Theatre History Research Articles

When Sammy Gronemann Met Nathan Alterman: The Story of Israel’s Most Successful Comedy

Abstract The essay delves into the intricate German-Jewish authorship and enduring legacy of the iconic Israeli musical, “King Solomon and Shalmai the Cobbler,” which premiered in Tel Aviv in 1943. Following its success, a contentious debate arose, overshadowing Sammy Gronemann’s rightful credit as the playwright, subsequently replaced by the prominence of his Hebrew translator, Nathan Alterman. This essay meticulously examines Gronemann’s pivotal contribution, illuminating his collaborative journey with Alterman from the vibrant cabaret scene of pre-state Tel Aviv to their lasting impact on contemporary Israeli culture and theater. By dissecting their creative partnership, it becomes evident that while Gronemann’s playwright prowess shone brightly and set new standards, Alterman’s adept translation skills bolstered the play’s success, thereby etching its indelible mark in Israeli theatrical history.

Adolf de Herz și comedia de bulevard

Considered one of the first authors of boulevard comedies in Romania, A. de Herz is almost absent from the pages of the of Romanian literature history. Nevertheless, the theater history gives him an important place, through his light comedies, with great appeal to the interwar audience. If the plays of historical inspiration remained without an echo when they were published, the comedies "Păianjenul" (“The Spider”), "Bunicul" (“The Grandfather”), "Sorana", "Mărgeluş" (“Tiny Bead”) and "Încurcă-lume" (“The Fumbler”) have been performed on numerous stages in the country, including the National Theater of Bucharest and the National Theater of Craiova. An important chapter in his theatrical activity is the collaboration with C. Tănase and the “Cărăbuș” Theatre. In several plays he performed secondary roles, very well received by the public. With extensive journalistic activity at "Dimineața", "Adevărul", "Adevărul literar și artistic", "Rampa", "Convorbiri critice" etc., Herz was for a good period of time one of the well-known theatre columnists of that epoch. Often, in order to create a relaxed atmosphere for the audience, the author chose to explore current topics, but without great pretensions, full of mundane conversations and expressions with claims of aphorisms. Director of the National Theater of Craiova (1930-1935), A. de Herz prematurely ended his existence, leaving only a few pale traces of his entire creation over time.

The long-term association between exposure to wartime bombing earlier in life and post-traumatic stress later in life among today's older Vietnamese population

This analysis examines the relationship between exposure to American wartime bombardments earlier in life and later-life PTSD among current surviving Vietnamese aged 59+. It also assesses whether the relationship varies by military status during the war - formal military, informal military, or civilian - and whether associations are explained by exposure to violence and malevolent conditions. Data link survey responses from the 2018 Vietnam Health and Aging Study to provincial-wide level bombing intensity using U.S. Department of Defense records from the Theater History of Operations Vietnam database. PTSD measured using nine items from the PTSD Checklist. Analyses employ multivariate logistic quantile regression. Findings examined for a sample of 2290 Vietnamese survivors and a subsample of 736 Vietnamese that moved at least once during wartime. Results show a robust and significant positive association between province-wide bombing intensity and later-life PTSD scores. Interaction effects indicate civilians have overall lower levels of PTSD than those that were in the formal or informal military, but the association between bombing and PTSD is stronger among civilians. Much of the association is a function of exposure to violence and less is a function of exposure to malevolent conditions. Findings confirm earlier studies that have shown severe deleterious impacts of war trauma, and arial bombardments particularly, on long-term psychological health, while extending extant literature to civilian populations living in Vietnam during intense aerial bombing episodes.

Budowanie wizerunku instytucji kultury na przykładzie Teatru Żydowskiego w Warszawie

The research objective of this article is to present the way in which the Jewish Theater in Warsaw has been building its image. To achieve this goal, the case study method was used. The article takes a closer look at the history of the theatre itself, its founder, the legendary actress Ida Kamińska, the troubles with the seat, but most importantly it presents the image transformations that the theatre has been implementing systematically during the time it has been managed by Gołda Tencer. The article was based on the analysis of collected data, Internet searches and author’s observations. The research shows that thanks to the gradual introduction of the rebranding process, the Jewish Theater has gained new audiences, strengthened its image and managed to build a strong brand in the theatre sector.

