Russian theater of the 19th century message. Theatrical culture of Russia in the 19th century

History of Russian culture. XIX century Yakovkina Natalya Ivanovna

§ 2. STATE THEATERS

The first decades of the 19th century were marked by the increasing development of Russian theater: the popularity of theatrical art was growing, and the serf theater was being replaced by the “free theater” - state and private.

State, or as they were called then, state theaters appeared in the capital cities of Russia back in the 18th century. At the beginning of the 19th century there were several of them in St. Petersburg: this is the palace theater in the Hermitage, Grand Theatre- a huge four-tier building, located between the Moika and the Catherine Canal, and the Maly Theater, built in 1801 by the architect Brenna near the Anichkov Bridge. Along with Russian opera, ballet, drama troupes Foreign bands performed there - French, Italian. Particularly large amounts of money were spent on maintaining the latter. If 40,500 rubles were allocated for the Russian troupe in 1803, then 114,400 rubles were allocated for the French opera and drama troupes, and 46,000 rubles for the Italian ones.

Gradually it turned out that dramatic performances were given mainly at the Maly Theater. The Bolshoi staged more often ballet or opera performances. In 1827, a circus was opened near the Simeonovsky Bridge, where, in addition to circus performances Dramatic performances were also given.

In 1832, according to the design of the famous architect K. I. Rossi, a beautiful drama theater was built, equipped with the latest theatrical technology and named after the wife of Nicholas I - Alexandra Feodorovna - Alexandria. In 1833, the construction of another theater, built according to the design of the architect A. P. Bryullov (now the Mussorgsky Opera and Ballet Theater), was completed. In honor of the brother of Nicholas I, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, it was named Mikhailovsky. It featured mainly French and Italian troupes.

Moscow was decorated with new theaters. Here in 1806 the Maly Theater was opened, which became primarily a theater theater. And in 1825 the construction of the Bolshoi Theater was completed.

Gradually, theatrical performances are attracting more and more attention from society.

Discussion of new plays and actors' performances becomes not only a constant topic of conversation and debate in literary salons in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also penetrates into the press. Already at the end of the 18th century, news about theatrical life appeared on the pages of the magazines “Mail of Spirits”, “Spectator”, “Petersburg Mercury”, “Moscow Journal”.

Theater news and discussions about the theater appear in almost all periodicals of the early 19th century. In one of the most serious and popular magazines of that time, “Bulletin of Europe,” a special theater section, where reviews of performances, articles about theater and actors are published. For some time this section was led by the then young poet and writer V. A. Zhukovsky. In 1808, the first theater magazine in Russia appeared - Shakhovsky's Dramatic Bulletin.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the management system of the capital's state-owned theaters was reorganized and a theatrical monopoly was established. In 1803, a decree was issued granting state theaters the exclusive right to organize public masquerades and to print theater posters. At the same time, private theaters operating in three cities were closed. Thus, in 1803, a private theater troupe was liquidated in St. Petersburg, in 1805 - a German one, and the theater occupied by it on Palace Square becomes official. Since 1805, the monopoly of the imperial theaters in Moscow and St. Petersburg was officially established. The motives behind this measure were political and economic considerations. The growing popularity of theatrical performances, their discussion on the pages of magazines, and the desire of the progressive public to turn the theater into a platform for freedom-loving ideas aroused the government's fear and desire to subordinate theatrical performances to its control. At the same time, the establishment of a state monopoly of the capital's theaters, accompanied by the prohibition of private theaters in Moscow and St. Petersburg, would contribute to an increase in box office receipts from state-owned entertainment institutions, which was of no small importance, since treasury expenses on subsidies to state-owned theaters reached large amounts. Thus, from 1801 to 1811, the theater directorate received about 1 million rubles in addition to the usual allocations. to pay debts.

As a result of the reorganization, the management of state-owned theaters was carried out by the directorate of the imperial theaters, which was in charge of the Moscow and St. Petersburg offices. The directorate controlled not only the financial side, but also the repertoire of the theaters, the composition of the troupes and all the details of theatrical life. Very often this control turned into petty, arbitrary guardianship. The actor's memoirs of this period contain many bitter stories about the ignorance and arbitrariness of the directors of the imperial theaters. Here is the description of one of them, a certain Prince Tyufyakin, that the artist P. A. Karatygin gave in his memoirs: “Director Tyufyakin resembled our appanage princes with their coarse Tatarism. A voluptuous ignoramus, a drunken aristocrat, he understood nothing of either literature or art; his odalisques appeared both on stage and in the behind-the-scenes world. His despotism was not tamed by any decency." Karatygin recalls many manifestations of the boss’s arbitrariness. For example, in 1819, the actor Bulatov was put in jail for several days by Tyufyakin for refusing a role. Another time, a little student of a theater school, who accidentally ran behind the stage during some ballet, was personally beaten with the telescope through which he was watching the performance. “And there were many, many similar antics of this well-mannered prince, chamberlain of the court of Emperor Alexander!” - Karatygin sadly concludes his story.

In the second quarter XIX century theater management has undergone some changes. The Ministry of the Court was established, under whose jurisdiction were transferred imperial theaters, theatrical censorship was entrusted to the III department. This reorganization contributed to tightening government control over the activities of theaters and the bureaucratization of theater administration.

Officials who had no idea about art were charged with directing the work of playwrights and actors.

A similar theatrical policy was strictly implemented by M. A. Gedeonov, who at that time headed the directorate of the imperial theaters. A true official, he made a lot of efforts to strengthen government control over the theater. Under him, creative issues were resolved exclusively by the administration. Gedeonov especially carefully monitored the repertoire, trying to fill it with works of a loyal or purely entertaining nature. In relations with subordinates, including actors, he was rude and capricious. Karatygin wrote about him: “Spoiled by happiness and easily acquired ranks and honors, he became infected with tyranny and was willful to the point of vulgarity and capricious to the point of childishness.”

Wanting to please the court, he encouraged veneration, servility, and barracks discipline in the theater. At the same time, art itself was of little interest to Gedeonov. Glinka characterized him as an insignificant person, for whom art meant nothing. In accordance with the director’s requests, theater officials were also selected: “... these were random people, shady personalities, who had nothing to do with art, but who knew how to carry out orders and demand from their subordinates. Bribery and embezzlement flourished.”

Naturally, the position of the actors in such conditions was especially difficult. Being formally free people, they were essentially completely dependent on the arbitrariness of the management, officials, and police authorities. When entering the state stage, the actors entered into a contract with the management for three years. According to it, they were obliged to play without fail the roles that would be provided to them by the administration. Actors who enjoyed success with the public were also given so-called benefit performances, the proceeds from which were largely transferred to the artist. However, the slightest protest against the terms of the contract could lead to its termination and, consequently, leave the actor without work.

The possibility of pressure from the management on the actors was aggravated by the unequal position in which the “servants of Melpomene” found themselves at that time. In the eyes of representatives " high society“The artist of the imperial theaters differed little from the serf actor, being the same “actor”, “comedian”, and social renegade. According to one of the prominent actors of that time, “the nobles looked at the artists from the heights of their greatness, treating them as buffoons, as people belonging to a caste, if not outcast, then at least useless and almost harmful.”

The government had a similar attitude towards actors. Confirmation of this was a special decree of 1827 on officials wishing to become actors, which was ordered to be determined only by deprivation of ranks.

