People's TheaterPeople's Theater(18). Russian dramaturgy of the 18th century: A.P.

Sumarokov Alexander Petrovichhttp://tezaurus.oc3.ru/library.php?course=2&par=2&pod=5&raz=3&view=d

The history of Russian theatrical culture of the 18th century is inextricably linked with the name of A.P. Sumarokov. At the time of the formation of professional theater in Russia, he acts both as a playwright, who laid the foundations of the national repertoire, and as a theorist of a new artistic direction - classicism, and as an active, tireless organizer of theatrical business.

Peru Sumarokov belonged to the first in Russian samples of poetic tragedies, comedies, opera librettos. His plays were sustained in the spirit of the traditions of the outstanding European playwrights of the era of classicism. They opened the world of a new theatrical culture to the viewer. In the poetic treatise "Epistole. On poetry" (1747), Sumarokov, following the example of Boileau, outlined the fundamental principles of the leading genres of classicism - tragedy and comedy.

A few years before the creation of a professional theater, Sumarokov actually led the organization of staging his own plays on the court stage. And when the first permanent state Russian public theater was founded in St. Petersburg by personal decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna of August 30, 1756, Sumarokov was naturally appointed its director. For six years he held this position, in incredibly difficult conditions, performing the functions of both artistic director, and director, and set designer, and teacher of the troupe, while not stopping writing plays. That is why we can rightfully repeat wordsV. G. Belinskywho named Sumarokov"father of the Russian theater".

Sumarokov's lifetime authority as a playwright and as a theatrical figure was very high. He earned the name "Northern Racine" among his contemporaries. And on the title of the 1st volume of the "Complete collection of all works in verse and prose ..." (1781), published after the death of Sumarokov, his portrait was placed with the following verses:

Depicted to the offspring of Sumarokov,

Soaring, fiery and gentle this creator,

Which by itself reached the Permesian currents,

To him Racine also brought Lafontaine a crown.

Assessing Sumarokov's historical merits to the theatre, we must clearly understand the environment in which the spiritual interests of the future playwright were formed, and the incentives that determined the direction of his creative searches.

Sumarokov was born in 1717. He came from a noble noble family and received a good education for that time: graduated from the land gentry cadet corps- a privileged educational institution for the nobility, opened in St. Petersburg during the reign of Anna Ioannovna. The corps trained senior officers and officials for public service, and the cadets were actively involved in European culture. Literature was encouraged in the corps, pupils were taught foreign languages, they were taught the rules of secular etiquette, dancing, and fencing.

Already during the period of study in the corps, from 1732 to 1740, Sumarokov was drawn into the theatrical life of the then Petersburg, which was concentrated mainly at the court. The cadets had the opportunity to freely attend the performances of foreign troupes in the court theater, they were often attracted to participate in performances as extras or dancers in ballet divertissements. carnival. By the way, it was this troupe that presented the first tragedies of Sumarokov on the court stage in 1750"Khorev" and "Hamlet".

A significant role in strengthening the interest in the theater among the young Sumarokov was played by his constant attendance in the 1730s-1740s of the performances of foreign troupes, which were then in the capital. This applies in particular to Leipzig troupe of actressesCaroline Neuber, in whose repertoire were mainly tragediesCorneille and Racine. The performances of the French troupe under the direction of C. Serigny, representing the St. Petersburg public of the play Moliere, Regnard and Voltaire.Familiarity with the repertoire of troupes brought up on the traditions of French classicism largely explains the direction of Sumarokov's early experiments in the new genres of tragedy and comedy for the Russian stage. But before characterizing Sumarokov's very first steps as a playwright, one should at least outline the state in which the Russian theater was until the middle of the 18th century.

Attempts to attach a democratic audience to the theater were made by

Peter I. On his instructions, in Moscow, on Red Square, a public theater, where from From 1702 to 1706, a German troupe under the direction ofTHEIR. Kunsta, which, after his death, was headed by O. Fürst. The troupe's repertoire was of a random nature, it was mainly composed of plays by minor playwrights, in which melodramatism was combined with naive edification. The repertoire included two comedies Molière:"Amphitryon", which went under the name" Breed of Hercules, in it the first person is Jupiter ", and" Doctor involuntarily"(in the Russian edition "Doctor forced"). About the manner of stage performance adopted in such troupes, curious information has been preserved in the memoirs of the Holstein minister G. Bassevich. In his assessment, the German theater of that time was "nothing more than a collection of flat farces, there some naive features and sharp satirical allusions completely disappeared in the abyss of coarse antics, monstrous tragedies, an absurd mixture of romantic and refined feelings expressed by kings and knights, and the clownish antics of some Jean-Potage, their confidante"(Russian life according to the memoirs of contemporaries. XVIII century. Part 1. From Peter to Catherine II. M., 1914, p. 146.). There is no need to talk about any contact of such performances with Russian reality. In addition, German actors practically did not know the Russian language. Peter wanted to see in the theater, first of all, an assistant in carrying out his state policy. But the troupe of Kunst - Furst did not live up to his hopes - attempts to create a theater on a similar basis turned out to be untenable.

Another direction that formed interest in the theater in the first third of the 18th century was associated with the activities "school theater" at theological academies and seminaries. Such a theater appeared in the late 1690s in Moscow, within the walls of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. Later, similar theaters appeared in other cities, for example, in Rostov, Novgorod, Tver.

The school theater pursued mainly educational tasks. In a playful, visual form, he introduced the seminarians to the tenets of Christianity and instilled in future preachers the skills of communicating with the audience. The plots for school dramas were borrowed from Holy Scripture, sometimes interspersed with civil history events. The form of the plays was regulated by school poetics, which contained detailed instructions - both regarding the structure of the plot, and regarding the nature of the denouement, and regarding the function of allegorical characters.

The most famous during this period was the theater at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. Starting with dramatizations of biblical stories and the lives of saints in the spirit of edifying morality, organizers of performances at the academy, not without influence from the secular authorities, all more often they begin to adapt the content of these plots to the political events of their time. So, for example, judging by the surviving program of the play "The Triumph of the Orthodox World" (1703), the first victories of Peter IV northern war with the Swedes. The allegorical glorification of the victory of the Russian Mars over Evil was given in the context of the New Testament story about the coming of the Apostle Peter to Rome. In February 1705, on the stage of the theater of the academy, as response to the victory in the Baltic at the end of 1704, the drama "Liberation of Livonia and Ingermanland of the Russian fatherland ..." was staged.

Academy noted in its own way and the victory of the Russian army near Poltava. In February 1710, a solemn panegyric drama was played on the school stage "God is humiliating the proud, in proud Israel the humiliator through the humble David, the humiliated Goliath humiliation." The play has an allegorical plan of action (the appearance on the stage of Pride riding a lame Lion, and in the second act Sweden, supported by Treason, which contained a hint of Mazepa) was combined with the representation in the faces of the biblical legend of the victory of young David over Goliath. In the second act, the vicissitudes of the biblical story taking place on the stage were commented in a peculiar way and supplemented by shadow effects: on the back of the stage it was depicted as " the Russian eagle, together with the help of God, catches the lion of lame from Lvyata and catches the lions with the help of God. Lion is chrome beige"(Plays of school theaters in Moscow. M., 1974, p. 234.).

From an aesthetic point of view, the school theater consistently focused on the artistic system of the Baroque. The action was full of allegorical pantomimes. In the design of the stage, in the costumes of the heroes, emblems were abundantly used. The performance certainly included choral parts. The peculiar symmetry of the characters, symbolizing the opposing forces of good and evil, provided the effect of contrast, which helped to convey the idea of ​​the play to the viewer. In full accordance with the instructions of school poetics, the development of the plot provided for a strict sequence of compositional links, with obligatory prologue, anti-prologue and epilogue. Before the performance, the audience was given programs with a brief explanation of what is happening on the stage. These were the traditional components of the presentation of school dramas. Interludes were played between the acts of the school drama - short comic everyday scenes from the life of ordinary people, sustained in naturalistic tones.

The plays of the school theater were always written in syllabic verse - thirteen-syllable periods connected by a paired rhyme and marked by rhythmic disorder within the verse. Adopted from Poland as early as the 17th century, syllabic verse was alien to the natural properties of the Russian language, although took root for some time as the recognized size of Russian poetry. The natural limitation of the audience of the school theater and the obvious conservatism of the dramatic principles that were affirmed in it made it far from the demands of a wide secular audience. The futility of this direction was revealed already in the 1740s.

Another direction in the development of young Russian drama in the first third of the 18th century should be mentioned, reflecting the spread of interest in the theater in the circles of the Europeanized cultural nobility and in the middle strata of the literate urban population. It was predominantly private theater purely secular, which, according to a fair remark, V. N. Vsevolodsky-Gerngross, "the immediate predecessor of the state public theater in St. Petersburg and the university in Moscow ..."(Vsevolodsky-Gerngross V. I. Russian theater. From the origins to the middle of the XVIII century. M., 1957, p. 162.).

The basis of the repertoire of this theater was dramatizations of chivalric novels and adventurous stories, which were widely distributed in Russia in handwritten copies. Among the most popular plays of this kind, we will name "Act or action about Peter the Golden Keys and the beautiful princess Magilena of Naples", "Comedy about Indrik and Melend", "Act about King Cyrus of Persia and about the Scythian queen Tomir", "Act about Sarpida, dux Assyrian, about love and fidelity", "Gishpan comedy about Ipalita and Zhulia".

As can be seen from the names , the content of the plays was emphatically secular in nature. A love conflict occupied a central place in them. The theme of fidelity in love, the theme of chivalrous duty to both the overlord and the lady, the assertion of honor as the leading stimulus of behavior - such is the content basis of the plays of this circle. The relevance of their ideological issues stemmed from those cultural innovations that marked the Russian public life first quarter of the 18th century. We have in mind the destruction of the house-building structure, which completely changed the position of women in society. The famous Peter's "assemblies" and palace courts, these prototypes of the St. Petersburg balls of the nobility, served as the best evidence of such changes.

In the course of action, the main characters of these plays exchange mutual vows of fidelity, pour out their state of mind in love arias, violently declare their love. All this created in them an atmosphere of heightened sensitivity, which later gave reason to speak of "sentimentalism of Peter's time".

The artistic structure of plays of this kind was syncretic.(Synonyms:

indivisibility, fusion, fusion, confusion, eclecticism)

The stage principles adopted in the traveling troupes of English and German comedians were combined in them with elements of the poetics of the school drama. Although the plays were still written in syllabic verse, allegorical pantomime and emblematics disappeared from them. There was no need for choral parts, now the action was filled with solo musical reprises. Declamation gave way to expressive dialogues. The fictional plot - numerous scenes of fights, chases, real and imaginary death, sudden meetings and partings - created the impression of dynamism of the action. This external dynamism was ensured by the two-dimensionality of the stage area. The action of the plays took place either in the "large" theater, which occupied the front part of the stage, or in the "small" (rear) theater, separated from the front by a curtain. It is clear that such a theater was closer to the needs of the mass secular audience.

Another direction in the development of Russian drama in the first half of the 18th century was associated with the satisfaction of the spectacular interest of the urban lower classes and the peasantry. We are talking about the repertoire of the folk farce theater, which functioned at fairs or at folk festivals during Christmas time and Shrovetide. In addition to such well-known plays as the folk drama "About Tsar Maximilian and his recalcitrant son Adolf" or the drama "The Boat", the repertoire of this theater included many comic scenes, interludes that passed to the stage of booths from the school theater. Jester's tricks of a gaer or gypsy, fooling a stupid peasant or an unlucky gentleman ("gentry"), the roguery of market traders, exposing a charlatan doctor or astronomer - these are the traditional motives for these ideas. The element of the scenes played out was laughter. Often, behind the farcical antics of the Gaer, a socially colored satire peeped through. The traditions of the folk farce theater will in their own way affect Sumarokov's early comedy experiments.

