Soviet Theatre Research Articles

The “Miracle” of the Russian Revolution: The Mystery Play in Early Soviet Culture

Some of the very first theatre productions following the Russian Revolution of 1917 were built around Christian imagery and dramatic forms, a surprising choice given that atheism was a key tenet of the new Soviet nation. The first Soviet play, Vladimir Mayakovsky’s Mystery Bouffe, is modelled after the medieval mystery play and depicts workers coming to revolutionary consciousness after encountering a Christ-like figure. Subsequently, several of the earliest Soviet mass spectacles, a vibrant form of state-sponsored propaganda, also drew comparisons to mystery plays. This article examines the interdependence of theatricality and spirituality in these early Soviet mysteries (approx. 1918–21), referencing the context of church practice, the mystery play genre, and Russian symbolism’s earlier fascination with the mystery play. I argue that these Soviet variants on this medieval dramatic form struggle self-consciously with the ironies and the possibilities of borrowing from the mystery in the newly Soviet theatre. Their triumphant messages about socialism and the revolution are nuanced by the essentially religious nature of the genre even as they attempt to replace mystery with theatrical spectacle to create a new model of theatre. By revealing spiritual dimensions of socialist avant-garde aesthetics, these Soviet mysteries can enrich our understanding of both the place of religion in modernism and the consistency of modernist values.

Soviet Theatre during the Thaw: Aesthetics, Politics and Performance by Jesse Gardiner (review)

Soviet Theatre during the Thaw: Aesthetics, Politics and Performance by Jesse Gardiner (review)

Jesse Gardiner. Soviet Theatre during the Thaw: Aesthetics, Politics and Performance

This is a study of the effects on the Soviet theatre of the political “Thaw” following Stalin’s death in 1953. It concentrates on a number of case studies to show how previously repressed artistic movements were revived and how a new freedom of expression, both in staging and playwriting, navigated through censorship and inconsistent state policy.

Jesse GARDINER, Soviet Theatre during the Thaw. Aesthetics, Politics and Performance

Jesse GARDINER, Soviet Theatre during the Thaw. Aesthetics, Politics and Performance

The First Days of the Soviet Theatre: Stanislav Vinaver’s Dramatic Testimonies

Stanislav Vinaver witnessed October Revolution. In April 1917, he was sent to Russia on a diplomatic mission and stayed there until the autumn of 1919. After returning to Serbia, he published articles about Russia (ideology, revolution, war, life, theatre, art, music) in Politika and Republika, Belgrade daily newspapers, and in Kritika, a Zagreb magazine, which, in their form, resembled dramatic sketches, stories, reports, and travel essays. This paper discusses Vinaver’s articles on theatre issues in Bolshevik Russia, primarily the Kamerny Theatre and the Moscow Drama Theatre. Vinaver’s ideas about the repertoire and aesthetic searches of the two Moscow theatres are interpreted in the context of the time of their emergence, together with the context of artistic assessment, which is by no means inferior to today’s interpretations of the role of the Kamerny and Moscow Drama Theatres in the development of the Soviet experimental theatre.

Sergey Durylin on Shakespeare in the Russian Theatre: On the Question of the Modalities of Theater Critical Writing in the USSR in the 1930s–1950s

The article examines Sergei Durylin’s writings in the 1930s–1950s as a theater critic (in particular, writing about Shakespeare in the Russian theater), interpreted as a marginal hypostasis of this author’s work. The methodological basis for the study is the method of context-hermeneutic approach applied by E.A. Korshunova to the work of Durylin the writer. Theater criticism became one of the main areas of Sergei Durylin’s work after his two exiles. Durylin’s historical research on Shakespeare on the Russian stage was never published (with the exception of actor’s biographies, where Shakespeare’s roles were touched upon), but his newspaper texts were published quite actively. In radical early Soviet rhetoric, he develops the most important provisions of the contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare: the opposition of the ‘active’ Soviet and decadent, ‘passive’ pre-revolutionary interpretations of Shakespeare’s plays; democratism of the ‘best’ examples of pre-revolutionary Shakespeare and Soviet interpretations of roles; correct understanding of Shakespeare exclusively in the Soviet theater. The rhetorical mask of a theater critic of a vulgar sociological nature developed by Durylin became his personal way of putting into print important ideas and topics: covering the history of Shakespeare on the Russian and Soviet stage.