The “low” position of the actors was constantly emphasized by officials of the directorate of the imperial theaters, who constantly subjected them to insulting and arbitrary punishments. Although the artists were not subject to corporal punishment - only theater carpenters, stokers and other low-level stage employees were subject to it - arrests “at the office” or “at the theater” were the most common measure of the management’s influence on the actor. Moreover, actors were often subjected to such punishments not for any disciplinary violations, but for creative independence. When, for example, the famous vaudeville actor Dur did not follow the instructions of the theater inspector and, playing the role of a young coachman, did not glue on his beard, Prince Gagarin, former director theater, put him under arrest for three days. The refusal of the role of the ballerina Novitskaya, which did not correspond to her data, caused a whole “administrative storm”: the Governor-General of St. Petersburg Miloradovich, who was reputed to be a great theatergoer, summoned the “disobedient” and threatened her with a “straithouse”. The threat had such a strong effect on Novitskaya that the next day she fell ill with “nervous fever” and a few days later she was gone.

The artistic life of that time was very meager. Even the artists of state theaters, who received a certain salary and therefore were less dependent on box office receipts than provincial artists, experienced constant financial difficulties. The salaries of the actors of the imperial theaters were, as a rule, not great and for the most part they were not enough to support the family, purchase costumes and other needs of an actor's life. Therefore, benefit performances played a significant role in the family budget, preparations for which began in advance. At first, the actor or actress was busy choosing a play, inviting comrades to take part in the performance, and drawing up a poster as large as possible with the most tempting titles. The adjectives “mysterious,” “terrible,” and “bloody” were inevitable, as were references to gun shots, sparklers, and other wonders of pyrotechnics. Family beneficiaries, hoping to touch the audience, often added divertissements to the performance, in which their young children read fables or danced.

Finally, 5–6 days before the performance, the distribution of tickets to patrons began. “The beneficiaries, dressed to the nines, began their visits in order of seniority: first, to His Excellency Count Mikhail Andreevich Miloradovich, after him to the nobles, and from there to eminent merchants...”. If an actor or actress in other houses was not quite politely shown the door, then this did not surprise anyone. But generous patrons paid 25 or more rubles for a ticket. The benefit performance usually attracted a large audience. At the end, fans brought wreaths and baskets of flowers to the beneficiary. Their cost depended on the popularity of the artist. It often happened that several months, and sometimes even days after the benefit, the presented cigarette cases, snuff boxes or jewelry were sent as collateral to the moneylender to replenish the family cash register.

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From the book Gladiators by Matthews Rupert

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author Yakovkina Natalya Ivanovna

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From the book History of Russian Culture. 19th century author Yakovkina Natalya Ivanovna

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Until the end of the 19th century, German dramatic art was much better known in Russia than Russian in Germany. Intensive touring activities of drama theaters began to develop in the 80s of the 19th century. The most significant for the development of cooperation between German and Russian theater were the performances in Russia of such outstanding actors from Germany as L. Barnay, E. Possart, and an acting ensemble under the direction of director Max Reinhardt.

As in Germany, the number of theaters increased. Moscow and St. Petersburg remained the places where theatrical activity was concentrated. All theaters were under the control of officials, which did not give freedom to creativity.

Over the course of its history, Russian theater has sufficiently absorbed Western European foundations and in the 19th century began to look for its own ways of development. This time is important both in relation to social and cultural changes in society - the Russian intelligentsia is being formed. The first ones appear in Russia scientific works dedicated to theatrical art. In 1861, “The Chronicle of the Russian Theater” was published, the author of which was the first Russian theater historiographer Pimen Nikolaevich Arapov. The first theater magazines also appeared (“Dramatic Herald”, “Drama Journal”, etc.). They occupy an important place in cultural life society theater critics(V.V. Stasov). New generations of playwrights, directors, and actors are focusing on the need to transform the theater - theater is becoming a means of expressing national ideas and social problems.

However, the acting style of the actors, which was characterized by loud, passionate monologues, spectacular poses and gestures, and striking demonstrative departures from the stage, required reforms. Into the mainstream of Russian realism performing arts sent by A.N. Ostrovsky (1823-1886). His fresh ideas found application in the Maly (Moscow) and Alexandria (St. Petersburg) theaters, and then gradually moved from imperial stages to private ones - from capitals to the provinces. Ostrovsky's creativity - the most important stage on the path of development of the Russian national theater. In 1874, the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers was formed; Ostrovsky remained the chairman of the Society until his death (1886). In 1881, a commission was organized “to revise the regulations on all parts of theater management.” Ostrovsky carried out a number of reforms that were most important for Russian theatrical art:

1) the bet is not on one actor;

2) “people go to watch the game, not the play itself - you can read it”;

3) the actor is required to be detached from his personality.

We present here only some of the changes introduced by the reformer. Talented actors P.M. Sadovsky, S.V. Vasiliev, S.V. Shumsky and others, who previously performed exclusively the heroes of Shakespeare and Moliere, coped with the embodiment of Ostrovsky’s heroes.

Such transformations in dramaturgy were not received positively by everyone - Ostrovsky’s work was criticized both in the 19th century (Dobrolyubov, Grigoriev) and in the 20th (Lobanov).

In the 80-90s of the 19th century, after the assassination of Alexander II, censorship oppression intensified. Theaters are going through a difficult period; only plays by recognized classics remain in their repertoire. At the end of the 19th century, two great events took place in theatrical life that radically changed the position of Russian drama. The first is the birth of A.P.’s dramaturgy. Chekhov (1860-1904). The second is the organization and opening of the Art Theater.

Chekhov’s first play “Ivanov” (1887-89) has new features:

1) there is no division into positive and negative heroes;

2) unhurried rhythm of action;

3) semantic richness;

4) hidden tension.

In 1895, the play “The Seagull” appeared, but the performance did not find success with the public and critics. Chekhov's dramaturgy demanded revolutionary transformations in theater business. Theater teacher, playwright V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko appreciated the play. Nemirovich-Danchenko first (from 1882 to 1901) himself wrote for the theater, the best of his plays had significant stage success, two of them ("New Business" and "The Price of Life") were awarded the Griboyedov Prize. But Nemirovich-Danchenko’s hopes for renovating the theater were not connected with his own dramaturgy. For him, the task of creating new forms of stage art is identified with the task of correctly bringing Chekhov’s plays to life on stage. Nemirovich-Danchenko had to make an effort to make Chekhov himself believe in the new theater, who, after the failure of The Seagull, refused to write and stage his own plays in the future. And one more merit of Nemirovich-Danchenko is invaluable: he helped the great director K. S. Stanislavsky understand and feel Chekhov, combining his understanding of the inner essence in the joint production of “The Seagull” Chekhov's play with a wonderful sense of stage courage and novelty that Stanislavsky carried.

In 1898 V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko and K.S. Stanislavsky (by this time Stanislavsky was already known as an actor, theater figure, and director) created a new Moscow Art Theater, since 1919 - an academic one (Moscow Art Theater), which laid the foundation for psychological Russian theater. The program of the new Moscow Art Theater was founded by Nemirovich-Danchenko and Stanislavsky on the same principles as Otto Brahm’s “Free Stage”:

1) low ticket prices ensure the popularization and democratization of the tetra;

2) the subordination of all components of the production corresponds to a single concept;

3) creation of historical and everyday authenticity;

4) protest against pretentious declamation;

5) inadmissibility of playing;

6) the new theater does not accept the previous repertoire, but advocates the promotion of modern drama.

