National Theatre Research Articles

"This Is Not the National Theatre, Here We Study Talmud": Performing the Talmud in the Television Show Shenayim oḥazin

"This Is Not the National Theatre, Here We Study Talmud": Performing the Talmud in the Television Show Shenayim oḥazin

Writers vs censorship: Slovenian experience in the context of the 19th century

The review presents a collective monograph published in the scientific series “Studia literaria” of the Institute of Slovenian Literature and Literary Studies of the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, which for the first time presents in a comprehensive, multidisciplinary manner the functioning of state censorship as an institution of official control over sociocultural life Slovenes in the territories of the Habsburg Empire, and then Austria-Hungary in the period from 1789 to 1918. Throughout the century under review, Slovenian writers, scientists, editors, publishers, critics, and journalists faced imperial censorship as the most important factor regulating their activities. The institution of censorship itself experienced a number of transformations during this period: from secularization and bureaucracy during the reign of Maria Theresa to the repressive aggressiveness of censorship practices under Franz Joseph. Based on a broad historical, cultural and literary context, the authors – literary scholars, historians, cultural scientists, museum workers, bibliographers – explore the influence of censorship on the process of national revival and the work of outstanding Slovenian authors A. T. Linhart, F. Prešeren, I. Cankar, publishing, periodicals, national theater. The monograph consists of a preface, an extensive introduction and two sections arranged in chronological order, the first of which covers the period from the Great French to the March Revolution, the second from the March Revolution to the First World War. Each section includes ten author’s chapters. The book is equipped with a name index, information about the authors and a detailed English-language summary, including article-by-article annotations. The exclusive archival illustrative material included in the book is very informative and useful: copies of documents, manuscripts, letters, newspaper pages, censorship reports, court decisions, geographical maps, extracts from library catalogs, etc., which not only serves as an evidence base, but also immerses the reader into the atmosphere of time.

ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЕ АСПЕКТЫ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ ОСОБЕННОСТЕЙ ТЕАТРАЛЬНОГО ИСКУССТВА КЫРГЫЗСТАНА

The article deals with the Kyrgyz theater art, which is an important component of modern national culture. The authors note that, like any theater, which is a synthesis of various arts, the theater of Kyrgyzstan in many ways determines the creative unity of elements of literature, music and skill of actors. At the same time, the roots of the Kyrgyz stage art are rooted in folk traditions and folklore. Therefore, the study of an issue of the stage art formation, in particular the emergence of national dramatic theaters, should begin with understanding the historical significance of their folk origins. Considering the issue of originating the Kyrgyz theatrical art, the authors state that the dramatic theater of Kyrgyzstan changed the vector of development and improved under difficult historical conditions, having experienced at least two stages in its development – the Soviet period and the time of independence, which are quite different both in the degree of their influence on society and in their role in political and socio-economic processes, which in turn have affected the consciousness and value orientations of young people in one way or another. The study of the place and role of theater art in the national culture is necessary to understand the culture of Kyrgyzstan in its historical development.

“Entre Deux Transatlantiques”: American Religion and the French Family at the Comédie-Française (1890)

Mormonism, seen in 1865 by French critic Hippolyte Taine as an American religious and social experiment conducted “for our benefit,” appears frequently in French thinking in the second half of the nineteenth century. Whether Taine intended it or not in his use of the word “benefit,” this American religion was mobilized in French conversations about pressing sociopolitical issues such as gender identity, marriage, and the social norms surrounding those issues. Relying on a cultural studies approach, we illustrate in this article how French literary critic and playwright Philippe Gille uses Mormonism in Camille, a play in which he explores issues of gender in the context of the état civil during the Third Republic. First performed at the French national theater (Comédie-Française) in 1890, Gille’s play stages the transatlantic encounter of Franco-American cultures and values as a way to displace questions about the capacity of the French state to regulate marriage and family relationships.