From An Optimistic Tragedy to a “Revolutionary Concert”: Recycling of Soviet Historical Past in Contemporary Russian Theatre

The article focuses on the recycling of Soviet culture in productions of contemporary Russian theatre. In 2017, Victor Ryzhakov staged at Alexandrinsky theatre An Optimistic tragedy. A Farewell Ball, Asya Voloshina’s remake of a play written by Vsevolod Vishnevsky in 1932–1933. Such directors as Alexander Tairov, Georgy Tovstonogov, Mark Zakharov, and others had turned to An Optimistic Tragedy during the crucial moments of Soviet theatre history. In the 21st century this play has become claimed again. However, the interpretation of the text and its theatrical language drastically changed. The issues of intergenerational relationships and memory of the historical past have come to the fore. The story of anarchist sailors got a new birth largely due to an experimental approach to music in the performance. Music and chorus were central components of Vishnevsky’s play. In the first edition of An Optimistic Tragedy, the chorus represented a metaphor of the court of history. In the following stage versions of An Optimistic Tragedy its role has been decreased till in Ryzhakov’s production the sailors that constituted the chorus became passive witnesses of history, the ghosts of the past. Such evolution of the chorus was accompanied by techniques of postdramatic theatre (cross-casting, retreat from the original play), engagement of top hits, poems, popular music, and rap songs, written by Voloshina specifically for A Farewell Ball. Thus, A Farewell Ball may be called a complicated pastiche that combines texts of different periods and genres. To disclose the mechanisms of cultural selection, Ryzhakov applies the method of etudes. Such fragmentality and polyphony embody the chaos of revolution with juxtaposed voices narrating its personal stories.

The works of artists of the Palekh lacquer miniature craft in the field of design of theatrical productions of the 1930s - 1970s (Palekh and Theater)

The subject of the proposed research is a historical analysis of the works of the masters of the Palekh craft of the 1930s - 1970s in the field of design of theatrical productions – a little-studied phenomenon of Russian folk culture of the twentieth century. The author of the article draws the most illustrative examples, referring to the sketches created by Palekh artists for productions of the Soviet theater. Special attention in the study is paid to the largest figures of the craft who worked in the field of theatrical design: I. I. Golikov, P. D. Bazhenov, N. M. Parilov, A. A. Kotukhina. The purpose of the article is to show the importance of the creative contribution of the Palekh masters to the development of theatrical and decorative art of the Soviet era on the extensive material of numerous productions of major theaters in Moscow, Leningrad and other cities. Using the method of comparative analysis, as well as historical-systemic and iconographic research methods, the author emphasizes the importance of knowledge about the works of Palekh artists in the field of theatrical productions for a correct understanding of the general history of Palekh craft in the twentieth century. The scientific novelty of the research consists in an attempt to analyze the topic under consideration as a single complex phenomenon. The main conclusion of the article is the thesis about the inseparable connection of Paleshan's "theatrical" works with lacquer miniature: the theatrical design works of Palekh masters appear at the same time with their experiments with lacquer miniature; the largest Palekh miniaturists worked with theaters; during the entire Soviet period, Paleshan's experience in theatrical and decorative art was in demand as much as and their lacquer miniature.

Mythologizing of Ukrainian Drama during the Soviet Era (1920s) as a Way of Theatre Institutionalising

The purpose of the work is to reveal the peculiarities of the Ukrainian drama mythologizing at the beginning of the Soviet era (1920s). The research methodology consists in the application of a number of methods: analytical to understand the literature on the topic of the article; interdisciplinary – to comprehensively study factual material and acquire new knowledge; systematic with the use of a range of methods (biographical, semiotic, cultural, hermeneutic, historical, and theoretical generalisation) – to comprehend the stated purpose of the research. Scientific novelty. For the first time, the interrelationship of mythologizing and the development of Ukrainian drama as a means of theatre institutionalising in the beginning of the Soviet era is systematically studied. Conclusions. The publication proves the statement: A myth in the theatrical sphere can be any message in the language of drama due to the fact that the myth itself has no substantial boundaries. This is directly related to the fact that the myth is a phenomenon embedded in the primary sign system, that is, in the natural language of the theatre. The characteristics of a myth in drama include intentionality, naturalisation, aggressiveness, formality, and historicity. Myth in the theatrical sphere has an imperative, motivating character. It imposes its own aggressive, motivatingambiguity. A theatrical myth and symbol of the Soviet government, nurtured in Ukraine in the 20s of the 20th century, enabled the creation of a unique theatrical organism that made art popular (in a positive sense). It can be argued that the striving for the ideal created by the new government, on the one hand, and its discrediting, on the other hand, became the tendencies, the collision of which created the phenomenon of the «Ukrainian Soviet theatre». In general, the logic of mythologizing theatrical life was connected with a number of key interrelationships: myth – transformation of meaning into form – replacement of language with myth. Key words: theatre, myth, mythologizing, manipulation, ideology, Soviet regime.