Most The troupe was made up of students of the drama department of the Music and Drama School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, where acting was taught by V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko (I. Moskvin, O. Knipper, V. Meyerhold, M. Germanova, M. Savitskaya, M. Roksanova, N. . Litovtseva), and participants in performances directed by K.S. Stanislavsky Society of Lovers of Art and Literature (M. Andreeva, M. Lilina, V. Luzhsky). A. Vishnevsky was invited from the provinces, in 1900 V. Kachalov was accepted into the troupe, in 1903 L. Leonidov.

The success of the staged “The Seagull” (December 17, 1898) became a symbol of the birth of the Art Theater and the personal triumph of Nemirovich-Danchenko, recognized by Chekhov himself: “You gave my “The Seagull” life. Thank you!" . The production of the play "Uncle Vanya" finally established the new theater and Chekhov's dramaturgy. Along with the tragedies of A.K. Tolstoy - “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich” and “The Death of Ivan the Terrible”, with Stanislavsky in the title role, the theater staged plays by A.M. Gorky (“At the Lower Depths”, “The Bourgeois”) and foreign contemporary playwrights G. Hauptmann and G. Ibsen. Soon the new play “Three Sisters” began to be called the best performance of the Art Theater. Nemirovich-Danchenko accepted Chekhov’s last play “The Cherry Orchard” with reservations, but recognized it as “the brightest, most expressive symbol of the Art Theater.”

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

Two great events in theatrical life mark the end of the 19th century - the birth of the dramaturgy of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov and the creation of the Art Theater. In Chekhov's first play, “Ivanov,” new features were revealed: the absence of division of characters into heroes and villains, a leisurely rhythm of action with enormous internal tension. In 1895, Chekhov wrote a major play, The Seagull. However, the performance staged by the Alexandria Theater based on this play failed. Dramaturgy required new stage principles: Chekhov could not perform on stage without direction. The innovative work was appreciated by the playwright and theater teacher Nemirovich-Danchenko. Who, together with the actor and 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. On the stage they saw not actors playing at the “audience”, but genuine living people speaking to each other in the most ordinary, not elevated tone, as if at home. People moving freely and even turning their backs to the viewer (which seemed especially daring). The sincerity and simplicity of the playing, the naturalness of halftones and pauses touched everyone with truthfulness. Moreover, even those who played weekend and wordless roles were not mannequins, but created their own small artistic image. The members of the team that created the performance, guided by the director's will, were imbued with and welded together by a single task. And this created an ensemble unprecedented in the Russian theater until then, striking in its overall consistency. In December, the premiere of “The Seagull” took place, which has since been the emblem of the theater. The performance was entirely built on mood, on barely noticeable in external expression emotional movements, unusual images, which could not be shown, depicted, one 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 act, but to live on stage.” For the play, Stanislavsky came up with mise-en-scène that had never existed in the theater. Thus, together with Chekhov, a diversity was created that largely determined the further development of the theater. This required new technology acting performance. After all, living on stage is many times more difficult than performing. And Stanislavsky creates his own system of psychological realism, aimed at reproducing the “life of the human spirit.” And Nemirovich-Danchenko develops the doctrine of the “second plan” when behind what is said much is unspoken.

In 1902, with funds from the largest Russian philanthropist S. T. Morozov built the famous Moscow Art Theater building. Stanislavsky admitted that “the main initiator and creator of the socio-political life” of their theater was Maxim Gorky. The performances of his plays “Three”, “Bourgeois”, “At the Bottom” showed the difficult lot of workers and the “lower classes of society”, their rights, and a call for revolutionary restructuring. The performances took place in crowded halls.

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. Sick of the bureaucracy that was strangling the imperial stage, she left it and created her own theater in St. Petersburg. In 1904, the premiere of “Dachniki” took place here. Gorky's plays became the leading ones in the repertoire of the Komissarzhevskaya Theater.

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 Liteiny Theater was the third theater of the entrepreneur (after the Nevsky Farce and Modern). The theater's poster was full of scary titles: “Death in the Arms,” “On gravestone" and so on. Critics wrote that the theater was doing anti-artistic, irritable things. Spectators poured in. The Foundry Theater had a predecessor - the Parisian theater of “strong sensations”, headed by the creator and author of plays Andre de Lorde. The Russian theater imitated him from the repertoire to the specific means of influencing the audience. But the spirit of Russian life did not resemble the atmosphere of Parisian inhabitants. The attraction to the terrible, the repulsive captured various layers of the Russian public. After two months, interest in the theater faded. main reason is that the horror theater could not compete with the horrors of Russian modernity. The theater's programs changed greatly, and three years later the theater received the genre designation "Theater of Miniatures." The number of miniature theaters increased markedly after 1910. Actors, for the sake of profit, move from drama to miniature theaters, many drama theaters somehow made ends meet, and miniature theaters 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. The programs were built from one-act comedies, operas, operettas, and ballets.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, a passion for luxurious productions, completely devoid of artistic ideas, was characteristic of the style of the pre-revolutionary Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters. The ensembles of a number of opera houses, first-class in their artistic composition, only won their creative achievements through a complex and intense struggle. 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. Fokine was a choreographer and Artistic director. The performances were designed by famous artists A. Benois and N. Roerich. Performances of “La Sylphides” (music by Chopin), Polovtsian dances from the opera “Prince Igor” by Borodin, “Firebird” and “Petrushka” (music by Stravinsky) and so on were shown. The performances were a triumph of Russian choreographic art. The dancers proved that classical ballet can be modern and excite the viewer. Fokine’s best productions were “Petrushka”, “The Firebird”, “Scheherazade”, “The Dying Swan”, in which music, painting and choreography were united.

Our country is famous for its drama school. We have the opportunity to see the actors who stood at the origins of the Russian theater and cinema!! I really wanted to see them young...

Lenin, Michael Frantsevich- Wikipedia

Photo from the beginning of the twentieth century.

If I tell you that the photograph posted a little higher is Lenin, then I think most of you will have the first reaction of “not similar.” Still, we are more accustomed to seeing photographs of the leader of the world proletariat, Vladimir Ilyich Lenia.
Not everyone knows that in the first half of the twentieth century another Lenin was popular - actor Mikhail Frantsevich Lenin.
Naturally, the coincidence of pseudonyms led to some interesting points. Here are some of them.
in 1905, Mikhail Frantsevich addressed the public from the pages of the Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper with an urgent request: “I, artist of the Imperial Maly Theater Mikhail Lenin, ask not to confuse me with this political adventurer Vladimir Lenin.”

Gradually, the fame of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin grew and in the April 1917 issue of the magazine “Ramp and Life” it had to be explained again: on the first cover a photograph of the actor was printed with the caption “Please do not mix.”
Some legends about the two Lenins are also interesting. According to one of them, one day a messenger ran into K. S. Stanislavsky’s office and shouted: “Konstantin Sergeevich, misfortune: Lenin has died!” “A-ah, Mikhail Frantsevich!” - Stanislavsky threw up his hands. “No - Vladimir Ilyich!” “Pah-pah-pah,” Stanislavsky knocked on the wood, “pah-pah-pah!..”
Another funny rumor is that J.V. Stalin said: “I cannot give Lenin the Order of Lenin... The people will not understand this!”
Surprisingly, after all this, Mikhail Frantsevich Lenin was awarded the Order of Lenin on October 26, 1949!
Mikhail Frantsevich Lenin (real name Ignatyuk, 1880 - 1951) is a Russian dramatic actor, one of the luminaries of the Maly Theater. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1937).

