FORTRESS THEATER existed in Russia for about a century (from the middle of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century). The fortress theater was of two types - manor and city. The first was a well-arranged premises with a large repertoire, a large troupe of artists, prepared from childhood for theatrical activities, orchestra, ballet, choir and soloists. The so-called "booth theaters" also belong to this type, showing their performances at large fairs in county towns, in settlements at monasteries, etc. The second type includes estate theaters, which were of a closed nature - for the amusement of the gentlemen themselves and invited guests. Only at first glance such fortress scenes existed in a closed way: their living connection with the social and cultural life of Russia is obvious.
Forced actors were trained by professional artists, composers, choreographers. Often, serf artists were brought up in state-owned theater and ballet schools, and free artists played next to them on the fortress stage. It happened that serfs, rented out by their owners, also appeared on the imperial stage (in such cases, in posters and programs, serfs were not called “master” or “lady”, but simply wrote their names). There are cases when serf artists were redeemed by the treasury for admission to the imperial stage - Stolypin serfs, together with the courtyard actors of the landowners P.M. Volkonsky and N.I. Demidov, entered the troupe of the state theater formed in 1806, now known as the Maly Theater M.S. Shchepkin, S. Mochalov (father of the tragic poet P.S. Mochalov), E. Semenova, according to A.S.
Such serf troupes as the theater of Count S. M. Kamensky in Orel are widely known. A special building had a stalls, mezzanine, boxes, a gallery. The chaplains were dressed in special livery tailcoats with multicolored collars. In the count's box, in front of his chair, there was a special book for recording the mistakes of artists and orchestra during the performance, and whips were hung on the wall behind the chair for punishment. Within six months in 1817, according to the "Friend of the Russians", in the theater of Count Kamensky "to the amusement of the public of the city of Orel, 82 plays were staged, of which there were 18 operas, 15 dramas, 41 comedies, 6 ballets and 2 tragedies." The count's estate has not been preserved, but in the Oryol Drama Theater. I.S. Turgenev, since the late 1980s, there has been a memorial “stage of Count Kamensky” with a reconstructed stage, a small hall, a curtain, a museum and a make-up room. Chamber performances are played here, and a portrait of the count and a rod for punishment hangs above the chair of the last row.
The theater of Prince Shakhovsky belonged to the same type of public fortress theaters, the permanent residence of which was in a specially equipped room in Nizhny Novgorod. Every year in July, the prince brought his theater to the Makariev Fair. The repertoire of the fortress theater included drama, opera and ballet performances. A similar type of theater is depicted in the story of Vl. A. Sologub pupil- the customs and life of theatrical figures of the early 19th century. conveyed here with the same tragedy as in the story of A.I. Herzen magpie thief. There is enough accurate information about the repertoire of serf theaters in the 1790s, mainly the works of V. Levshin and I. Kartselli: comic operas King on the hunt, Master's wedding Voldyreva, Your burden does not pull, Imaginary widowers and etc.
The theaters attached to the manors' estates were distinguished by a more complex repertoire and arrangement. In his study, V.G. Sakhnovsky notes that they were arranged “more often as fun, as entertainment or the desire to respond to the prevailing fashion, less often, but for a correct assessment of the art of theater in Russia, and for the assessment of artistic culture in Russia in general, it is all the more important - how the need for the forms of the theater to express one's sense of life, worldview and, consequently, to quench the passion for the art of the stage. The greatest role in the development of the "instinct of theatricality" in the Russian nobility was played, according to the general opinion of the researchers of the topic, by the county master's theater. by the most famous theaters noblemen of Catherine and Alexander's time in Moscow and St. Petersburg was the theater of Prince Yusupov on the Moika and in Arkhangelsk near Moscow, the Counts Shuvalovs on the Fontanka, Potemkin in the Tauride Palace, Counts Sheremetevs in Kuskovo (later in Ostankino), Counts Apraksins in Olgov, Counts Zakrevsky in Ivanovsky, Counts Panins in Marfin (N.M. Karamzin, who visited this theater, wrote a play for the serf theater marked “only for Marfin”), Counts Zagryazhsky in Yaropolets Volokolamsky.