Poetics outlines of the national theater direction

Poetics outlines of the national theater direction

“…noxiousness of my work:” Miroslav Macháček’s 1971 "Henry V" at the Normalized National Theatre

The essay focuses on the 1971 production of William Shakespeare’s rarely staged historical drama Henry V, directed by Czech director Miroslav Macháček at the Prague National Theatre in a new translation by Czech literary historian and translator Břetislav Hodek. Macháček staged the play shortly after the 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops. The premiere of the play provoked negative reactions from influential Communist officials, including the leading post-1968 politician Vasil Biľak. Macháček’s performance, which, in the director’s words, was intended as a universal anti-war parable, became a political topicality that the newly emerging normalisation authorities understood as a deliberate political, anti-socialist provocation. The essay traces the background of the production, including the translation of the play, and the consequences of the staging for Macháček. At the same time, it attempts to unravel a number of ambiguities and ambivalences associated with the period of normalization (1970s and 1980s) and its research. A special focus is given to the production itself as it disturbed the audience with its ambivalence. In this analytical section, the essay works with Norman Rabkin’s conception of Henry V, as presented in his essay “Rabbits, Ducks, and Henry V,” which traces Shakespeare’s complex grasp of the historical figure and the events associated with Henry. Macháček, who staged the play several years before this essay by Rabkin, pursued similar intentions with his stage concept. It was this unsettling ambivalence that carried within it the features of both a parable and a political gesture that spoke out against the communist occupation.

Passion and Politics in Diego de Brea and Jakub Čermák’s "Edward II": Marlowe’s Controversial History on Czech Stages

The present article outlines the stage history of Christopher Marlowe’s history Edward II on Czech stages, focusing chiefly on how the respective directors approached the titular character of Marlowe’s play and his sexuality. The study focuses on two post-2000 productions of the play: Diego de Brea’s Edvard Drugy for the Slovenian National Theatre, which toured to the 16th “Divadlo” International Theatre Festival in Pilsen, West Bohemia, in 2008; and Jakub Čermák’s production of Edvard II. for the independent Czech theatre company “Depresivní děti touží po penězích” (Depressive Children Yearn for Money) that premiered in 2023 in Prague. Since for both Czechs and Slovenians, King Edward II is a minor figure of English history and Elizabethan history plays are generally less appealing to them than other genres, both the directors sideline the political dimension of the story to fully explore the issue of social and sexual norms and relate it to current social and cultural discussions both in the West and the former Eastern Bloc. Stressing the motif of social and sexual otherness even more bravely than most recent Western productions, de Brea and Čermák offered not only valuable contributions to both local and global reception of Marlowe’s Edward II, but also raised the visibility of LGBT theatre in a region where it has only a modest history and tradition.

History and Stories through Jeremy Deller’s Performances

"I wanted to make a memorial that was alive, not an object or set of objects to make a pilgrimage to; a memorial that would come to you, that would appear in your city, town or shopping centre, intervening in your daily life". With these words Jeremy Deller introduces us to his We Are Here Because We Are Here, a true monument celebrating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916, in which almost twenty thousand British soldiers succumbed. In fact, with the help of Rufus Norris, director of the National Theatre, Deller organised a gigantic mass performance in which about 2000 volunteers worked, disguised as soldiers of the First World War who wandered around the main cities of the United Kingdom without anyone having warned the citizens of their presence.
 In my paper I will try to investigate, through Deller's work (and through the comparison with other artistic experiences), how some contemporary artistic interventions try to exploit the mechanisms of performance in order to reconstruct historical events not only relying on the strategies of re-enactment, but also resorting to an immersive and unexpected relationship able to produce an extreme involvement. We Are Here Because We Are Here thus contributes to the reconstruction of memory not through the description of historical facts, nor even through their celebration, but through a process that solicits the emotional states to which, in the harshest moments of the war, the community is subjected.