Such was the state of Russian drama when in 1747 Sumarokov created his first tragedy -"Khorev". Sumarokov's speech with the tragedy, sustained in the rules of classicism, was intended to lay the foundation for a new stage system that would meet the standards of European theatrical culture. This act fit into Sumarokov's ideas about the high purpose of the theater and testified to the irreversibility of the general process of updating Russian culture along the paths bequeathed by the Peter's reforms. The decisive prerequisites for the success of Sumarokov was the completion by this time, thanks to the effortsV. K. Trediakovsky and M. V. Lomonosov, reforms of Russian versification and the relative ordering of the norms of the literary language.

In total, Sumarokov created nine tragedies and during the second half of the 18th century they formed, in essence, the basis of the national tragic repertoire. Sumarokov transferred to Russian soil the general scheme of classic tragedy: the obligatory five-act structure of the plays, the emphatically heroic interpretation of the characters, the pathos of the characters' speeches, the "plausibility" in the expression of passions. Sumarokov's plays were written in iambic six-foot, which became a kind of equivalent of Alexandrian verse, a recognized meter in the tragedy of French classicism. In his poetic theoretical treatise of 1747, he singled out, following Boileau, the requirements of the famous three unities that authors in the genre of tragedy were obliged to observe - the unity of action, time and place:

Do not imagine two actions to confuse my thoughts;

The caretaker directs his mind to one.

Swears, looking, he is a single passion

And worries a single misfortune ...<...>

Don't try to deceive your eyes and ears with differences

And I can accommodate the existence of three years in three hours:

Try to measure my hours in the game,

So that I, forgetting, could believe you,

What if not a game, then your action,

But then the very thing happened.<...>

Do not make difficulties your place for me,

So that I, your theater in vain, having for Rome,

Do not fly to Moscow, but from Moscow to Beijing:

Looking at Rome, I will not leave Rome so soon.

However, following the traditions of the great French playwrights of the 17th and 18th centuries, Sumarokov at the same time deviated from the genre canon at a number of significant points. The structure of his tragedies was characterized by economy and simplicity. Sumarokovskaya tragedy had minimum number of characters. It often did not have confidants - this obligatory figure in the tragedies of Racine. There they provided a psychological motivation for the self-expression of the central characters, an open outpouring of passions. Sumarokov's specific understanding of the essence of the tragic conflict made the presence of such characters unnecessary. It is no coincidence that the denouement in many of his tragedies of the mature period will be of a happy nature..

These features of the structure of Sumarokov's tragedies were inextricably linked with the playwright's general ideas about the function of the theatrical spectacle.

The focus of the French classic tragedy of the 17th century was the problem of self-affirmation of the individual. Classicism rethought the idea of ​​the power of fate over mortals, which was the basis of ancient tragedy. The conflict has acquired a completely earthly justification. The tragic outcome was predetermined by the fact that the social status of a person, the obligations imposed by him became an obstacle to the implementation of personal aspirations. As a result, the source of forces oppressing a person was conceived both in the circumstances opposing him and in himself. The path of self-affirmation of the individual in the tragedy of classicism appeared as a struggle with passions, these only attributes of the human character in the artistic consciousness of the century. Man, the creator of his own destiny, turned out to be tragically powerless in the face of the elements of his own "I" that were beyond his control. Thus, the ideas about the freedom of the human person, bequeathed by the Renaissance, were subjected to a kind of test.

Russia did not experience the Renaissance in the developed forms that marked this process in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. The problem of self-affirmation of the personality through its tragic death acquired a completely different interpretation in the minds of the figures of Russian culture of the 18th century than in the theater of French classicism. Those ideas about the self-worth of the individual, which for European culture, due to these reasons, were natural and organic, they turned out to be inapplicable to the Russian conditions of the 18th century. The value of the individual in the social practice of Russia in this century was measured by the degree of its inclusion in the structure of the estate-monarchist statehood. AND self-affirmation of the individual was not conceived outside of serving the interests of the state.All of the above helps to understand the specifics of the embodiment of the tragic conflict in Sumarokov's plays.

Already in the very first tragedy of Sumarokov, "Khorev", we observe a bifurcation of the compositional structure. There are two conflicts in the play. In the deeds of passionate young lovers, Khoreva and Osneldy violating their estate family duty, and, at first glance, there should be a contradiction underlying the dramatic action: conflict between duty, determined by the social position of the individual, And by the mindless inclinations of the human heart ( love feeling). But it is not this conflict that brings the action of the play to a tragic denouement. The source of the conflict lies in the actions of the ruler, who forgets about his duty to his subjects.

The central character of the tragedy is monarch cue , who believed the slander of the villain, the boyar Stalverha . He accused Khorev of treason, and Osnelda of aiding him. Lovers perish, being innocently slandered. The ideological pathos of the tragedy comes down to a warning of monarchs against blindly following the advice of villains and flatterers standing at the throne. In the face of Stalverh, those forces are embodied that the monarch must fight and that the true head of state should not allow to master him.

Thus, the ideological problematics of the first tragedy of Sumarokov is focused not so much on the struggle between duty and passion in the souls of lovers, but on the confrontation between the proper and the real in the deeds of the one who personifies state power. This helps to understand the political and didactic basis of Sumarokov's interpretation of the tragic conflict in Khorev. But this also explains the duality of the action of the tragedy, leading to the presence of two conflicts in the play.Sumarokov's inconsistency drew sharp criticism from his literary adversary.V. K. Trediakovsky. He directly pointed out the violation in "Khorev" of the well-known rule of "three unities", which the aesthetics of classicism prescribed for a dramatic work, emphasizing, in particular, non-observance of "unity of action", or, in Trediakovsky's terminology, "unity of representation": “From the very title, we see that the whole thing will tend to combine Khorev with Osnelda; we see the same thing in the middle.<...>But at the very end of the fourth act, the goblet of poison sent from Kiy... already untied this knot and notified the caretakers that Osnelda was not to be behind Khorev. Therefore, to know that the main idea was not about the combination of Khorev with Osnelda, but about Kiev's suspicion of the imaginary intent of Khorev and Osnelda ... For the sake of who sees two untyings, he sees two knots, and therefore, not the same, but double performance"(Collection of materials for the history of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the XVIII century. Part 2. St. Petersburg, 1865, p. 493.). The second tragedy of Sumarokov suffered from a similar shortcoming -"Hamlet"(1748), which was a free adaptation of Shakespeare's play.

In his third tragedy, "Sinav and Truvor"(1750),Sumarokov eliminates the duality of dramatic action. The vicissitudes of the struggle of duty and passion in the souls of young lovers, Truvor and Ilmen opposing the ruler of Novgorod Sinavu , do not result here in an independent plot conflict. Sinav, who claims Ilmena, exercises his legal rights, for the girl was promised to him as a wife as the savior of Novgorod himself Gostomysl, father of Ilmena. The tragedy of the situation lies in the fact that legal legality comes into conflict with the laws of the individual's natural right to freedom of feeling. And the implementation by Sinav of his claims to Ilmena against her desire leads the monarch to violence and to the tragic death of first Truvor, and then Ilmena. Thus, the conflict between Sinav and the lovers is a reflection of a deeper conflict, which again reveals not so much the moral and psychological, but the political and didactic basis of the dramatic conflict of the play: obeying passions, the monarch becomes a source of troubles and suffering for people, and thereby a tyrant. The play teaches: the duty of the monarch is incompatible with the submission of passion.

The undoubted success of Sumarokov in this tragedy should be considered a dialectical approach to revealing the image of Sinav, who is not aware of the criminality of his actions. After all, Gostomysl really promised him his daughter. And being the culprit of the death of his subjects, Sinav is not only a tyrant, but objectively also a victim of his passion. And from this point of view, his image is also deeply tragic.

What do you say about me, sowing the people of the country,

When will you recognize the weaknesses of my soul?

Oh! or royal duty, that you are torn and groaning! --

exclaims Sinav, having learned that Ilmena does not love him. It is no coincidence that among Sumarokov's early plays this tragedy was especially popular with his contemporaries. Tragedy "Sinav and Truvor" can be regarded as a kind of result of the initial stage of the formation of the tragedy genre in the work of the playwright.

The first performances of Sumarokov's earliest tragedies were staged by an amateur troupe of cadets from the land gentry corps at the end of the 1740s. Sumarokov at this time served as aide-de-campA. G. Razumovsky, a favorite of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. In the notes of the playwright's nephew, P. I. Sumarokov, dating back to the first decades of the 19th century, there is information about his visit to one of the performances of "Khorev" on the corpus stage in January 1750. The author of the play was delighted with the production, and he managed to convince Count Razumovsky to show "Khoreva" in the palace (See: Sumarokov P.I. On the Russian theater, from the beginning of ongo to the end of the reign of Catherine II. - Otechestvennye zapiski, 1822, No 32, p. 289.). Followed Decree of the Empress of January 29, 1750, according to which the cadets were charged with the duty "to present two Russian tragedies at the theater" (F. G. Volkov and the Russian Theater of His Time. M., 1953, p. 80.). As it was clear from the decree, Sumarokov was practically entrusted with the organization of productions, and he coped with the mission entrusted to him with honor. On February 8, "Khorev" was performed on the court stage in the presence of Elizabeth Petrovna with great success . Sumarokov was honored with the favor of the Empress and showered with praise.

He continued to lead the court troupe of cadets for more than two years. Performances were staged at the court theater in the inner chambers of Elizabeth, and at the Opera House in St. Petersburg, and in Tsarskoe Selo, and at the Comedian's House in Peterhof. In July 1750, with great success, the Cadets presented Sumarokov's new tragedy "Sinav and Truvor" and the comedy "Monsters" on the court stage. In total, from the beginning of 1750 to February 1752, the cadets played twenty-eight performances. The basis of the repertoire was still the plays of Sumarokov himself. The author had to supervise the learning of roles, and the organization of productions, and even the artistic design of performances. True, the departure from the corps of the main performers of central roles, such as P. I. Melissino, N. A. Beketov, P. I. Svistunov, D. I. Osterwald, gradually led to the fading of the activity of the cadet theater. With the advent of the Yaroslavl troupe in St. Petersburg under the leadership ofF. G. Volkovathe need for performances by the Cadets finally disappeared.

However, the experience gained during this period was not in vain for Sumarokov. He will continue to participate in the organization of productions of the troupe of F. Volkov, to help "Yaroslavl residents" in improving acting skills. Ace in the fall of 1756, after the establishment of a permanent state Russian theater, Sumarokov would become its first director and until June 1761, in fact, the only director of the entire production part of the performances.

The achievement of creative maturity by Sumarokov the playwright is connected with the period of activity of the cadet troupe. He creates two more plays - "Artiston" (1750) and "Semira" (1751), in which finally takes shape the structure and specifics of the genre canon of Sumarokov's tragedies. The drama of action is combined in them with the utmost sharpness of the didactic idea.

The dramatic conflict in these tragedies of Sumarokov is also built on the clash of the will of the monarch with the interests of his subjects. But depending on the extent to which the ruler's awareness of his royal duty is consistent with the humanity of his actions, different options for embodying the conflict are outlined.

