Theatre Arts Research Articles

«Реабилитация. Искусство. Педагогика». III Международная онлайн-школа по физиологии выразительного движения

The article is devoted to a review of the 3rd international online school on the physiology of expressive movement “Rehabilitation. Art. Pedagogy”, which took place on November 16th, 2022. The main topic of the scientific discussion was the phenomenon of expressive movement as a manifestation of the creative and motor abilities of a person, as well as it being one of the possible markers of his inner, spiritual world. Two previous online schools have shown that this topic seems to be very interesting to a wide range of scientific community, which includes representatives of the medical rehabilitation sphere, the performing arts, dance history researchers, physiologists and body-oriented therapists. However, this time the concept of the school was aimed at finding points of contact between the direct experience of theatre pedagogy and practicing psychologists and physiologists. This concept has become not only a characteristic feature of the 3rd online school, but also revealed a special scientific approach, which is the interdisciplinary nature of the discussion. The event was organized by the Russian Medical Academy of Continuing Professional Education of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation together with the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS) (as a part of the “Priority-2030” Strategic Academic Leadership Program) under the support of the National Association of Physiotherapy and Balneology. Such a scientific union is significant for further research. Since the school is an interdisciplinary one, which makes it unique, the article presents brief summaries of the reports that present a wide range of scientific and practical issues of physiotherapy, rehabilitation, theatre pedagogy, and the history of plastic expressiveness.

Упражнения и этюды с музыкой у студентов-первокурсников актерско-режиссерской группы

Modern theatre pedagogy preserves and develops the traditions of the founders of the Russian school of directing and acting: K.S. Stanislavsky, Vs.E. Meyerhold, M.O. Knebel, A.D. Popov, A.A. Goncharov and others. Traditional teaching methods are complemented by modern, relevant tools that effectively help educators in today’s creative workshops. The article touches upon the problem of the development of musical thinking of modern artists and directors in a situation of transformation of the musical background in the socio-cultural domain, which leads to a decrease in children's and adolescents' understanding of the internal dramaturgy of musical melody. Based on specific examples of trainings, musical exercises and sketches with music in the workshops of the Music Theatre Faculty of the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS), the author considers methodological stages and approaches that can help future actors and directors develop an understanding of music and its inner content. This can lead to the disclosure of the “musicalization of the body and consciousness” of students in theatre institutes, as well as assist in the perception of music as an impulse to stage creativity that can be found through the search for an individual way of non-verbal expression of the impression of its perception.

Выражение и восприятие мультимодальных эмоциональных состояний

Background. The urge for deeper knowledge on the nature of emotion expression and perception in ecologically and socially valid conditions is of grate importance. The scope is to develop experimental procedures recording not only the demonstration of emotions, but also actual human emotional experience. Objective. The objective is to reveal the patterns of expression and identification of multimodal dynamic emotional states, based on the stimuli, created by professional actors. Sample. The experiments involved 96 (48 women and 48 men) specialists in various fields of practice as well as undergraduate and graduate students of Russian universities, average age M = 34, SD = 9.4. Methods. The Russian-language version of the Geneva Emotion Recognition test (GERT) (Barabanschikov, Suvorova, 2020). Participants were randomly presented with 83 audio-video clips of affective states played by specially trained professional actors (5 men and 5 women, average age — 37 years). It was required to attribute the perceived emotion to one of the 14 target categories. The frequency of relevant and irrelevant choices was analyzed depending on the exposure conditions. The study was approved by the Ethics Commission of the Institute of Experimental Psychology of MSPPU (decision No. 3, 22.02.2023), with which the authors of the article are affiliated. Results. The forms of expression and identification of multimodal emotional states, their determinants and conditions of realization are described. Conclusion. A new paradigm of experimental psychological research of human emotional states linking their experience, expression, and identification is outlined. The productivity of applying theatrical art practices to solve problems of academic science is demonstrated.

