Theatre Director Research Articles

С.И. Мамонтов и В.А. Теляковский – два поля притяжения в судьбе Ф.И. Шаляпина и русского оперного театра

Using meaningful historical material, the article explores the parallels of the creative careers of such great developers of the Russian opera of the late 19th – early 20th centuries as F. Chaliapin, S. Mamontov, and V. Telyakovsky. It was the period of rapid development of innovative stage direction, vocal art, and stage design. The outstanding organizers of theater business S. Mamontov and V. Telyakovsky were at the heart of that creative seething. Being representatives of different social strata (the merchant class and higher nobility), they attracted vivid talents and opened them the way of the private and state opera, respectively. The flourishing of operatic art led to a completely new level of performance. F. Chaliapin and a number of other outstanding representatives of Russian opera began their careers at that time. S. Mamontov’s Private Opera which played a significant role in the development of Russian operatic art was founded in 1896. The repertoire of this theater consisted of works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and Borodin. Innovative approaches to the opera performance which was considered as a living synthetic phenomenon integrating the concepts of production and stage design were implemented on the Russian stage for the first time. In its productions, Mamontov’s Private Opera used the principles of realism, which corresponded to the spirit of the works performed. Meanwhile, the development of Russian opera during this period was taking place against the background of complex social relations which aggravated many contradictions both in the life of the society as a whole with its differentiation into metropolitan and provincial life, and in the life on the stage with its specific very mobile interpersonal communications. The article focuses on the careers of S. Mamontov, F. Chaliapin, and V. Telyakovsky. Each of them made an invaluable contribution to the development of Russian opera. From the perspective of the historical culturological approach, the article examines the complicated relationship between the prominent Russian philanthropist and theater director Savva Mamontov, the flexible administrator Vladimir Telyakovsky, and the outstanding opera singer Feodor Chaliapin, and their influence on the formation of the personality of an opera performer and on the development of operatic art in Russia as a whole. The article presents abundant documentary evidence of the peculiarities of their relationship which ultimately determined the vector in the development of the Russian opera theater.

A provokált rés bizonytalansága : Lehetséges elemzési séma adott művészszínházi produkcióra

A heart attack?! An opening embedded in fiction, where uncertainty and indecision arise in the audience, questioning whether what they saw and are still seeing on the stage is fiction or reality. Should they call an ambulance, should they stop the performance, or not? The analysis of an alternative theatrical performance (Boris Liješević Serbian theatre director’s interpretation of Lorenzaccio, 2019,) where the emphasis is not on revealing the distinction between fiction and reality, but on the process itself that resulted in uncertainty.

Ślad Jerzego Pleśniarowicza pozostawiony w przekładach

This article focuses on the career of Jerzy Pleśniarowicz, the well-known poet of the Józef Czechowicz group and Polish translator of Slavic literatures, as well as dramatist and theatre director. A discussion of the output of this poet and translator is accompanied by an analysis of his Polish translations of Slovak poetry presented in the 2018 volume Wiersze i przekłady wierszy (Poems and Translated Poems). The article considers Pleśniarowicz’s translation choices, elucidates his translation strategies, and discusses the contemporary significance of this poetry within the Polish sphere of reception.

쇼스타코비치 «코»에 나타난 연극적 특성에 대하여 - 메이예르홀트의 영향을 중심으로

초록 · 키워드 목차 오류제보하기 This study discusses the theatrical features in Dmitri Shostakovich"s opera, The Nose, on the basis of the influence of Vsevolod Meyerhold. Shostakovich engaged in the work of the opera’s libretto and participated in the performances of Meyerhold Theatre as a pianist while composing The Nose. A theatrical director, Meyerhold, who emphasized the musical direction of plays, concentrated on the interrelation between music and drama, particularly language, and on its dramaturgical expression. His musical and theatrical perspective had an influence on Shostakovich and his creation of the opera. The Nose, based on the same story by Nikolai Gogol, included theatrical features such as the episode structure, the various vocal techniques reflecting realistic characteristics of Russian language, and the polyphone dramaturgy. #드미트리 쇼스타코비치 #프세볼로프 메이예르홀트 #«코» #니콜라이 고골 #Dmitri Shostakovich #Vsevolod Meyerhold #The Nose #Nikolai Gogol 1. 들어가면서2. 메이예르홀트의 오페라 미학3. 쇼스타코비치와 메이예르홀트4. 오페라 «코»의 연극적 특징5. 나가면서참고문헌Abstract