Alexandra Aleksandrovna Yablochkina (1866-1964), outstanding Russian and Soviet theater actress, People's Artist of the USSR (1937), laureate of the Stalin Prize (1943), three times holder of the Order of Lenin.

Photo from the beginning of the twentieth century.

Maria Nikolaevna Ermolova (1853-1928), outstanding Russian actress. Honored Artist of the Imperial Theaters, People's Artist of the Republic (1920). Hero of Labor (1924).

Stanislavsky, Konstantin Sergeevich — Wikipedia

Photo from the beginning of the twentieth century.

Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky (real name Alekseev; 1863-1938), an outstanding Russian theater director, actor and teacher. People's Artist of the USSR (1936).

Photo from the beginning of the twentieth century.

Vasily Ivanovich Kachalov (real name Shverubovich, 1875 - 1948), outstanding Russian and Soviet theater actor; People's Artist of the USSR (1936), laureate of the Stalin Prize, first degree (1943); awarded two Orders of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

Gzovskaya, Olga Vladimirovna — Wikipedia

Photo from the beginning of the twentieth century.

Olga Vladimirovna Gzovskaya (1883 - 1962), an outstanding theater and film actress.

Roshchina-Insarova, Catherine Nikolaevna - Wikipedia

Photo from the beginning of the twentieth century.

Ekaterina Nikolaevna Roshchina-Insarova (nee Pashennaya) (1883-1970), Russian dramatic actress.
Daughter of actor N.P. Roshchin-Insarov, sister of People's Artist of the USSR V.N. Pashennaya.

Roshchina-Insarova first appeared on stage in 1897. In 1899, Roshchina-Insarova was invited by N.N. Sinelnikov to his Kiev troupe, and played a lot in the provinces (in theaters in Astrakhan, Penza, Rostov-on-Don, Samara and other cities .) and in the Moscow Theater of F. A. Korsh. 1905-1909 Roshchina-Insarova performed on the stage of the Theater of the Literary and Artistic Society in St. Petersburg. In 1909-1911 - at the K. Nezlobin Theater in Moscow. In 1911-1913 Roshchina-Insarova worked at the Maly Theater, in 1913-1919 in St. Petersburg, at the Alexandrinsky Theater.

Roshchina-Insarova’s playing was distinguished by its grace and depth of emotion.
In 1918, N.P. Roshchina-Insarova left Moscow with her husband, Count S. Ignatiev, to the south, and in 1919 she emigrated from Russia.
N.P. Roshchina-Insarova’s first performance in Paris took place at an evening in memory of L.N. Tolstoy on January 5, 1921.
In 1922, N.P. Roshchina-Insarova took part in the performance of the Russian Theater Agency "Jealousy" by M.P. Artsybashev.

N.P. Roshchina-Insarova organized her own troupe, opened the Russian Chamber Theater and studio in Riga, which lasted two seasons. In 1925, Roshchina-Insarova returned to Paris, where she gave performances at the Albert Theater.
In 1926, when the 25th anniversary of N.P. Roshchina-Insarova’s stage activity was celebrated, she was greeted by many outstanding people, among whom: A. Kuprin, I. Bunin, K. Balmont, N. Teffi, B. Zaitsev, Vas. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko.
In subsequent years, Roshchina-Insarova participated in literary and artistic evenings, concerts, group performances, and gave lessons acting, played in the theater of Georges and Lyudmila Pitoev, was a director and performer in plays by Nemirovich-Danchenko, N. Teffi, Ostrovsky and others.

The last time Roshchina-Insarova performed was in 1957 at an evening in memory of N. Teffi. In the same year, she moved to Cormeil-en-Parisy (a suburb of Paris) to a Russian nursing home. Roshchina-Insarova died in Paris on March 28, 1970.

I would like to finish the story about this actress with the words of Merezhkovsky, who called her “one of our most subtle and captivating artists.”

Vera Fedorovna Komissarzhevskaya (1864-1910), an outstanding Russian dramatic and tragic actress and director, nicknamed the “Russian Duse”.

Vera Komissarzhevskaya was born on October 27 (November 8), 1864 in St. Petersburg. The daughter of a famous singer, she sang and subsequently played in amateur performances by K.S. Stanislavsky.
From 1896 to 1902, Vera Komissarzhevskaya was a member of the troupe of the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.
In 1902, Vera Komissarzhevskaya went on tour to the USA.
In 1904, Vera Komissarzhevskaya opened her own theater in St. Petersburg - the Komissarzhevskaya Theater.

Vera Komissarzhevskaya played about a thousand roles in classical and modern plays, including the role of Nina in the first production of The Seagull by A.P. Chekhov. Among Komissarzhevskaya’s friends were the writers M. Gorky and L.N. Andreev.
Komissarzhevskaya died of smallpox, having become infected during a tour in Tashkent on February 10 (23), 1910.

Photo from the beginning of the twentieth century.

Alexander Leonidovich Vishnevsky (real name Vishnevetsky, 1863-1943), outstanding Russian actor, Hero of Labor, Honored Artist of the Republic.

As you know, the Moscow Art Theater (MAT) opened on October 14 (26), 1898 with the premiere of “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich” by A. Tolstoy. Boris Godunov in this performance was played by Alexander Leonidovich Vishnevsky. To the Moscow Art Theater troupe A.L. Vishnevsky was invited on the recommendation of the great Russian actress Glikeria Nikolaevna Fedotova.

Alexander Leonidovich Vishnevsky was the first performer of the title role in the Moscow Art Theater play "Uncle Vanya". In general, Vishnevsky played Chekhov a lot. His favorite role was Doctor Dorn, he played him in the first production of “The Seagull” on the stage of the Art Theater. He was also the first performer of the role of Kulagin in Three Sisters. For my long theatrical life A.L. Vishnevsky played many wonderful roles in the plays “At the Depths”, “Woe from Wit”, “Hamlet”, “Julius Caesar”, “Autumn Violins”, “Sellers of Glory”, “The Snow Maiden”, etc.

A.L. Vishnevsky was the first artist to be awarded the title of Hero of Labor.

When did the Great Patriotic War, A.L. Vishnevsky, together with the Moscow Art Theater elders, was evacuated to Tbilisi. Fear of a German offensive forced the Vishnevskys to move to Tashkent. There Alexander Leonidovich Vishnevsky died in 1943.

Photo from the beginning of the twentieth century.

Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova (1868 - 1959), outstanding Russian actress; People's Artist of the USSR (1937), wife of A.P. Chekhov.

Cold, Faith Vasilevna - Wikipedia

Pavlova

Vera Lyadova was the first prima donna of Russian operetta, and it was she who was responsible for the unprecedented success of this musical genre on the Alexandrinsky stage in the late 1860s. As noted in the sources, in addition to the magnificent stage appearance, innate musicality, beautiful voice and excellent choreography, she had humor and “the special chic of a cascade operetta actress.” She performed equally successfully in operetta, ballet, and drama.