“The Feeling of the Right Path or the Method of Artistic Creativity”: About Nikolai Korndorf’s Composition In D

The article is devoted to the analysis of the compositional technique in a major orchestral composition, In D (1998) by Nikolai Korndorf (1947–2001). A characteristic feature of this work is the specific constructive idea associated with the composer’s special approach to the choice of musical material and the means of its development. It is referred to the disclosure of the potential of one single pitch. The author of the article proposes to apply the term of the outstanding Russian painter and art theorist Vassily Kandinsky: “one-tone composition,” in order to characterize this technique. Based on the comparative method, the article provides an examination of the successive connection of this composition with one of the orchestral works from Korndorf’s early musical period and presents a description for the first time of the most important compositional principles of In D. The idea of repetition, observed in the organization of this musical composition, is interpreted by the author of the article as one of the leading elements in it. The article describes a number of other structural ideas that connect Korndorf’s musical style directly with some of the well-known 20th century compositional techniques, such as serialism and Klangfarbenmelodie. The article substantiates the point of view that the composition In D demonstrates a certain number of invariable techniques regularly found in Korndorf’s artistic method.

«Считаю Вас очень близким мне человеком…»: Е.К. Малиновская, В.И. Немирович-Данченко и другие в 1935–1942 годах

Elena Konstantinovna Malinovskaya (1875–1942) left a noticeable mark in the history of the Russian theatre of the late 1910s — 1930s. After managing Moscow academic theatres after the revolution, in 1924 she was forced to resign, and in 1930 she returned to the theatrical world, by leading the Bolshoi Theatre. After her final resignation in 1935, the figure of Malinovskaya drops out of view for theatre scholars. Meanwhile, after having outlived the repression of her children and having lost all administrative positions, she had by no means lost touch with the world of performing arts. In this article, which is written using the material of several archives (Malinovskaya's extensive personal fonds in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the Malinovsky Family Fonds in the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko Foundation in the Moscow Art Theatre Museum, and the E. P. Peshkova Foundation in the Gorky Archive, as well as investigative files from the Central Archive of the FSB of Russia), the last seven years of the life of an outstanding activist for the Russian theatre have been carefully examined. The author pays particular attention to Malinovskaya’s correspondence with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, who tried to support his former boss. The article reveals that even in the difficult conditions of evacuation from Moscow to Kuybyshev (Samara) in 1941, up to the last days of her life, Malinovskaya tried to take an active part in the fate of the Bolshoi Theatre.

Chekhov’s Gull

Chekhov’s Gull

A brief analysis of the breakthrough and innovation of directing art in the 2000 version of drama Sunrise

Cao Yu's classic trilogy "Thunderstorm", "Sunrise" and "The Wilderness" have always been classic dramas rehearsed and performed by theaters in big cities and drama clubs of colleges and universities, and how to deeply interpret and interpret the classics, how to further excavate deeper cultural and philosophical connotations, and how to conform to the spirit of the times in the current society, these have become the focus and starting point of drama writing, directing and acting in the new era. In 2000, the Beijing People's Art Theater appointed director Ren Ming to rearrange the drama "Sunrise", and this article interprets this version. The modern version of "Sunrise" is a bold breakthrough and innovation in the style of the classic version of "Sunrise", through the re-direction and rearrangement of the play, it skillfully breaks through the thinking pattern of stage imagery, and innovatively integrates traditional and modern elements, giving "Sunrise" a new artistic posture, deepening the connotation interpretation of "Sunrise" in the current era, and narrowing the distance with the audience.