L’unica risposta è la prossima domanda. L’esperienza teatrale e il suo mistero: conversazione fra Denis Diderot e Carmelo Rifici

This interview with Carmelo Rifici, Drama School Director of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano and award-winning theatrical director, discuss on the relationship between some thesis of theatrical aesthetics of the 18th century philosophe Denis Diderot, enclosed in their most complete way in the work Paradox of the actor, and the contemporary reflection on theatre, but also the practice of acting itself. How much does Diderot's thought still question and stimulate the debate on the experience of theatre in its various themes? Without neglecting the contents of this thought, on which 20th century theatre has been questioned a lot and which also emerge in all their facets and possible developments in the interview, during the interesting conversation with Rifici it appears that the true modernity of diderotian reflection and its still generating force today, lies in its asystematic character, in the search for paradox, for perennial question, as a fundamental element for preserving the theatre and its mystery. It is necessary asking others and themselves questions rather than defining solutions, to restore the theatrical experience, which is the experience of an event, in all its complexity, in diderotian theatrical theory as well as in modern acting practice.

Del sistema de Stanislavski al método Strasberg: aproximación teórica, análisis y críticas a ambos sistemas.

Konstantin Stanislavski, Russian actor and director, creator of an acting system (The System) for the Moscow Art Theater established this method to get their actors to play roles, to create characters through natural means and embody them in the stage in an artistic way. His experience as an actor and the notes of his teachers helped him to develop a manual which remains valid nowdays.Taking Stanislavski as basis, Strasberg, the American theater director of Polish origin, created what is known as the Method, the basis of the well-known Actor’s Studio. Despite being one of the most studied and effective methods, it is sometimes rejected and criticized.In this article, we propose to explain the Stanislavski system, its evolution to the Strasberg method, and the criticisms that both awaken, using a descriptive methodology, based on the investigations established by Jorge Eines or María Ósipovna Knébel, among others. The objective of this research is to create a theoretical approach that will serve for future lines of investigation of both methods and analyze and ground the criticisms of both systems.

“You know that you are a human being…” (Vasyl’ Symonenko): Serhiy Danchenko’s directorship at the Lviv Theatre named after Maria Zankovetska in 1965–1966

The article is dedicated to the early period in the professional career of outstanding Ukrainian theatre director Serhiy Volodymyrovich Danchenko (1937–2001). The main attention is paid to the very first performances staged by Danchenko at the Lviv Theatre namedafter Maria Zankovetska in 1965–1966. These include the debut performance ‘The First Day of Freedom’ based on a play by Polish playwrightLeon Kruchkovsky as well as stage versions of such dramas as ‘The Widower’ by Aleksander Shtein, ‘Man Overboard’ by Arkadiy Shkol’nikand ‘On the Road’ by Viktor Rozov. Based on memoirs, press critiques and documentary materials, namely the minutes of the Theatre Arts Council’s meetings, the author reconstructs the circumstances in which the work on the performances was undergoing, discusses the peculiarities of how the actors were interpreting their roles as well as the reception by critics and spectators. The article emphasizes the conceptual approach employed by the director and makes generalisations about the consonance of themes and issues in three plays. The principled research aspect of the article is that Danchenko’s performances are examined in the context of the shestydesiatnyky (sixtiers) movement. For the first time in the domestic art studies, it is argued that Danchenko’s productions of that period can be related, by theiraesthetic and substantive characteristics, to the phenomenon of the shestydesiatnyky art. This makes it possible to talk about a collective action by shestydesiatnyky taking as an example the works created in the Lviv Theatre named after Maria Zankovetska.

