Director's Concept Research Articles

Reconception of the Buffon Style in Gioacchino Rossini’s Opera "Barber of Seville" in the Director's Design of the Project

The prospects of turning to the opera-comedy genre in times of great socio-political cataclysms are considered. The relevance of reseach is outlined and the source base is analyzed. The main components of the play's design through the prism of the director's vision of the author of the creative art project are defined. The differences between the decorative and effective scenographic solution of the performance were revealed. The danger of the directors' excessive fascination with the latest art technologies is outlined, and their influence on classical opera is clarified. The director's concept and director's approaches in creating an artistic project of a creative graduate student based on J. Rossini's opera "The Barber of Seville" were revealed. The basic components of the director's idea of the play are substantiated: its scenographic solution, mise-en-scène drawing, director's characterization of actors and supertasks. The defined elements are reinterpreted through the personality of the director-producer, which contributes to the motivation of the theater's creative and production teams, so that the play takes a worthy place in its repertoire. It was found that, in contrast to the decorative design of the performance, scenography is always dynamic, full of action, and the scenographer together with the director create the ideological and semantic layer of the spectacle. It is proven that the visualization of a modern opera production is carried out at the expense of the "here and now" presented cultural subject and the content of material and virtual reality, which is constantly changing. The dynamics of changing opera scenes in the process of transforming them into a "screen" is described, which does not reflect the events of the opera's plot, but represents fragments of modern reality that have nothing to do with the classical art project. Prospects for further scientific exploration of the chosen problem and reinterpretation of classical opera masterpieces, such as "The Barber of Seville" by G. Rossini due to the enrichment and renewal of directorial approaches in the construction of a complete and original performance, are predicted.

Implementation of art Project "May Night" by M. Lysenko in Author's Directing Design

The author explores the process of embodiment of the Ukrainian classic work "May Night" by M. Lysenko in the author's director's project in the realities of today. The relevance of the study is to begin the process of optimizing the cosmopolitan and national components in the education of the Ukrainian audience. The purpose of the study is to determine the director's concept of the art project "May Night" by M. Lysenko in the context of national specifics of artistic images. It was possible to carry out an artistic reconstruction of the rites of divination on wreaths and mermaids in the context of revealing the idea of musical drama of the work. The research methodology is determined by the need for an integrated approach, which harmoniously combines the following methods: genrestylistic (ideological and thematic content of the director's embodiment), experimental modeling (compositional-architectural construction of the play), interpretive (author's directorial approaches to national characters). Scientific novelty lies in the historically reliable director's interpretation of national images of Ukrainians in accordance with their cultural traditions, mentalities and psychology of different social groups. The author substantiated the genre affiliation of the author's project "May Night" by M. Lysenko as a lyrical-comic domestic opera with elements of mysticism. The realization of the ideological and thematic idea of the project is carried out in accordance with the main archetypes of the Ukrainian mentality, which substantiate the logic of the actions of the characters. The compositional construction of the project consists of two acts and four scenes embodying the real and fantasy world. The Architectonics of the project is substantiated in accordance with the iconic scenes in the dramatic solution of the director's concept, closely related to folk traditions and rituals. Their own directorial approaches in the project implementation, their manifestations in the authentic solution of spring rituals, in the visualization of real and fantastic worlds by synthesizing traditional scenographic design with video projection and special effects are outlined. Prospects for further research of various genres of interpretations of M. Lysenko's work "May Night, or Drowned" in the theatrical aesthetics of dramatic, musical-dramatic, musical theaters are predicted.

Realization of Modern Children's Musical "Frog Masha" by O. Spiliotti in the Context of the Youth Subculture