The viewer went to the Alexandrinsky Theater “to see Lyadova.” Her name on the poster ensured not just a full gathering, but every time a celebration, a triumph for the “queen of the cancan.” Tickets for the performance were obtained miraculously - only by appointment, and people were willing to pay two, three, five times their actual price for them. According to M. O. Yankovsky, after the production of “Beautiful Elena”, the St. Petersburg imperial drama For 5-6 years it turned into a real operetta theater in terms of repertoire saturation.

5 facts about Vera Lyadova

Vera Lyadova's salary in ballet troupe Petersburg Imperial Theaters amounted to 600 silver rubles per year.
Play by Jacques Offenbach " Beautiful Elena"with Vera Lyadova, in its first season, it held forty-two performances at the Alexandrinsky Theater.
Having married choreographer Lev Ivanov, Vera Lyadova added her husband’s surname to her surname, becoming Lyadova-Ivanova. This surname is also carved on the actress’s tombstone.
Lyadova, who did not leave the ballet stage for more than ten years, became a mother three times during this time. Of the three sons born to her, the first died in infancy, and two survived, but the youngest of them was deaf and mute.
The funeral of Vera Lyadova became her last triumph. The crowd blocked all the streets along which the funeral procession passed. The coffin was carried in the hands of artists of the imperial theaters all the way to the Smolensk cemetery, where so many people gathered that many climbed onto trees, partitions and even awnings on the graves.

Materials about Vera Lyadova

This is the most "theatrical" era in the history of Russian culture. The theater played perhaps the leading role in it, spreading its influence to other forms of art.

The theater in these years was a public platform where the most pressing issues of our time were raised, and at the same time a creative laboratory that opened the door wide to experimentation and creative quests. Major artists turned to the theater, striving for a synthesis of different types of creativity.

For the Russian theater this is an era of ups and downs, innovative creative searches and experiments. In this sense, theater did not lag behind literature and art.

At the forefront of theatrical art was the Moscow Art Theater, led by Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, with a wonderful troupe of young actors, which included O. Knipper-Chekhova, M. Lilina, Vs. Meyerhold, V. Kachalov, I. M. Moskvin, A. Vishnevsky and others.

We remember that the surge in theatrical art was associated with the theater’s collaboration with A.P. Chekhov after the triumphant premiere of "The Seagull" in December 1898. In 1900, an event in theatrical life was the production of G. Ibsen's play "Doctor Shtokman". It acquired an acute social resonance on stage. Shtokman, performed by Stanislavsky, became “the hero of a heroless time.”

Drama by Maxim Gorky

A new page in the history of the Moscow Art Theater and in all theatrical art was dramaturgy of M. Gorky, who fell in love with the theater troupe and wrote to Chekhov that it was criminal not to write for such a theater.

The first play, “The Bourgeois,” was written by Gorky in 1902; it was allowed to be staged with abundant censorship notes (everything that was said about the hard lot of the workers, about their peacocks, about the inevitable breakdown of the existing order was crossed out). But at the screening of the play in St. Petersburg, where the theater came on tour, there was a heavy police presence in and around the theater building. And Nemirovich-Danchenko went to the gallery and asked the student youth not to organize any demonstrations so that repression would not fall on Gorky.

Gorky's new hero worker Nile states: “The owner is the one who works... A person must win his own rights if he does not want to be crushed...” For folk theaters, the play was banned, but nevertheless, “Philistines” was performed in many cities: in Samara, Saratov , Kiev, Yaroslavl, Perm, Vyborg, Pinsk, Yelets, Sarapul, etc.

A year later, Gorky gave the theater "At the Lower Depths". In the first season, in 2 months, the play appeared on the Moscow Art Theater posters 50 times, and on tour in St. Petersburg - 12 times. And invariably - in front of a crowded auditorium. The furor after the performances went beyond all usual limits. At the end of the performance there was no end to the challenges of the author, directors, performers (Stanislavsky - Satin, Moskvin - Luka, Kachalov - Baron, Nastya - Knipper, Vaska Pepla - Leonidov...). Man - that sounds proud! - became a password people's struggle with tsarism.

The play "At the Lower Depths" also played on most theater stages in Russia, albeit with different interpretations. Sometimes in provincial theaters the slang of the flophouse was relished, the plot was presented as a comedy. But the majority took the play seriously and thoughtfully.

K. S. Stanislavsky admitted that “Gorky was the main initiator and creator of the socio-political life of the theater.” Russian theater became more and more arena of open political struggle. But not all theaters took progressive positions in this struggle. Many stood aloof from this battle, and sometimes allowed plays of a Black Hundred nature on their stage ("The Return" by Donne at the Moscow Korsh Theater), etc.

Vera Komissarzhevskaya Theater

Further contributions to the stage interpretation of Gorky’s dramaturgy are associated with the Vera Fedorovna Komissarzhevskaya Theater. Which left the imperial stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater in 1902, and after touring the provinces, she created her own theater on a share basis, similar to the Moscow Art Theater.

In November 1904, the premiere of Gorky's 3rd play "Summer Residents" took place here about the Russian intelligentsia, which came from the democratic strata, but having reached a certain social position, lost contact with the people, forgetting about their interests and the need to improve their lives. Writer A. N. Serebrov (Tikhonov), who was present at the premiere, called “Dachnikov” “a performance-demonstration, a performance-fight.”

In the fall of 1905, the theater staged "Children of the Sun." After the performance they demanded the author, although everyone knew that Gorky was in exile.

Thus, Gorky's plays became leading in the repertoire of the Komissarzhevskaya Theater, Moscow Art Theater and other theaters. But since 1906, the situation has changed dramatically: “Summer Residents” and “Children of the Sun” disappeared from the posters, “Philistines” and “At the Lower Depths” moved into the background. Gorky's new plays "Enemies" (1906) and "The Last" (1908) were not allowed to be staged at all. And what was staged was distorted. Thus, “Varvarov” was staged as a comedy in 1907 at the St. Petersburg Modern Theater. “Vassa Zheleznova” was staged as a formulaic melodrama at the Moscow Nezlobin Theater in 1910. There were other examples of Gorky’s revision, which doomed the productions to failure, this supported the version about the alleged weakness of A. M. Gorky’s new dramatic works. As a result, the plays “The Zykovs” (1913), “The Counterfeit Coin” (1913), and “The Old Man” (1915) were not staged at all before the revolution.

These were the years of political reaction, and the theater was looking for new forms of existence and self-expression, but for many theater groups these were years of stagnation. A muddy stream of plays of dubious nature poured onto the theater stages ("Girl with a Mouse" by S. Aleksin, "Vera Mirtseva" by L. Urvantsev, as well as "The Comedy of Death" by V. Baryatinsky, etc.). Plays were staged that were openly designed for cheap sensation ("Blind Love" by N. Grushko, where a mother covers up the crime of her son who strangled a girl; "The Scolded" by P. Nevezhin with atrocities, suicides, with a real memorial service for the dead - this was during the war years) . The separation of the repertoire from modernity, common to theatres, partially captured even the Moscow Art Theater for some time. Critics at that time noted that the theater’s performances bore a mark of creative fatigue.

The same picture could be seen at the Moscow Maly Theater. The realism of Ostrovsky's plays was replaced by petty everydayism.