The body expressiveness of the actor in theoretical views and stage practice of the XX – beginning of the XXI century

The purpose of the article is to reveal the specifics of the actor’s bodily expressiveness in the context of the features of theoretical developments and the practical implementation in stage practice of leading theater directors of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Methodology. The study is based on modern art criticism and philosophical concepts of the study of the phenomenon of physicality. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this issue, in the process of researching and analyzing the body expressiveness of the actor, the cultural-historical method is used (to define the concept of “corporeality” in the context of cultural, artistic and philosophical concepts); comparative analysis method (for comparing the methods and methods of representing corporeality in theoretical works and the practical activities of leading theater directors); typological method (to identify factors of formation of actor’s bodily expressiveness); the method of scientific observation and analysis (to determine the specifics of the bodily nature of the means of plastic expression of an actor) and other. Scientific novelty. An art history study of physicality was carried out in the context of the specifics of theatrical art; the process of transition of understanding the actor’s physicality from abstract to dynamic in the context of transformational processes of theatrical art is considered; identified and analyzed general and distinctive value attitudes, as well as forms of representation of acting corporeality in theoretical developments and stage practice of leading directors of the twentieth – early twenty-first century. Conclusions. Analysis of the formation process at the turn of the nineteenth – twentieth centuries. and the further development of the director's theater testifies to the unique transformations of the sociocultural space at the level of bodily-mental changes reflected in the structural, kinetic, and plastic aspects of acting. In the process of complex synthesis, corporeality gradually turns from a means of actor’s expressiveness, with the help of which a story is told in a theater space, into a source of mimetic meanings and meanings in the process of reproducing the art of reality.

The main stages of theatrical directorial activity of Nicolai Merzlikin

The purpose of the article is to study the main stages of the theatrical directorial activity of Nicolai Merzlikin. The methodology is based on historical, systemic, and informational approaches, methods of analysis and synthesis. Scientific novelty. The material analyzed in the article gives a general idea of the main stages of theatrical directorial activity of an outstanding Ukrainian theater director Nicolai Merzlikin. The article also deals with the circumstances of the formation of Merzlikin as a theater director, shows the influence of the school of L.Kurbas, the school of M. Verhatsky, as well as the experience of staging other creative spectacular forms. Conclusions. The article provides a general systematic review of the main periods of theatrical directorial activity of the outstanding Ukrainian theater director, actor and educator Nicolai Merzlikin and highlights the following important stages.1958-1965 – studied at the Kyiv Institute of Theater Arts, gained experience of staging the first plays.1964-1967 – worked as the director of the Zhdanovsky (Mariupol) Russian Drama Theater and practiced in stanging non-theatrical art shows. 1967-1970 – worked as a director of the Kyiv Youth Theater.1970-1977 – worked in the cinema and in the Theater-Studio of a film actor.1977-1985 – worked as the main director of the Kyiv Theater of a young spectator and the main director of the Kyiv Youth Theater. 1985 – 2006 - worked as the main director of the State Musical Theater for Children and Youth in Kyiv. Each stage of N. Merzlikin’s activity was accompanied by another search, a transition to a qualitatively new level of creative directorial work due to the accumulation of experience and the discovery of new faces of the directorial profession.

PECULIARITIES OF COMPREHENSION OF CHEKHOV’s WORKS IN SPAIN

The article deals with the process of comprehension of A.P. Chekhov's works in the Spanish culture. It’s based on Russian and foreign sources. The author of the article demonstrates the most significant moments in the understanding of the Russian writer by Spanish literary critics, theater directors and film directors. The article contains a brief overview of key periodicals and books, plays and film adaptations that illustrate the evolution of comprehension of Chekhov's works. Citations of Spanish culture figures, critics, translators and journalists are given by author's translation from their works and interviews. The article illustrates the period from the first mention of Chekhov's name in the Spanish press in 1894 to the nowadays. The author pays special attention to the first screen versions of the Russian playwright’s plays and the most eccentric experimental staging in the capital and provincial theaters of Spain.