The author considers the process of directing a modern children's musical "Frog Masha" in accordance with the requests and interests of the young audience of the information technology era. The relevance of the study lies in the need to outline the milestones of rethinking the modern children's repertoire in musical theater in accordance with the specifics of the perception of art works by a certain age category. The purpose of the study determines the specific directorial approaches in the implementation of the musical on children's themes, taking into account the peculiarities of the modern subculture of the younger generation. The research methodology was chosen as a comprehensive cross-sectoral approach based on the synthesis of methods: 1) observation and processing of results in order to identify the specifics of the perception of children's audience; 2) genre-stylistic in order to outline the specific features of modern children's musical; 3) interpretive and experimental in order to determine their own directing techniques in the implementation of the project. The scientific novelty is substantiated, which involves the definition of the director's concept in solving vocal-instrumental, spatial-scenographic and plastic-choreographic aspects of modern children's musicals with the actualization of the problem of replacing real life with virtual one. Evidence is provided that the ideological and thematic content of the art project raises the topical issue of the subculture of the younger generation, when real life gaining the necessary material experience is replaced by virtual perception, illusory due to the exaggeration of information technology. The specifics of compositional construction of the project are determined, which organically combines the multi-genre music structure of the musical with the characteristics of the personalities, their rational actions into a single integral spectacle, able to emotionally influence the young viewer's choice of new media in his life. In the process of realization of the art project the author's directing techniques were found: combination of the real world with the virtual in the scenographic solution of the play; synthesis of polygenre vocal-instrumental component with different plastic-choreographic components in solving artistic images of characters; interactive form of interludes as a kind of bridge between the parts of the musical. The author predicted the need for the latest research on the impact of information technology on the artistic practice of musical theater, which requires further directorial research and experiments in solving children's issues, which would meet modern challenges and current realities.

МОНТАЖНОСТЬ КАК ПРИНЦИП ПОЭТИКИ МАЯКОВСКОГО

The features of V. Mayakovsky's poetics are considered. As one of its leading principles, montage is analyzed. Editing is the main specific means of cinematography, the artist's selection of events, their comparison at a certain pace and rhythm, from which the director's concept is formed

Contemporary Music Directing — Innovation or Adventure?

The author considered the problem of the artistic integrity of the opera in terms of finding ways to renew the musical theater of Ukraine, caused by socio-cultural challenges of today. The article clarifies the fragmentary nature of scientific research on the issue with the priority of musicological aspect and insufficient research of theatrical aspects, which requires a new comprehensive understanding of the director's concept in musical theater.The problem of artistic integrity of opera performance in the conditions of search ways to update the musical theater of Ukraine caused by sociocultural challenges of the present is considered. The article clarifies the fragmentary nature of scientific investigations of the problem with the priority of musicology and insufficient research of theatrical aspects, which requires a new comprehensive understanding of the director's concept in musical theater. The methodology of research key moments of the chosen subject is outlined: modern directorial approaches to creation of artistic integrity of opera performance — structural and functional; the concept of training musical theater directors in the realities of today — systems analysis; vectors of renewal of directorial approaches to the interpretation of works — semiotic. The purpose of the research is formulated — to determine the director's concept of creating the artistic integrity of opera performance in the context of updated synthesis of means of expression of different arts, based on harmonious artistic and research training. The main components of directorial content in solving art work in accordance with the modern possibilities proposed by the theater stage are analyzed. Director's approaches, techniques, means of expression aimed at an organic combination of different arts and achievements of science to find a new synthesis in the embodiment of opera performances are revealed. It is proved that in modern researches of the artistic integrity of the opera performance the mainly musicological aspect is revealed. The analysis of directorial incarnations of operas reflects the achievements of scientific thought at the end of the last century and needs to be reconsidered from the standpoint of the present. The study of directorial interpretations of opera performances in Ukraine makes it possible to state the existence of problems both at the stage of conception and during its implementation, which is due to aesthetic approaches of the end of the last century. The importance of universal training of a musical theater director, able to combine all the components of artistic synthesis into a complete performance with the help of a production team and creative staff, is revealed. Renewal of directorial approaches in the interpretation of operas involves the use of original techniques with the synthesis of traditional and innovative means of expression. The scientific novelty of the research is to establish causal links between integrative artistic and research, research training of the specialist and his ability to produce the latest original ideas in the context of staging. Prospects for further scientific explorations of key aspects of the typology of modern opera directing in the socio-cultural realities of today are predicted.