By the 1820s, not only the center of Russia, but also the southern and northern outskirts were flooded with master's estate theaters, both winter and "air", arranged in summer time in manor parks. At the first time of its creation, the serf Russian theater was imitative in many respects, from costume and furniture to language and gesture, it was absolutely alien to nature and domestic life, and, consequently, to the complex of concepts that reigned in populace, not excluding and by no means always the well-educated nobility. It was a time of impulse, the desire to create their own Russian theater. But over time, the most educated of the creators of serf theaters (Shepelev, Sheremetev, etc.) began to enrich their theaters with the heritage of European artistic culture - the repertoire increasingly included mythological works, and, according to the correct observation of V.G. Sakhnovsky, “the world of fantastically real art scenes ... he embodied the most early mental states of the serf actors, who at first senselessly pronounced the incomprehensible roles of courtyards and girls, and then brought amazing variations and diverse solutions of motives and melodies of world stage and dramatic themes and ideas by serf actors to clear movements, amazing intonations and original acting. The development of alien life went through adaptations and gradually became one's own. This was the dominant feature of the Catherine and Alexander era of the Russian serf theater. By the second quarter of the 19th century. the estate theater began to compete with theaters in the capital at times. Such was the theater of I.D. Shepelev (A.V. Sukhovo-Kobylin's maternal grandfather) on Vyksa (Vladimir province). In size, it was slightly smaller than the Petersburg Mariinsky Theater, while the internal arrangement (parterre, boxes, benoir, mezzanine, etc.) was exactly the same. The theater was lit with gas, although at that time even the imperial theaters in St. Petersburg were lit with oil lamps. The orchestra consisted of 50 people, there were 40 choristers. Shepelev also invited artists from Moscow and St. Petersburg, who willingly came to Vyksa, since Shepelev offered high fees. Fortress theaters were visited not only by the guests of the owners of the estates, but also by the emperors, about which a lot of evidence has been preserved. Distinguished guests were especially fond of serfs with valuable gifts and money. The repertoire poster became more and more complicated over time. The technical improvement of stage platforms made it possible to turn to works in which there were many magical effects.
The theater of Count N.P. Sheremetev in Kuskovo was especially famous. According to contemporaries, he was considered "the oldest and best of the Russian private theaters, not inferior to the St. Petersburg courtiers and far superior to the structure of the then Moscow, contained by Medox."
see also THEATRE.
fortress theater fortress theater
in Russia, a private noble theater with a troupe of serfs. Appeared at the end of the 17th century, became widespread at the end of the 18th - early XIX centuries, mainly in Moscow and the Moscow region (the theaters of the Sheremetevs, Yusupovs, etc.). The names of many serf actors entered the history of the theater (P. I. Zhemchugova, T. V. Shlykova-Granatova, and others). Fortress theaters became the basis of the Russian provincial stage.
FORTRESS THEATERKPEPOSTNOY THEATER, a private noble (home landlord) theater in Russia, which arose on a feudal-serf basis. Separate home performances by serf actors began to be arranged as early as the end of the 17th century, but serf theaters became especially widespread in the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries and existed until the abolition of serfdom (1861).
Types of fortress theaters
The fortress theaters, of which there were about two hundred, were distinguished by many significant nuances: in some, only the nobles themselves, often titled and high-ranking, or their children played - such a theater is usually called a noble amateur theater; in others, “brownies”, that is, serf actors, performed next to amateur nobles; in the third, “free” artists of the public imperial stage or private professional entreprise were invited to the main roles, and the rest of the troupe was from their “home-grown”; in the fourth - "free" celebrities, Russian and foreign, appeared only as orchestra leaders, choreographers and theater teachers, and the performers were mainly "own" actors; there were also landlord theaters, which turned into public ones with an entrance fee.
Features of the fortress theater
Any such serf theater, intimate home or public, was created at the whim of the landowner, at his expense, thanks to the labor of his own serfs, used as either actors, or orchestra musicians, or attendants. stage action, which took place most often in his (sometimes rented) house, where the owner was the absolute master of the stage, backstage and in auditorium, that is, he determined the artistic and aesthetic level of performances, formed the direction (dramatic or musical), chose the repertoire, distributed roles, etc., placed the audience at his discretion, and also determined the moral face of the theater.