Vsevolod Meyerhold’s Biomechanics and Boris Zakhava's Educational Work

The article deals with two different approaches to training actors. One of them is Stanislavski’s system, and the other is Meyerhold’s biomechanics. Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko are reformers of the Russian theater. As the Art Theater founders, they understood that the emergence of a new drama would require a completely different approach to working with actors and a different design of the stage space. With regard to new performances, it became possible to pose critical social questions related to everyday life before the viewer. Therefore, it was logical that the director's profession became very important. Working on his system, Stanislavski paid great attention to the need for an actor’s comprehensive development. Many wonderful actors who attended his acting school were among the students of this great theater director. Vsevolod Meyerhold was one of them. However, the latter chose his direction and began to engage in staging performances actively and search for new means of expression, having come to an absolute convention on the stage. Meyerhold created his method of working with an actor, known as biomechanics, in the theatrical environment. The principle of this approach is the opposite of Stanislavski's system. With all the difference in views on the theater, in the early stages of Meyerhold's independent practice, Konstantin Stanislavski offered him the opportunity to cooperate, which led Vsevolod Meyerhold to the Studio on Povarskaya Street in Moscow. Evgeny Vakhtangov was another student of Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko. At the request of Stanislavski, Vakhtangov was engaged in educational work in the studio of Moscow Art Theatre. Unlike Meyerhold, he thoroughly mastered the system and then created his theatrical direction called fantastic realism. Vakhtangov's legacy was preserved thanks to the activities of his students, among whom was Boris Zakhava. He turned to Meyerhold for help and spent several seasons with the master, gaining invaluable experience, including revealing the features of biomechanics in practice. Boris Zakhava remained faithful to Vakhtangov’s principles and continued his teacher’s work at the Shchukin Theater Institute.

Innovation ecosystems for meeting sustainable development goals: The evolving roles of multinational enterprises

Meeting the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) will require breakthrough innovations in a number of areas. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) can contribute to these goals by fomenting innovation considering the coevolution of responsible research and innovation (RRI) with the maturity of innovation ecosystems. Therefore, a conceptual model of the roles of multinational enterprises contingent on the evolutionary phases of a firm and the ecosystem in which it is embedded is derived. These MNE roles and RRI activities in SDG-oriented innovation ecosystems are explored through case examples of specific multinationals. Based on different archetypes of innovation ecosystems and RRI maturity levels, the identified roles include secretive innovators, builders, theater directors, platform leaders, dominators, and amplifiers. More responsible enterprises are found to support the SDGs through platform leadership and by amplifying the sustainable innovations of other ecosystem participants, whereas less responsible firms innovate internally and achieve less sustainable results.

ОБРАЗ ГАМЛЕТА КАК ПОЭТА И ЕГО ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИЯ В ПЕРЕВОДЕ ВАЛЕРИЯ АНАНЬИНА

The article analyzes the image of Hamlet as a poet which is developed in a new translation of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (2010) by a Karelian translator Valeriy Ananyin. The novelty of the translation accompanied by the translator’s valuable commentaries and notes contributes to the importance of the research, because the image of Hamlet as a poet, which appears to be off the radars of Russian and foreign researchers, is reflected by Valeriy Ananyin for the first time. The article attempts to explore the image of Hamlet as a poet in the context of Valeriy Ananyin’s translation strategy using the comparative and culture-historical methods, as well as multilevel text analysis and translation linguistic commentary. The research material is original and translated Prince Hamlet’s poetic lines, which the translator discusses in his literary critical essay on Prince Hamlet’s verses. Hamlet’s poetic heritage, however small, reveals the artistic and imaginative side of his mind, allowing to speak about Hamlet as an artist. Valeriy Ananyin’s translation approach used for creating the image of Hamlet as a poet is determined by a theatre director’s vision of Hamlet as a tragedy intended for stage performance. Therefore Hamlet’s verses translated by Valeriy Ananyin become incentive, which is expressed by frequent exclamations and ample gestures. Transformations identified in the studied translation illustrate such techniques as modulation, a change in stylistic connotation or a shift of the referential meaning of a word.