Modern Children's Musical "Frog Masha" by O. Spilioti in the Context of Director's Modeling of a Creative Art Project

Peculiarities of modern development of performing arts in the conditions of paradigm change, transformation of value orientations are considered. The author pays attention to such factors: the influence of mass culture on theatrical repertoire in general and children's in particular; the role of innovative, digital technologies in updating the content of children's performances, their scenographic solution. The urgency of rethinking children's issues is revealed. The ways of searching for new directorial approaches and means of stage expression in accordance with the realities of today are determined. The source and analytical basis of the research are analyzed and systematized in the context of: the influence of present-day socio-cultural challenges on the metamorphoses of children's repertoire; director's searches and experiments in modern interpretations of children's performances; application of the synthesis of traditional and innovative means of expression in accordance with the psychology of the child's perception works of art. The purpose of the research is substantiated — create an experimental model of children's musical performance through the prism of director's innovations in the synthesis of arts and means of expression in accordance with the requests, interests and possibilities of perception of this age. The research methodology is outlined, which provides for the use of problem-analytical method to clarify modern requirements for children's repertoire; genre-stylistic — for the director's substantiation of his own project concept; socio-psychological — to create characteristic portraits of characters; experimental modeling, interpretive — to determine the concept of the director's idea of the play. The libretto of N. Torzhevskoi's musical "Frog Masha" and the concept of O. Spiliotti's musical drama with the addition of director's remarks are analyzed. The ideological and thematic analysis in the context of the construction of the composition and architecture of the play in accordance with the theatrical aesthetics of today. The main features of the characters that designate the logic of their actions are determined; their socio-psychological portraits are created, which are associated with the personal traits of people of different ages and social status. The author considered the modern scientific and creative achievements in the traditional and innovative artistic as well as figurative solution of the play discovering the influence of the latter on the nature of mise-en-scène. The necessity of specific directorial approaches to the selection and implementation of priority themes, related to the needs and demands of children's audiences, the psychology of their perception of art works is proved. The scientific novelty of the research is determined — to outline the director's concept of modernization of children's repertoire in the conditions of modern possibilities of the theatrical stage. This article outlines certain vectors of further research on the topic in the context of metamorphoses of children's musicals, due to the search for new directorial approaches to the original synthesis of means of expression.

Dmytro Hnatyuk Working on Giuseppe Verdi's Opera "La Traviata"

The author described the working process on the new production of Verdi's "La Traviata" at the Taras Shevchenko National Opera of Ukraine (1988) realized by Dmytro Hnatyuk, Lev Venediktov, Leonid Kanevsky, and Ivan Gamkalo. Features of the director's version by Dmytro Hnatyuk in the staging of Giuseppe Verdi's opera "La Traviata" are highlighted as innovative in the opera art of Ukraine. The author of the article sheds light on the complex process of forming the staged version of the play by using unique archival materials about the work of the artistic council at the theater. The article considers the plan of the production version of the play. The basic principles of formation, development and embodiment of the dramaturgy of the performance and its stage solution are outlined. The efforts of the theater creative team, aimed at supporting and implementing the director's concept of D. Hnatyuk were of great importance for the production version. The results of processing archival materials and their temporal attribution were described through the use of source and textual research methods. The facts of D. Hnatyuk 's life and creative way are proved on the basis of the use of the biographical method, and also the analysis of the director's version of the opera production by the method of hermeneutics is carried out. D. Hnatyuk's close collaboration with the theater's creative team during the directing of J. Verdi's "La Traviata" is emphasized, which testifies to the artist's artistic maturity, the integrity of his directorial thinking, formed not only by the Ukrainian opera tradition but also by general artistic trends of the 20th century. Attention is focused on D. Hnatiuk's desire to recreate the synthetic essence of the genre, considering its elements as complementary and defining each other. The determinants of the artist's shift of emphasis from the general construction of the play's dramaturgy to the main, conceptually leading moments are substantiated, contrasting it with intimacy and intimacy as a reflection of the heroine's inner state, her fragile and deeply penetrating world full of inner experience and anxiety, and not only the splendor of the ball and mass scenes. It is proved that D. Hnatyuk took care of the expression by the elements of the stage design of play dramatic content, its internal contradictions and its confrontation factors