The origins of the first version of the ideological conflict go back to Sinav and Truvor. Violation by the monarch of his duty, dictated by the passion of the ruler, encroaching on someone else's chosen one, turns out to be a source of suffering for innocent people. Such a collision is the plot basis of "Artistona". As we remember, in the previous tragedy, unfortunate lovers die. Now the playwright finds another resolution to the conflict . Unfair actionsDarius who embarked on the path of violence, cause a legitimate protest, which results in a rebellion against the tyrant. But at the decisive moment, when a sword is raised over the head of the monarch, it is precisely Orkant from whom Darius took away Artiston , remaining faithful to the class duty, saves the ruler from death. Under the influence of such a noble act, a miraculous transformation of the monarch takes place - from a tyrant into a gracious, virtuous sovereign. At the end of the tragedy, Darius himself connects Artiston with her lover. Tragedies also ended with a similar happy ending."Yaropolk and Dimiza"(1758) and"Mstislav" (1774).

Another structural variant of the conflict is observed in the tragedy of Semira. The source of the dramatic conflict here lies in the self-willed claims of the ambitious, who, forgetting their duty, raise a rebellion against the virtuous ruler. This tragedy stands out among the rest of Sumarokov's plays with its special drama and dynamic saturation of the action. The problem of the moral duties of the monarch in his relations with his subjects emerges here in the course of the struggle for the throne between the Kievan ruler Oleg and the children of the former ruler of the city he overthrew, Oskold and Semira . Oskold's dynastic claims are historically motivated. But they are politically unjustified, since they threaten the interests of state integrity. The disobedience of Oskold and Semira gives the ruler the moral right to punish the rebels. The authority of Oleg the Monarch is indisputable, for he mercifully and fairly rules in Kyiv. And speaking against Oleg - the winner dira , their father, they rebel not so much against the monarch himself, but against the course of events, destined from above and beyond the power of man. "Of course, those hours were sad for you, / But fate wanted it..."- answers in the first act one of the characters to Oskold's lamentations about the violated rights of the clan. Oleg forgives the recalcitrant Oskold twice. His final words after another pardon for the rebel foreshadow the denouement:

I'm condescending, you puffed up with pride ...

There is no salvation for you, although the judgment is delayed!

You can not forgive the one who exalts himself like that

And, being guilty, he does not ask for forgiveness.

When would you become a prisoner of the tyrannical,

In stubbornness, he would tear you to pieces.

And I gave my enemies the former freedom

And he wanted to be a father to the captive people.

Oskold's rebellion is crushed, and, not wanting to give up, he inflicts a mortal wound on himself. Against the backdrop of Oleg's humane deeds, the death of Oskold is perceived as a natural retribution for his claims that are unauthorized from the point of view of estate duty, detrimental to public peace.

The final play, designed to embody the model of an ideal monarch on the throne, will be a tragedy"Vysheslav"(1768). Its main character, in love with Zenida Vysheslav , appears in the literal sense of the word as a martyr in the name of virtue. The playwright's concepts of moral criteria that determine the face of a true sovereign are contained in the words of Zenida, who also heroically suppresses her passion for the monarch:

What can that monarch on the throne command,

Who in passion cannot overcome himself:

And is it possible to exact, so that people are right,

When he neglects his own charters.

These words can serve as a kind of key to understanding the ideological pathos of almost all Sumarokov's tragedies.

A characteristic feature of the mature stage of Sumarokov's work is the saturation of his tragedies with political allusions. Among the actors, a special role is given to the retelling, which performs the functions of a reasoner. Neutral to the vicissitudes of the tragic conflict, he teaches the monarchs, explains their duties to them, proclaiming the political ideals of the playwright. Such a character in Sinav and Truvor is the wise Ilmena's father ,nobleman Gostomysl. In his speeches addressed to his daughter, the viewer felt the same instructive pathos that was characteristic of Sumarokov's commendable odes dedicated to the reigning Elizabeth Petrovna:

Keep gentleness, honor in the constancy of the solid.

Remove the merciless people from the throne

And protect him with people of such hearts,

What showed, having, your father.

Wisdom in all things you follow

And have her as your companion in all your ways.

Be the shelter of the orphans, the refuge of the widow:

Reveal the truth under the name of the Queen...

The mention of the "father", who knew how to "protect" the throne with "solid" people, for the viewer of the middle of the 18th century was filled with additional meaning in the context of the didactic orientation of the tragedy. In "Artiston" the role of a wise adviser to the monarch was played by nobleman Gikarn, in the tragedy "Yaropolk and Dimiza" - reasonable Rusim. In the famous tyrannical tragedy "Demetrius the Pretender" the role of the wise mentor of the tyrant is Parmen.The need for a reasoner disappeared in plays where a virtuous and just monarch was bred.

Thus, the inner pathos of Sumarokov's tragedies is permeated with moral and political didacticism. As G. A. Gukovsky rightly wrote in his time, the tragedies of Sumarokov " should have been a demonstration of his political views, a school for the tsars and rulers of the Russian state, primarily a school for the Russian nobility, to whom Sumarokov undertook to explain and show what they should demand from their monarch and what they should not allow in his actions, finally, what are there should be basic unshakable rules of conduct - both for a nobleman in general, and for the head of the nobility - the monarch"(Gukovsky G. A. Russian literature of the XVIII century. M., 1939, p. 150.). That's why the source of the tragic situation always has a political coloring in Sumarokov. This is explained by historical reasons. In the context of the strengthening of the system of monarchical statehood in Russia after the reforms of Peter I, the idea of ​​a noble duty fit into the value code of enlightened absolutism. individual self-will, but also demonstrated on stage how they should fulfill their duty.

The final work of Sumarokov in the genre of tragedy was the play "Dimitri the Pretender", presented on the stage of the court theater in St. Petersburg in February 1771. This is the first and only tragedy of Sumarokov, the plot of which was based on true historical events. Main character plays - False Demetrius, who illegally occupied the Russian throne with the support of the Poles in 1605. The choice of such a plot gave Sumarokov the opportunity to put serious topical problems in the tragedy, such as, for example, as the problem of succession to the throne, the dependence of the power of the monarch on the will of his subjects. But the focus of the playwright is still the question on the duty and responsibility of the sovereign.Sumarokov makes the right of the monarch to occupy the throne dependent on his moral qualities. Dynastic considerations recede into the background. So, in response to the cue of the evil one Prince Shuisky that " Demetrius was raised to the throne by his breed, follows the objection of the wise and disinterested Parmen.Through his lips in the play, the position of the author himself is expressed:

When there is no dignity to own,

In the case of such a breed, nothing.

Let him be Otrepiev, but also in the midst of deceit,

If he is a worthy king, he is worthy of the royal dignity.

Considering the circumstances that accompanied Catherine II's stay (legally illegal) on the Russian throne, such a discussion on the stage of dynastic problems, of course, was filled with allusive meaning. Sumarokov is still aware of himself as a mentor of monarchs, when in the same monologue parmena care for "for the benefit of society"proclaims the key to the glory of the crowned:

If there is no joy from the scepter in society,

When the innocent groan in despair

Widows and orphans drown in bitter lamentation,

If instead of truth there is flattery around the throne,

When the estate, life and honor are in danger,

If they buy the truth with silver and gold,

Not with a request to the court - they proceed with gifts<...>

The glory of the monarch is all dreamed and dreamed.

Empty praise will rise and fall,

There is no glory on the throne without the benefit of society.

Sumarokov's main subject of denunciation in the tragedy is the unlimited despotism of the monarch, who replaces the law with personal arbitrariness. Demetrius despises the faith and customs of the people he rules, he persecutes the Russian boyars, exiling some and executing others. Cruelty and self-will drive the actions of Demetrius. He plans to take away Prince George his fiancee, young Xenia, ordering to imprison the groom in chains. The first words with which Dimitri appears on stage:

The evil fury in my heart gnaws in confusion,

The villainous soul cannot be calm.

All his subsequent remarks and tirades are filled with malice and hatred towards his compatriots:

I despise the Russian people from the throne

And I stretch out the power of tyrannical captivity.

Is it possible for me to be a father in that country

Which, chasing me, is most disgusting to me?

Here reigning, I thus amuse myself,

Sumarokov constantly reinforces the motif of the formidable punishment that awaits Dimitri for his crimes. The doom of the tyrant is felt in the news of the unrest of the people, the precariousness of the throne reminds Demetrius Parmen. An uprising is being prepared against the Pretender, led by Xenia's father, Prince Shuisky. The conflict, already indicated at the very beginning of the play as a consequence of tyranny, is resolved by an uprising against the tyrant. . Alien to remorse, rejected by everyone and hated by the people, Dimitri commits suicide.

While working on Dimitry the Pretender, Sumarokov wrote from Moscow to G.V. Kozitsky: "This tragedy will show Russia Shakespeare "(letter of February 25, 1770) (Letters of Russian writers of the 18th century. L., 1980, p. 133.). Having set the goal of revealing the fate of the despot on the throne on the basis of real facts of history, Sumarokov found an exemplary solution to such a problem in Shakespeare He endows his Demetrius with some traits Richard III from Shakespeare's chronicle of the same name. Researchers have already pointed out that Demetrius' monologue from the second act, where the usurper is afraid of the terrible retribution awaiting him, somewhat correlates with Richard's famous monologue on the eve of the decisive battle. But of course, one should be very careful when talking about the "Shakespearianism" of this tragedy by Sumarokov.. In the main, in the very approach to depicting the character of the monarch, Sumarokov and Shakespeare stand on diametrically opposed positions. Shakespeare's Richard is cruel, but throughout most of the play he carefully disguises his ambitious plans, hypocritically pretending to be a friend of those whom he himself sends to death. . Shakespeare gives a portrait of a hypocritical despot, exposing the secret springs of the usurper's seizure of power. Dimitri in Sumarokov's tragedy is an outright tyrant who does not hide his despotic aspirations. And just as openly, the playwright demonstrates the doom of the tyrant through the entire course of the play.

By the time this tragedy was being created, Sumarokov had already moved to Moscow. Back in the summer of 1761, as a result of sharp disagreements with the leadership of the court department, in particular with Count K. E. Sievers,which, since 1759, was in charge of the Russian theater,Sumarokov was forced to resign as director of the theater. He even gave a vow not to write anything else for the stage. Of course, he did not keep his vow, very soon he again turned to dramaturgy. But after moving to Moscow in 1769, Sumarokov's theatrical interests turned out to be connected with the theaters there. Here he tries to re-edit his early tragedies. During the production of "Sinav and Truvor" at the end of January 1770, the playwright had clashes with the all-powerful field marshal Count P. S. Saltykov, the then governor of Moscow . The unprepared play was played on the orders of P.S. Saltykov for the amusement of the public and failed. The offended Sumarokov's appeals to the empress did little to help him, but they opened his eyes to the hypocrisy of the "enlightened" empress. In the same place, in Moscow, in 1772-1773, he again made unsuccessful efforts to create a state theater in the former capital, even preparing a project and charter for a new theater. However, Sumarokov's plans in this regard were also not destined to come true.

Concluding the conversation about Sumarokov's contribution to the development of the genre of Russian tragedy, one should pay attention to one more feature of his plays.

The artistic originality of Sumarokov's tragedies is inextricably linked with the fact that their plots are built mainly on the material of ancient national history. For Sumarokov, this was of fundamental importance. The meaning of his constant appeal to the plots of ancient Russian history is explained by the general rise in national self-consciousness, the desire of Russian cultural figures to affirm the significance of their own historical traditions.

Thanks in many respects to Sumarokov in the art of Russian classicism, the era of Kievan Rus became a kind of equivalent of antiquity. This once again testifies that familiarization with the achievements of European culture during this period did not mean a break with the historical past, but, on the contrary, stimulated the assertion of original principles in its own way. This tradition will find a continuation in the dramaturgy of Ya. B. Knyazhnin, whose tyrannical tragedy "Vadim Novgorodsky" will become a symbol of political freethinking. In national history, Russian playwrights will draw examples for the education of citizenship and patriotism, and the tragedy genre will often turn into a platform for expressing freedom-loving ideas.