«Назад к Островскому»: деконструкция постановки классики в режиссерском театре 1920-х годов

Ostrovsky’s centenary in 1923 gave impetus for a major leap in the history of directing. Ostrovsky turned out to be the first author whose plays were staged almost simultaneously (within 3 years) in all styles of Russian directing. Alexander Tairov staged “The Storm” at the Moscow Kamerny Theatre, in 1924, by mythologizing Ostrovsky’s tragedy. The myth of the Russian soul outside the boundaries of time turned out to be in the center of his performance. The psychological portrayal of the 19th-century drama’s character was mastered by the mythological approach. Such components as mythological thinking, constructivism, and the concept of Ostrovsky’s secret mysticism of the Russian soul were combined for the first time. Actress Alisa Koonen delved into the archetype of the heroine. The avant-garde production of Sergey Eisenstein’s “Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man” at the First Workers’ Theatre of Proletkult (1923) was connected with the ancient tradition of the fairground booth show. For the first time in the history of the Russian theatre, a director used the principles of open actualization of the classic play, the connections between drama and the circus, cinematic methods in the theatre, and a “montage of attractions”. “A Profitable Position” staged by Vsevolod Meyerhold (Theatre of the Revolution, 1923) was associated with Russian romanticism. The production revealed the two worlds — the spiritual reality in the opposition to the material everyday life. The metaphorical performance was built according to the principle of a thematic development similar to music. In “The Forest” at the Meyerhold Theatre (1924), the director contrasted three genres and semantic layers: a farcical level, a love line, as in Russian romanticism of the 19th century, and a layer that united the structure — acting and theatricality (the leitmotif of actors and acting). The visual dynamic of the dialogue with hyperbolic expression became the director’s principle approach. In his work on the production “An Ardent Heart” (Moscow Art Theatre, 1926), Stanislavsky created the phenomenon of the psychological grotesque. The performance was perceived by most critics as satirical and accusatory. Stanislavsky did not lose interest in the motives of human behavior, especially of a theatrical nature, and revealed a certain way of human thinking. The progress in the new discoveries in Ostrovsky’s dramaturgy in the first half of the 1920s shaped the main courses in which the Russian theatre was developing in the 20th century.

Михаил Мокеев. «Бесы»: перевод Достоевского на язык современности

The article discusses the staging of Fedor Dostoevsky’s novel Demons in Brusnikin workshop (Directors: Dmitry Brusnikin, Mikhail Mokeev, Mikhail Rakhlin). The play, staged by the final year of the Moscow Art Theater School in 2013, was played until the end of May 2021, and after that was not removed from the repertoire, but replaced by the play “Demons. The Night.” The performance is staged in the style of the New Russian Drama, which includes a large amount of improvisation, the involvement of the audience in the course of the performance, the fact of rethinking and refining key points right during the performance. Essentially, the production itself is existential, and requires from the actors to experience situations that reveal them to themselves in a new form and quality during each performance. In the article we will talk about the philosophy involved in the symbolic level of the performance.

Contemporary Intermedial Poetic Forms in the Moscow Art Theater’s production of Cyrano de Bergerac (2022): Aesthetic, Axiological, and Communicative Functions

Contemporary Intermedial Poetic Forms in the Moscow Art Theater’s production of Cyrano de Bergerac (2022): Aesthetic, Axiological, and Communicative Functions

МУЗЫКА Р. М. ГЛИЭРА ДЛЯ ДРАМАТИЧЕСКОГО ТЕАТРА

The article is dedicated to R. M. Glière, a famous composer of the XXth century. One of the little- explored pages of his oeuvre is music for the drama theatre, which he periodically worked on throughout his life (1905–1956). At the moment, 15 scores are known to exist, many lost. Glière had a long and fruitful collaboration with Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko and the music studio at the Moscow Art Theatre. Their first joint work on Aristophanes’ play “Lisistrata” was revolutionary and especially successful. The music material has hardly been preserved, it is difficult to get an idea of the performance from the surviving sketches. Indirect evidence of Glière’s masterwork is found in the published letters of Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko and O. S. Bokshanskaya. This production is highly appreciated in the works devoted to the history of the theatre, but there is very little attention paid to music. The fate of the play “Lisistrata” by Aristophanes in Russia is interesting: editions, translations, repeated attempts at stage realisation, including in the recent past. The article provides a number of explanations for such popularity of “Lisistrata”. The production of Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko is one of the best, the more surprising is the fact that Glière’s contribution to the development of drama theatre is underestimated, and the example of “Lysistrata” is especially indicative.