Stage direction as a phenomenon of theater of the XXI century

The purpose of the article. The research is connected with the process of assimilation of theatrical direction with the profession of stage designer as a determining trend in the development of modern theater. The methodology is based on the use of comparative, historical, and dynamic methods. This methodological approach allows us to analyze the formation of scenographic direction in time, as well as to highlight the algorithm for the birth of a scenographic image by the director of the performance. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the expansion of ideas about the evolution of directing as a profession towards the profession of a stage designer and about the emergence of a stage mix “stage design direction”. Conclusions. Scenographic direction as a product of the historical evolution of director's art has significantly enriched the figurative philosophical and spectacular components of the theatrical work. At the same time, there is a dynamic tendency of a certain release of the director from the captivity of the playwright, the conquest of the author's text by the director's concept of the performance. The study of the phenomenon of the formation of "scenographic directing" will contribute to the improvement of theatrical education, the correction of educational programs of theatrical educational institutions, taking into account modern trends in the development of the art of directing.

Foolishness in Modern Russian Theater (Based on the Director's Concept of Lev Ehrenburg)

The article examines the foolishness as one of the ways of a new representation of reality in art on the example of the director’s concept of Lev Ehrenburg. The author analyzes the performances of the Nebolshoy Drama Theater in St. Petersburg in the 1990-2010s, tracing the influence of the aesthetic paradigm of foolishness on the director’s method. On the basis of the analysis, the author examines the reflection of the typological features of foolishness in the work of Lev Ehrenburg: belonging to the purl world, the marginality of heroes, the search for a lost paradise, the desire to overcome the boundaries of one’s own “I”. The author indicates the possibilities for further in-depth study of the issue, in which the aesthetic paradigm of foolishness can be considered in connection with the concept of total theatricality of Nikolai Evreinov, the performative turn in modern theater, as well as in other director’s concepts (N. Kolyada, A. Artemov, K. Bogomolov, A. Adasinsky).

The director's concept of the opera performance through the prism of modern theater aesthetics

The aim of the study. Rethinking conceptual approaches to creating a director's concept for an opera performance through the prism of modern theatrical aesthetics.The object is to determine modern transformations of opera performances as the results of experimentation in the field of musical theatre of young directors of Ukraine.The methodology of research consists of an integrated approach to solving the problem of modern directorial incarnations of opera performances; it involves the use of a system and analytical method to study the factors of influence on modifications in musical theatre and a structural-functional one – to determine the concept of a director's intention in the relationship of its structural elements.The relevance of the study due to the need to comply with the method of work on the performance developed by many generations of directors in the context of the search for new forms of musical and theatrical art in the context of postmodern aesthetics.Findings and conclusions. The article examines the latest trends in the development of the European opera house, their influence on the formation of repertoire policy in Ukraine. The search for new forms of musical and stage art at the junctions of theatrical genres, the increasing role of provocative forms of displaying life, the break of modern methods of expression with classical ones are investigated. The process of transformation of opera performances is analyzed through the prism of modern theatrical aesthetics, experimentation of young creators. The dualistic nature of the director's concept of an opera performance and its characteristic features have been clarified. The directorial content of staging a musical performance in modern socio-cultural realities has been established. The importance of cooperation between the director and the conductor in the development of the concept of the future performance and its implementation is outlined. The structure of the director's idea and the content of its components have been determined. In the experimental works of young directors, the interpretation of a stage work as a creative definition and concretization by the director of the super-task, the end-to-end action of the performance, clarification of the genre and style features of the work, the main and secondary conflict of drama is characterized. The crown of the director's intention is highlighted - the formation of the contours, the main components and components of the general stage image of the performance. Conditional, polyphonic, metaphorical in the art of theatre are emphasized, which, by means of associative transformation, shape the life stream of reality into an artistic and stage image. It is proved that the concept as a generalized creative intention of the future performance gives the process of its creation a specific directorial format, determines the direction of the search for expressive means, and contributes to the formation of its integral artistic and stage image.