Spread of fortress theaters
At first, serf theaters were set up in the city estates of both capitals, especially in Moscow, where more than twenty of them existed in the 1780s and 1790s alone. In winter, home theaters functioned in the city, and in the summer, together with their owners, they moved to country estates. So, in Moscow in the late 18th - early 19th century. theaters operated: S. S. Apraksin, G. I. Bibikov, I. Ya. Bludov, N. A. and V. A. Vsevolozhsky, P. M. Volkonsky, I. A. Gagarin, A. I. Davydov, N. I. Demidova, I. A. Durasova, I. K. Zamyatin, L. K. Naryshkin, N. I. Odoevsky, V. G. Orlov, S. M. and G. P. Rzhevsky, D. E. and A. E. Stolypinykh, A. S. Stepanova, P. A. Poznyakova, D. I. and N. N. Trubetskoy, P. B. Sheremeteva (cm. Sheremetev Peter Borisovich) and N. P. Sheremetev (cm. Sheremetev Nikolay Petrovich), N. G. and B. G. Shakhovskikh, N. B. Yusupov and others. In St. Petersburg, home theaters were especially famous: D. P. Baryatinsky, P. A. Golitsyna, E. F. Dolgoruky, A. A. and L. A. Naryshkin, A. N. Nelidinskaya, A. S. Stroganov, I. G. Chernyshev, heir to the throne Pavel Petrovich (cm. PAVEL I Petrovich), and etc.
Theater of Counts Sheremetevs
One of the first and most outstanding was the theater of the Counts Sheremetevs. He began his activity in St. Petersburg in 1765 as an amateur nobleman and finally took shape by the end of the 1770s in Moscow (on Bolshaya Nikolskaya Street). From hundreds of thousands of their serfs, the Sheremetevs carefully selected and trained various masters who took part in the creation of the theater (architects F. S. Argunov, A. Mironov, G. Diushin; artists I. P. and N. I. Argunov (cm. ARGUNOVA), K. Vuntusov, G. Mukhin, S. Kalinin; engineer F. Pryakhin; musicians P. Kalmykov, S. Degtyarev, G. Lomakin (cm. LOMAKIN Gavriil Yakimovich) and etc.). They worked under the guidance of and next to renowned European and Russian masters.
In the Sheremetev estate near Moscow, Kuskovo (cm. KUSKOVO), theaters were built: "air" (in the open air), Small and Big. The troupe included serf actors, musicians, dancers, decorators, etc. (more than two hundred people), among them - an outstanding actress and singer Zhemchugova (P. I. Kovaleva). Artists were supposed to be paid money and food. The troupe was led and overseen by the serf "His Excellency's librarian" B. G. Vroblevsky, who was educated at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy (cm. SLAVIC-GRECO-LATIN ACADEMY) and who visited together with N.P. Sheremetev in the early 1770s abroad. Wroblewski translated plays while reworking them. The theater's repertoire included more than a hundred plays, mostly comic operas, but also comedies, operas and ballets.
The theater reached its peak in the mid-1780s, when N.P. Sheremetev-son became its owner - an enlightened nobleman, a talented musician and a selfless lover of theatrical art, who rebuilt a magnificent theater-palace in the village of Ostankino in the early 1790s (cm. Ostankino).
Fortress Theater of Prince Yusupov
By the beginning of the 19th century. (about 1818) is the heyday of the serf theater of Prince N. B. Yusupov. In 1819, Moscow was rebuilt theater building, which had a stalls, a semicircular amphitheater, mezzanine and two galleries. In the summer, the theater functioned in the village of Arkhangelskoye near Moscow, where a magnificent theater building built in 1818 is still preserved. The scenery for the theater was painted by Pietro Gonzago (cm. GONZAGO Pietro). Operas and magnificent ballet performances were given at the Yusupov Theater.
