«Старинный театр» как утопический проект пассеизма Серебряного века

Abstract

In the era of the Silver Age, which is called the Russian Renaissance, there was a great interest in the art and culture of past centuries. The foreseeing of the coming cataclysms sharpened the question about the future of Russia. The two poles of Russian art of the Silver Age — futurism (going into the future) and the avant-garde associated with it, as well as passéisme (returning to the past, their brightest representatives were the members of The World of Art who organized the performances of the Ancient Theatre) clearly demonstrated the rejection of history. The author considers the utopian project of the Silver Age — Ancient Theatre, which appeared in St. Petersburg as an initiative of the director N. Evreinov and Baron N. Drizen. The author studies the positions of passéisme, guided by a cultural-historical approach, choosing the analysis of secondary data as a methodological instrument. On the stage it was planned to embody the theatrical forms of past eras, from antiquity to modernity. Ancient Theatre had existed only for 2 seasons (1907–1908) and (1911–1912). The third season (1914–1915), in which a production of the Italian comedy del arte was planned, didn’t happen because of the beginning of the First World War. The new stage techniques and a new understanding of theatre art was based, among other things, on the past theatre eras. And the passéisme of Ancient Theatre played a notable role in it. Turning to other eras helped in the understanding of the specifics of acting skills and the need to educate a new actor who masterfully controls his body.