“When I Am No Longer in Control of the Performing Rights”: Staging and Reception of Saint Joan at the Abbey Theatre during the Celtic Tiger Years

ABSTRACT: This article examines Patrick Mason's 1998 production of Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, via its digital archives collection at the National University of Ireland, Galway. As a symbol appropriated for various causes, Joan's legacy remains pertinent for the analysis of performative responses to Shaw's portrayal of her life, execution, and “rehabilitation.” Considering the playtext alongside paratextual materials, such as the preface, in light of the mise-en-scène raises the following questions: How can contemporary theater directors and dramaturges honor Shaw's proviso that his play be performed in accordance with his didactic vision while also welcoming their own particular contexts and artistic aims? Is it possible to adhere to all of Shaw's intentions regarding his play? In this way, Mason's production's intersections with and divergences from the source text can serve to elucidate Saint Joan's legacy of performance in Ireland and internationally.

Directing gender equality in Ahmed Yerima’s Altine’s Wrath

Abstract One of the functions of the theatre director is to develop a concept that would appeal to the audience in the process of his interpretation. This paper textually evaluates the issue of gender equality as the directorial concept in Ahmed Yerima’s Altine’s Wrath. The paper adopts the sociological, literary and artistic methods to interrogate the directorial implications of the text as it will be demonstrated in the performance. The paper notes that a thorough understanding of gender theories and principles would guide a director’s realization of the identified concept. The paper, therefore, calls on directors to support the issue of gender equality by developing concepts in this regard and as such promote a peaceful society.

Insights into Classic Theatre Market Segments

Abstract Marketing segmentation is one of the key strategic elements in marketing planning that helps identifying key consumer groups and their characteristics and enables the adaptation of marketing strategies to different target consumers. The aim of this paper is paper aims to segment classic theatre audiences based on their attendance frequency and identify major socio-demographic characteristics of each segment. A self-completion questionnaire was developed upon analysis of previous studies and was distributed to the population in an area of about 50 km around Osijek. The research was conducted on a convenient sample, using an in-person method in two different intervals: in the first interval, research was conducted on young respondents (18-34), and in the second interval, research was conducted on adult respondents (age 35+). Altogether 1315 participants took part in the research. Statistical techniques of univariate analysis (frequency distribution and central tendency measures), ANOVA, and two-step cluster analysis were used. The results of the study have identified six classic theatre segments: young theatre friends, young theatre acquaintances, young theatre strangers, adult theatre friends, adult theatre acquaintances, adult theatre strangers. Each segment is described in detail by their geographic (distance from the venue), demographic (age, income, marital status, education, employment) and psychographic characteristics (social activities, free time spending, and informing gathering about classic theatre offer) characteristics. The research results emphasized the differences in classic theatre audiences, which calls for continuous market segmentation in order to ensure timely recognition of consumer trends and changes in preferences. This would enable theatre management to adapt and implement adequate marketing initiatives and strategies.