"Theatrical Phenomenon"
Around 1811, a “theatrical phenomenon worthy of special attention"- the fortress theater of P. A. Poznyakov, located on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in Leontievsky Lane. The theater gave mainly lavishly arranged comic operas, the scenery for which was painted by the Italian painter Scotty. The serf actors of this theater, who "played incomparably better than many free artists," were trained by S. N. Sandunov (cm. SANDUNOV Sila Nikolaevich) and E. S. Sandunova (cm. Sandunova Elizaveta Semyonovna).
Provincial fortress theaters
By the end of the 18th century fortress theaters began to appear and in provincial towns and estates, sometimes very remote from the center, including in the Urals and Siberia. Their level was very different: from primitive home-grown performances on hastily knocked together stages with a painted sheet instead of a curtain to perfectly organized performances in specially built theaters with a well-equipped stage. An example of the first is the theater of Prince G. A. Gruzinsky in the village of Lyskovo; the second - the theater of Prince N. G. Shakhovsky in the village of Yusupovo, and then in Nizhny Novgorod; the theater of I. I. Esipov in Kazan; S. M. Kamensky in Orel; S. G. Zorich in Shklov.
Fortress Theater Zoricha
In the 1780s, a favorite of Catherine II (cm. EKATERINA II), S. G. Zorich, in his estate Shklov, Mogilev province, arranged a theater, which, according to contemporaries, was “enormous”. The repertoire included dramas, comedies, comic operas and ballets. In addition to the serfs, cadets of the Shklovsky Cadet Corps (established by Zorich) and amateur nobles, among whom Prince P. V. Meshchersky was famous, took part in dramatic performances - M. S. Shchepkin highly appreciated his game (cm. SHEPKIN Mikhail Semenovich). In the ballets, which "were very good," only serf dancers danced. After the death of Zorich, his ballet troupe in 1800 was bought by the treasury for the St. Petersburg imperial stage.
Fortress Theater of Vorontsov
Among the provincial theaters, the fortress theater of Count A. R. Vorontsov also stood out (cm. VORONTSOV Alexander Romanovich), located in the village of Alabukhi, Tambov province, then - in the village of Andreevskoye, Vladimir province. Vorontsov, one of the most educated people of his time, was an ardent opponent of gallomania, which spread among the Russian nobles in the 18th century. Therefore, the repertoire of his serf theater primarily included plays by Russian playwrights: A. P. Sumarokov (cm. SUMAROKOV Alexander Petrovich), D. I. Fonvizina (cm. FONVIZIN Denis Ivanovich), P. A. Plavilshchikova (cm. PLAVILSHCHIKOV Petr Alekseevich), M. I. Verevkina (cm. VEREVKIN Mikhail Ivanovich),I. B. Knyazhnina (cm. KNYAZHNIN Yakov Borisovich), O. A. Ablesimova (cm. ABLESIMOV Alexander Onisimovich) and others. Such plays by Molière were staged (cm. MOLIERE), P. O. Beaumarchais (cm. BEAUMARCHAIS Pierre Augustin), Voltaire (cm. VOLTAIRE) and other European playwrights.
The total composition of the troupe ranged from 50 to 60 people, including musicians, painters, machinists, tailors, hairdressers, etc. The artists were divided into "first-class" (13-15 people) and "second-class" (6-8 people) and depending on from this they received an annual reward in money and things. Vorontsov was not in the theater ballet troupe and, when dance scenes were required, "women who dance" were invited.
Public Fortress Theater
The public fortress theater of Count S. M. Kamensky was opened in 1815 in Orel. It was one of the largest provincial theaters. It lasted almost until 1835. Only in the first year of its activity, about a hundred new performances were staged: comedies, dramas, tragedies, vaudevilles, operas and ballets. The count, whom his contemporaries called "the illustrious tyrant" (primarily for his attitude towards serf actors), bought talented actors from many landowners for his troupe, and also invited famous "free" artists, for example M. S. Shchepkin, to play the first roles (cm. SHEPKIN Mikhail Semenovich)(his oral story formed the basis of the plot of A. Herzen's story "The Thieving Magpie"; the atmosphere of this theater is also described by N. Leskov's story "Dumb Artist").
Serf theaters existed in conditions when their owners tried to make the most of the talent of the serfs, as a result, many of them died prematurely. However, in spite of everything, these theaters made a valuable contribution to the development of national theatrical art, contributed to its wide dissemination - many provincial theaters trace their history from serf household troupes.
encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .
