Laikmeta komentārs teātra valodā. Latviešu dramaturģija Rīgas Strādnieku teātra repertuārā: modernisma aspekti

Abstract

The repertoire of the Riga Workers’ Theatre (1926–1934) reflected the trends of the time and leftist progressive ideas. City life as a nodal point of modern reality became inspiration and material for plays, poetry performances, dramatised feuilletons and interludes commenting on current events. The aesthetic programme of the theatre envisaged the creation of a peculiar sovereign artistic style, where the new dramaturgy played an important role. Topical and recently created works by contemporary authors were chosen for the repertoire with an emphasis on the search for novelty. In the first years, while the director was Roberts Dukurs, the dramaturge was Jānis Grots, then Arvīds Grigulis; after this function was taken over by the director Kārlis Dziļleja. The article aims to introduce the main principles of the Riga Workers’ Theatre repertoire policy, focusing on an overview of the contributions of Latvian authors. Rainis, Andrejs Upīts, and Pāvils Gruzna played a dominant role in the ideological decisions of the repertoire. A circle of progressive authors gathered around the theatre, creating a contemporary drama laboratory. Young authors Aleksandrs Čaks, Valdis Grēviņš, Fricis Rokpelnis, Jūlijs Vanags, and others experienced their first works on stage in this theatre. The research object is dramaturgical works and testimonies describing the productions – programme leaflets, reviews, reminiscences, etc. The article discusses innovative trends in drama and the expansion of the concept of dramaturgy to the dynamics of stage set, musical and choreographic action. As a result, the consistently executed repertory policy heralded a new type of drama programme by achieving a synthesis of contemporary content and new visual, musical and choreographic forms. The article concludes that creating innovative drama forms and genre experiments on the Riga Workers’ Theatre stage significantly contributed to the development of Latvian dramaturgy.