J M Barrie and the Ballets Russes

Olga Sobolev

doi:10.7575/aiac.ijclts.v.4n.1p.23

Abstract

Barrie’s playlet The Truth about the Russian Dancers (written as a direct response to the impact upon British cultural life of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes) has been hardly discussed in the literary scholarship dedicated to his writings. By placing the playlet in the social and political context of the age, as well as focusing on close analysis of the textual variants of the manuscript, the paper discusses Barrie’s exploration of the impressionistic notion of the unfamiliar and the exotic. It is shown that as a searching piece of dramatic criticism, the work provides a penetrating reflection on cultural dialogism produced within the framework of a modernist, rather than Edwardian platform, and thus puts into new perspective certain aspects of the British perception of what was notoriously categorised as the Russian myth.

Highlights

Barrie’s is not a name that features prominently in existing studies of the British reception of Russian culture, and his 1920 play The Truth about the Russian Dancers is hardly ever mentioned in the scholarship dedicated to his works
Barrie (239-40), which quotes some of Tamara Karsavina’s recollections on the production; Denis Mackail’s The Story of J.M.B (545) and the memoirs of Cynthia Asquith (32), who observes that this charming “trifle [...] was written in a day or two, worked on, altered and polished with infinite care”, so that years later she “found ten different typescript versions of this one little play”
The Truth about the Russian Dancers, the number of existing draft manuscripts of which has augmented to fourteen, remained unpublished till 1962, when it appeared in the art magazine Dance Perspectives (12-30) with Karsavina’s illuminating introduction (4-10) and a discerning comparison of textual variants, produced by Selma Jeanne Cohen (31-34)

Summary

Introduction

Barrie’s is not a name that features prominently in existing studies of the British reception of Russian culture, and his 1920 play The Truth about the Russian Dancers is hardly ever mentioned in the scholarship dedicated to his works (see, for instance, the two most recent studies by Bold and Nash 2014, Jack 2010). The Truth about the Russian Dancers, the number of existing draft manuscripts of which has augmented to fourteen, remained unpublished till 1962, when it appeared in the art magazine Dance Perspectives (12-30) with Karsavina’s illuminating introduction (4-10) and a discerning comparison of textual variants, produced by Selma Jeanne Cohen (31-34). In this context, Cynthia Asquith’s comment is, perhaps, most telling and revealing, for it draws attention to the fact that Barrie’s work was slightly more than a skilful parody on or a tribute to the unrelenting Russian craze, induced by a series of Diaghilev seasons in Paris and London. This paper will argue that as a searching piece of dramatic criticism, the playlet provides a penetrating reflection on cultural dialogism produced within the framework of a modernist, rather than Edwardian platform and puts into new perspective certain aspects of the British perception of what was notoriously categorised as the Russian myth

Productions History of Barrie’s Play

British Reception of the Ballets Russes

The Russian Theme in Barrie’s artistic world

Barrie’s play as a Reflection on Cultural Dialogism

Barrie’s Play as an Expression of Cultural Critiques

Conclusions