Children's and youth repertory of the modern musical theater in Ukraine: research problems of the director's concept

The aim of the study is to determine the degree of research of the repertoire policy of the Ukrainian musical theatres in the context of works for children and youth; to emphasize the role of the director in selecting the appropriate techniques and artistic expressions aimed at young auditory. The object: children's and youth repertoire of modern Ukrainian musical theatre and its directorial incarnations, the nature of interpretations and their compliance with the young viewers' perception. The methodology implies the use of a system and analytical method, which allows carrying out theoretical and methodological generalization of scientific concepts, works and proposals of leading scientists in order to find a new scientific understanding of children's and youth repertoire of modern Ukrainian musical theatre. Functional-structural analysis makes it possible to determine the functional component of musical theatre and repertoire focused on the young audience, in particular, to form the principles and values of the influence of theatrical art on the individual. With the help of traditional methods of art research: genre, stylistic, interpretive approaches to directorial modifications of the repertoire in accordance with the modern requirements. The relevance of the study: exploring the little-studied topic of children's musical theatre in Ukraine, drawing the experts’ attention to the gaps that arise in the process of vector determination in the groups’ repertoire policy. The appeal to these aspects is signified by the need of finding the new directorial approaches if solving modern problems of children's and youth repertoire of musical theatres in Ukraine at the time of global changes in artistic culture. Art education of the young generation of the information technology era is an important component of comprehensive personal development. Findings and conclusion: the study of the problem of solving children's and youth subjects in Ukrainian musical theatres at the time of modern socio-cultural challenges allows us to state the lack of a systematic differentiated approach to the theme choice, directing techniques, artistic expression which are appropriate for the children's, teenagers’ and youth perception. The review of domestic and foreign researches on the chosen problems testifies to the existence of some separate developments in psychological and pedagogical, culturological, musicological, theatrical sciences. Unfortunately, there is still no comprehensive intersectoral scientific research that integrates the various achievement in order to create an artistically holistic performance for children and youth. The format of directorial incarnations of musical and theatrical performances of the specified repertoire implies the differentiation of directorial approaches to its interpretations in accordance with the peculiarities of the musical drama of works which are focused on the relevant audience. The further research prospects lay in the opportunity to identify examples of relevant works for the re-pertoire of the musical theatre in Ukraine and to establish the relevant directorial concepts that can be embodied in musical and theatrical performances aimed at children and youth audiences.

КАЗКА ЯК ЛІТЕРАТУРНА ОСНОВА ХОРЕОГРАФІЧНИХ ТВОРІВ

The article examines the synthesis of literature and choreographic art. The literary work is considered in the context of the libretto of a ballet performance, special importance is given to such a literary genre as a fairy tale, the plots of which served as a source of inspiration for choreographers of different eras, different countries. The role of literature in choreographic art is determined, the literary basis in a choreographic work from the origin of ballet art to the present is investigated. A historical excursion on the interpenetration of literature and choreography, from the XIII century. to date. Literary plots and literary images have been actively used in choreographic art at all times. However, the complete "fusion" of literary work and choreographic vocabulary took place only in the XX century, with the emergence of drama. It is believed that the drama flourished in the works of J. Neumayer, a choreographer with a flair and knowledge of philology. He created a unique author's genre of literary ballet. The specificity of depicting the events of a literary work by means of expression in choreography is studied. Ballet drama, features of construction of a choreographic work on a literary plot are analyzed. The essence of the concepts plot and plot and composition is determined. In fiction, the plot is a system of events. The plot and the plot are inseparable from each other and are the basis of the composition. Composition is the structure of a work of art due to its content. As for the disclosure of the content in the choreographic work, this process occurs through the means of expression. The specifics of the choreographer's work on creating a one-act choreographic performance are revealed; the main stages of the director's work are listed, namely: the choice of a literary work and its ideological and thematic analysis; own interpretation and director's concept of the work; writing a compositional plan; selection and analysis of musical material; staging and rehearsal work. The work of modern directors, who take a fairy tale as the main idea of their choreographic work, is studied.

Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman

Directing Shakespeare: a scholar onstage

An Impossible Question From A Chinese Actor - Why is Shakespeare eternal? - drove Sidney Homan after fifty years in the theater to ponder just what makes Shakespeare...well, Shakespeare. The result, Directing Shakespeare, reflects the two worlds in which Homan operates - as a scholar and teacher on campus, and as a director and actor in professional and university theaters. His concern is the entire process, beginning in the lonely period when the director develops a concept and moving into increasingly larger realms: interaction with stage designer; rehearsal; and public performances in which the audience's response further shapes the play. Homan recounts the experience of staging King Lear accompanied by a musical score for piano, violin, and cello played live onstage. He discusses the challenge of making and trying to justify cuts in Hamlet. A casual remark from an actress leads to a feminist production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He describes the delicate collaboration between director and performer as he works with actors preparing for The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, and Hamlet. Other chapters treat a set designer's bold red drapes that influenced the director's concept for Julius Caesar and the cross-influence of back-to-back runs of Stoppard's Rozencrantz and Guildentsern Are Dead and Hamlet. In a highly personal concluding chapter, Homan tells of joyously working with a spontaneous young actor playing Puck and with an audience of unruly teenagers who wept at a performance of Lear, Delightfully written, and filled with practical insights, Directing Shakespeare draws together scholars, critics, and those who work to bring the written word to life.

