Between action and comedy: On the Features of Titles of the First Russian Plays of the 1670s (Western European Aspect and Formation of Old Russian Drama)

Abstract

This article examines the features of the titles of the Russian plays staged at the court of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1645–1676). The very fi rst plays written for the court theatre in the last third of the seventeenth century were: Artaxerxes Action (1672), Judith, or Holofernes Action (1673), A Little Cool Comedy About Joseph (1675), and A Pitiful Comedy About Adam and Eve (1675) authored by Johann Gottfried Gregory and Temir-Aksakovo Action (1675) authored by George Hüfner. The titles of the early Russian productions contained the terms “action” or “comedy”, which can be viewed in the context of the Western European theatre tradition, from which the authors of the fi rst plays, Gregory and Hüfner, who were German, originated. The features of the title designation require additional distinction, as certain patterns are found in the content of the plays, allowing a deeper analysis of the titles. “Action” in the title can be understood as a comedy due to the presence of German buffoonery in the text. “Comedy” means any theatrical action in Russia, but, when included in the title, “comedy” differs from “action” by the presence of clarifying defi nitions, the absence of interludes, and an additional explanation in the prologues. The titles of the fi rst Russian plays were not just meant to name the alleged performance at the court of Alexei Mikhailovich, but also to indicate its character to the viewer. All Russian plays were called comedies, but at the heart of them was a conditional division associated with the peculiarities of the perception of theatrical action in Russia, which only began to develop in the last third of the seventeenth century.