No less important were the merits of Sumarokov in the creation of Russian comedy.. Interest in this genre in Russia in the 18th century is confirmed by the abundance of translations and reworkings of European comedies and the extraordinary intensity of the development of the genre by Russian authors. Sumarokov also stood at the origins of this process. The popularity of comedy in Russia was historically determined. It rested on the traditions of laughter culture, which were formed on Russian soil as early as the 17th century and which were embodied with particular relief in the democratic satire of this century. And in the system of theoretical views of Sumarokov, the subject and function of comedy are thought inseparably from the satirical task:

The property of comedy by mockery is to correct temper:

Laugh and use its direct charter.

Imagine a soulless clerk in an order,

A judge that does not understand what is written in the decree,

Imagine me a dandy who lifts his nose to that,

That the whole age thinks about the beauty of hair.<...>

Imagine a Latin man at his disputation,

Who will not lie without ergo nothing ...

etc.

This is how Sumarokov writes about the purpose and meaning of the comedy genre in his Epistle on Poetry. Accordingly, in developing the structural properties of comedy, Sumarokov proceeds primarily from fulfillment of the main task - ridicule of the vice exposed on the stage. This is evident already in the construction of his earliest comedies, created by in 1750:"Tresotinuos", "Monsters"(the original title of the comedy was Arbitration Court) and "Empty Quarrel"(original title - "Quarrel between husband and wife"). The first two plays were then presented in St. Petersburg along with tragedies.

The plot basis of action in the early comedies of Sumarokov is unusually simple.: the choice by the parents of the groom for the daughter, whose hand is sought by several applicants. And since the desires of the daughter herself usually do not coincide with the plans of the parents, the action of the comedy comes down to discrediting the suitors and the destruction of parental intentions. This was influenced by the traditions of the Italian comedy of masks, with the repertoire of which Sumarokov could get to know quite well when the Italian troupe toured in St. Petersburg on the court stage. True, in Italian comedy an important role was assigned to intrigue, built on the ingenious tricks of the ubiquitous Brighella and Harlequin . In Sumarokov's comedies, the servant is usually alone, and intrigue as the organizing principle of comic action is also practically absent.

The spectacle of comic action is understood by Sumarokov in the spirit of the tradition of interludes, that is, as a stage portrait of vices. Therefore, the plot acts in his early comedies as just a kind of framework for the consistent self-identification of the exposed characters, personifying some kind of vice. This is a pedant Tresotinius along with your colleagues Bobembius and Xaxoxymenius , this and the boastful captain Bramarbas from the same comedy; clerk Khabzey ("Monsters"); gallomantic dandy Dulizh , village undergrowth Fatui, yoke Delamida ("Empty quarrel"). In depicting certain types, Sumarokov followed the traditions of famous European playwrights. So, some of the character traits of the main character in the first comedy, along with his name, are borrowed from Molière's comedy The Learned Women. The image of a boastful officer Bramarbasa prompted by the German translation of the comedy by L. Golberg "The Boastful Soldier". At the same time, in a number of farcical scenes of fights, brawls, deceptions, disguise, caricatured scholarly disputes the comedic principles of the Molière theater are combined in Sumarokov with the traditions of folk interludes.

A characteristic feature of the content of Sumarokov's comedies, especially early ones, is their pamphlet. All researchers of Sumarokov's work pointed to this feature. He uses the comedy genre as a means of dealing with his opponents. In two early comedies, Sumarokov's literary adversary, V. K. Trediakovsky, bred in the first play in the form of a learned pedant Tresotinius, and in the second under the name of the pedant Critsiondius. Later, Sumarokov will expand the circle of persons he ridicules, presenting on the stage in a caricature form the famous novelist F. Emin, and his relative A. I. Buturlina, and others.

Speaking of Sumarokov's early comedies, one cannot fail to note a specific trend in the playwright's approach to depicting the setting in which the action of the plays takes place. Unlike tragedies, which, as we remember, were based on the material of the legendary events of ancient Russian history, in Sumarokov's comedies the action is almost devoid of national overtones. Signing on stage marriage contracts, the servants behave rather cheekily with their masters, deceiving, teaching them. From play to play in the early comedies of Sumarokov, the names of comedy characters, traditional for the European theater, pass: Orontes, Valere, Dorant, Clarice, Dorimena, Delamida, servants Pasquin and Arlikin . In a word, the action takes place in some conventional forms, far from the Russian way of life. True, deducing his literary opponents or outlining the characters of an undergrowth Fatyuya, absurd noblewoman Gidim("Monsters"), Sumarokov quite successfully conveys living types generated by national living conditions. But these are rather exceptions to the rule. What is the reason for this situation?

Sumarokov stood at the origins of the creation of a new type of Russian comedy. He was aware of the importance of his efforts to enrich the national repertoire with correct plays, as indicated, by the way, by a significant remark in his Epistle on Poetry regarding the purpose of the comedy genre:

For knowledgeable people you do not write games,

To laugh without reason is the gift of a vile soul.

In these verses, Sumarokov actually repeated the thoughts of Boileau, who in his treatise "Poetic Art" warned the authors against transferring the traditions of the common folk farce into comedy. On Russian soil, the bearer of the stage laughter tradition, against which the theoretician of French classicism warned his compatriots, was, in the eyes of Sumarokov, of course, interludes, those "between-thrown games" that migrated from school dramas to the stage of farce theaters serving the common people. And when Sumarokov in his first comedies brought to the stageOrontov, Dorantov, Clarice and Pasquivov , then this was dictated by his desire to establish a new type of comic performances on the Russian stage. At the first stage of the formation of the genre, the task was precisely to demarcate the traditions of the grassroots theater, which Sumarokov did in his early comedies.

However, with all his emphasized rejection of the spirit of the common folk scene, Sumarokov remained dependent on it in developing the structural properties of the comedy genre. There was no impassable line between the traditions of farcicalness, adopted by Sumarokov from the European theater, and the traditions of farcical farce of school interludes. Therefore, the observation of G. A. Gukovsky, who noticed at one time that "the first comedy-farces of Sumarokov are more like interludes from those that were presented on the stage of the folk theater under Peter the Great than like the correct comedy of Molière and Regnard"(Gukovsky G. A. Russian poetry of the XVIII century. L., 1927, p. 11.).

In the 1760s, the method of Sumarokov the comedian undergoes changes.There is a reorientation in the choice of sources of plot schemes. The comedies of this period are marked by a clear influence of the traditions of the "tearful" philistine drama - a genre that arose in Europe as a reflection of the interests of the bourgeois audience. Transitional in this respect is the play Dowry by Deception (1756). Its plot still retains traces of the Italian comedy of masks, for the main character is a servant Pasquin deceiving his master, miserly Salidara.Pasquin's tricks form the basis of the intrigue of the play. Heiress Salidara, in whose interests a clever servant acts, is called upon to embody virtue, suffering under the yoke of vice. Such a motive was typical of a “tearful” drama, and with all Sumarokov’s sharply negative attitude towards such plays, Dowry by Deception meant a rapprochement with this genre.

Sumarokov's comedies of the 1760s("Guardian", "Criminal", "Poisonous") mark a new stage in the evolution of his comedic satire. The action in these plays is freed from farcical comedy. Sumarokov resorts to the grotesque, focusing on the denunciation of the central characters who embody vicious passions. It's insidious Outlander , the protagonist of the comedy "Guardian", who claims the inheritance of orphans and illegally turns a young nobleman into a servant. This is a freakish pawnbroker Kashchei (the comedy "The Likhoimets"), who, due to stinginess, keeps his servants starving and makes them steal firewood. This is, finally, a godless hypocrite and a slanderer Herostratus (the comedy "Poisonous"), blackmailing his daughter and father, who became addicted to him.

Accordingly, in the comedies of the 1760s, it develops the new kind plot stereotype: temporarily triumphant vice, personified in ominous images Outsider, Kashchei and Herostratus , opposes suffering virtue. The loss of wealth, the unknown origin, the imaginary death of relatives increase the burden of suffering that befell the virtuous characters. But vice inevitably awaits retribution. At the same time, the playwright uses the techniques traditional for the genre of "tearful" drama. Here is the motive of recognition by the cross, and the appearance on the stage of eyewitnesses of the crime, and the sudden discovery of the noble origin of the innocent suffering, and the unexpectedly fair decision of the court. In the end, vice is punished, and virtue triumphs. All the action of comedies appears as a kind of moral lesson; now the plays are designed not so much to treat the audience with laughter, but to touch with sensitivity.

The focus on sensitivity and the associated rejection of the methods of farcical comedy meant a turn towards a serious moralistic comedy. Sumarokov is no longer satisfied with the combination of satire with entertainment, but puts denunciation at the center of the ideological design. At the same time, pamphletery still remains a hallmark of his comedies. A range of character traitsOutsider or Kashchei gives reason to believe that Sumarokov brought out a caricature portrait of his son-in-law in them,A. I. Buturlina, known for exorbitant stinginess, hypocrisy and cruel treatment of courtyard people. It is possible with all probability to assume the pamphlet nature of the comedy "Poisonous", where in the image of an evil tongue Herostratus at the same time, the personality traits of the writer are guessed. Emin and the poet I. S. Barkov (The question of the prototypes of Sumarokov's pamphlet comedies is considered in detail by P. N. Berkov in the book "The History of Russian Comedy of the 18th Century" (L., 1977, pp. 86--90).). In ideological terms, such pamphletery was supplemented by broad generalizations arising from the playwright's sharply critical attitude to individual phenomena of the then reality - usury, corruption in the courts, the farming system, the estate swagger of the nobles. If in the tragedies of the mature period, the focus on modernity of the problematic was manifested in the strengthening of the allusive principle, then in the comedies, the actualization of the content was achieved by parodying the code of estate morality, when the very essence of moral concepts that define good and evil was perverted in the mouths of vicious characters. Such, for example, are the tirades about "honor" that sound in the arguments of the Outsider or Kashchei.

Sumarokov, thus, subordinated the pamphlet nature of his comedies to broad satirical and accusatory purposes, which gave their content a sharp publicism. It is no coincidence that N. I. Novikov, in a dispute with Catherine II about the admissibility of attacks on a person in satire, referred to the example of Sumarokov, to the pamphlet nature of his comedies, in particular to the play "Likhoimets": " When Likhoimets is presented, then it seems that not all stingy people will look at Kashchei. No one will assure me that Moliere's Harpagon was written for a common vice. Any criticism written in the face, after many years, turns into criticism of a common vice; in due course, ridiculed by justice, Kasha will be the common original of all the covetous "(Satirical magazines of N.I. Novikov. M.; L., 1951, p. 137.). The appeal to the name of Molière is characteristic as a decisive argument in favor of Sumarokov.

The last stage of Sumarokov's comedy creativity, which falls at the beginning of the 1770s, proceeded in an atmosphere of new trends in Russian dramaturgy. They were especially noticeable in the creative searches of a group of young playwrights headed by I. P. Elagin. Appointed in 1766 as the director of the court theatres, Elagin managed to rally around himself like-minded writers who were passionate about the stage, including D. I. Fonvizin, V. I. Lukin, B. E. Elchaninov. Turning at first to translations and adaptations of plays by European authors, the young playwrights very soon put forward their own program for updating the comedy repertoire of the Russian stage. The theorist and most prolific author of the group was V. I. Lukin.He was the first to speak about the need to create a national original comedy. It was he who tried to specifically substantiate those ways that, in his opinion, made it possible to bring the theater closer to the needs of Russian life.