Los Angeles' Ethnic Cinemas

The author investigates ethnic movie theatres in Los Angeles in the mid-20th century, situating them in the city’s cinema landscape. By tracing the history of the LA German-language theatre, the La Tosca Filmbühne, she highlights how the cinema attempted to create a community of Germanness through its exhibition practices. She positions the audiences’ draw to these movie theatres in the context of Alison Landsberg’s notion of prosthetic memory, regarding the films screened there as evoking images and reminiscences of the viewers’ home countries. Through extensive archival research, the author also highlights the other Angeleno ethnic cinemas – Spanish language cinemas in particular – to examine what role foreign language theatres played in the cinemagoing communities of immigrant populations.

Excerpts from Einar Schleef’s "Droge Faust Parsifal" (Drugs Faust Parsifal)

Arguably the most important books by Einar Schleef (1944-2001) are his novel Gertrud, a monologue narrated by his fictionalized mother, his diaries, and the work excerpted here, Droge Faust Parsifal (Drugs Faust Parsifal, 1997). Schleef also wrote plays and short stories, and was a theater director, set and costume designer, actor, illustrator, painter, and photographer. His work deserves a wide readership, yet only a story and a play have been translated into English (Buchner 1982, 130-138; Vivis 1987). Drugs Faust Parsifal’s 500 pages are autobiography, theater history, dramaturgy and cultural essay in one. It won the City of Bremen Literature Prize in 1998 and was adapted for the stage in 2011 by Armin Petras. The selected passages from Drugs, which are somewhat anomalous in a book mainly about dramaturgy, concern Schleef’s personal struggles; they have historical relevance and show his linguistic dexterity, articulated in his “suffering language, a language for suffering” (Windrich 2009, 481). Both as child and adult, he is an observer of a postwar society divided against itself.

The cultural code of the Shtetl in Grigory Gorin's play "Memorial Prayer"

The subject of our article is the identification of cultural codes of Eastern European shtetl towns in the play by Grigory Gorin "Memorial Prayer", the libretto of which was written by the author based on the works of the famous Yiddish writer Sholom Aleichem. The author of the article describes the history and conditions of localization of Jewish culture in Eastern Europe and the Russian Empire, the peculiarities of its transformation, the tragic history of the Jewish theater in the first third of the twentieth century. After the disappearance of the towns and the disuse of the Yiddish language, the preservation of the history of the characteristic everyday and philosophical way of life of the shtetls became the goal of museum figures, historians, writers, playwrights, and artists. In the work, using the example of Tevye the milkman, his family and environment, characteristic images of the inhabitants of small towns, their habitat, types of thinking and actions are revealed. The article uses the methods of historicism in the retrospective of the culture of Shtetl towns, the method of analysis in the identification of Shtetl archetypes, the method of synthesis in the generalization of a set of characteristic cultural codes. The main conclusions of the study are: 1. Eastern European Jewish shtetl towns are small urban-type settlements with a predominantly Jewish population, whose unique culture was determined by the Jewish faith, everyday and religious traditions, the Yiddish language, as well as the localization of residence in a small area. 2. During the period of large-scale social upheavals of the early twentieth century and the subsequent expansion beyond the boundaries of the towns, their unique culture became a mythologeme, the foundation for writers, artists, musicians, and theater figures who emerged from it. One of the milestones in the preservation of this culture was the Jewish theater GOSET, whose existence was tragically cut short in the middle of the twentieth century. 3. The play "Memorial Prayer", written by Grigory Gorin based on the works of Sholem Aleichem and staged at the Lenkom Theater by Mark Zakharov, became the quintessence of the characteristic images of the shtetl, and at the same time the revival of authentic Jewish culture. The author's special contribution is to highlight in the play the images-the archetypes of the Shtetl, which have become cultural markers, or codes of Jewish Yiddish culture.

David Bisaha. American Scenic Design and Freelance Professionalism

Moving away from individual design practice to look at the institutional power structures that governed the flow of labour and capital in the theatre industry throughout the twentieth century, this well-researched examination of the movement toward professionalization in American scenic design adds an important new dimension to American theatre history.