Staging modern playwrights: from director's concept to performance

Staging modern playwrights: from director's concept to performance

The End: Modern Productions of El burlador de Sevilla , with Special Attention to Closings

The final tableaux of a play create the impression with which the audience will come away from the theater. A director approaches a play differently from a scholar in that a director must read backwards, considering first the ending, the culmination of the action, and then building toward the finale. While some modern directors have viewed El burlador de Sevilla from a traditional, Catholic perspective, others have stressed its moral ambiguity. By studying the final tableaux of five modern productions, we can begin to appreciate the wide range of interpretations to which the play lends itself. The Radiotelevisión version, directed by Gonzalo Pérez Puig, ends with a replay of the opening scene. The circular structure conveys a restoration of order, and at the same time, a warning. The camera moves slowly across the line of mourners, which includes the entire cast, thereby creating an image of cohesiveness. The message is that the entire society is caught in a circular labyrinth from which there is no escape. The production of the Escuela de Bellas Artes of the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua imbues the play with a distinctly Mexican flavor, but presents a less coherent view than Pérez Puig's. In the final tableaux the tone shifts from humorous to serious so many times that the impact of Don Juan's damnation is diluted. In contrast, the final tableaux of the production of the Escuela de Arte Teatral of the Instituto de Bellas Artes de México convey a clear censure of the social anarchy that Don Juan represents and the restoraton of order under the Catholic monarch. Throughout the play, a chorus of masked, puppet-like characters communicates the notion that Spanish society has degenerated into a farce. At the end of the play, the gesticulating, crow-like figures are gone, and the monarch occupies center stage, thereby "anchoring" society. Cuban director René Buch exploits the play's underlying themes of social decay, political corruption, and sexual deviation in the Repertorio Español production, but unlike the Spanish and Mexican versions, this interpretation offers no moral resolution. The final tableau is asymmetrical, creating the impression of an unbalanced, irrational world governed by rigid codes of conduct from which no deviation is tolerated. In such a world, Don Juan, the introspective rebel, is more a hero than a villain. In the English-language production at the Source Theater in Washington, D.C., director Joe Danno modernizes the setting, transforming Don Juan into a spoiled, bored rich kid who takes drugs and seduces women. While in traditional productions Don Juan is carried down to hell about three-fourths through the third act, in Danno's the final tableau portrays the young man lying dead in the arms of Catalinón. Then, slowly, he rises and smiles diabolically, suggesting that although Don Juan, the individual, may have been vanquished, his spirit lives on. The Source's ending implies that as long as we as a society continue to permit and applaud self-indulgent behavior, exploitation, and abuse, Don Juan will triumph. Each of the five productions offers a distinct closing that reflects not only the director's concept, but also the culture of which he is a product. These examples demonstrate the extent to which the staging of the closing of a play may reinforce or subvert the text. (BM)

Reflections on Miss Julie: The New Scandinavian Experimental Theatre's Miss Julie in Copenhagen, 1992

A Danish theatre group with a Swedish director, calling themselves the New Scandinavian Experimental Theatre, presented a provocative staging of Strindberg's Miss Julie in Copenhagen in April 1992. It was received with enthusiasm by the group of Strindberg scholars at the International Strindberg Conference being held in Copenhagen at that time. What was it about this production which was so appealing? The following three articles attempt to demonstrate different ways of approaching this production in retrospect — that is to say almost one year later. The first is mainly concerned with the actress playing Julie, the second is concerned with the director's concept and how this was realized on stage, whilst the third is interested in placing this production in the context of the Scandinavian Strindberg tradition.