Lukin saw his main task in "all comic theatrical works are in every possible way to incline to our customs". According to Lukin, "... many viewers from the comedy in other people's morals do not receive any correction. They think that they are not ridiculed, but strangers. The reason is that they hear ... Paris, Versailles, the Tulleries and others, for many of them unfamiliar sayings .<...>The French, the English, the Germans, and other peoples who have theaters, always adhere to their models, which they portray ... Why should we not adhere to our own?(Lukin V.I., Elchaninov B.E. Works and translations. St. Petersburg, 1868, pp. 115--116.). So Lukin wrote in the preface to the comedy "Rewarded Constancy". The "inclination" of other people's plays to our manners, proposed by him, meant replacing the foreign names of the characters with Russian ones, transferring the action of the plays to Russian soil, bringing the speech of the characters closer to the Russian colloquial language, appealing to national customs and mores . All this was realized by Lukin in his comedies, which were adaptations of plays by European authors.

As we see, Lukin's program was directed against the dramatic practice of Sumarokov. Lukin considered Sumarokov's comedies " similar to our old games." But, denying any artistic value of the interludes, which, according to the theorist himself, expressed the character of the common people, as well as the strength and beauty of the natural Russian language, Lukin, in his desire to bring comedy closer to national life, stopped halfway. Turning off laughter from his comedies, Lukin did not go further than naked moralizing. He denied the very possibility of creating original comedy plots based on conflicts generated by domestic customs and the conditions of Russian reality.

The problem of creating a truly original Russian comedy was solved by D.I.Fonvizin.His comedy"Foreman"(1769) completed the first stage in the formation of this genre on Russian soil. It carried qualitatively new principles of stage art, which objectively contributed to bringing the theater closer to life. Fonvizin managed to enhance the accusatory effectiveness of the comedy genre, returning her laughter. But this was not a simple return to the external comedy of Sumarokov's early experiments. At the new stage, Sumarokov's satirical pamphlet-like "comedy of characters" had to give way to a comically pointed study of the mores of society. " Brigadier" Fonvizinaand was the first major achievement along the way. The everyday atmosphere in which the action of the comedy takes place determined the vitality of the types derived in it. Against the background of "The Brigadier" the half-heartedness of Lukin's program was especially clear.. With his play, Fonvizin not only discovered the customs of the Russian local nobility as an object of comedic satire, but also approved the new principles of depicting this world in Russian comedyography. The essence of these principles was to reveal the characters on the basis of their speech individualization..Vocabulary imprinted belonging to a particular social environment. The portraiture of the characters seemed to follow from their immersion in the sphere of everyday communication, which made it possible to reveal the personality of each. It is on such principles of typification that Sumarokov focuses in his latest comedies. Created around 1772, three comedies by Sumarokov -"Cuckold by Imagination", "Mother - Daughter's Companion" and "Scumbag"- bear the stamp of the method"Brigadier".They can be regarded as a kind of result of the playwright's activity in this genre.

In terms of plot, these plays retain a distant relationship with Sumarokov's comedies of the 1750s. They sometimes use elements of farce, there are collisions borrowed from Moliere, colloquial phraseology dominates, combined with the coarse humor of folklore. But the atmosphere of action in all three comedies, the very method of typifying characters, has changed qualitatively. The dramatic intrigue in them fades into the background, and the leading role is given to moral description.

The comedy "Cuckold by Imagination" is especially indicative in this respect. The main characters in it are a couple of provincial petty nobles with characteristic names - Vikul and Khavronya. Vikul's unfounded suspicions of his wife, a lady immersed in household chores, somewhat reminiscent of Brigadier Fonvizin, forms the basis of numerous comic episodes. Scenes of jealousy arise in the course of the development of the melodramatic plot - the love of a rich count for a poor girl who is brought up by these kind, but ignorant homebodies. The main artistic interest of the play lies in the juicy chronicle of manners. The speech individualization of the images of Vikul and Khavronya grew out of an unpretentious way of life with its daily village worries, hospitality. These people are characterized by spontaneity in expressing their feelings, their language is a vivid example of a lively colloquial Russian speech, saturated with folk proverbs and sayings (“For a dear friend and an earring from an ear”, “The hut is not red with corners, red with pies”, “It happens even for an old woman”, “You can’t hide an awl in a bag”, etc.). And the whole comedy ends with a proverb that Vikul utters, reconciling with his wife, involuntarily offended by him: " Kiss me, Khavronyushka: and whoever remembers the old, that's out of the eye".In terms of brightness and folklore coloring of style, Sumarokov's latest comedies generally stand out against the background of his earlier plays.

During the period of writing these comedies, Sumarokov has been living in Moscow for several years. He is all in worries about the creation of a new theater in Moscow. The aging playwright does not leave the thought of new plays, although he is aware that his strength is running out. His letters to Empress Catherine II speak eloquently about Sumarokov's state of mind during this period. In one of them, dated April 30, 1772, he shares his plans with the monarch: " And I think that my comedies can do no less correction than they can bring amusement and laughter, and comedies in Moscow and for the sake of driving away ignorance to your wise government should certainly be pleasing, and they will certainly bring a lot of fruit to Russia. And if the time of my fading life and my weakening strength will be reinforced by your royal mercy, then I hope the theater will work for another four years, and I hope to serve especially with comedies, because I have to compose prose comedies, having both theory and practice, and seeing daily stupidity in ignoramuses and delusions, very easy"(Letters of Russian writers of the XVIII century. L., 1980, p. 153.). And in the latest comedies, Sumarokov does not cease to realize himself primarily as a satirist. Although it is impossible to talk about the pamphlet content of these plays, their accusatory pathos is undeniable. And the main object of denunciation is still the vices of the representatives of the ruling class, and above all the spiritual narrow-mindedness and estate swagger of the nobles. The methods of satirical ridicule of the gentlemen who dishonor their rank are diverse. Sometimes these are invectives interspersed in the speech of neutral characters along the way, like a remark from a maid Nisa to the ignorant landowners, boasting of their noble origin: " There is nothing more unbearable than that creature, which is magnified by one shadow of a noble name and which, sitting near the bowl, is surrounded by servants in bast shoes and sashes ... rises with a boyar title"("Cuckold by imagination"). Much more often, the main characters of comedies themselves turn out to be the direct object of satirical denunciation. Such, for example, is an aging coquette and fashionista Minodora caring for her daughter's fiancé. And in the image of a wild and wayward landowner Burdy (the comedy "The Buffoon"), in its own way, some character traits of the Fonvizin mistress are anticipated Prostakova.

P. A. Vyazemsky very correctly defined the historical and literary significance of Sumarokov’s comedies in his book dedicated to D. I. Fonvizin: “By seniority, Sumarokov is our first comic writer. His comedies are poor in content, arrangement and art; but some kind of originality, a quick satirical fire, although not dramatic, in places atones for their main shortcomings.<...>He often carried the hot pamphlet into his cold comedies. He sometimes guessed Beaumarchais. The learned critic will say that these digressions have no place in comedy, and will refer in this to Aristotle and other legal experts; a smart reader will read them with pleasure..."(Vyazemsky P. A. Aesthetics and literary criticism. M., 1984, p. 207--208.)

In addition to tragedies and comedies, Sumarokov owns a kind of fragmentary sketch, which he himself designated by the term "drama". In general, the drama genre that took shape in France in the 18th century was a completely new phenomenon that met the aesthetic tastes of a third-class spectator. The drama owed its theoretical justification to D. Diderot and O. Beaumarchais. The founders of the new genre defined their plays as "serious genre"(genre serieux), contrasting its nature with the abstract sublimity of the tragedy of classicism, on the one hand, and the farcical entertainment of the comedies of Molière and Regnard, on the other. In their plays, the outlines of a sentimental drama were objectively formed. The structural certainty of the new genre took shape under the influence of two traditions. These were, above all, the traditions of the so-called "philistine tragedy" that appeared in England in the first half of the 18th century. Another source of sentimental drama was the genre of "tearful comedy", which gained popularity around the same time in France thanks to F.-N. Detouchu, P.-K. Nivelle de la Chausse and P.-K. Marivo.Sumarokov, brought up in the spirit of the traditions of the classic theater, reacted sharply negatively to the new genre.. He even sent a letter in 1769 to Voltaire asking him to comment on "a new and dirty kind of tearful comedies." Voltaire's answer, containing a cold, albeit polite agreement with the correspondent's opinion, was published by Sumarokov along with the preface to the publication of his tragedy Dimitry the Pretender (St. Petersburg, 1772). In the very preface, the leader of Russian classicism attacked the drama presented with great success in Moscow in the spring of 1770 with rude attacks. O. Beaumarchais"Eugene". Sumarokov perfectly captured the fundamentally democratic pathos of "Evgenia", marked by a certain freedom of assessment in determining the moral merits of representatives of the aristocratic nobility. For the ideologist of the Russian nobility, everyday comprehension on the scene of a collision built on attempts to seduce an innocent girl by a depraved count was unacceptable. And although the hero begins to see clearly by the end of the play and turns into a virtuous spouse , such a spectacle did not meet Sumarokov's ideas about the educational function of the theater.

Sumarokov himself only once turned to the genre of drama. He chose a fundamentally different path than the one outlined by the plays of Diderot and Beaumarchais. His one-act drama"Hermit"presented on the stage of the Imperial Theater in 1757, in its own way continued the traditions of school drama. She was a kind of dramatized martyrology. The central character of the drama is a Christian ascetic Eumenius. All the characters in the play have Greek names, and the moral collision underlying the plot reproduces the situation traditional for Christian pateri (the lives of the church fathers). The plot is based on a test of faith. Eumenius, who retired to the desert and dedicated himself to the Christian god, is alternately trying to return to worldly affairs his friend, then his brother, then his parents, and finally his wife - but to no avail. Especially pathetic is the dialogue between Eumenius and his young wife, Parthenia who, like the heroines of tragedies, tries to part with her life by stabbing herself. However, the unbending faith of Eumenius also transforms her: Parthenia also decides to devote herself to God, leaving for asceticism in the desert.

It is possible that the appeal to such a plot is in connection with the mass enthusiasm of Russian nobles in the 1750s for the ideas of Freemasonry. In some ways, the vicissitudes underlying the Sumarokov drama correlate with the content of the tragedy. Corneille "Polyeuct the Martyr", just at the end of the 1750s translated by N. Khrushchev walking on the stage of the court theater. Considering that among the works of Sumarokov of these years, a translated fragment from the tragedy of Corneille, the monologue of Polyeuctus from the fourth act, has been preserved, then the playwright’s interest in the plot with the ascetic figure of Eumenius who converted to the Christian faith in the center receives an additional explanation (On the possible connection of the passage with the translation "Polyeuctus" carried out by N. Khrushchev was first noticed by P. N. Berkov (See: A. P. Sumarokov, Selected Works, Leningrad, 1957, p. 575). Separate motifs that sound in Eumenius' remarks clearly correlate with the content of the monologue translated from Corneille's tragedy.

Sumarokov's plays, especially his tragedies and comedies, did not leave the stage of Russian theaters throughout the 18th century. Tragedies were especially popular with viewers. "Sinav and Truvor", "Semira" and "Demetrius the Pretender". Evidence of the performances of the last play is found in the memoirs of theater figures of the 19th century. In the "Diary" of a famous theater-goer of the 1800-1810sS. P. Zhikhareva even mentions the performance of Sumarokov's tragedies in 1807-1808 by soldiers of the Izmailovsky regiment: "Regimental performances at Christmas time and at Shrovetide were very curious. Tragedies were usually played and more often than others" Demetrius the Pretender "- a play mostly loved by soldiers. In it one could sometimes meet Xenia with a mustache and George 2 arshins and 13 inches tall"(Zhikharev S. Ya. Notes of a contemporary. Memoirs of an old theatergoer. In 2 vols. L., 1989, vol. 2, p. 272.).