Katarzyna Fazan, Michal Kobialka, and Bryce Lease, eds. A History of Polish Theatre

A History of Polish Theatre, edited by Katarzyna Fazan, Michal Kobialka, and Bryce Lease, is a collection of essays that examines Polish theatre history from the Middle Ages on and makes a special effort to connect various phenomena in the past to the present day.

The Challenge of World Theatre History by Steve Tillis (review)

The Challenge of World Theatre History by Steve Tillis (review)

The Influence of the Bertolt Brecht System on Traditional Chinese Theater

Introduction. The article is devoted to the phenomenon of modern Chinese theater and aims to explore the ways of its evolution – from imitation of European avant-garde forms of theatrical art to the formation of an original artistic language. An important goal is also to identify the factors that have determined the unique aesthetic and meaningful characteristics of modern Chinese theater.Methodology and sources. As a result of the application of the comparative analysis method, the article compares the theatrical concepts of Ibsen, Stanislavsky and Brecht, which influenced the image of modern Chinese theater.Result and discussion. The special role of the European theatrical avant-garde is shown, namely, the concept of Brecht's dialectical drama, which became widespread in China at the end of the XX century. Over a twenty-year period (from 1959 to 1979), three so-called «Brecht booms» took place in China, radically transforming Chinese traditional theater. However, despite the high popularity of Brecht's ideas, the Chinese Theater did not turn into a literal translator of the European avant-garde, but formed its own artistic style based on traditional structures of audience perception. The key role in this process was played by the national cultural context – socio-political and mental – which determined the specific forms of adaptation of the cultural meanings of the European theater. The history of Chinese avant-garde theater lasts for more than forty years and began in the early 1980s. After experiencing a period of direct borrowing, Chinese theatrical figures came to rethink the European heritage in the context of their own culture. As a result, it was the middle path of Chinese theater development that turned out to be the most productive – a path that absorbed the outstanding artistic ideas of Stanislavsky and Brecht, the modern Western avant-garde, but also without rejecting traditional artistic principles. This is how Chinese theatrical culture has developed with its own unique style.Conclusion. The 20th century became the era of the interchange of Eastern and Western theatrical traditions, which largely shaped the world cultural landscape, in which the interaction of Brecht's theory and traditional Chinese culture forms a special topos.

Teātra kritika Covid-19 pandēmijas laikā (2020–2022)

The experience of the pandemic period (2020–2022) has become part of the recent history of Latvian theatre, and the purpose of this article is to analyse the adaptation of criticism to the ‘new normal’ in terms of both form and content. The article’s research object is the reviews by theatre critics in the Latvian printed press and electronic media during the period of pandemic restrictions – from March 13, 2020, until spring 2022. After March 13, 2020, when the first outbreak of Covid-19 began in Latvia, inevitable confusion arose not only in theatres but also in the press writing about the theatre industry. The specialised cultural media had to create a new concept of content, shifting from performance reviews to the format of interviews or discussions. As theatres created new performative works of various formats, critics had to find new ways and vocabulary to write about them, including the use of new words such as ‘covid time’, ‘lockdown’, ‘online performance’, etc. New virtual performances contributed to discussions about whether or not e-theatre is a ‘real theatre’; critics began to pay attention to such technical aspects as the angle of the camera, the specifics of editing, the choice of close-ups, etc. Discussions became relevant on how to distinguish between performances created specifically for the virtual environment and recordings of performances that theatres showed during lockdown. Experimental formats of criticism emerged: in the spring of 2020, a cycle of fake reviews of performances that were not shown to the public due to the pandemic was published in the electronic journal Kroders.lv; inspired by the form used in Elmārs Seņkovs’s successful virtual performance “Iran Conference”, four critics founded the KuKū critics’ discussion club on the Zoom platform, its name describing the sense of the world at that time. Criticism changed from evaluative and analytical in the traditional sense to empathically descriptive, stimulating a discussion about the ethics of criticism. Categorical definitions turned into discussion questions and critical observations – into empathetic advice on how theatres can survive in pandemic conditions. The authors’ article explores these and other aspects of form and content by conducting a qualitative content analysis of Latvian theatre critics’ reviews and outlining the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Latvian theatre criticism.

Театральна діяльність на Буковині в умовах Другої світової війни (1941-1944 рр.)

