Alexandre Ostrovski, réformateur du théâtre russe

Abstract

The article examines Ostrovsky's role as a theater reformer, who was keen to rethink the place of the theater in the city, by cutting it off from foreign models by the constitution and promotion of a national repertoire and by giving instructions for playing it. On March 24, 1882, the abolition of the imperial monopoly created a situation of competition and activated the renewal of the entire theatrical institution. Ostrovsky will be the main promoter and architect of these transformations. He advocates a chair theater, accessible to the popular audience, which educates and uplifts the public and trains actors in technical know-how and collective discipline. Performing a play is more than just saying it in the right tone. The sets, the music, the accessories have their place in a whole that must be orchestrated, composed. But Ostrovsky does not yet imagine the emergence of the function of the director, which will only emerge a little more than ten years after his death.