Just as Sumarokov's tragedies and comedies were at the origins of the formation of Russian professional dramaturgy, performances based on his plays meant a qualitatively new stage in the history of performing arts in Russia. The formation of the classicist tradition was associated with them, in the bosom of which more than one generation of Russian actors was formed. The very first productions of Sumarokov's plays on the stage were carried out by amateur troupes, in which women's roles had to be played by men. This was the case for a short period of operation. court cadet theater, the same situation existed in the troupe of the Yaroslavl amateur theater headed byF. G. Volkov But with the professionalization of theatrical business in Russia, especially after the establishment of a permanent state public theater in 1756, the performing style becomes more and more stable. This lays the foundations national tradition acting art.

Already the first generation of actors of this theater, by the way, mostly natives of Yaroslavl, who grew up mainly on the repertoire of Sumarokov's plays, had such outstanding performers as the same F. G. Volkov, I. A. Dmitrevsky, Ya. G. Shuisky. If the first successfully debuted in "Khorev" in the role kiya, then Dmitrevsky in the same tragedy at first played the role Osneldy. In the poetic message "To Mr. Dmitrevsky. On the death of F. G. Volkov," the playwright, mourning the death of his friend, recalled his soulful performance of the role Oskold in the tragedy "Semira".

... What, Dmitrevsky, shall we conceive with this fate now?!

Our Volkov parted with me and you,

And with the muses forever. Look at his coffin

Cry, cry with me you your friend,

Whom, like us, posterity will not forget!

Break the dagger; there will be no theater.

Say goodbye to those who are cut off from the drama and from us,

Say goodbye to Volkov for the last time,

In the last time you played with him, you said goodbye,

And say, as then Oskold was informed,

Letting out bitter streams from vague eyes today:

"Many people are subject to so many sorrows!

Forgive me, dear friend, forgive me, my friend, forever!

Contemporaries noted the unusually temperamental and spectacular performance of F. G. Volkov on stage, especially in the role of Oskold. Dmitrevsky himself acted in this performance as Rostislav.

Another native of the Yaroslavl troupe, Ya. G. Shumsky, became famous for his performance of comic roles. But the most famous in the theatrical world of the 18th century wasI. A. Dmitrevsky, outlived many of his contemporaries and trained many actors for the Russian theater. He established himself as the best performer of the title roles in the main tragedies of Sumarokov. Roles Khoreva, Sinava, Vysheslav, Oleg in the tragedy "Semira", Mstislav were part of the permanent fund of his repertoire. About the game of Dmitrevsky in "Semir" and "Vysheslav" N. I. Novikov in the journal "Pustomel" (1770) (See: Satiric journals of N. I. Novikov. M .; L., 1951, p. 264.). But especially impressive was his performance of the role of Demetrius in the tragedy "Demetrius the Pretender". P. I. Sumarokov, in the essay on the history of the Russian theater already mentioned above, described the skill of an outstanding actor as follows: " In tragedies, the best roles of Dmitrevsky were revered:Pretender, Yarb and Sinav . He comprehended in all his strength the character of the persons he represented and supplemented the author's shortcomings with his acting. For example, in Demetrius the Pretender, he appeared to the eyes of the audience leaning on the throne and covered with a mantle, and with this gloomy position illuminated, so to speak, the dark thoughts of the first monologue.(Domestic notes, 1823, part 13, pp. 382--383.). No less memorable was Dmitrevsky's play in the tragedy Sinav and Truvor, where he played the role of the eldest of the brothers.

Dmitrevsky, that I am mature! When I was embarrassed

When the unfortunate Sinav was despondent in you!

I called all his troubles mine,

Disturbed by your passion, admired

And I loved and hoped with you.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

You led me with you out of fear into hope,

From rage to love and from love to lamentation;

You found new roads to your heart.

In such terms, Sumarokov evaluated the game of Dmitrevsky - Sinava.

The most famous performer of female roles in the tragedies of Sumarokov was T. M. Troepolskaya, the first actress of the imperial court theater. She was considered the best performer of the role Ilmeny in the tragedy "Sinav and Truvor", where she performed together with Dmitrevsky. In addition, Troepolskaya played the roles Zenidas in the tragedy "Vysheslav", Xenia ("Dimitri the Pretender"), Olga ("Mstislav"). In memory of one performance on the stage of the Russian theater "Sinava and Truvor" in 1766, Sumarokov dedicated a madrigal to the actress:

I do not weave praise to you with verses,

Below, seduced by you, I melt in love with you,

Below on Helikon I caress,

Below, I draw the audience to praise,

I flow not to the approval of their splash, -

Worthy Russian Ilmena you played:

Russia looked at her, shed tears,

And she matured, as she, suffering, died.

Troepolskaya died in her dressing room on the day of the staging of Sumarokov's last tragedy, Mstislav, on June 18, 1774, where she was supposed to play the role of Zenida. The playwright also responded to this event with a heartfelt elegy.

Of the other actors and actresses of the 1770s-1790s, in whose life Sumarokov's dramaturgy occupied a significant place, one can name the actress E. F. Ivanov, Moscow actor I. I. Kaligrafa, finally, P. A. Plavilshchikova. The latter especially attracted the attention of his contemporaries by the performance of roles Sinava, Oskold and Demetrius the Pretender . Famous playwright of the early 19th century N. I. Ilyin spoke of Plavilshchikov's game like this: " In the depiction of a great and firm soul, what is Oskold in Semir and Rosslav, the suffering and unfortunate Vladisan, the gentle and fiery Sinav, the meek and merciful Titus - he was excellent"(Bulletin of Europe, 1815, part 81, p. 158.). However, in Plavilshchikov's game, the stage tradition of the classic theater, with its emphasis on declamation, gradually gave way to pre-romantic principles. It is no coincidence that Plavilshchikov's most significant achievements on stage were associated with the performance of his roles in the tragedies of J. B. Knyazhnin and the dramas of A. Kotzebue. Almost no information has been preserved about the performers of Sumarokov's comic plays.. There is evidence that in the 1780s in the Moscow theater of Maddox, Sumarokov's comedy "A Quarrel between a Husband and Wife" involved such famous actors as A. M. Krutitsky and N. I. Dranitsina. In all likelihood, repeatedly in the comedies of Sumarokov had to play Ya. G. Shuisky, famous for his skillful performance of the roles of servants.

Sumarokov carried loyalty to the theater throughout his life. His quarrelsome character, morbidly selfish disposition often got him into trouble. And although his relations with the leadership of the theater department, as we have seen, often took on dramatic forms, this did not prevent Sumarokov from constantly maintaining a sense of his involvement in the fate of the Russian theater. And it is deeply symbolic, therefore, that when the sick, lonely playwright died on October 11, 1777, the actors of the Moscow Free Theater carried the coffin with his body to the cemetery of the Donskoy Monastery.

By the end of the 18th century, in an atmosphere of growing interest in sentimentalism, Sumarokov's dramatic system, based on following the canons of classicism, was becoming obsolete. From the 1780s, his plays began to give way to those of younger playwrights such as I. B. Knyazhnin, M. M. Kheraskov, N. P. Nikolev. In the genre of comedy, the authority of D. I. Fonvizina. At the turn of the 19th century, tragedies became a new word in dramaV. A. Ozerov and P. A. Plavilshchikovas well as comedyI. A. Krylovaand Plavilshchikov. The change of generations reflected the dynamism and non-stop development of theatrical culture of the 18th century. But we must not forget that A. P. Sumarokov stood at the origins of the new Russian theater and the progressive development of national drama. The enduring merits of this man to the Russian theatrical culture oblige us to know and preserve his dramatic heritage, despite the historical remoteness of the era when Sumarokov lived and worked.

The brightest representative of the classic was Alexander Sumarokov (1717 - 1777). However, already in his work there are differences from the high "calm", which he declared. In "high tragedy" he introduced elements of medium and even low style. The reason for this creative approach was that the playwright sought to give life to his creations, coming into conflict with the previous literary tradition.

The purpose of creativity and the ideas of Sumarokov's plays

Belonging to an ancient noble family and brought up on the ideals of nobility and honor, he believed that all nobles should meet this high bar. Education in the gentry corps, friendship and communication with other young idealist nobles only strengthened his idea. But the reality did not match the dreams. The playwright everywhere encountered laziness, cowardice in high society, was surrounded by intrigues and flattery. This made him very angry. The unbridled nature of the young talent often led the writer to conflicts with the noble society. For example, Alexander could easily throw a heavy glass at the landowner, who enthusiastically talked about how he punishes his serfs. But the future genius got away with a lot, as he gained fame as a court poet and enjoyed the patronage of monarchs.

A.P. Sumarokov, art. F. Rokotov

The goal of his work - both dramaturgy and poetry - Sumarokov considered the education of noble character traits among the nobles. He even risked teaching royal people, because they did not correspond to the ideal he had drawn. Gradually, the author's mentoring began to irritate the court. If at the beginning of his career the playwright had special immunity, then at the end of his life the playwright lost the patronage of even Catherine II, who never forgave him for vicious epigrams and messages. Alexander Petrovich died alone and in poverty at the age of 61.

His dramaturgy was frankly didactic in nature. But this does not mean that it was uninteresting or unoriginal. Sumarokov's plays are written in brilliant language. The playwright gained fame among his contemporaries

"northern Racine", "confidant of Boileau", "Russian Molière".

Of course, in these plays there is some imitation of Western classicists, but it was almost impossible to avoid this. Although the Russian drama of the 18th century was deeply original, it could not help but use the best Western models to create Russian dramatic works

Tragedies of Sumarokov

Peru Alexander Petrovich owns 9 tragedies. Literary critics divide them into two groups.

The first includes tragedies written in 1740-1750.

These are Horev (1747), Hamlet (1748), Sinav and Truvor (1750), Ariston (1750), Semira (1751), Dimiza (1758).

The second group of tragedies was written after a 10-year break:

"Yaropolk and Dimiza" (1768) (revised "Dimiza" 1958) "Vysheslav" (1768), "Dimitri the Pretender" (1771), "Mstislav" (1774).

From tragedy to tragedy, the tyrannical pathos of the author's works increases. Heroes of tragedies, in accordance with aesthetics, are clearly divided into positive and negative. In tragedies, there is practically a minimum of action. The main part of the time is occupied by the monologues of the main characters, often addressed to the viewer, and not to what is happening on the stage. In monologues, the author, with his characteristic directness, sets out his moralizing thoughts and principles of morality. Due to this, tragedies lose in dynamics, but the essence of the play turns out to be contained not in the actions, but in the speeches of the characters.

The first play "Khorev" was written and staged by the playwright while still studying in the gentry corps. She quickly gained recognition and popularity. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna herself loved to watch it. The action of the play is moved to the era of Kievan Rus. But the "historicity" of the play is very arbitrary, it is just a screen for expressing thoughts that are quite modern for the era of the playwright. It is in this play that the author claims that the people are not created for the monarch, but the monarch exists for the people.

