Presidential Library’s materials highlight the history of Russian theatre

Marking the Year of Theatre and ahead of the World Theatre Day, which is celebrated on March 27, the Presidential Library is presenting a wide variety of rare materials, which provide the study into the history of Russian theater. The theatre in Russia is a unique and original phenomenon that has no analogues in the world. And although its history over recent decades has been studied well, its origins that go back centuries still remain unknown to many people.

The early history of the national drama theatre goes back to the Middle Ages. You may read about this in a rare book authored by A. S. Arkhangelsky “The Theatre in pre-Petrine Rus’” (1884), which is available on the portal of the Presidential Library.

The first actors of the Russian theater were villagers. The only difference between them and their fellow villagers was their love for performing in public and the ability to entertain.

The study entitled “The History of Russian Theatre prior to mid. 18th Century” (1889) by P. O Morozov provides a detailed account of the origin of dramatic production. It included various songs and dances on the occasion of a significant event.

P. O. Morozov also noted that participants in such rites at that time often wore costumes - just like theater actors in the future. They usually wore the costumes of animals – wolves, foxes, cranes, especially bears and goats; men dressed up as women and vice versa; there were also costumes of robbers, gypsies and devils.

The first “professional” actors – ‘skomorokhs’ are mentioned in the book by V. Vsevolodsky-Gerngross “A Brief History of Russian Theatre” (1936), which can be found on the portal of the Presidential Library.

It has long ago become a certain norm to divide the history into two epochs - before and after the accession of Peter the Great. However, when it comes to the theater, such a division would be not quite right. After all, the Russian drama theatre that we know today dates from the early 17th century – the time of the reign of Mikhail Fyodorovich, grandfather of the Emperor-reformer.

The next stage of the development was during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich the Quietest – father of Peter I. The abovementioned book “The Theatre in pre-Petrine Rus’” (1884) features the description of the interior of a typical theater of that time.

Nevertheless the author points out that at that time the theater was an entertainment designed mainly for the high society, that is, in fact, it was a court theatre. But over time as its influence was growing it was unlikely to remain unchanged.

A powerful impetus to the development of the Russian drama theatre was undoubtedly given by Peter I. The emperor intended to make the theater accessible to everyone and turn it into the tool of European enlightenment. You may read more about this in a rare publication “The History of Russian Theatre” (1914), edited by V. V. Kallash and N. Ye. Efros.

But to achieve this, a real theater – the one that existed in Western Europe was required. In 1701 actor Ivan Splavsky was sent to Danzig, Poland to engage a company of drama artists. However, the German company of Johann Kunst, which had arrived, could only perform in German. Therefore, Kunst was immediately asked to teach the Russian youth. Peter’s Kunst theater was a public theatre, in contrast to the court theatre of his father and successors. Learn more about this in “A Brief History of Russian Theatre” (1936) by V. Vsevolodsky-Gerngross.

Since then the theatre in Russia gained momentum, becoming one of the best examples of the world theater art. The editors of “The History of Russian Theatre” in the early 20th century noted that the “student” very quickly became greater than the “teacher”.

V. V. Kallash and N. Ye. Efros stated that the main distinctive feature of the Russian theatre was its place in the life of our country: “The Russian people went to the theater not only for emotions of a purely aesthetic nature: it was there that they looked for and found answers related to other issues, including public ones”.