The impact of neurosurgical technique on the short- and long-term outcomes of adult patients with Chiari I malformation

ObjectiveThis study is aimed to compare and evaluate any differences in clinical and radiological outcomes of different operative techniques of cranio-cervical decompression (CCD) performed in adults with symptomatic Chiari malformation type I (CM-1) within a single tertiary neurosurgical center. MethodsA retrospective review using the Hospital theatre management system (ORSOS) and records of patients who underwent CCD for CM-1 between January 2011 and October 2019 was performed.Patients were divided in three cohorts according to the operative technique used: an extradural osteo-ligamentous decompression (BD), BD followed by dural opening either without duraplasty (DOWD) or plus duroplasty (DOPD). The primary clinical outcome was measured by utilizing the Chicago Chiari Outcome Scale (CCOS). Syrinx outcome was measured on post-op MRI. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS 24 with α = 0.05. Results67 adults underwent 69 CCD: 10 BD, 29 DOWD and 30 DOPD. Median follow-up was 47.3 months (Interquartile Range (IQR) 26.3–73.7). Patients who underwent DOPD had a shorter median hospital stay (p-value 0.001), fewer unplanned readmissions (p-value 0.015), a higher median CCOS (p-value 0.001) and a lower post-operative complications rate (p-value 0.001) compared to patients who underwent DOWD. BD revealed a 40 % failure rate and was ineffective in cases with syringomyelia. ConclusionBetter clinical outcomes, lower complication risk, and short duration of hospital stay were associated with patients who underwent dural opening with augmentative watertight duraplasty. Bony decompression alone despite being a very safe technique, does not appear to be reliable and effective in controlling and relieving the clinical symptoms and the syringomyelia of adult patients with CM-1.

“Sardoodledom” on the English Stage: T. W. Robertson and the Assimilation of Well-Made Play into the English Theatre

The article discusses a vital figure in the development of modern English theatre, Thomas William Robertson, in the context of his borrowings, inspirations, translations and adaptations of the French dramatic formula pièce bien faite (well-made play). The paper gives the definition and enumerates features of the formula created with great success by the French dramatist Eugène Scribe. Presenting the figure of Thomas William Robertson, the father of theatre management and realism in Victorian theatre, the focus is placed on his adaptations of French plays and his incorporation of the formula of the well-made play and its conventional dramatic devices into his original, and most successful, plays, Society and Caste. The paper also examines the critical response to the well-made play in England and dramatists who use its formula, especially from the point of view of George Bernard Shaw, who famously called the French plays of Scribe and Victorien Sardou—“Sardoodledom.”

Сучасний український театр крізь призму фестивалю-премії «ГРА-GRA» (2018-2020 рр.)

Всеукраїнський театральний фестиваль-премія «ГРА-GRA» був започаткований Національною спілкою театральних діячів України у 2018 р. Він став першим загальнонаціональним театральним форумом за всі роки незалежності країни. У статті викладено інформацію про алгоритм фестивалю-премії, проаналізовано його статистику за 3 роки, зазначено основні тенденції театрального життя в сучасній Україні, які він виявив: децентралізованість та «персоналізованість», а не інституціональність мистецького процесу, завузьке коло креативних режисерських кадрів, самоізольованість окремих театрів/міст/областей від загальних комунікативних потоків. Також у статті зроблено акцент на виданні Альманаху фестивалю-премії як на спробі відродження «паперової» театральної критики в Україні.

Constructing the Chekhovian inner body in instructions: An interactional history of factuality and agentivity

Using video-recordings from one day of a theater project for young adults, this paper investigates how the meaning of novel verbal expressions is interactionally constituted and elaborated over the interactional history of a series of activities. We examine how the theater director introduces and instructs the group in the Chekhovian technique of acting, which is based on “imagining with the body,” and how the imaginary elements of the technique are “brought into existence” in the language of the instructions. By tracking shifts in the instructor’s use of the key expressions invisible/imaginary/inner body or movement through a series of exercises, we demonstrate how they are increasingly treated as real and perceivable bodily conduct. The analyses focus on the instructor’s attribution of factual and agentive properties to these expressions, and the changes that these properties undergo over the series of instructions. This case demonstrates the significance of longitudinal processes for the establishment of shared meaning in social interaction. The study thereby contributes to the field of interactional semantics and to longitudinal studies of social interaction.