See what "fortress theater" is in other dictionaries:
Fortress theater in Russian Empire until 1861 (the abolition of serfdom) a private theater of a nobleman, consisting of serf actors who belonged to him by right of ownership. Such a troupe performed where, how much and how the owner indicated, ... ... Wikipedia
Modern Encyclopedia
In Russia, a private noble theater with a troupe of serfs. Arose in con. 17th century, became widespread in the end. 18 early 19th centuries, mainly in Moscow and the Moscow region (the theaters of the Sheremetevs, Yusupovs, and others). The names of many serf actors were included in ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
fortress theater- FORTRESS THEATER, in Russia a private noble theater with a troupe of serfs. They arose at the end of the 17th century, were widespread at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, and existed until the abolition of serfdom. Sometimes they had an almost professional character, ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
View of a private noble theater in Russia; troupes were created by landowners from among the serfs. K. t. appeared at the end of the 17th century. They became widespread at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, mainly in Moscow and the Moscow region (at the turn of the 18th and 19th ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The main house of the Lyublino estate The Durasov Fortress Theater in Lyublino was famous throughout Moscow and the outfit ... Wikipedia
Dictionary Ushakov
1. FORTRESS1 [sn], serf, serf. 1. adj., by value. associated with serfdom. Fortress dependence. Fortress peasant. Fortress economy. Castle factory. Fortress theatre. Fortress work. 2. in value noun serf ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
1. FORTRESS1 [sn], serf, serf. 1. adj., by value. associated with serfdom. Fortress dependence. Fortress peasant. Fortress economy. Castle factory. Fortress theatre. Fortress work. 2. in value noun serf ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
Theater of Counts Sheremetevs. One of the first and most outstanding was the theater of the Counts Sheremetevs. He began his activity in St. Petersburg in 1765 as an amateur nobleman and finally took shape by the end of the 1770s in Moscow (on Bolshaya Nikolskaya Street). From hundreds of thousands of their serfs, the Sheremetevs carefully selected and trained various masters who took part in the creation of the theater (architects F.S. Argunov, A. Mironov, G. Diushin; artists I.P. and N.I. Argunov, K. Vuntusov, G. Mukhin, S. Kalinin, machinist F. Pryakhin, musicians P. Kalmykov, S. Degtyarev, G. Lomakin and others). They worked under the guidance of and next to renowned European and Russian masters.
In the Moscow estate of the Sheremetevs, Kuskovo, theaters were built: "air" (in the open air), Small and Bolshoi. The troupe included serf actors, musicians, dancers, decorators, etc. (more than two hundred people), among them - an outstanding actress and singer Zhemchugova (P.I. Kovaleva). Artists were supposed to be paid money and food. The serf "His Excellency's librarian" B.G. led the troupe and oversaw its education. Vroblevsky, who was educated at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy and visited together with N.P. Sheremetev in the early 1770s abroad. Wroblewski translated plays while reworking them. The theater's repertoire included more than a hundred plays, mostly comic operas, but also comedies, operas and ballets.
The theater reached its peak in the mid-1780s, when N.P. Sheremetev-son is an enlightened nobleman, a talented musician and a selfless lover of theatrical art, who built a magnificent theater-palace in the village of Ostankino in the early 1790s.
Fortress Theater of Prince Yusupov. By the beginning of the 19th century. (about 1818) is the heyday of the serf theater of Prince N.B. Yusupov. In 1819, a theater building was rebuilt in Moscow, which had a stalls, a semicircular amphitheater, a mezzanine and two galleries. In the summer, the theater functioned in the village of Arkhangelskoye, near Moscow, where a magnificent theater building built in 1818 is still preserved. The scenery for the theater was painted by Pietro Gonzago. Operas and magnificent ballet performances were given at the Yusupov Theater.
"Theatrical Phenomenon" Around 1811, "a theatrical phenomenon worthy of special attention" appeared in Moscow - the serf theater of P.A. Poznyakov, located on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in Leontievsky Lane. The theater gave mainly lavishly arranged comic operas, the scenery for which was painted by the Italian painter Scotti. The serf actors of this theater, who "played incomparably better than many free artists," were trained by S.N. Sandunov and E.S. Sandunov.
