ТЕАТРАЛЬНАЯ ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИЯ КЛАССИКИ КАК КУЛЬТУРНЫЙ ОПЫТ ПОСТСОВЕТСКОЙ ЭПОХИ

Abstract

The article analyzes the post-soviet artistic practice of working with theatrical interpretations of the russian classical plays «The Forest» by A. N. Ostrovsky and «The Seagull» by A. P. Chekhov. The productions of the Yaroslavl Volkov Drama Theatre were chosen as novel empirical material. The main objective of the study is to identify the features that characterize modern understanding of the classics, emphasizing the socio-moral and socio-cultural range of problems in the works. The main methods of the research are, above all, cultural and historical, resorting to which the authors present the peculiarities of interpreting russian classical drama in its social, moral and psychological aspects. Equally important is the aesthetic method with emphasis on artistic descriptive analysis of specific works of art, which is necessary for examining the paradoxical theatrical productions staged in the recent post-soviet period. Alongside with presenting the results of the research the authors give references to the leading authors using these methods. The article presents both literary and theatrical versions of the classical plays, as well as the opinions of contemporary critics about the productions. This allows us to give a thorough characterization of the views on the classics. The article shows two tendencies of working with classical literature in the post-soviet period. The first one, represented in Ostrovsky productions, is related to the actualization of the social and moral problems in the play. Through acting and scenography, the emphasis is made on the character of the landlady, on the comic aspects and moral criticism in the play. The second tendency presented in Chekhov productions has to do with the postmodern re-interpretation of classical characters as psychologically and aesthetically negative people. The authors consider the works analyzed in the article and the artistic, social and moral tendencies expressed in them to be representative of post-soviet culture.