Le rôle d’Adelaide Ristori dans la formation de la scène nationale grecque

Adelaide Ristori travelled to Athens in 1865, during her tour of the Eastern Mediterranean, which included major economic and cultural centres in the region. She was the first major actress of the time to travel to the Greek capital to present part of her repertoire. Her theatrical presence, her production on stage as well as her personality as a whole marked the theatre audience, the intellectual elite, even the Athenian bourgeoisie who were lucky enough to admire the great artist’s dramatic art. Being an eminent personality of European theatre, she had a profound influence on the style of performances, from an aesthetic point of view, but also on public opinion regarding dramatic art in general and especially the presence of women on the theatre stage. The presentation will focus on the different areas that she marked in the most pregnant and effective way, contributing to the formation of the Greek national theatre. The data presented here comes from primary research and is based on scientific studies, press of the time and relevant bibliography.

«Tragedy and Ristori will die the same day». Contributions on the death of Romantic tragedy and the birth of art theatre in Portugal

«Tragedy and Ristori will die the same day». This is how António Feliciano de Castilho, the infamous ultra-Romantic Portuguese writer and polemist, refers to the great Adelaide Ristori, in an inflated article published in the «Revista Contemporanea de Portugal e Brazil» in 1859. Ristori was in Lisbon – for her premiere in Portugal – to present Montabelli’s adaptation of Medea at the National Theatre of São Carlos. Castilho, in eight full pages, depicts an elegant, hyperbolic short biography of the Italian actress, portrayed emphatically as the great muse Melpômene. This Romantic way to address the art of acting – exaggerated, elusive, emotional, immensely subjective – was standard in 19th century theatre criticism. Ristori was received in Portugal with the same ardour. This essay examines the way Ristori was receive by some Portuguese press, in 1859; and evaluates the critical discourse that encapsulates the way the ‘Grande Attore’ was perceived. This exercise will help to characterize the emergent Portuguese theatre criticism at the mid nineteenth century; as well as to compare the way other Portuguese actresses and Ristori were ‘criticised’ and elaborate on the way we can understand this anti-academism and the non-scientific approach to theatre as reasons to the death of Romantic tragedy and the birth of the Théâtre d’Art in Portugal.

Dinka Jeričević – the Iron Lady of Croatian Scenic Design

The paper examines the theatrical career and artistic expression of Dinka Jeričević (Vukovar, 26 September 1947), a distinguished Croatian scenic designer and one of the few women in the profession, especially at the time of her formative years, when she also served as the only female technical director in Croatian theatres. Creating over six hundred scenic designs, collaborating with the most prominent Croatian theatrical directors, and working in almost all Croatian theatres, as well as several theatres abroad, as both an in-house and guest designer, Jeričević significantly influenced and personally marked the history of Croatian scenic design over the last fifty years. Furthermore, her long-standing educational work with directors and producers at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb and her passionate mentoring of emerging designers in theatre practice contributed greatly both to the education of numerous young theatre professionals and to shaping contemporary Croatian scenic design. Finally, by becoming actively involved in continuous and pertinent efforts of the Croatian Association of Artists of Applied Arts (ULUPUH) to improve the professional and legal status and working conditions of Croatian designers, she actively participated in the social betterment of Croatian scenic design(ers). Even though she is recognized and acknowledged in her professional environment, and presented with numerous prizes and awards, her career in the theatre has never been the subject of any scholarly analysis. The paper therefore attempts to address some of her design principles and contribute to the systematisation, valorisation and contextualisation of her multiple, diverse and outstanding artistic and professional accomplishments in national theatre.

Witchcraft or Otherness

Tituba, a supporting character in Arthur Miller’s 1953 play The Crucible, can be associated with the concept of otherness in several respects. For one, she is not free like the rest of the population of Salem, Massachusetts, where the play is set, but was brought to the community from the island of Barbados by Reverend Parris as an enslaved woman. Being of Caribbean origin, she is also not an English Protestant like the rest of the village, and despite having accepted her master’s church, as was common for the enslaved throughout the British colonial period, Protestantism is not her first religion. Finally, the two most evident and immediately perceivable characteristics placing her in the category of the Other are her skin colour and her language, which also seem to be the main reasons that she was the first person to be accused of witchcraft in Salem. This paper focuses on Tituba’s speech, particularly from the point of view of the possibilities as well as difficulties of translating her utterances into Slovene. The contrastive analysis includes Miller’s original play, its two Slovene translations, Lov na čarovnice, the published one (1964) and the unpublished theatre translation (1997/2019), as well as a brief insight into two theatre productions of the play at the Maribor National Theatre.