Provincial fortress theaters. By the end of the 18th century serf theaters began to appear in provincial cities and estates, sometimes very remote from the center, including in the Urals and Siberia. Their level was very different: from primitive home-grown performances on hastily knocked together stages with a painted sheet instead of a curtain to perfectly organized performances in specially built theaters with a well-equipped stage.
An example of the first is the theater of Prince G.A. Gruzinsky in the village of Lyskovo; the second - the theater of Prince N.G. Shakhovsky in the village of Yusupovo, and then in Nizhny Novgorod; theater I.I. Esipov in Kazan; CM. Kamensky in Orel; S.G. Zorich in Shklov.
Fortress theater Zorich. In the 1780s, the favorite of Catherine II, S.G. Zorich, in his estate Shklov, Mogilev province, arranged a theater, which, according to contemporaries, was "enormous". The repertoire included dramas, comedies, comic operas and ballets. In addition to the serfs, cadets of the Shklov Cadet Corps (established by Zorich) and amateur nobles, among whom Prince P.V. was famous, took part in dramatic performances. Meshchersky - M.S. highly appreciated his game. Shchepkin. In the ballets, which "were very good," only serf dancers danced. After the death of Zorich, his ballet troupe in 1800 was bought by the treasury for the St. Petersburg imperial stage.
Fortress Theater of Vorontsov. Among the provincial theaters, the fortress theater of Count A.R. Vorontsov, who was in the village of Alabukhi, Tambov province, then - in the village of Andreevskoye, Vladimir province. Vorontsov, one of the most educated people of his time, was an ardent opponent of gallomania, which spread among the Russian nobles in the 18th century. Therefore, the repertoire of his serf theater primarily included plays by Russian playwrights: A.P. Sumarokova, D.I. Fonvizina, P.A. Plavilshchikova, M.I. Verevkin, Ya.B. Knyazhnina, O.A. Ablesimova and others. Such plays by Moliere, P.O. Beaumarchais, Voltaire and other European playwrights.
The total composition of the troupe ranged from 50 to 60 people, including musicians, painters, machinists, tailors, hairdressers, etc. The artists were divided into "first-class" (13-15 people) and "second-class" (6-8 people) and depending on from this they received an annual reward in money and things. There was no ballet troupe in the Vorontsov Theater and, when dance scenes were required, "women who dance" were invited.
Public castle theatre. Public fortress theater of Count S.M. Kamensky was opened in 1815 in Orel. It was one of the largest provincial theaters. It lasted almost until 1835. Only in the first year of its activity, about a hundred new performances were staged: comedies, dramas, tragedies, vaudevilles, operas and ballets. The count, who was called by his contemporaries a "magnificent tyrant" (primarily for his attitude towards serf actors), bought talented actors from many landowners for his troupe, and also invited famous "free" artists, for example, M.S. Shchepkin (his oral story formed the basis of the plot of A. Herzen's story "The Thieving Magpie"; the atmosphere of this theater is also described by N. Leskov's story "Dumb Artist").
The purpose of this essay is to systematize, accumulate and consolidate knowledge about the serf theater in Russia in the 18th century.
To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:
Consider the history of the fortress theater;
Describe theatrical figures - Shchepkin, Semenova, Zhemchugov;
Summarize the main results of the abstract.
In the process of writing the essay, I studied textbooks on the world artistic culture, essays on the history of Russian culture XVIII century, articles about theatrical figures.
The fortress theater existed in Russia for about a century (from the middle of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century). The fortress theater was of two types - manor and city. The first was a well-organized premises with a large repertoire, a large troupe of artists trained from childhood for theatrical activities, an orchestra, ballet, choir and soloists. The so-called "booth theaters" also belong to this type, showing their performances at large fairs in county towns, in settlements at monasteries, etc. The second type includes manor theaters, which were of a closed nature - for the amusement of the gentlemen themselves and invited guests. Only at first glance such fortress scenes existed in a closed way: their living connection with the social and cultural life of Russia is obvious.