Spartacus and His Early Soviet Theatrical Representation

Spartacus became one of the key figures of Soviet dramaturgy in the 1920s. He was presented as the only ancient predecessor of the Bolsheviks and his theatrical image significantly shaped the later icon of the gladiator as a brave leader of the oppressed masses and a hero acting in the name of the proletariat. This article explores the image of Spartacus in early Soviet theater and mass performance and outlines the correlation between the template of Spartacus’ portrayal, Raffaello Giovagnoli’s novel Spartaco (1874), and the first dramatic adaptations by Vladimir Mazurkevich (1920) and Vladimir Volkenstein (1921). The article examines the use of the ancient hero in Bolshevik propaganda and traces the ways in which Spartacus’ image morphs and maps onto wider shifts of Soviet political and cultural policy in the early decades of the USSR.

STAGE SPEECH IN THE LATVIAN THEATRE: DEFINITION, FUNCTIONS AND TERMINOLOGY ASPECTS

Although it is a defining phenomenon in the holistic perspective of stage acting, stage speech has hardly been researched in Latvia from a theoretical point of view. The American theatre director and theatre semiotician Jon Whitmore (1945) describes the basic term stage speech as a specific wholeness of the speaker’s linguistic and paralinguistic expressive means that form the influence of what the actor says on the spectator [Whitmore 1994: 176]. Language is the dominant factor which influences stage speech. In the theatre, as a separate sign system stage speech most vividly expresses what is different and what belongs to national culture. In Latvia, stage speech had been closely connected with the Soviet theatre theory for 50 years, hence the term which was characteristic of the Russian theatre сценическая речь [Петрова 1981], i.e., stage speech. Since the beginnings of the Latvian theatre it has always been influenced by historically and territorially different schools; and innovations in the field of stage speech have not been introduced by creating them ourselves, but mostly by testing, adapting and compiling foreign experience. In the theatre, stage speech manifests itself as the quintessence of silence, noise and verbal music, in separate cases as a precise reflection of the lexical meanings of words, while most often as a variation on the idea offered by the author of the play, interpreted by the director and embodied by the actor. The aim of the article is to show the necessity of an extended study on stage speech as a whole system of signs in the Latvian theatre and to outline the first steps towards it.

“Cheerful, carefree, beautiful life”: The Trouble with Staging A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Early Soviet Theater

“Cheerful, carefree, beautiful life”: The Trouble with Staging A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Early Soviet Theater

Vadim Shershenevich as a translator, librettist and critic in a theatrical dialogue with Shakespeare

The reception of the works of William Shakespeare in the work of the poet and translator Vadim Shershenevich (1893—1942) is considered. The relevance of the study is due to the insufficient study of the reception of Shakespeare’s work in the legacy of Shershenevich. The novelty of the study lies in the reference to the little-known texts by Shershenevich, which are translations and adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays for the early Soviet theater, as well as in understanding the specifics of the perception of these theater projects in the press of the 1920s—1930s. Particular attention is paid to archival documents, which make it possible to recreate in detail the landscape of the literary and theatrical process of that period. It is proved that Shershenevich became the author of adapted texts for three productions based on Shakespeare in pre-war Moscow: «Romeo and Juliet» at the Chamber Theater (1921), «Hamlet» in the version of A. Dumas at the «Romanesque» Theater (1923, work on the performance stopped in rehearsal time), “The Twins” based on the play “Twelfth Night” at the Moscow Operetta Theater (1939). The concept of two translation approaches in the work of V. Shershenevich is proposed: an accurate literary translation (this is how he translates «King John» and «Cymbeline») and an adapted translation for theatrical needs.