Symbolism in Russian theater

The magazine “Theater and Art” wrote at the beginning of 1917: “Now in art, like squandered revelers, we are rewriting bills. Currency has long no longer corresponded to obligations.” The original Russian theater experienced a wave symbolism. Symbolist poets saw the theater as a platform for their new ideas. With their plays, the Symbolists brought the contemporary stage closer to poetry, found new theatrical imagery, used new scenography, and the associative content of the play ("Earth" by V. Ya. Bryusov, "Tantalus" by V. I. Ivanov, "The King in the Square", "Balaganchik" , “Stranger”, “Rose and Cross” by Blok, etc.).

The symbolism was not homogeneous. Thus, in the dramas of F.K. Sologub, one felt a philosophical rejection of life, in which there is no place for high spirituality, for beauty and truth. Folklore plays A. M. Remizov were full of sinister motives.

Symbolism affected some of L. N. Andreev’s plays, in early work futurist V. Mayakovsky (Tragedy "Vladimir Mayakovsky").

The largest theaters turned to the dramaturgy of the Symbolists. So in 1904, on the advice of A.P. Chekhov, K. Stanislavsky staged Maeterlinck’s trilogy “The Blind,” “Uninvited,” and “There Inside” at the Moscow Art Theater. In 1905 he opened the Studio Theater on Povarskaya, where, together with Meyerhold, he studied the production possibilities of the new artistic direction. There were many questions: how to reconcile the conventionality of stage design with the everyday characteristics of the actors’ performances, how to elevate the actor’s creativity to the level of high poetic generalization? etc.

Using the techniques of symbolism in his work on the performances “The Drama of Life” by K. Hamsun and “The Life of Man” by Andreev, Stanislavsky became convinced of the need to educate a new actor capable of deeply revealing the “life of the human spirit”, and began his experiments in creating the “system” about which we let's say a little lower. In 1908, he staged Maeterlinck’s philosophical play-fairy tale “The Blue Bird” (scenery by artist V. E. Egorov) - perhaps best work from the symbolic repertoire. The fairy tale lasted on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater for over 60 years.

New searches were conducted in St. Petersburg at the theater of Vera Fedorovna Komissarzhevskaya. She invited Meyerhold as the main director, who carried out a number of productions in 1906-1908. Successful were Blok's "Showroom" and "Sister Beatrice" by M. Maeterlinck, etc. After the surge of symbolism, some theaters continued to mark time, slipping into the tastes of the bourgeois public, as we have already discussed, others continued to boldly experiment in the vein of avant-gardeism. Such bold experimenters include V. E. Meyerhold. Already in the "Studio on Povarskaya" he proclaimed the ideas " conventional theater"This was not what Stanislavsky hoped for; new techniques and principles were implemented by Meyerhold in other theaters.

In 1906, Meyerhold became the chief director of the theater of V.F. Komissarzhevskaya and got the opportunity to fully realize his art program. In his productions, Meyerhold placed at the forefront the creative ideological and artistic concept of the performance put forward by the director. The one-sided emphasis on the creative activity of production art often led to a kind of dictatorship of the director both in relation to the actor and in relation to the author of the play. The actor often turned into a “pawn” in the hands of the director. The emphasis shifted from the psychological expressiveness of the actor’s performance to the picturesque, plastic expressiveness of the drawing of the image he created.

Meyerhold was to be assisted by an artist in implementing the director's concept. The artist had to destroy the illusion of authenticity and create a conventional design in the theater that expresses the director's idea. To this end, Meyerhold tried to destroy the three-dimensional stage space and turn it into two-dimensional. The scenery was replaced by a picturesque panel, the stage area was reduced and became its appendage (often moved to the proscenium). The director treated the actor as a colorful spot, because he was interested on stage not so much in the expression of real characters, but in revealing the essence symbolic play through the director's idea. He sought to replace the illusion of plausibility with convention. This was done in contrast to the Moscow Art Theater, which always revealed the playwright’s intentions and tirelessly emphasized the central importance of the actor’s creativity in the play.

Meyerhold found artists who became his allies (N. N. Sapunov, S. Yu. Sudeikin, N. P. Ulyanov, V. S. Denisov, etc.) At the Komissarzhevskaya Theater, Meyerhold's productions were uneven. So social and everyday, psychological play“Hedda Gabler” by Ibsen (artists Sudeikin, Sapunov, V.D. Milioti) was staged in a conventionally symbolic manner.

The entire performance was characterized by a deliberate and demonstrative discrepancy with the author's directions. In Milioti's costumes, each character was given a special color: Hedda - golden, her husband - lead gray, etc.

In the production of A. Blok's "Balaganchik" the principles of "conventional theater" turned out to be necessary for the embodiment of a symbolic play (artist Sapunov).

In the lyrical-symbolic drama of A. Blok, the idea of dual life is revealed. The visible world surrounding a person is vulgar and false. But all his phenomena are full of a different, allegorical meaning. Therefore, everything is deceptive and contrary to appearances: ordinary people- these are mechanical puppets, and puppet characters (Pierrot, Harlequin) are endowed with truly human feelings; the poetic distance turns out to be drawn on paper, and the ideal beloved turns into Death. The collapse of illusions gives rise to irony, and in the rays of irony, reality takes on the features of the grotesque.

In 1906-1907 Meyerhold staged a number of performances at the Komissarzhevskaya Theater, in each of which he looked for new design techniques. Thus, “The Life of a Man” by L. Andreev is shown in gray cloth, without decorations, personifying the remark of one of the heroes - “everything is like in a dream.” Wedekind's "Spring Awakening" is based on local light, that is, in the episodic illumination of scenes of action in different corners of the stage. Ibsen's "Ghosts" is performed as a performance without a curtain, taking place mainly on the proscenium. In “Sister Beatrice” by Maeterlinck and “The Eternal Tale” by Przybyszewski, the play of actors on the stairs, which occupies a significant part of the stage, plays a large role. In “Sister Beatrice,” in addition, the technique of “living bas-relief” was used, based on the director’s sculptural interpretation of the actor’s figure. The director sought to achieve almost complete statuesqueness in the actor’s performance, motivating it either with the “mysteriousness” of the production (for example, “Beatrice’s Sisters”) or with the idea of revival ancient theater. This led to the replacement of a living person with a puppet. And therefore, part of the troupe, led by Komissarzhevskaya herself, very soon rebelled against Meyerhold. And she broke up with Meyerhold, just as Stanislavsky had broken up with him earlier. Using symbolist dramaturgy, he tried to create the principles of a new “conventional theater.”

Vera Komissarzhevskaya, believing that new theater possible only with a new actor, decides to open young actor studio. But her plans were not destined to come true. During a tour in Tashkent, she died of smallpox in 1910.

In 1907, Meyerhold wrote an article “On the history and technology of theatre,” in which he outlined the principles of “conventional theater,” contrasted them with the Moscow Art Theater and accused the latter of naturalism. Striving for the art of great generalizations, he affirmed the principle of stylization as one of the methods for the artistic solution of a performance. According to Meyerhold, the concept of stylization is “inextricably linked with the idea of convention, generalization, and symbol.”

Meyerhold and the artists who shared his beliefs actively sought and actively protested against the copying of historical styles, against the replacement of creative design with “realistic” things and costumes on stage. It was the beginning of the way, so there were failures. But be that as it may, we recognize the desire for the art of great generalizations, the affirmation of the active creative role of the director in the interpretation of the work, the fight against superficial salon art, the development of stage technology and the enrichment of design techniques.