The purpose of the study is to analyze the conditions of theater activities in Bukovyna during the German-Soviet war, based on the available sources and existing developments of theater history researchers. The methodology of the study is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, system and the use of methods of analysis and synthesis, problem-chronological, biographical, historical-genetic ones. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that for the first time in Ukrainian historiography, the state of theatre activities during World War II, specifically the period of the German-Soviet campaign in 1941-1944, of the Romanian theater in Bukovyna was comprehensively analyzed. Conclusions. Thus, during the German-Soviet war, the theatrical activities remained an important component of the cultural space of Chernivtsi, a means of citizens' education. Despite the restoration of the National Theater, theater troupes from various cities in Romania, mainly Bucharest and Iași, presented their activities in the city and the region. The repertoire of the theaters included both world classics and Romanian drama, as well as plays on historical and patriotic topics. The theater faced the task of eliminating the 1940-1941 gap in cultural ties. Sometimes theatrical events carried some propaganda that was considered acceptable in wartime conditions. There was a practice of theatre tours in the cities of Bukovyna and Northern Bessarabia, which took place in 1942-1943. During the war, the fates of Romanian actors and actors of the Chernivtsi Ukrainian Regional Theater were different. Some actors were arrested by the Soviet authorities at the beginning of the German-Soviet war and in its final period.

Ansiedad, depresión y suicidio en el musical estadounidense. Una visión a través de Lady in the Dark, Sweeney Todd y Dear Evan Hansen

Anxiety, depression, and suicide are taboo subjects that are still rarely talked about in an open and honest way, both in musical theatre and in its cinematic namesake. In 2015 we see on the stage the work Dear Evan Hansen, Dear Evan Hansen with lyrics and music by Ben Pasek and Justin Paul and book by Steven Levenson, which for the first time openly deals with the consequences of mental pathologies. However, this does not mean that there are no examples throughout the history of musical theatre and film where the main characters do not exhibit some kind of pathology. For this reason, in this article we will Hansen, highlighting the scarce representation of mental illnesses throughout the history of theater and musical cinema.

Feminist Rehearsals: Gender at the Theatre in Early Twentieth-Century Argentina and Mexico By May Summer Farnsworth. Studies in Theatre History and Culture. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2023; pp. vii + 285. $95.00 paper, $95.00 e-book.

Feminist Rehearsals: Gender at the Theatre in Early Twentieth-Century Argentina and Mexico By May Summer Farnsworth. Studies in Theatre History and Culture. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2023; pp. vii + 285. $95.00 paper, $95.00 e-book.

Audience of traditional art in Kazakh steppe

This article considers the evolution of the stage art audience formation in the traditional society of the Kazakh steppe civilization, linking it to the ancient historical, cultural, and ritual processes of our people, as well as to the very origin of the earliest form of stage art. We regard the future improvement of the artistic culture of today's spectator on the assumption that cultural and spiritual continuity between different generations of spectators of the Kazakh steppe will not be broken. Consequently, it becomes obvious that this position is a trend characteristic of the world history of art. For example, folk art activities in other countries are based on the traditional entertainment of the gathered audience. In general, the origin of art is closely intertwined with folk art. They are inextricably related and cannot develop without each other. This phenomenon is confirmed by numerous facts from the history of world theater. There is every reason to come to a scientific conclusion that this position is applicable to the formation of artistic public. We can say that various kinds of entertaining folk games and festive performances, originating in real scenes of nomadic life of the Kazakh people, developed on the basis of national customs and were the initial stage of formation of spectators and listeners of arts and crafts of the traditional Kazakh civilization. Examining the rich cultural history of the steppe, we believe that the study of the audience of the performing arts in the traditional Kazakh society is of great scientific theoretical and practical importance. This issue is still in the category of topics not considered in the framework of scientific research of the national culture philosophy. It is known from history that centuries-old cultural heritage of the steppe region and Kazakh people has a diverse and rich content, along with its own unique style. It is culture that plays a huge role in the vitality of any nation. If we consider the identification of a nation through the prism of its contribution to the development of mankind, then national art is just that distinctive feature that helps defining the nation. Thus, the spiritual contribution of the Kazakh people to world culture is determined, first of all, by its national art.