MENGÜ ERTEL'S DESIGN STYLE (SAMPLE OF POSTER DESIGNS)

The art of graphic design, which emerged in the establishment phase of the Republic and developed with the effective support of master artists, started to blossom through successful works. In the field of graphic design, the first unforgettable name that comes to mind as a Republican era artist is İhap Hulusi Görey. Another graphic designer, Mengü Ertel, who, like Görey, has made a name for himself in Turkey with his designs -especially theatrical poster designs-, has followed the western design language since the Academy of Fine Arts. Although he considered the original stance of Polish posters as close to his own design language, it is visible in the designs he made that he has captured a unique style in poster designs and became original over time. This research aims to analyze the Ertel-specific style in the posters designed by Mengü Ertel, taking into account the design approaches of the period. The research seeks to answer the following question: “How is the style in the poster designs of Mengü Ertel?” In this context, Ertel's poster designs were examined using the "content analysis" technique, which is based on the survey model. In the research, 103 posters designed by Mengü Ertel were analyzed. The findings show that unique patterns are at the forefront in Mengü Ertel's design style, and the typographic elements he used not only provide information, but are also actively used as design objects. It is identified that there was a color palette that was reflected in all posters, especially in selecting the colors. When the poster designs prepared by Mengü Ertel were examined, the economic desperation experienced did not prevent the artist from being successful in his designs, and he concentrated his love and curiosity for the art of theater on the axis of poster designs and created original designs. In addition, the research has set as a side goal of creating knowledge about a crucial graphic designer in Turkey by contributing to the very few academic studies about Mengü Ertel.

Virtual Reality in Contemporary Theatre

This study examines how virtual reality images are used in contemporary theatre. Modern technologies get into various areas of life including the theatrical environment. Therefore, the study of the role of virtual reality in contemporary theatre is crucial for the qualitative understanding of the tendencies in development of the contemporary theatre scene in the context of the development of contemporary art. This determines the relevance of this study and subsequent academic research in this field as well. The purpose of this study is to assess the degree of influence of modern technologies on creating virtual reality in the development of theatrical art. The leading approach for this study is a combination of a systematic study of the main trends in the creation of virtual reality within the framework of the development of modern technologies and the logical construction of conclusions retrieved from the results of this study. The main results obtained in this study are supposed to be the identification of the main areas for creating virtual reality in the activities of contemporary theatres and changes in the work of theatre groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prospects for subsequent academic research in this field are determined by the increasing usage of modern technologies for creating virtual reality within the framework of the modern development of theatrical culture and the need for a deep study of this factor as the one that defines the prospects for the technological development of the contemporary theatre scene. The practical significance of this study lies in the possibility of using its results obtained to assess the role and place of modern technologies for creating virtual reality in contemporary theatre.

Postjugosłowiański teatr wobec pandemii COVID-19. Poetyka, strategie kreacji i nowe uczestnictwo

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the necessity to change the process of theatre production and facilitated the development of certain solutions enabling the presentation of its effects, such as the use of new technologies and a revamp of the “intimate show” strategy. That led to the discovery of model of theatre so far unknown on such a scale and generated a different mode of reception. It turned out that restriction became a great inspiration for many theatre artists, as evidenced by artistic projects (staged texts, installations, cruising performances, performative walks) from Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro. The selected examples confirm that in a certain regional dispersion in 2020 and 2021 similar contents have emerged and comparable concepts have come to fruition. The material includes an overview of dramatic plays and their transfer to the stage (also virtual or in “non-theatrical” spaces), and thus a description of decisions concerning the choice of subject matter, poetics and production strategy.