"Traditional theater"

In 1908, V. A. Telyakovsky (V. A. Telyakovsky - director of the office of the imperial theaters (1901-1917; he sought to update the work, attract best forces, to enrich theaters with the experience of modern art) attracted Meyerhold to the imperial theaters after his departure from the Komissarzhevskaya Theater. At this time, Meyerhold actively collaborated with the artist A. Ya. Golovin. Now Meyerhold put forward the principles " traditional theater" - a new type of "conventional theater." He criticized the Ancient Theater of N. N. Evreinov, but at the same time sought to enrich the modern theater forgotten tricks And forms of theatrical performances of bygone centuries, contrasting them with the theatrical naturalism of modernity.

"Traditional theater" the director accepts it as theater "pure theatricality", where they do not try to instill in the viewer the illusion of verisimilitude. The viewer must remember at all times that he is in the theater. Such a viewer from the outside actively evaluates what is happening from a modern perspective. At the same time, Meyerhold sought to bring such an “outsider” but appreciating viewer as close to the stage as possible. For this purpose, “exposure of the technique” was used - changing the scenery and dressing the actors in front of the audience, interfering with the action of “stage servants”, as well as destroying the ramp, the absence of a curtain, light in the hall, sometimes acting in the hall, moving the action to the proscenium, etc. d.

In his directorial plans, Meyerhold devoted a large place to theater design. An example of successful collaboration between director Meyerhold and artist Golovin could be the play “Don Juan” by Molière” at the Alexandrinsky Theater (1910). The production was conceived as a home performance in the palace of Louis XIV. The play was performed without a curtain and without a ramp. The audience during the action was illuminated with electric light, and candles were burning on the stage. Changes of scenery took place in front of the audience. Arapchatkas - stage servants - intervened in the action, bringing and taking away furniture, handing things to the actors, etc. Lermontov's "Masquerade" staged by them in 1917 lasted on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater until 1939. This performance became a link between pre-revolutionary and Soviet theater. Meyerhold and Golovin tried, not unsuccessfully, to transfer the found principles of design to musical theater (the opera "Orpheus" by Gluck, 1911, the ballet "The Aragonese Hunt" by Glinka, 1916, the opera " Stone Guest"Dargomyzhsky, 1917 at the Mariinsky Theater, etc.). Meyerhold's mistake was that he tried to make the principles of the "Conditional" ("Traditional Theater") universal.

The idea of a booth theater

At this time, in addition to the principles of “traditional” theater, he put forward the idea of a farce theater, masks, puppets, based on the grotesque as the main method of depicting life. He contrasted the grotesque farce theater with naturalistic and “analytical” (psychological) theater.

Grotesque stylization should generally express the essential contrasts and contradictions of life. He carried out these experiments under the pseudonym "Doctor Dapertutto" in 1910-1911. in a small chamber theater "House of Sideshows". Staging one-act plays by Maeterlinck, Schnitzler, Kuzmin. He was helped by artists Sapunov, Sudeikin and others ("Columbine's Scarf" by A. Schnitzler and others). In productions where people were likened to dolls, the figurative metaphor “life is theater” ultimately acquired mystical meaning. Despite the theater's desire to avoid reflecting life, philistine faces often appeared in productions.

Meyerhold's use of experience square theaters, commedia dell'arte, farce, circus, his search for new forms acting art in the studio on Borodinskaya (1913), where actors studied stage movement and pantomime, which were considered here as the basis of theatrical art - all this will find its continuation in the theater of constructivism after the October Socialist Revolution. In 1913, a theater of futurists emerged - rebels against bourgeois reality. The tragedy "Vladimir Mayakovsky" was staged here, designed by P. N. Filonov and I. S. Shkolnik. The prologue was set against the backdrop of a black square with random colorful spots, and the rest of the paintings were set against a backdrop of scenery depicting a city in an expressionist-cubist style, with a chaotic pile of buildings falling on top of each other.

In 1914, in Moscow, under the leadership of A. Ya. Tairov, he began to work Chamber theater, whose team boldly experimented and was also keen on “playing theatre”.

The activities of such major artists as N. S. Goncharova, A. V. Lentulov, P. V. Kuznetsov, A. A. Ekster developed in this theater.

Interesting were the experiments of A. Exter, who was brought up in France on the works of the post-impressionists, who designed the theater and its performances in the style of cubo-futurism and constructivism. Thus, during the production of O. Wilde’s “Salome” (1916), the stage was divided diagonally Exter by two stands, between which there was a spiral staircase. Single-colored panels descended and moved in all directions. The costumes were made in a constructivist spirit and resembled uniforms.

Activity Stone Theater enriched design principles stage space solutions.

For two seasons (1907/08 and 1911/12) the Ancient Theater of N. N. Evreinov and N. V. Drizen gave its performances in St. Petersburg. This theater aimed to revive medieval miracles, pastorals and liturgical dramas on stage. Artists from the “World of Art” Benois, Roerich, Dobuzhinsky, Bilibin, Lanceray, Sudeikin and others took part in the design of his performances. The medieval repertoire was presented to the audience as it was staged in their time. The character of the stage and the auditorium was recreated. Actors in disguise portrayed medieval spectators watching a performance. For example, the pastoral "Robin and Marion" (art. Dobuzhinsky) was given as a performance during a feast in a knight's castle, surrounded by gathered guests; the liturgical drama “The Adoration of the Magi” (art. Roerich) was depicted as a performance on the porch of the cathedral surrounded by a crowd of worshipers; “The Sheep Spring” by Lope de Vega (art. Roerich) was staged as a performance by a traveling troupe surrounded by common people, etc. Museum-like in spirit, the Ancient Theater could not find a response in a wide audience and therefore turned out to be short-lived.

Folk theaters

At this time they continue to operate folk theaters. This is the Mobile Theater of P. P. Gaideburov. Until 1917, he promoted realistic drama among the broadest sections of the population. In 1910, the Russian Theater Society organized the “Section for promoting the establishment of village and factory theaters at the Moscow Society of People’s Universities.” This section creates its own folk theater. And V.D. Polenov becomes the chairman of the section and at the same time the director and artist of this theater.

After the ruin of S.I. Mamontov, Polenov moved away from his former opera and now headed the workers' and peasants' amateur theaters. During 1911-1917. The master designed many performances in the folk theater, based on the principles of the Wanderers. Polenov created simple and inexpensive standard sets for folk theaters. His sketches were distinguished by the soulful Polenov imagery that distinguished the author of “Moscow Courtyard”. Let's return again to the Moscow Art Theater.

The Moscow Art Theater, turning to the fashionable dramaturgy of the Symbolists, did not forget about the classics:

"A Month in the Village" by I. S. Turgenev (art. Dobuzhinsky),
“Simplicity is enough for every wise man” by A. N. Ostrovsky (art. Kustodiev),
"The Imaginary Invalid" by J. B. Moliere,
“The Landlady of the Hotel” by C. Goldoni (Stanislavsky and Benois agreed on criticism of “conventional theater”),
"The Brothers Karamazov" by F. M. Dostoevsky (art. Dobuzhinsky), etc.