Reception of A.P. Chekhov's play “The Cherry Orchard” in China

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is a well-known Russian writer and playwright in China. During his life, he created many works that are familiar to the Chinese readers. It is generally recognized that Chekhov's plays open a new page in the history of drama and theater. The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov's last work, is considered one of his most mature dramatic works and today has a debatable character in literary criticism, its interpretations are offered to the audience on the theater stage all over the world, including in China. This article aims to trace the evolution of the reception of the named work in Chinese critical thought, as well as to reflect the history of the productions of The Cherry Orchard in the theater of China. The subject of this work is the reception of the play "The Cherry Orchard" in Chinese literary criticism, the study of the history of its translation and staging in various historical periods in China. The main research methods used are descriptive and historical. The author of the study tries to characterize the main features of the perception of the work and productions of The Cherry Orchard in China, which are determined by the change in the socio-historical conditions of the state. Critical and literary works of Chinese researchers of A.P. Chekhov's work are used as material for analysis. In this regard, the present study seems to be relevant, since the author develops a scientific discussion around the Chekhov work under consideration. The theoretical novelty of the article lies in the fact that the works of Chinese literary critics are introduced into scientific circulation, devoted to the problems of reception of the images of the play, its plot and ideological originality, and analyzes the performances of "The Cherry Orchard" by Chinese directors.

Арт. Феличе. Воспоминания актрисы (Людмила Андреевна Ямщикова-Дмитриева: к 130-летию со дня рождения)

We dedicate the publication of a fragment of the fictionalized autobiography of Lyudmila Andreevna Yamshchikova-Dmitrieva (1893‒1978), “Aktrisa” (“The Actress”), to her memory and her 130th anniversary. Another forgotten name that did not continue the ancestral branch of its famous ancestors Rokotov and Tolstoy. She left no descendants, was a dramatic actress and writer, made a certain contribution to Russian historical prose for young people in the first half of the 20th century and memorably served the theater, playing the main roles in plays of classical and modern repertoire. According to the memoirs of the playwright V.S. Rozov, who personally knew Lyudmila Andreevna and her mother, Margarita Vladimirovna Yamshchikova (1872‒1959), known in literature under the pseudonym Al. Altaev, Lyudmila shone on the provincial stage for about thirty years, quietly, imperceptibly died within the walls of the Leningrad House of Veterans of the Scene, named after her unforgettable teacher M.G. Savina. In literature, Lyudmila Andreevna performed under the pseudonym Art. Felice: that was the name of the “Ovod” (“Gadfly”) in the novel of the same name by E. Voynich, wrote books from the history of England, Italy, and the Netherlands, small biographies for children about great scientists, inventors, was a co-author of her mother in several works. The manuscript “Aktrisa” (“The Actress”), a fragment of which is offered to readers, has two copies. They are kept in the Altaev Memorial Fund (Coll. 1370) and in the fund of the Altaev Literary Memorial Museum, which is located in the village of Lositsy in the Plyussky district of the Pskov region, in the former Log estate. Lyudmila Yamshchikova herself did not intend for the manuscript “The Actress” to be published, but for those who are engaged in the history of the Russian provincial theater, this material will be very useful both in historical and research terms.

Aristotle's Musical Theatre History: A Poetic Approach

Of all the areas that I teach, one that I have seen move the furthest has been Musical Theatre History. This may be a controversial opinion, but I believe that the rapid access to information has made facts so quick to attain that it is no longer necessary to drill the type of details that my generation was forced to memorize in MT history. Yes, there are certain musical theatre facts that one needs to know. The musicals that Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote, for example, or that Sondheim won his Pulitzer for Sunday in the Park. Gone are the days, however, that we need to ask students to memorize that West Side Story opened on Broadway on September 26, 1957, at the Winter Garden Theatre because if they don’t remember those details, they can look it up faster than most people my age can dig into their memory banks for the information...

Fifty Key Stage Musicals

In a post-pandemic climate, how might we, as instructors, challenge our students to infuse their knowledge of musical theatre history into their craft? Fifty Key Stage Musicals, edited by Robert W. Schneider and Shannon Agnew, is a refreshing musical theatre history text that illustrates Broadway’s changing tides while focusing on fifty innovative musicals...