Екранізація театральних вистав 1970–1980-х років: передумови, тенденції становлення та розвитку

The first decades of the 20th century are marked with certain changes in the technologization of our society cultural development. In particular, during this time the cinematography absorbs ceaselessly – cinifies – the branches of artistic activity in the spheres of various arts. Undoubtedly, the development of cinema has one of the most perceptible effects on the theatre. It is known that the theatre art is often based on the events and plots, those are included already into the history, have a certain social resonance; its progressiveness is reduced to the systematic search for new forms of emotional spectrum transmission, the embodiment of old paintings in a new way with the use of the synthesis of various types of art. The problem of theatre cinemafication is considered as an important one in the study of the relationship between theatre and cinema. Prerequisites for the development of screen adaptations of theatrical performances include: a relatively quick and cheap method of production, the impossibility of watching theatrical productions of the country’s leading theatres in its the most remote corners. That’s why the performances have been filmed directly on the theatre stage – in a cinematic way, as well as the rapid development of television, which came to the late 1960s, the ethers of which have needed to be filled. It is just television that has given impulse to the mass production of adaptations of theatrical performances, becoming full-fledged creative achievements, using cinema and television art. The positive trend is that the theatre has become a starting point for film art, without absorbing it in any way. They continue to adopt each other’s best practices in the context of scenery, make-up, directing and script writing, musical accompaniment, but remain completely autonomous.

Staging Survivance: Intellectual Disability, De-institutionalization, and Decolonial Arts Education

This multimedia article comprises an illustrated conversation about the context, creation, and impact of the play Birds Make Me Think About Freedom, between non-Indigenous historian and theater artist Victoria Freeman, Indigenous actor Jamie Oshkabewisens, Indigenous artist and survivor of Rideau Regional Centre in Ontario, Joe Clayton, and non-Indigenous art education professor Richard Fletcher, originally presented at the 3rd International Conference on Disability Studies, Arts & Education. This slightly revised version of the conversation about intellectual disability, de-institutionalization, and decolonial arts education through the lens of the concept and practice of survivance is accompanied by still images from the play along with other images from the Zoom conversation and details of important artworks used in the play.

THEATER ARTISTS BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE NON-CITY: THE SPRING OF WITHDRAWALS AND RETURNS

In the West, theater has always been strongly associated with city culture and urbanization processes. By combining the methods and insights of the arts and psychology, the article aims to explore the impact of the city and non-city environments on the work of theater artists, to find out what happens when a creator withdraws from a usual city environment. Qualitative approach – case study analysis – is applied in this research by interviewing two theater artists. The research identified four meta-themes: move back and forth, together and separately, change of perspective, create a new universe. Analysis of the aforementioned themes revealed that withdrawal from the city, as from the usual creative space, is useful and productive for the theater artists, but becomes meaningful only when the latter come back to the city. The metaphor of the spring is suitable for describing this process: creativity is most stimulated by dynamics of withdrawals and returns, which determines the change of perspectives and, at the same time, creative states, rather than withdrawal from the city itself. Withdrawal provides impulses for new universes to emerge: both in the aesthetic plane of creation and in the psychological plane.

From Komedie Stambul to Toneel: Theatre Arts Development in Batavia, 1891-1942

Performing arts became a popular entertainment form among groups in the colonial era. People who enjoy performing arts were always craving for something new, and in turn, performing troupes were trying to create new innovations for their performances. In the late 19th century, a theatre group Komedie Stamboel was established in Surabaya. This group soon became popular because their uniqueness: the hybridity of their dramaturgies and stories which combined the West and East aspects. Their popularity resulted in a tour across Java, one of tour destinations was Batavia. When they were in Batavia, many of Komedie Stamboel’s performances were influenced by Indische culture and Indo people. By implementing the historical method, this article find the role of the Indo people and the influence of the Indische culture in Batavia’s development of theatre arts. The increasing popularity of Komedie Stamboel resulted in imitators, both professional and amateur, with the majority of their performers consisted of Indo [hybrid] and Pribumi [local; indigenous]. Komedie Stamboel also developed into a theatrical genre known as komedie stambul. In the 20th century, a theatre form known as Toneel Melajoe emerged as a continuity of the Komedie Stambul with new additions. Other theatrical genre known as Indische Toneel, a colonial theatre created by playwrights of Dutch totok and Indo descent that often held in theatres in Batavia. They had komedie stambul influences and Indische culture references on them.

