Theatrical performances were not known in Russia until the second half of XVII century. First theaters in Moscow are associated with buffoons' performances. In 1659 Russian ambassador Lichachev saw his first play in Florence: most of all he liked rapid change of decorations and wooden horses that were moving like if they were alive. After his return to Russia he suggested to Tsar Aleksey Mikchailovitch (1629-1676) to build a theater in the
house of Russian diplomat Matveev. In 1676 under the guidance of Matveev theatrical performances were being played in Preobrazenskoe - the summer residence of Tsar Aleksey Michailovitch. For that purpose a special mansion "Comedy Charomina" was built. German and some Russian actors worked there under the pastor I.G. Gregory' leadership. For performances at winter time, in 1673
some place in Kremlin was equipped. In seventeenth century there were some private theatres in Kiev, in Saikonospassky cloister, in Novgorod seminary and at the bishop's house in Rostov. In such theatres as a rule novices played. All dramatic works of that time in terms of it contents could be considered as spiritual performances. Among them you cold find such as "Sinner", "Christ Christmas and Resurection", "Saintly Martyr Evdokia", "The Second Lord's Advent" and others. The authors of these plays were saint Dmitry Rostovsky, monk Semen Polozky. Abbey of Baturinsky cloister Feofan had written some comedy in poetry. Princess Sofia Alekseevna was the author of the first Russian tragedy "Martyr Ecaterina". After the Aleksey Mikchailovitch death his theatre was closed.
In the time of Peter the First government, by the Greek-Slavonic Academy an school theatre was organised. Since 1701 the school theatre's performances in allegorical form about the tsar's reforms, Russian army's deeds and victories had been told.
In 1702 at the Red Square was founded a theatrical building, "The Comedy Chramina (Temple of Comedy)" called, where germane troupe of I.X. Kunst played. The theatre was supposed for general public that pieces of Molier, Kalderon and others was shown. In 1706 the theatre was closed as well but theatricals continued their life in amateur theatres.
As for constant theatre, such one was founded in Yaroslavl just in 1748, but in 1756 under the highest (tsar) order the theatre's actors were sent to Saint-Petersburg where at the scene of national theatre people managed to see wonderful comedy presented by the best actors of the troupe.
By Moscow University in 1757 it was The University theatre opened. Since 1759 till 1761 its plays had bee acted at the Lokally Opera-House scene. For that time the students group become a professional one and was "Russian Theatre"
named. In 1780 a big house on Petrivasky street was built for the first russian constant public theatre founded by Moskow prince P.V.Usov and entrepreneur M. Medoks. Here, in 1783 for the first time was the comedy by D.I. Fonvisin "Nedorosl". From the second part of eighteenth century the most famous become landowners' theatres (Sheremetievsky, Yusupovsky) in which peasants played.
In 1824 for dramatic troupes was rebuilt the house of merchant Vargin whose theatre was "Maly Theatre" (Small Theatre) called. Plays of Shiller ("Robbers"), Sheakspeer ("Gamlet"), Griboedov ("Grief through the Mind"). A new
step of the theatre had begun form the pieces of A.N. Ostrovsky gave to the Russian scene a great variety of realistic national works.
Form the end of 1860, contrary to the monopoly of empire theatres it was undertaken some attempts to create private ones. In 1865-83 by force of amateurs and professional artist was organised an "Artists Set". At the XIX century one of the Russian laws forbade to show theatricals in time of the Lent, on holidays
and Saturdays. But under the personal decree governor Dolgoruky - that considered itself as apportioned prince and who did not obey to Saint-Petersburg - the artist set was allowed to play during the Lent and other spiritual holidays. To write on theatrical poster not only full name of the play, but "scenes of the tragedy "Makbet" (for example), although whole performance were played, was the only conditions of Dolgoruky to allow performances on these
days.
In 1888 "The Society of art and literature", where young K.S. Stanislavsky made his theatricals, was found.
In 1914 A. Tairov and a group of young actors organised Kamerny Theatre the main idea of which was to bring up the actor, being in posses of all theatrical styles: from tragedy to operetta.