The birth of a national professional theater associated with the name F.G. Volkova(1729-1763) and the city of Yaroslavl, where he first staged the dramas of his great countryman D. Rostovsky, and then the first tragedies of A.P. Sumarokov. Since 1756 public theater opens its curtain in St. Petersburg. The creator of the repertoire and director of the theater was the playwright Sumarokov. And the brilliant actor and director was Fedor Grigorievich Volkov. Confirmation of his genius is his last creation - "Triumphant Minerva", in which Volkov's numerous talents were manifested. “He knew theatrical art to the highest degree,” recalled contemporaries. This grandiose holiday was staged on the occasion of the accession to the throne of Catherine II. During the celebration, F. Volkov caught a cold and died untimely "to the great and common regret of all."
In Volkov's troupe he began his acting career famous actor I.A. Dmitrievsky(1736-1821), who from 1779 directed a private theater in the Tsaritsyn meadow. The comedy by D.I. Fonvizin "Undergrowth", in which I.A. Dmitrievsky played the role of Starodum.
There was a university theater in Moscow with the Italian troupe D. Locatelli. And in 1780, the Petrovsky Theater was opened, in the repertoire of which there were both dramatic and opera performances.
Peculiar phenomenon cultural life second half of the 18th century was a fort theater.
At the end of the XVIII century. the role of theater in public life significantly increased and became the subject of public discussions.
All these issues require further detailed consideration and study.
1. History of the fortress theater
The history of the Russian theater is divided into several main stages. The initial, playful stage originates in a tribal society and ends by the 17th century, when, along with a new period in Russian history, a new, more mature stage in the development of the theater begins, culminating in the establishment of a permanent state professional theater in 1756.
The terms “theatre”, “drama” entered the Russian dictionary only in the 18th century. At the end of the 17th century, the term "comedy" was used, and throughout the century - "fun" (Amusing closet, Amusement Chamber). In the popular masses, the term “theater” was preceded by the term “disgrace”, the term “drama” - “game”, “game”. In the Russian Middle Ages, definitions synonymous with them were common - “demonic”, or “satanic”, buffoon games. All sorts of curiosities brought by foreigners in the 16th - XVII centuries, and fireworks. The military occupations of the young Tsar Peter I were also called fun. In this sense, both the wedding and dressing up were called “play”, “game”. “Play” has a completely different meaning in relation to musical instruments: playing with tambourines, in sniffles, etc. The terms “game” and “play” in relation to oral drama were preserved among the people until the 19th-20th centuries.
The first public theater appeared in Moscow in 1702. It was the theater of Kunsta-Fgorst, the so-called "comedy temple". He did not last long. He was not popular with Muscovites. Peter I gave the theater special meaning in connection with the fact that he demanded from the theater to propagate the ideas of statehood and through the theatrical stage to proclaim its internal and foreign policy. Therefore, under Peter I, nationwide large-scale actions were widely used: triumph processions, masquerades, fireworks. Peter I "pushed the theater out of royal palace To the square".
In the 1730s, “public games” appeared in Moscow at Shrovetide, at which Evdon and Berfa, Solomon and Gaer were represented. And since 1742, the German Comedy was represented in Moscow - a permanent city theater, whose performances were attended by many people.
Forced actors were trained by professional artists, composers, choreographers. Often, serf artists were brought up in state theater and ballet schools, and free artists played next to them on the serf stage. It happened that serfs, rented out by their owners, also appeared on the imperial stage (in such cases, in posters and programs, serfs were not called “master” or “lady”, but simply wrote their names). There are cases when serf artists were redeemed by the treasury for admission to the imperial stage - Stolypin serfs, together with the courtyard actors of the landowners P.M. Volkonsky and N.I. Demidov, entered the troupe of the state theater formed in 1806, now known as the Maly Theater M.S. Shchepkin, S. Mochalov (father of the tragic poet P.S. Mochalov), E. Semenova, according to A.S.