The works of artists of the Palekh lacquer miniature craft in the field of design of theatrical productions of the 1930s - 1970s (Palekh and Theater)

The subject of the proposed research is a historical analysis of the works of the masters of the Palekh craft of the 1930s - 1970s in the field of design of theatrical productions – a little-studied phenomenon of Russian folk culture of the twentieth century. The author of the article draws the most illustrative examples, referring to the sketches created by Palekh artists for productions of the Soviet theater. Special attention in the study is paid to the largest figures of the craft who worked in the field of theatrical design: I. I. Golikov, P. D. Bazhenov, N. M. Parilov, A. A. Kotukhina. The purpose of the article is to show the importance of the creative contribution of the Palekh masters to the development of theatrical and decorative art of the Soviet era on the extensive material of numerous productions of major theaters in Moscow, Leningrad and other cities. Using the method of comparative analysis, as well as historical-systemic and iconographic research methods, the author emphasizes the importance of knowledge about the works of Palekh artists in the field of theatrical productions for a correct understanding of the general history of Palekh craft in the twentieth century. The scientific novelty of the research consists in an attempt to analyze the topic under consideration as a single complex phenomenon. The main conclusion of the article is the thesis about the inseparable connection of Paleshan's "theatrical" works with lacquer miniature: the theatrical design works of Palekh masters appear at the same time with their experiments with lacquer miniature; the largest Palekh miniaturists worked with theaters; during the entire Soviet period, Paleshan's experience in theatrical and decorative art was in demand as much as and their lacquer miniature.

S. Tretiakov. I Want a Baby!

The review deals with the new edition of Khochu rebyonka! [I Want a Baby!]— a play by LEF’s most prominent playwright Sergey Tretiakov. It is for the first time that two versions of the play — before and aſter the cuts made by censors — are published. T. Hofmann and E. Ditschek carefully examine discrepancies between the two versions of the play and the film libretto it inspired, as well as archived records of the play’s discussions that involved Meyerhold, Terentiev, and other prominent figures of early Soviet theatre. It seems that the only disadvantage ofthe book is its poor adaptation for aRussian reader; explanatory notes oſten read as if copy-pasted from the German publication. Perhaps, the most exciting part of the book is Tretiakov’s explanations of his plot and transcripts of the play’s discussions at Repertkom (the Main Repertoire Committee). As a result, the book comprising two versions of the play, the author’s comments, opinions of Tretiakov’s contemporaries and comments of modern scholars emerges as a discussion of Tretiakov’s discussion play.

The Nazi Occupation of Theaterwissenschaft

Theaterwissenschaft was first developed as an academic field in Germany. In Berlin, Max Herrmann pursued a sociological and iconological approach; in Cologne and in Munich, Carl Niessen and Artur Kutscher followed an ethnographic and mythological direction, respectively. With the Nazi takeover in 1933, Herrmann was dismissed and replaced by a non-scholar, Hans Knudsen. Niessen’s open-air Thingspiel was co-opted to support Nazi ideas of Volkstum. Kutscher renounced his liberal background and joined the Party. In Vienna, Josef Gregor got the local Gauleiter to found a Central Institute for Theatre Studies that disseminated anti-Semitic propaganda. The most egregious case is that of Heinz Kindermann, who rose to be the most influential aesthetician of National Socialism, proposing a biological foundation to theatre studies and offering a racial-eugenic approach to theatre history. As this article demonstrates, in the post-war period, theatre studies sedulously avoided dealing with the Nazi interlude, where official denazification permitted these men and others to carry on teaching and publishing, winning honours and titles. It was not until the 1980s that attempts were made to confront this past. Laurence Senelick is Fletcher Professor Emeritus of Drama and Oratory at Tufts University, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Conference on Transglobal Theatre. His most recent books include Jacques Offenbach and the Making of Modern Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2018); Stanislavsky: A Life in Letters (Routledge, 2013); and (with Sergei Ostrovsky) The Soviet Theatre: A Documentary History (Yale University Press, 2014).

Soviet theatre in the fight against neurasthenia in the 1920s and 1930s - psychiatry in theatre.