The tragedy embodies the conflict characteristic of Sumarokov between the personal and the public, between desire and duty. The protagonist of the play, the Kiev Tsar Kiy, is himself guilty of the tragic outcome of the conflict. Wanting to test the loyalty of his subject Khorev, he instructs him to oppose the father of his beloved Osmelda, Zavlokh, once expelled from Kyiv. The finale of the tragedy could have been happy (as in a free translation of Hamlet with a changed ending), but court intrigues ruin the beloved. According to Alexander Petrovich, the reason for this is the despotism and arrogance of the king.

The tyrannoborst thought was most embodied in his last tragedy, Demetrius the Pretender. The play contains direct calls for the overthrow of the royal power, set out through the mouths of minor characters: Shuisky, Parmen, Xenia, Georgy. How strong the resonance was caused by the publication and staging of the tragedy can be judged by the reaction of Catherine II, who read the essay and said that it was "an extremely harmful little book." At the same time, this tragedy went on in theaters until the 20s of the 19th century.

Comedy Sumarokov

The author's comedies, despite the fact that their artistic features are weaker than the "high tragedies", are of great importance in the formation and development of Russian drama. Like tragedy, comedy plays written with "educational", enlightening purposes, are distinguished by accusatory pathos. Comedies, unlike tragedies, are written in prose and are not very large in volume (1-2, less often 3 acts). They often lack a clear plot, what is happening in them looks like a farce. The characters in the comedies of the playwright are the people he noticed in ordinary life: priests, judges, peasants, soldiers, etc.

The greatest strength of the comedies was their colorful and deeply original language. Despite the fact that the author spent much less time creating comedies than tragedies, he managed to convey the flavor of contemporary folk life. Of the 12 comedies he wrote, the most famous comedy called. "A Cuckold by Imagination", in which the playwright ridiculed the denseness and despotism of the landowners.

On the significance of the playwright's activity in the creation and development of the Russian theater -

MENTARY

The following abbreviations are used in the comments when referring to duplicate sources:
Anthology by P. N. Berkov - Russian folk drama of the 17th-20th centuries. Texts of plays and descriptions of representations. Ed., entry. Art. and comment. P. N. Berkova. M., Art, 1953.
Folklore theater - Folklore theater. Comp., intro. st., foreword. to texts and comments. A. F. Nekrylova, N. I. Savushkina. M., Sovremennik, 1988.
Archive of Moscow State University - Folklore Archive of the Department of Russian Oral folk art Moscow State University.
GTsTM - State Central theater museum them. A. A. Bakhrushina (Moscow).
GLM - State Literary Museum (Moscow).
Dal V. I. - Vladimir Dal. Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language. T. 1-4. M., 1955.
The book of A. Ya. Alekseev-Yakovlev - Russian folk festivals based on the stories of A. Ya. Alekseev-Yakovlev. L.; M., Art, 1948.

ORYAS - Department of Russian Language and Literature Imp. Academy of Sciences.
Collection of N. E. Onchukov - Northern folk dramas. Collection of N. E. Onchukov. SPb., 1911.
I. P. Eremin Collection - I. P. Eremin Foundation. Department of Manuscripts of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Collection of P. N. Tikhonov - P. N. Tikhanov Foundation (No. 777). Department of Manuscripts of the Public Library named after M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, op. 1, no. 188.

In the comments to individual texts in the recording of folklorists, information is indicated on the place and time of recording, performers and collectors (where these data are available). In all cases, the place of storage of texts in archives, their first publication are indicated. Texts from classical pre-revolutionary (N. N. Vinogradov, N. E. Onchukov) and some Soviet editions are given according to their later publications in the anthologies of P. N. Berkov and the compilers of this collection.
The compilers of the anthologies have done a certain textological work: the arrangement of the poetic and prosaic parts of the text, remarks, etc., has been ordered, determined by modern rules publications of dramatic works, as well as typographical errors removed, mainly spelling and punctuation brought into line with literary norms. In several cases, inconvenient places for printing have been removed.
In the comments to the texts of this collection, only separate incomprehensible phrases or phrases are explained, literary reminiscences, song fragments.
In this edition, along with the exact texts of dramatic scenes and plays in the records of folklorists, descriptions of the games of mummers and performances of folk dramas, made for ethnographic purposes or being memoirs, fragments of literary works, are for the first time widely introduced.
Most of these descriptions belonging to eyewitnesses - local historians, writers, scientists, artists - we have singled out in independent sections (I and VI).
However, "mixed" texts are also found in other sections. When placing them, we were guided by the ratio of text and description: material with a predominance of text was included in the corresponding sections (II-IV), and with a predominance of description or fragments of texts in the retelling and perception of the authors - sections I and VI. In comments to ethnographic descriptions, literary and memoir evidence, only their sources are indicated.

GAMES AND SCENES OF MUCKERS

Descriptions of Christmas dressing are quite widely represented in pre-revolutionary literature. In the second half of the 19th century, after the emergence of the Russian Geographical Society (1846), a wide and widespread collection of folklore and information on folk life began. Sovremennik, Vestnik Evropy and other journals, and especially periodical ethnographic publications, collections of provincial statistical committees, provincial journals, readily publish materials on folk rituals, customs, beliefs, and holidays. Their authors - local historians, writers, journalists, clerks, priests, literate peasants brought to us living observations of many already disappeared phenomena of folk life and culture. Unfortunately, in the descriptions of the mummers there are no works performed by them - dramatic dialogues, skits, sentences, songs. This is partly due to the “free” content of Christmas ritual folklore, the presence of “obscene” words and expressions in it.
This gap is filled by the published records of the folklore expeditions of Moscow State University. They testify to the preservation of the traditions of disguise in the folk festive life of the 20th century, and in the memory of the performers, residents of the northern villages, parodic prayers, sentences, and jokes of the mummers.

Christmas dressing. The published excerpts are taken from:
I - Kopanevich I.K. Christmas time and accompanying folk games and entertainment in the Pskov province. Pskov, 1896, p. 10-18.
II - Pr - s k and y N. Bath, play, hearing and the sixth of January. Ethnographic essays of the Kadnikovsky district // Sovremennik. SPb., 1864, No. X. Oct., p. 510-516.
III - Kudryavtsev VF Winter folk amusements in the city of Vasil // Nizhny Novgorod collection published by the Nizhny Novgorod provincial statistical committee. T. III. Ed. A. S. Gatsissky. N.-Novgorod, 1870, p. 109-111.
IV - Nefedov F.D. Ethnographic observations on the way along the Volga and its tributaries. III. Zavolzhye // Proceedings of the ethnographic department of the imp. Society of lovers of natural science, anthropology and ethnography at Moscow University, Prince. IV. M., 1877, p. 59-60.
V - Zavoiko K. In the Kostroma forests along the Vetluga River // Ethnographic collection: Proceedings of the Kostroma Scientific Society for the Study local region, issue. VIII. Kostroma, 1917, p. 25-26.

A joke wedding. Zap. in the village of Vershachevo, Permogorsky village village, Krasnoborsky district, Arkhangelsk region. from M. S. Trifonova, 64 years old, E. Bogdanova, M. Yukhnevich. - Archive of Moscow State University, 1967, p. 1, v. 5, No. 20. Published for the first time.

The story of dressing up. Zap. V. v. Voymozero, Onega district, Arkhangelsk region from A. L. Syropyatova, 54 years old, N. I. Savushkina. - Archive of Moscow State University, 1965, p. 1, v. 2, No. 18. Published for the first time.

The old man praises the old woman (the sentence of the mummer "old man"). Zap. in the village of Svarozero, Kargopolsky district, Arkhangelsk region. from A. F. Obanina, 58 years old, L. Ivanova and B. Isadchenko. - Archive of Moscow State University, 1961, p. 1, v. 4, No. 89. Published for the first time.

Description of dressing. Zap. in the village of Okolodok, Gorodishchensky village village, Nyuksenitsky district, Arkhangelsk region. From N. T. Berezin, 71, N. I. Savushkina. - Archive of Moscow State University, 1966, p. 1, v. 1, No. 40. Published for the first time.

Popov's verses (parody prayer). Zap. in the village of Svarozero, Kargopolsky district, Arkhangelsk region. from A. F. Obanina, 58 years old, L. Ivanova and B. Isadchenko. - Archive of Moscow State University, 1961, p. 1, v. 4, No. 68. Published for the first time.

Service of an illiterate priest. Zap. in the village of Milentievskaya (Bereg) of the Pechnikovsky village village, Kargopol district, Arkhangelsk region. from K. G. Korovin, 70 years old, N. Antonova and T. Biryukova. - Archive of Moscow State University, 1962, p. 3, v. 24, No. 39. Published for the first time.

Baba in bast shoes. First published: Mozharovsky A.F. From the life of peasant children in the Kazan province. Kazan, 1884, p. 43.

Seeing Shrovetide on the river Tavda. For the first time publ.: N. E. Shrovetide. I. Seeing Shrovetide at Tavda//Perm collection of local lore, vol. IV. Publication of the Circle for the Study of the Northern Territory at Perm University. Perm, 1928, p. 118-120.

SATIRICAL DRAMA

Barin. Zap. in with. Tamytsa of Onega Arkhangelsk province. in 1905 from I. K. Gerasimov, 37 y.o.
First published: Collection of N. E. Onchukov, p. 113-117. See also: Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 46-49.
Salty ...- N. E. Onchukov's pass due to obscene text. IN children's folklore there are "salt frogs".

Mikhalka Tamitsyna nose. - N. E. Onchukov indicates that this was how they “swept through” the inhabitants of the village, who were distinguished by some physical defects or vices (Collection of N. E. Onchukov, p. 116, note.).

Imaginary Barin. Zap. in the village of Pyantina, Onega district Arkhangelsk province. in 1905 from S. Ya. Korotkikh.
First published: Collection of N. E. Onchukov, p. 124-133. See also: Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 53-61.
No, I escorted to the Volynsky court - This refers to the court of the famous nobleman of the 18th century Artemy Volynsky in St. Petersburg, after the arrest of Volynsky, set aside for the residence of the “court hunting” staff (Anthology of P. N. Berkov, p. 318).

Mavrukh. Zap. in with. Nizhmozero Onega Arkhangelsk province. in 1907 from Ya. S. Borodin.
First published: Collection of N. E. Onchukov, p. 134-137. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 49-51.
Mavrukh went on a campaign - a French song about the military leader Malbrook (Duke of Marlborough), known in Russia since the end of the 18th century.

Pahomushka. Zap. in Zaonezhye in 1926. First publ. in the article by S. Pisarev and R. Suslovich "Pre-syllable game - a comedy" Pakhomushka "// Peasant art of the USSR. Art of the North, vol. 1. Zaonezhie. L., Academia, 1927, p. 178-181. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 44-47.

HEROIC-ROMANTIC AND EVERYDAY DRAMA

Boat. First published. in the book: S and p about in with k and y V. V. Historical reader on the history of Russian literature, vol. 1, no. 1, 5th ed. SPb., 1911, p. 239-242. See also: Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 143-149.
Down the Mother River along the Volga - a song by an unknown author of the 18th - early 19th centuries.
Among the dense forests - a song version of the poem by F. B. Miller "The Burial of the Robber (from Freiligrat)".
There were two of us - my brother and I - at the heart of the monologue - a fragment of A. S. Pushkin's poem "The Robber Brothers".
Hey mustache! Here are the mustaches! Ataman mustache! - a daring or robber song, the hero of which is considered the robber Ivan Us, who acted in the 17th century in the Voronezh province.