A lot of new theatres sprang up after the Great October Revolution: "Meyerhold Theatre", "3th Studio of MHT" (now it's known as "Vahtangova Theatre"), "Theatre of Revolution" (now called "Mayakovsky Theatre"), "Theatre of Young Spectator" and others.
New piece ("Lubov Yarovaya" by Trenev, "The Days of Trubiny" by Bulgacov, "Optimistical Tragedy" by Vishnevsky) played in the theirs reflected the idea of revolution, its results, its problems. Some of them ("Mandate" by Erdman, "The Bug" and "Banya"("The Bath") by Mayakovsky) were written to discover enemies of revolution. But some classical pieces - the plays of Chehov ("Wedding"), Ostrovsky ("A Profitable Place"), Gogol ("Inspector") were interpreted and given a new life.
In the time of the Great Patriotic War most of the Moscow theatres were evacuated but from their artists some military theatres and concert brigades were organised. They show such patriotically theatricals as "Russian people" by K.M. Simonov, "Invasion" by L.M.Leonov and others.
During the first peaceful years an important part of performances was occupied by plays dedicated to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War ("Young Guards" by A.A. Fadeev).
Since 1920th Moscow theatres regularly show their performances abroad: in USA, France, Polan, Germany, Greece, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia. At the same time some foreign ones have their starring in Russia: "La Comedy Francaise" and "National Public Theatre of France", "England Shakespeare Theatre" and "The Bruck's Theatre" etc.
The actors' and producers' training is available in Moscow State Institute of Theatrical Art, at the studio by Children Music Theatre, studio-school of Nemirovitch-Danchenko, in theatricals school of Schepkin and in the Schukin one.
All important events in the theatrical life of Russia are observed in in reviews "Theatre" (being issued since 1937), "Theatrical Life" (since 1958), "Theatrical Spectator" (since 1991) and others.
References
1. http://www.russianet.ru/index.html
2. The Soviet Era overview
3. Soviet Russia wikipedia
4. soviet posters 5. antohins.vtheatre.net
6. http://www.russianet.ru/politics.html
7. http://www.russianet.ru/history.html
8. http://www.russianet.ru/culture.html
9. [ ]
THE ORIGIN OF RUSSIAN DRAMA
This document was originally published in The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization, vol. 18. ed. Alfred Bates. London: Historical Publishing Company, 1906. pp. 6-11.
The Religious drama in its earliest form, that of Mysteries, was introduced into Russia from Poland in the beginning of the twelfth century. As Tiechonravoff states in his Origin of the Russian Theatre, they were known under the name of Religious Dialogues, or simply as Histories, and were at first played exclusively in monasteries; nor is it till 1603 that we read of their being performed by students in the universities and public schools in Polish or Latin. The earliest Latin Dialogue that has come down to us is entitled Adam, and bears on its title page the date of 1507; the earliest in Polish is The Life of the Savior From His Entry Into Jerusalem, and was composed by a Dominican of Cracow, in the year 1533. The latter describes the closing events in Christ's earthly career so minutely that it consists of more than a hundred scenes, and four days were required for its presentation.
THE VERTEP
So far, the history of the early drama in Russia does not differ from that of other countries. But there was another class of dramatic representations peculiar to Russia, and which were as essentially popular as the Mysteries were ecclesiastical. These were exhibited in a species of perambulating booth called "Vertep," and divided into three stories; the first and third of which were occupied by the performing figures, the middle one being devoted to the machinery necessary to put the marionettes in motion. They formed the chief attraction at the large fairs held in the principal cities during the Christmas holidays, and the card-figures consisted of the Virgin, Joseph, the Savior, Angels, Shepherds, and the Magi. As might be expected in these Christmas pieces, the Nativity and the Massacre of the Innocents usually formed the subjects. To represent the latter, other characters were introduced, including Herod, Death, in the shape of a skeleton, and the Devil, who came in at the end to carry off the soul of the godless monarch.