Tuvan Composer Ayana Oyun (Creative Portrait)

Among the modern composers of Tuva, the personality and work of Ayana Oyun are covered little of musicology. The main stages of the composer’s creative biography are noted related to studying at Republican School of Arts and Kyzyl College of Arts, receiving a specialized education at Krasnoyarsk State Academy of Music and Theater, Mikhail Glinka Novosibirsk State Conservatory, as well as additional education at St. Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy. The composer’s creative portfolio is surveyed, providing an analysis of one of the illustrative works — the Piano Quintet. The periodization of creativity works correlates with her education in different universities in Russia and with a change in genre preferences. Thus, during the years of study at Krasnoyarsk Academy of Music and Theater (2001–2007), works of chamber genres were predominated, including the being analyzed Piano Quintet. The return to her native Tyva is marked by the formation of an original author’s style. During these years, interest in theatrical music was shown, and a number of performances with music by Ayana Oyun were staged. During the years of study in St. Petersburg (2013–2018), several musical fairy tales were created and staged: Don’t Fly Away!, Mary Poppins and Her Friends, Khorloo (Wheel). Music appeared for a number of performances at the National Theatre as well. The composer’s contribution to the development of musical theater in Tuva and the revival of the first national opera, Chechen and Belekmaa, by Rostislav Kendenbil are noted. Ayana Oyun is a rare case of a successful combination of a composer and a theater director in one person; her personality is distinguished by deep reverence and adherence to the traditions and practices of Buddhist teaching, striving for constant self-improvement, expansion of professional and spiritual horizons.

Elli Tompuri's Female Hamlet, 1913

Abstract This article analyses the first female Hamlet in the Nordic countries, Elli Tompuri (1880–1962). Early in her career Tompuri made a name for herself at the Finnish National Theatre, but later, in part due to her radical politics, was unable to find permanent employment at any established theatre so she began touring with her own company, putting on Hamlet in 1913. The article traces Tompuri's inspirations and thoughts about the play, before analysing the major themes raised in the reviews. On one hand, reviewers noted with some pride the national significance of the first female Hamlet. On the other hand, Tompuri's status as a New Woman, an actor-director-manager making her own way, generated a wide range of opinions, from outrage that a woman would attempt the part to admiration of Tompuri's genius and intelligence, often within a single review.

The Eastern Front of the Romanian Language, the Founding Of the Iași National

The first steps taken by some of the most prominent cultural and political figures of the Romanian people, from the first half of the 19th century, to develop the national theater in Iași, as well as the significance of these steps in the historical context of the development of modern Romania.

National theater in the aspect of M. D. Leontovych’s pedagogical activity in Tulchyn

Modern complex socio-economic and cultural processes of development of the country are directed at radical renewal of Ukrainian society. The promising gradual development of the latest currents in the field of primary education in Ukraine has always been an important step for the native music and pedagogical science, because in order to use new technologies in practical activities, scientists need to consider in detail, analyze, systematize and adapt the past pedagogical experience of outstanding Ukrainian teachers-musicians. The problem of using the means of theatrical art in the practice of the modern school, which, according to Leontovych, contributes to the formation of important life values and active aesthetic activity, especially in younger schoolchildren, is topical in today's education.
 Turning to the national traditions of the past experience of the theatrical aspect in the pedagogical activity of the teacher M. Leontovych is directed at the spiritual revival of the creative activity of the individual. The essence of the concepts of theatrical art, theatrical activity, theatrical play at school has been clarified; the main types of theatrical performances are given; the most used methods of stage adaptation are considered and the necessity of their use in classes is argued. Thanks to the universalism of the choral theater dramatization method, the teacher revealed the creative inclinations of students in the formation of individuality. Aspects of many creative studies on theatrical pedagogical activities of M. Leontovych require detailed study and innovative approaches in connection with current problems of music pedagogy, musicology, and music folklore.
 The use of the aspect of theatrical art in regular music classes had a significant potential for the harmonious aesthetic development, especially of younger schoolchildren. The teacher in practice proved the evolutionary significance of theater and choral pedagogy (which has an analytical and synthetic character) and revealed the possibilities of influencing the emotional and sensory sphere of the student, equating theatrical art to children's play. The highlighted methods of M. Leontovych show that during the play the independent expression of personality is mostly manifested, and with the help of the group nature of theatrical activity, the emotional impact is enhanced, which inextricably goes along with inspiration, joy, and a sense of unity for the sake of a common cause.
 Based on the analysis of M. Leontovych's pedagogical activity, it can be determined that the artist stood at the origins of children's theatrical choral art in Podilla at the beginning of the 20th century in the context of socio-cultural integration of Ukraine, but it has been proven a priori that the modern process of education is not yet sufficiently studied and needs further in-depth understanding