To design these performances, Stanislavsky invited Dobuzhinsky, Roerich, Benois, and Kustodiev. He hoped to raise the pictorial culture of the Moscow Art Theater performances and achieve vivid imagery in the design. The artists of the "World of Art" indeed created a number of outstanding works of their creativity, but at times they came into conflict with the principles of Stanislavsky. Disagreements and disputes arose, sometimes ending in rupture. The activities of the Moscow Art Theater in the pre-revolutionary decade were characterized by certain contradictions, but the democratic and realistic line remained decisive and leading. Suffice it to say that it was at this time that Stanislavsky’s system was formed, on which realistic theater is based.

Stanislavsky system

For practical work using a new technique, which will later be called Stanislavsky system, in 1913 the 1st, and in 1916 - the 2nd Studio of the Moscow Art Theater opened.

Let's say a few words about the world-famous Stanislavsky system.

Stanislavsky system represents a scientifically based theory of stage art, methods of acting technique. Stanislavsky's system opened the way to the creation of a performance as a single artistic whole, to the education of a true artist - actor and director. However, this was the philosophy of the theater, which determined its high goals and objectives during the years of stagnation (70s - 1st half of the 80s). In creating the system, Stanislavsky relied on the experience of Russian theater and his own practice as an actor and director. He summarized the experience of great Russian actors such as

M. S. Shchepkin,
G. N. Fedotova,
M. N. Ermolova and others.

The thoughts and statements about the theater of A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, A. N. Ostrovsky, V. G. Belinsky, L. N. Tolstoy, A. P. Chekhov, A. M. Gorky were also taken into account.

The first section of the system is devoted to the problem of an actor working on himself. This is daily hard training, training for a dancer, singer, violinist. By doing this, the artist improves his technique and artistic skills.

The second section discusses the principles of an actor’s work on a role, based on the art of experience. This is a complex psychological process in the artist’s soul. The actor should not represent the image, but “become the image”, make his experiences, feelings, thoughts his own, live the character’s life as his own. To achieve this goal, the actor and director must work a lot and persistently, penetrate deeply into the essence of the play, determine and study the smallest details of the role, the characteristics of the character and behavior of the character. When performing a performance, the artist does not mechanically repeat what he found in the process of working on the performance, but, as it were, recreates a living one before the eyes of the viewer. creative process birth of the image.

A special place in Stanislavsky’s system occupies the section on ethics of the actor-artist. After all, understanding a role depends on the personality of the actor, his breadth of horizons, life principles, civic position and beliefs. Therefore, the tasks of comprehending art are inseparable from the high moral and ethical problems of forming the artist’s personality.

According to Stanislavsky, the director must help the artist transform into the character. When creating a performance, the actor and director must be guided by the idea of the playwright, the idea of the play, which is why all work on the performance is called “through action.” The end-to-end action must embody the ideological content of the work on stage with extreme precision, depth and conviction - this is the ultimate task of the performance, and all the efforts of the director and actors on stage are subordinated to it.

Stanislavski's system contains sharp criticism handicrafts, amateurism, cliches, routine, everything that hindered the development of stage art.

Stanislavsky's system provided big influence on modern theatrical life, for the development of world theater. His theoretical works have been translated into many languages of the world.

Cabaret theaters

Modernists, in their search for a new theater, turned to folk art.

Many booths and booths were located at fairs in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Chisinau, etc. They performed a variety of acts from folk drama to circus tricks with the participation of spectators in the action. This was studied and used by modernists in professional theaters in large cities, creating many experimental theaters that were financed by large industrialists such as Savva Mamontov (musical theater in Abramtsevo), Princess Maria Tenisheva (musical theater in Talashkino), etc. Talented peasants who studied theatrical skills often played in these theaters theaters

An interesting phenomenon in the theatrical life of the capitals were cabaret theaters, which were close to the folk booth.

So, in February 1908, the Moscow Art Theater actor Nikita Baliev together with some employees opened a tiny theater "Bat". The idea of such a theater originated from the famous skit-makers at the Art Theater. "The Bat" became a nightlife retreat for Moscow Art Theater actors and was the center of Moscow nightlife until its closure in 1919.

Baliev invited major writers and directors to work with him:

Leonida Andreeva,
Andrey Bely,
Valeria Bryusova,
Sergei Gorodetsky,
Vasily Luzhsky,
Vsevolod Meyerhold,
Alexei Tolstoy,
Moskvina,
Tatyana Shchenkina-Kupernik,
Boris Sadovsky.

IN early years Chaliapin, Sobinov, Stanislavsky performed in it. The dramatic repertoire consisted of short sketches, parodies of famous works (for example, “The Inspector General”), and popular prints. Lubok - simplified adaptations of fairy tales and epics of an anecdotal nature. Baliev loved hyperbole, sharp transitions from the comic to the tragic, and constant verbal skirmish with the audience. One day he asked everyone to sing, "Ah, ah, uh, em!" to imitate the sound of a sneeze.

In 1920, Baliev revived Die Fledermaus in Paris, with which he toured around the world. "Die Fledermaus" spawned many imitators both at home and abroad, but most were ephemeral and short-lived. Among them we can remember "Blue Bird". It was founded by actor Yasha Yuzhny in Moscow just before the revolution, and in 1920 it moved to Berlin.

"The Bat" and "The Blue Bird" maintained a high professional level, but neither in their repertoire nor in their design were they radical theaters. Basically, despite the talent of the troupes, they attracted bourgeois spectators to their performances without high intellectual demands. In St. Petersburg cabarets they attracted eminent representatives of the intelligentsia, where more attention was paid to lectures and poetry readings than musical numbers and "living pictures". Thus, the “Stray Dog”, led by Boris Pronin, during its short life (1911-1915) held many important events and contributed to the discussion of a wide range of issues, including such as theosophy, Alexandrian Christianity, the revival of French magic, Russian Orthodoxy, Neoplatonism, monks of Athos, etc.

Some of the most avant-garde artists Malevich and Tatlin took part in the design of the performances, which did not prevent “Stray Dog” from being at the head of Russian intellectual life. Its members were Evgeny Lansa, Alexey Adakov and many others. "Stray Dog" covered a wide range of literary and artistic interests, inviting, for example, Gorodetsky to talk about "Symbolism and Acmeism", Marinetti to read his poems, young musicians to perform their works, etc. Main artist cabaret Sudeikin created panels, programs and even fancy dress costumes for such meetings. Futurist poet Benedict Livshits left the following description of the atmosphere and programs of the Stray Dog: “On the so-called extraordinary Saturdays and Wednesdays, guests were invited to put paper caps on their heads, which were handed to them on the threshold of the basement, and famous lawyers or members known throughout Russia State Duma, taken by surprise, meekly obeyed this demand...

The program was very diverse, starting with lectures “On a New World Outlook” or “On the Theater of Words and Theater of Movement” and ending with “Musical Mondays,” Karsavina’s dances or a banquet in honor of the Moscow Art Theater.”

The life of such cabaret theaters was short-lived, but they brought a special mood to the theatrical life of that time.

conclusions

Theater life" silver age" was unusually rich and varied. At this time, many artistic achievements were achieved, which allowed the Russian theater to occupy a leading position in the world. This period was characterized by active collaboration with the theater of major artists of various groups and movements, ranging from the World of Art to avant-garde artists Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova, Alexandra Ekster and Kazimir Malevich, etc., who collaborated with both musical theaters, and with dramatic ones. So the theater wanted to strengthen its means of expression, and the artists wanted to express themselves.