Like the Mysteries, the Vertep plays were at first of a strictly religious character, but were gradually changed into rude satires on contemporary life and manners. In their earlier form they were patronized by the clergy, who constantly lent their churches for these performances, but later they were strictly forbidden. The severest ecclesiastical prohibitions, however, were of no avail, and they continued to enjoy popular favor till as late as the seventeenth century. Nor that the Church ever neglected the drama as a means of educating the people. It had its three annual scenic festivals, or acts. The first represented the delivery of the Three Children from the furnace of fire, and was played at Christmas both in Moscow and Novgorod; the second, dating from the fifteenth century, represented the entry of the Savior into Jerusalem, and was performed on Palm Sunday; the third, played on Sunday in Carnival week, was preceeded by religious ceremonies of unusual solemnity, and depicted the final judgment.
Very few of these Mysteries have been preserved, and those that we possess are characterized by the same peculiarities which have been remarked in a previous volume in connection with English miracle-plays of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. There is a similar confusion of the terms tragedy and comedy in their titles, an equally profound indifference to chronology, and a like mixture of real with imaginary personages. Thus, in the so-called "pitiful comedy" of Adam and Eve, printed at Kiev about 1675, it is only the prologue that is in any way concerned with the story of our first parents; the four acts of which it is composed being devoted to the exploits of Alexis Michaelovitch, and both biblical and allegorical personages mingle freely with historical characters throughout the drama. Some of the Mysteries were written with a polemical object. The author, for instance, of The Martyrdom of Stephen, evidently a Catholic, divulges the intention with which his play was produced, when he tells us in the prologue that "Peter was undeservedly deprived of his supremacy," and further dilates on the "juggling tricks" of Sophia, who, contrary to all justice, had "usurped her brother's rights."
It is, however, to the Vertep that we trace the origin of the modern Russian theatre. As already remarked, these shows began, from about the middle of the seventeenth century, to lose their exclusively religious character, and, in place of biblical legends, represented humorous scenes, in which history and the follies of the period were broadly caricatured. This latter form of drama corresponds to the English interludes, which were most in favor a little before the time of Shakespeare. Of the verteps which have been preserved, the majority have at least one rascolnik among their personages, the word, though originally meaning a schismatic, being commonly applied to those separatists who adhered to the use of the mass-books and rituals such as they were before their revision by Nikon. The opposition made by these sectarians to the religious reform inaugurated by the government afforded an unfailing theme of satire. In one of them, the rascolnik laments the back-slidings of the age, which has so far lapsed from the pure faith that "even old believers began to wear coats in lieu of the long flowing robe, and to shave their beards," innovations sufficiently startling to justify the prediction that "before long Antichrist will appear on earth." In 1705, about which time the play was produced, an imperial decree had been issued, recommending, and in some cases commanding, government clerks to adopt the foreign mode of dress and to shave the beard. This edict was at variance, not only with fashion, but with the old Russian proverb: "Man is made in God's image. Witness his beard." Thus it provoked so much opposition that a certain priest was commissioned by the synodical authorities to write a tract, "On the Image and Likeness of God in Man," in which a number of learned arguments are adduced from the Bible and the Fathers to prove that the beard may be cut off without imperilling salvation or losing the marks of our heavenly origin. If, at this day, we are able to divest such a contest of its comic elements, we must continue to see in it the same earnestness and fervor and acrimony that have characterized like opposition to dramatic progress at many times and in many places.
SCHOOL PLAYS
As early as 1721 it was ordered that the students of all public seminaries "should play comedies twice in a year." Nor were these plays restricted to Mysteries or even Interludes, but included translations and adaptations from the work of foreign dramatists. Moli¨¨re would seem to have been the favorite author, Le M¨¦decin Malgr¨¦ Lui and Les Pr¨¦cieuses Ridicules both being played in the same year at the Moscow academy. Among the public schools, the cadet corps at St. Petersburg enjoyed a high reputation for the zeal with which its teachers promoted the study of modern languages and literature. These efforts were not lost upon the pupils, who formed among themselves an amateur literary society, the members of which were accustomed once a week to meet and read original compositions in prose and verse. There was one pupil whose papers were considered to be of such superior merit that they were submitted by the president of the society to the authorities of the corps, and a selection from the best of them was published at the expense of the establishment. This pupil was Alexander Sumarokov, destined to become famous as "the founder of the Russian theatre."
Liberty is always unfinished business. --anonymous