MEMORIES BY S.V. MAKSIMOV ABOUT A.N. OSTROVSKY: TO THE PREHISTORY OF MEMOIRS

For the first time, the article publishes archival materials related to the creative history of the memoir essays of the writer S.V. Maksimov about A.N. Ostrovsky “Literary Expedition” and “Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky”. The time of the origin of the idea of memories is determined, the circumstances that accompanied the work of Maximov, their close connection with the memories of the founder of the oral story genre I.F. Gorbunov. Genre-forming techniques of Maximov’s everyday writing prose, which bring the writer’s books closer to his memoirs, are revealed. Feedback is also emphasized: in Maximov’s memoirs, pictures of everyday life, the color of the era, descriptions of the environment, folk types and characters predominate. Maksimov’s letters, in particular, to the Moscow collector and founder of the Theater Museum A.A. Bakhrushin. They contain a detailed commentary on the theatrical relics that Maximov sent Bakhrushin to Moscow: little-known details of the history of the Russian theater, the founder of which was Ostrovsky. It is concluded that Maximov’s memoirs about Ostrovsky are presented not only in the textually designed essays “Literary Expedition” and “Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky”, but also in rough sketches, letters, reference and bibliographic notes and in the results of Maximov’s practical activities that contributed to perpetuating the memory of the playwright and popularizing the history of the national theater.

Sarajevo, May 2nd and 3rd, 1992. Victims, interpretations, manipulations

Ignoring the historical context of the events in a city that had been under siege for nearly a month, the debates surrounding May 2nd and 3rd, 1992, which exclusively focus on the deaths of members of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) at various locations in the city, including Dobrovoljacka Street, continue without interruption. The citizens of Sarajevo killed during those two days are nowhere mentioned, and their memory is not included in the official memorialization of the city's siege. Furthermore, within the interpretation of the events on Dobrovoljacka Street, there is a noticeable continuous strategy aimed at connecting all the deceased JNA members at the end of April and the beginning of May with the events on Dobrovoljacka Street, effectively camouflaging the previous attacks on the city and the involvement of the JNA in them. Therefore, it was important for us in the first part of our work to point to documents from the Command of the 2nd Military District related to the participation of the JNA in digging artillery positions around the city, their role in the division of Sarajevo's districts along national lines, the relocation of weaponry to „safer areas“ where the Serbian population constituted an absolute ethnic majority, the initiation of the attack on the city, the first casualties in April, as well as the shelling and the burning of residential, cultural-historical, religious, economic, and other facilities in the city. All events that preceded the actual siege of Sarajevo, starting from the autumn of 1991, including the war in Croatia and the subsequent occupation of Bosnian cities, contributed to the perception of the JNA as an enemy force by the citizens of Sarajevo and all pro-Bosnian forces. The shelling of Sarajevo with weaponry and armaments previously positioned on the hills and mountains around the city, in particular, intensified the animosity towards the JNA from the citizens of Sarajevo. The main part of the work will address the chronological sequence of events in the city during May 2nd and 3rd, 1992, street battles in multiple locations in the city, including sites such as the JNA House, Marin Dvor, Skenderija, in front of the National Theater, UPI building, Workers' University Djuro Đakovic (now: Bosnian Cultural Center - BKC), Estrada café, in front of the Command of the 2nd Military District, and ultimately Dobrovoljacka Street. This section will also discuss all other locations where battles took place, as well as the shelling, infantry and sniper activities directed towards civilian objects in the city, which resulted in casualties among the civilian population. Numerous internet sources contain information about 42 JNA members who perished on Dobrovoljacka Street, and this number is always mentioned on the anniversary of the event. However, through a comparison with official sources, we have analyzed how many JNA members genuinely died on Dobrovoljacka Street, how many died at other locations where street battles took place during the city's attack, and how many names on the mentioned list have incomplete identities with unknown locations and times of death. Additionally, based on multiple primary historical sources and relying on the previously interpreted context of events in the city, the work will present the locations and identities of the killed members of the Territorial Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as civilians who were killed in the city during May 2nd and 3rd, 1992. Various scientific methods were employed for this purpose, with an emphasis on analytical-documentary and comparative processing of primary and secondary sources of diverse origin, statistical data analysis, interview methods, particularly focusing on several target groups of interviewees crucial for the reconstruction and contextualization of these events. In the final chapter, we will address the (non-)prosecution of crimes, including the most serious crimes committed against the civilian population and civilian facilities in Sarajevo from April 5th to the beginning of May 1992.