Such serf troupes as the theater of Count S. M. Kamensky in Orel are widely known. A special building had a stalls, mezzanine, boxes, a gallery. The chaplains were dressed in special livery tailcoats with multicolored collars. In the count's box, in front of his chair, there was a special book for recording the mistakes of artists and orchestra during the performance, and whips were hung on the wall behind the chair for punishment. Within six months in 1817, according to the "Friend of the Russians", in the theater of Count Kamensky "to the amusement of the public of the city of Orel, 82 plays were staged, of which there were 18 operas, 15 dramas, 41 comedies, 6 ballets and 2 tragedies." The count's estate has not been preserved, but in the Oryol Drama Theater. I.S. Turgenev, since the late 1980s, there has been a memorial “stage of Count Kamensky” with a reconstructed stage, a small hall, a curtain, a museum and a make-up room. Chamber performances are played here, and a portrait of the count and a rod for punishment hangs above the chair of the last row.
The theater of Prince Shakhovsky, whose permanent residence was in a specially equipped room in Nizhny Novgorod, belonged to the same type of public serf theaters. Every year in July, the prince brought his theater to the Makariev Fair. The repertoire of the fortress theater included drama, opera and ballet performances. A similar type of theater is depicted in the story of Vl. A. Sologub pupil- the customs and life of theatrical figures of the early 19th century. conveyed here with the same tragedy as in the story of A.I. Herzen magpie thief. There is enough accurate information about the repertoire of serf theaters in the 1790s, mainly the works of V. Levshin and I. Kartselli: comic operas King on the hunt , Master's wedding Voldyreva , Your burden does not pull , Imaginary widowers and etc.
The theaters attached to the manors' estates were distinguished by a more complex repertoire and arrangement. In his study, V.G. Sakhnovsky notes that they were arranged “more often as fun, as entertainment or the desire to respond to the prevailing fashion, less often, but for a correct assessment of the art of theater in Russia, and for the assessment of artistic culture in Russia in general, it is all the more important - how the need for the forms of the theater to express one's sense of life, worldview and, consequently, to quench the passion for the art of the stage. The greatest role in the development of the "instinct of theatricality" in the Russian nobility was played, according to the general opinion of the researchers of the topic, by the county master's theater. The most famous theaters of the nobles of Catherine's and Alexander's time in Moscow and St. Petersburg were the theater of Prince Yusupov on the Moika and in Arkhangelsk near Moscow, the Counts Shuvalovs on the Fontanka, the Potemkin in the Tauride Palace, the Counts Sheremetevs in Kuskovo (later in Ostankino), the Counts Apraksins in Olgov, Counts Zakrevsky in Ivanovsky, Counts Panins in Marfin (N.M. Karamzin, who visited this theater, wrote a play for the serf theater marked “only for Marfin”), Counts Zagryazhsky in Yaropolets Volokolamsky.
2. Shchepkin Mikhail Semenovich (1788-1863)
Russian actor. Born on November 6, 1788 in the village of Krasnoe, Oboyan district Kursk province in the family of serfs of Count G.S. Volkenstein. In 1800, while studying at the Sudzhensk Folk School (1799-1801), Shchepkin played the role of Rosemary's servant in the comedy by A.P. Sumarokov quarrelsome, in 1801–1802 he played at the home theater of Count Wolkenstein, including the Actor (the role “with transformation”) in N.R. Sudovshchikov’s comedy Art experience, Stepan the sbitenshchik and the landowner-gallomaniac Firyulin in the comic operas by Ya.B. Knyaznin Sbitenshchik and Trouble from the carriage. While studying at the Kursk Folk School (1801–1803), he got behind the scenes of the city theater of the brothers M.E., A.E. and P.E. Zoa L.-S. Mercier. For several years, Shchepkin combined the duties of the secretary of his landowner, Count Volkenstein, with artistic activities in the Barsov troupe. In 1816 he joined the troupe of I.F. Stein and O.I. Kalinovsky, who played in the cities of southern and southwestern Russia. In 1818 he moved to the Poltava Theater, directed by the writer I.P. Kotlyarevsky. Especially for Shchepkin, who immediately took a leading position in the troupe, Kotlyarevsky wrote the roles of the elected Makogonenko and the villager Mikhailo Chuprun in "Little Russian operas" Natalka-Poltavka and Moskal-Charovnik. After the collapse of the theater in 1821, the actor returned to the troupe of Stein, who at that time headed the Tula Theater.