Soviet theatre in the fight against neurasthenia in the 1920s and 1930s - psychiatry in theatre.

Теннесси Уильямс в советской критике 1940–1960-х годов

The article attempts to present the reception of the plays by Tennessee Williams in Soviet criticism of the 1940s and 1960s to show the dynamics of changing opinions and assessments by Soviet literary and theater critics. In the late Stalinist years Soviet researchers (Michael Morozov, Veniamin Golant, Anna Elistratova, Vadim Gaevsky) were least engaged in the literary analysis of his plays, which they considered exclusively through the lens of ideology and politics. Critical judgments were reduced to a series of offensive comments on the “inferiority” of the “ideologically alien” playwright. During the Khrushchev Thaw the ideologically bound criticism were being gradually softened, its clichees being no longer relevant. There appeared articles by Georgy Zlobin, Moris Mendelson, Raisa Orlova, Vladich Nedelin, etc., that aimed to understand Williams’ peculiar and unique creative method. The analysis of the reception of Williams’ work by Soviet critics in 1940–1960s demonstrates that the recognition of the American playwright’s talent or, conversely, harsh language used against him was directly related to the political situation in the USSR and the United States, as well as to the Soviet-American relations in the realm of politics and cultural ties. As soon as the rigid ideological pressure of the state machine was relieved to some extent, Soviet critics followed the criteria of objectivity and literary taste. The study is supplemented by the bibliographic index of Soviet criticism of Tennessee Williams works, 1947–1969. The addendum is an attempt to create a complete bibliography of Soviet critical articles about Tennessee Williams’s work published in the 1940–60s.

Пиноккио «красного десятилетия» на сцене и на экране

Walt Disney’s studio created second full-length film Pinocchio in 1940. Its plot and interpretation of the characters were significantly different from the Carlo Collodi’s novel. Disney wrote enthusiastic letter to playwright and director Yasha Frank, who staged Pinocchio as theatre extravaganza in 1937. This production has become a landmark of the Children’s Theatre Project in the framework of Federal Theatre Project, being visually picturesque, inventive and up-to-date according to its social message. It was a story about the complexity of the emergence of a new human, which was especially significant in the context of the ideas of revising the structure of society. There is a reason to see in the Pinocchio script an attempt to substitute theatre dramaturgy by circus language, so essential for the Soviet theater of 1910–20s. The plot was split into numbers performed by professional variety and circus performers, and was reassembled: gags were an organic part of this new plot. However, Frank may not have escaped the influence of animation as well. The article is based on Yasha Frank’s working script, photos and reviews. It examines circus and cinema elements that were used for the theatre’s Pinocchio by Yasha Frank, and its influence to famous Walt Disney’ studio cartoon.

Social Part-Time Employment: Soviet Theater of the Absurd

Introduction. The article is devoted to the Soviet propaganda campaign of 1931–1934, which was called “sotssovmestitelstvo” (social part-time employment). To date, there are no studies on this issue. Methods and materials. The author uses the following methods: historical-genetic, archival-heuristic, source studies, classification, historical description and actualization. The sources for the research were archival documents, periodical press materials, normative legal acts and propaganda works of the first half of the 1930s. Analysis. Social part-time employment meant that workers after completing a shift at the enterprise would have to voluntarily and free of charge perform certain functions in public institutions. The theoretical basis of the campaign was the idea of Lenin about the possibility of the permanent and direct participation of the proletariat in the management of the state. The ideologists of the campaign tried to create the illusion of mass participation of workers “from the machine”. For this purpose directors of plants were obliged to send part-time employees to state institutions, and heads of institutions – to create working conditions for them. The authorities declared the thesis on the advantage of the working class over the intelligentsia and its high moral qualities, which it a priori has due to its social origin. It was assumed that these qualities will allow workers to identify shortcomings in the work of state institutions and make proposals for the improvement of the state apparatus. The author of the publication shows how the campaign began, passed and ended, what its real results were. Results. According to the author, the following circumstances were the reason for the campaign: the economic situation forced the authorities to prohibit mass mobilization of workers from production to participate in various campaigns of party-Soviet bodies, but at the same time partySoviet ideologists were not going to abandon the thesis of the participation of workers in public administration. The campaign could not collapse completely and was forgotten for many years.