RECONSTRUCTION OF PERFORMANCES BASED ON PLAYS BY A.N. OSTROVSKY IN A.A. GRIGORIEV’S THEATER CRITICISM

The article describes the formation of the technique of reconstruction of an on-stage performance in the theater criticism by A.A. Grigoriev. The author analyzes a well-known text on theater criticism, which has “Poverty is No Vice” by A.N. Ostrovsky, a play staged in the Alexandrinsky Theater in the early 1860s, as the subject of Grigoriev’s attention. The analysis reveals the emergence of the “theater centered” approach in the 19th century Russian theater criticism: A.A. Grigoriev is one of the first to masterfully analyze the stage texts (performances), based on A.N. Ostrovsky’s plays. The critic pays tribute to A.N. Ostrovskiy’s skill of a playwright, and places the actor’s art, which occupied an important place in the national theater of the mid-19th century, in the center of his attention. The author of the article considers a number of reconstructions of the actor’s work in the play “Poverty is No Vice” made by A.A. Grigoriev. The description of the actors’ work in the roles they perform allows the critic to be evident in his sharp judgments about their professional skill. The comparison of the reconstructions of the actors’ works by P.M. Sadovsky Sr. (Maly Theater, 1854) and P.V. Vasilyev (Alexandrinsky Theater, 1863) as Lubim Tortsov enables seeing the skill advance of a theater critic describing an actor’s art. The article also focuses on the role of reconstructing an on-going play in the process of training a theater critic in a modern theater school.

Creative Appropriations: Everyman on the Contemporary Stage

Abstract The morality tale Everyman has in recent years seen a notable renaissance in contemporary theater: Everybody (2017) by US American playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Carol Ann Duffy’s adaptation of Everyman (2015) at the National Theatre in London, and director/playwright Milo Rau’s work Everywoman (2020) have turned to it. In this article, I conceptualize these theatrical works as creative appropriations which stage the vexing relation between canonical text and contemporary theater practice. They are marked by an ambivalent dynamic in that they are far less conclusive about their own return to and reworking of the literary source. Their mode of representation oscillates between adaptation, appropriation, and playful de- and reconstruction. Despite evident contrasts in theme and form, these works openly reference their literary source and draw destabilizing effects from their montage of different modes of language and writing (citational speech, self-narration, confession) and performative elements. As I argue, however, these productions cannot be easily aligned with postdramatic theory’s advocation of a deconstructivist approach towards the dramatic text. The text, rather, is treated as an archive of poetic figures, narrative ideas, and moral concerns. In these productions, the textual material is not deconstructed but rather blended, momentarily decentered, and interwoven with vital performative elements (media, dance, collective speaking) which allows each creative appropriation to explore how canonical literary sources may speak to our contemporary culture and society.