Union (premiered November 19, 1935). See present, ed., Vol. I, p. 510.
Page 155. Heartfield John (b. 1891) - German poster and theater artist.
Page 161. Hannibal ante portes (Latin) - Hannibal at the gate. The words of Cicero, meaning a great danger looming.
Page 163. Guild Theater - American drama theater, created in 1919; here, the existing system of "stars" in America was opposed by a strong ensemble of actors. See "Theatrical Encyclopedia", vol. I, column. 1169-1170.
ON THE USE OF MUSIC IN EPIC THEATER
The article was written in 1935. First published in the book: "Schriften zurn Theater", 1957. In Russian translation - B. Brecht, On the Theater.
Page 164. "The Life of the Asocial Baal" - that is, Brecht's play "Baal" (1918).
Page 167. "Take it off" (English)
The Emperor Jones is a play by the American writer Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953).
"SMALL ORGANON" FOR THE THEATER
Brecht's main theoretical work, written in 1948. First published in 1949 in a special issue dedicated to Brecht in Sinn und Form, then in Versuche, No. 12 .
The word "organon" (meaning in Greek in the literal sense "tool", "instrument") among the followers of Aristotle means logic as an instrument of scientific knowledge. The word "Organon" denotes a collection of treatises on the logic of Aristotle. The English materialist philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626), wishing to oppose Aristotle's logic with his inductive logic (that is, based on inferences from particular facts to general conclusions), polemically called his work "New Organon". B. Brecht calls his main theoretical treatise "Small Organon", continuing the struggle for a new, "non-Aristotelian" theater. Thus, already in the title itself there is a controversy against traditional dramaturgy and theater.
Page 175. Robert Oppenheimer (b. 1904) - American physicist; during the war, from 1943, he led one of the main American nuclear laboratories. Subsequently, he was put on trial for anti-American activities.
Page 195. Loughton - see 1st semi-volume, p. 516.
Page 208. "Tai Yang Awakens" - a play by Friedrich Wolf, staged by Piskator at the Walnertheater (premiere May 15, 19 (31),
ADDITIONS TO THE "SMALL ORGANON"
The additions were written by Brecht in 1952-1954. using experience in the "Berlin Ensemble".
Page 211. Owl of Minerva. - According to the beliefs of the ancient Romans, the owl is a sacred bird that accompanies the goddess of wisdom, Minerva.
DIALECTICS IN THE THEATER
DIALECTICS IN THE THEATER
Scattered notes, united under such a heading by the compiler of the German edition, W. Hecht.
Page 222. Study of the first scene of Shakespeare's tragedy Coriolanus. This conversation between Brecht and his collaborators in the Berlin Ensemble took place in 1953. Shakespeare's tragedy Coriolanus was translated and edited by Brecht in 1952-1953.
Page 232. Patria (Latin). - fatherland.
Page 239. Relative haste. - The play by N. A. Ostrovsky "The Pupil" was staged in the "Berlin Ensemble" directed by Angelika Hurwitz (premiered on December 12, 1955).
Page 240. Another case of application of dialectics. - The play "The Rifles of Teresa Carrar" was staged at the "Berlin Ensemble" by Egon Monk under artistic direction Brecht (premiered November 16, 1962).
Page 241. Letter to the performer of the role of the younger Herder in the Winter Battle. - "The Winter Battle", a tragedy by J. R. Becher, was staged in the "Berlin Ensemble" by B. Brecht and Manfred Wekwert (premiered on January 12, 1955). The role of the younger Herder was played by Ekkehard Schall.
Page 243. Arndt Ernst Moritz (1769-1860) - German writer, publicist during the liberation wars against Napoleon.
Page 244. "Military primer" - an album compiled by Brecht during the war, which is photographs with poetic captions composed by Brecht.
Page 245. Niobe - in the Greek legend, the wife of the king of Thebes Amphion, whose children were killed by the gods; grief turned Niobe into a rock. Niobe is the personification of suffering.
Page 246. An example of how the discovery of an error led to a stage find. - The play "Millet for the Eighth Army" by Chinese playwrights Lo Ding, Chan Fang and Chu Jin-nan, arranged by Elisabeth Hauptmann and Manfred Wekwert, was staged at the "Berlin Ensemble" by M. Wekwert (premiered on April 1, 1954).
Page 248. Gottsched Johann Christoph (1700-1766) - German writer of the early Enlightenment. His "Experience critical poetics for the Germans" was published in 1730.
Page 249. Paul. - Brecht is wrong: Paul was not a Roman actor, he was an Athenian of the era of Pericles.
SOME MISTAKE IN UNDERSTANDING THE METHOD OF THE PLAY OF THE "BERLIN ENSEMBLE"
This "conversation in the literary part of the theatre" took place in 1955 after the premiere of J. R. Becher's The Winter Battle. First published in "Sinn und Form", 1957, E 1-3. Russian translation (partial) in the book: B. Brecht, On the theater.
Page 252. Rilla Paul (b. 1896) - German critic, theorist and historian of literature, author of Literature, Criticism and Controversy, Berlin, 1950.
Page 254. Rosa Berndt - the heroine of the tragedy of the same name by G. Hauptmann (1903).
Page 259. Erpenbeck Fritz (b. 1897) - German writer and theater critic.
NOTES ON DIALECTICS IN THE THEATER
Page 268. Nouveute (French) - letters, news. "Theatres des Nouveautes" - so called many Parisian theaters, of which the most famous theater founded by Brasseur Sr. on the Italian Boulevard in 1878, where vaudevilles, operettas and buff comedies were played.
E. Etkind