Influence of Scenography Development on Artistic Interpretation in Plastic Directing

The purpose of the article is to reveal the specifics of the development of scenography in plastic directing and its influence on artistic interpretation in the context of the peculiarities of theoretical developments and practical implementation in stage practice of leading theatre directors of the 20th – early 21st centuries. Research methodology. The research is based on modern art history and philosophical concepts of the study of the phenomenon of development of unique forms and the principles of the artistic relationship between direction and scenography. Taking into account the interdisciplinary nature of the issue, the cultural-historical method has been applied in research and analysis of the pictorial-plastic solution of the performance (to define the concept of "plastic stage forms" and "plastic drawing of acting" in the context of cultural, art history and philosophical concepts). The method of comparative analysis has been applied to combine methods and ways of representing scenography in theoretical works and practical activity of leading theatre directors. The typological method has been used to identify the factors of formation of the performance plastic solution. Scientific novelty. An art-historical study of the stage space approximation to the forms of the human body in the context of the specifics of theatrical art is carried out. The process of the transition of scenographic design from detached to dynamic in the context of transformational processes of theatrical art is considered. Common and different values, as well as forms of scenography representation in the theoretical works and practical activities of leading theatre directors of the 20th – early 21st centuries, are identified and analysed. Conclusions. The issue of artistic space in the organisation of the temporal component of the stage production plays an extremely important role in plastic directing, namely the circumstances that determined the specificity of the spatial structure of the literary original source or the director's interpretation and, accordingly, have an impact on its artistic and figurative interpretation. In the Ukrainian theatrical art, the relationship between directing and scenography is expressed as a sole management of all means of scenic expressiveness, namely plastic directing, which is based on the plastic unity of the stage work. The uniqueness of the scenography of the leading Ukrainian directors’ productions of the late 20th and early 21st centuries manifests itself in the artistic interpretation of the selected literary material and the innovative detection of the semantic and content saturation of their formal and plastic solution. Key words: scenography, stage form, plastic, theatre art, theatre artist, scenery, scenographic decoration

Cultural-Historical Background of New Ukrainian Theater Creation (End of XIX – Beginning of XX Century)

The purpose of the work is to generalise the main factors influencing the development of the new Ukrainian theatre at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. The research methodology is based on the use of the following methods: comparative-analytical, cultural, and source studies. The scientific novelty of the study consists in a comprehensive study and generalisation of the main cultural and historical prerequisites for the creation of a new Ukrainian theatre in a certain historical period. Conclusions. The cultural and historical prerequisites for the creation of a new Ukrainian theatre are mainly related to the social and political situation in which the Ukrainian nation was during the struggle for independence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Based on the research of Ukrainian theatre experts, it has been concluded that the prerequisites for the creation of a new Ukrainian theatre were changes in the political situation in the Ukrainian territories at the end of the 19th century, namely the reform policy of the 1860s and 1870s, the abolition of serfdom, judicial reform, educational reform, land and city reforms, and repression of the Ukrainian people, in particular regarding Ukrainian culture. Oppression of the Ukrainian language and culture could not restrain the development of the general theatre process, which led to the creation of the first Ukrainian-language theatre companies, such as the company of H. Ashkarenko, M. Kropyvnytskyi, M. Sadovskyi, and M. Starytskyi, which became the foundation for the formation of a new Ukrainian theatre Key words: theatre, theatre art, history, cultural and historical prerequisites of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, new Ukrainian theatre