Black Raven. Zap. in the village of Pritykino, Kostroma district and province in 1899 from G. S. Chistyakov and E. Fedorov. - Archive of the State Museum of Art, inv. 8, cor. 6, No. 1. First published: Folklore Theatre, p. 111-132.
As it used to be, brother and me - a fragment of A.S. Pushkin's poem "The Robber Brothers" is used in the monologue.
I was raised by a lioness - the motif of the popular popular tale "How a lioness raised the king's son."
What is clouded, the dawn is clear - a folk version of a song from the story in verse by A.F. Veltman "Murom Forests" (1831).
Forgive, farewell, dear country - a soldier's song about service in the Caucasus, during Caucasian wars first half of the 19th century.
Food, food - I don’t whistle - lines from A. S. Pushkin’s poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”.

Band of robbers. Zap. in the village of Vatlashovo, Nasad s / s, Perm-Serginsky district, Perm region. from G. M. Ulitin, born in 1871
First published. in the book: Pre-revolutionary folklore in the Urals. Sobr. and comp. V. P. Biryukov. Sverdlovsk, 1936, p. 36-47.

Yermak. Zap. in the city of Vyatskiye Polyany, Kirov Region. in 1948 by A. I. Solovyov. - GLM archive, inv. 63, cor. 59, No. 1. Published for the first time.
A close version, recorded later in the same place by A.I. Solovyov, publ. in the book: Scientific notes of the Kirov Pedagogical Institute, 1965, no. 20, p. 248-264.
I walked in the meadows in the evening - a folk version of G. A. Khovansky's romance "Forget-me-nots" (end of the 18th century).
Do not ring the bells during my burial ... - altered poems "The testament of a drunkard", popular in popular prints.
The singers sang loudly, then Mavlina died - a fragment of a song of literary origin, attributed to M.I. Ozhegov. In songbooks it is found under the name "Malvina".

Tsar Maximilian (I). First published. in the article by N. N. Vinogradov "The folk drama" Tsar Maksimyan and his rebellious son Odolf ". - Izvestiya ORYAS. SPb., 1905, vol. X, book. 2, p. 301-338. See also: Anthology by PN Berkov, p. 180-199.
I am leaving for the dungeon - a folk version of the song “I am leaving for the desert”, attributed to the famous poetess of the late 18th - early 19th century M. V. Zubova.
City of Anton I will burn with fire - City of Anton is the capital in the popular print "The Tale of Bova-Korolevich", which entered the oral fairy-tale repertoire at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. There is an ancient Brambeus-knight there - King Brambeus - character

The lubok story "The Story of the Brave Knight Francyl Venetian", repeatedly reprinted in the 19th century.
Praise, praise to you, hero - modified lines of a song in honor of Count P. X. Wittgenstein, included in the "divertissement with singing", staged in 1813 in St. Petersburg under the title "Feast in the Camp of the Allied Armies" - see: Berkov P. N. One of the oldest recordings of "Tsar Maximilian" // Russian folklore, IV, p. 335.

Tsar Maximilian (II). Zap. in Danilovsky Yaroslavl province. at the Ponizovkin plant in 1890 by the peasant G. S. Chistyakov for N. N. Vinogradov.
First published. in the book: Vinogradov N. N. Folk drama Tsar Maximilian. Texts collected and prepared for publication by N. N. Vinogradov. With preface acad. A. I. Sobolevsky. - Collection of ORYAS, vol. 90, No. 7, St. Petersburg, 1914, p. 97-166. See also: Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 199-251.
Field, our field - the common beginning of historical songs about the Russian-Turkish wars: "The Turks boast of capturing Rumyantsev (Potemkin)", "The Capture of Ochakov" - see: historical songs XVIII century. Ed. prepared by O. B. Alekseeva and L. I. Emelyanov. L., 1971, No. 443, 483.
All the Tatars rebelled - P. N. Berkov believes that this is a variant of a soldier's song dating back to the time of the annexation of the Crimea (1783) - see: Anthology of P. N. Berkov, p. 338.
Black raven, what are you doing is a popular folk song known from songbooks of the 19th century.
Or is my sword blunted? - “It is said just like that to excite laughter in the public,” notes N. N. Vinogradov. “Of course, old Markushka has no sword, he only parodies the speeches of the knights” (Collected ORyaS, vol. 90, No. 7, pp. 113, note)
Martsovo field - in the works of early Russian drama refers to the battlefield (Mars - here: Marets - the god of war).
Anika-Ikhonets (Ikonets) - P. N. Berkov connects this nickname with the Ural Cossacks' game of "ikanets", named after the "case under Ikan" (1864), in which they differed - see: Anthology P. N. Berkova, p. 339.
The long journey is over, the long journey is over - a song to the words of A. Kh. Durop's poem "Cossack in the Motherland" (1818).
Hussar, leaning on a saber - a song based on the words of K. N. Batyushkov's poem "Separation".
Head? To shave her naked - this and all other doctor's recipes are similar to the healer's monologues from comic interludes of the 17th-18th centuries - see in the book: Early Russian Dramaturgy, vol. 5, p. 665-666, 714, 742.

The priest has been waiting for us in the church for a long time - the altered lines of V. Zhukovsky's ballad "Svetlana".
Bring me an enlightened Vladyka - that is, the Most Reverend Bishop, Hierarch, Bishop.
Now go ahead "estimated" - that is, "prokeimenon" - church singing of psalms, performed by a reader and two choirs.

Tsar Maximilian (III). Zap. in the village of Pogost (Oshevensk), Kargopol district, Arkhangelsk region. in 1959 from A. M. Druzhinina. - Archive of Moscow State University, 1959, v. 25, No. 1. First published: Folklore Theatre, p. 216-224.

How the Frenchman took Moscow. Zap. in the village of Bolshie Sestrenki, Balashovsky District. Saratov province. in 1919 from N. E. Churkin.
First published. in the book: Folklore of the Saratov region. Comp. T. M. Akimova. Ed. A. P. Skaftymova. Saratov, 1946, p. 226-232. See also: Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 165-170, comment. With. 334-335.
In Russia, a gracious manifesto is a manifesto issued by Alexander I in connection with Napoleon's invasion of Russia.
Moreover, the person of Count Orlov - the daughter of Ichmensky - Countess A. A. Orlova-Chesmenskaya donated her jewelry in 1812 to the needs of the war.
... and he took and chopped off his own right hand - an incident that really took place. He was reported in the journal "Son of the Fatherland" (1812, No. 4, p. 168) in an article entitled (in the table of contents) "Russian Scaevola". For the same, see Roslavlev by A. S. Pushkin.
... how you served your sovereign Alexander Nikolaevich - N. E. Churkin, who transmitted the text of the play, confused Alexander I (Pavlovich) with Alexander II (Nikolaevich), under whom he served as a soldier.
Here is the fear of marmara for you ... - this whole remark consists of deliberately changed drug names. So, for example, "a bullet from trust" comes from the Latin designation of Dover's powder (pulvis Doveri).

Parasha. Zap. in the village of Tamitsa, Onega district. Arkhangelsk Province. in 1905 from I. K. Gerasimov.
First published: Collection of N. E. Onchukov, p. 138-141. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 236-239.

PUPPET PLAYS

PARSLEY THEATER

Petr Ivanovich Uksusov. Recorded at the Divenskaya station (near Luga) in the Petersburg Province. in 1896 from a speaking puppeteer.
The text is in the collection of I. P. Eremin, No. 2, l. 1-10 vol. First published. in the book: Folklore Theatre, p. 293-303.
Koporye is a village in the Petersburg Province. with the remains of an ancient Novgorod fortress.
Primosht-pharmacist - the first part of the word is a distorted "privat" (Latin privatum) - private, freelance.
An elderly "demonstrator" of comedy told the collector that he used to be an acrobat, and now lives in the city of Dvinsk, Vitebsk province, where he shows a panorama on market days. With "Petrushka" he goes only in the summer, mainly in the Baltic states, St. Petersburg, Vitebsk and Vilna provinces. Knows "slightly more than a dozen" parsley growers who go to the same places. Daily earnings - from 10 kopecks. up to one ruble.

Parsley. Recorded in Trinity-Sergiev Posad, Moscow Province. December 19, 1898 from the puppeteer Alexei Ignatievich Mazurov.
The text is in the collection of P. N. Tikhanov, l. 19-22. First published: Folklore Theatre, p. 307-313.
Musyu under an overcoat - a distortion of the incomprehensible to the puppeteer "Musyu Polichinel".
... from Baturin - a place in the Chernigov province., One of the traditional habitats of gypsies (settled and nomadic).

Parsley. Recorded in vil. Moscow Dubrovka, Ivanovo par. Shlisselburg u. Petersburg province. July 12, 1898 "according to a Jew, Riga tradesman Osip Leontiev Gelvan."
The text is in the collection of I. P. Eremin, No. 4, l. 1-9 about. Published for the first time.
O. L. Gelvan considered himself a student of the Italian Vicenti Sposi, who traveled around Russia with Petrushka.

Automatic theater called "Petrushka". Recorded in Chernigov on September 24, 1899 from puppeteer Vasily Karpovich Shiyanov.
The text is in the collection of P. N. Tikhanov, l. 63-64. Published for the first time.

The puppeteer "once, as a gymnast, was in the circus of the Nikitin brothers."

Parsley, aka Vanka Ratatouille. Recorded in the village of Batalpa-shinskaya, Kuban region. April 19, 1902 from the booth owner Alexei Pavlovich Lashchenko.
The text is in the collection of P. N. Tikhanov, l. 88-91 rev. Published according to the Anthology of P. N. Berkov, p. 115-123. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 260-270.
Vanka Ratatouy.- “In the south of Russia, Petrushka began to be called Vanka Rutyutyu. The origin of the word "Ratatouille" is unclear. It can be assumed that it originated from Ukrainian word"Ratuy" - "Sentry! For help!" (note by Berkov, p. 329).
Pharaoh's offspring - gypsies were considered descendants or immigrants from Egypt.
Kuznetsky bridge. - Probably, the non-Muscovite puppeteer replaced the Stone Bridge with the Kuznetsky bridge - the name of the famous street in Moscow, where fashionable shops, shops, and confectioneries were concentrated.
They are taken to the churchyard on a sleigh - According to the old Slavic custom, the dead were taken to the cemetery on a sleigh or on wood (i.e., on wheelless carts).
The text of the comedy was written down by the teacher L.K. Rosenberg, who was present at the performance and then talked to the puppeteers. The teacher described the impression of the performance and what he managed to learn from the parsley-makers in the preface to the text, where, among other things, the following is said:
The puppeteer is a “first-hand rhymer”, he used to go with the district committee, he switched to “Petrushka” because it is “more profitable than the district, although the equipment is more expensive.” He proudly said that he had "two cabinets of dolls, one of which he gave to his son-in-law as a dowry for his daughter." In the booth where the performance was given, “there were a lot of people. Everyone behaved freely, “like at home”. Guys with girls cracked nuts, ate gingerbread (it was during the fair). [...] The stage is set up in the front wall and very high up. Miniature backstage and a curtain, of the same size, are arranged as in a real theater.
“The orchestra, consisting of two violins, a clarinet and a drum, played the Overture “On the Pavement Street”. The music is over. The curtain went up." The puppeteer, hidden by drapery, “holding one or another character in his hands, talks, forcing him to make appropriate gestures with the movements of his hands. He speaks for Petrushka in a sharp, noisy, instrumental, so to speak, tone, with the help of a typewriter [...]. Having laid this projectile behind the back of the tongue, almost at

The “tongue” itself, the comedian pronounces the words in some strange way, nothing to do with human voice not having, tone. Speaking in this projectile is very difficult. And you need great skill to extract sounds from it.
“Petrushka conducts his monologues with the Musician. This last one is nothing but the comedian's assistant, who always sits between the audience for this purpose. The entrance fee is usually 5 kopecks. And, despite the insignificance, it gives, in general, a very good income. Collections are always full. Performances during the fair day and evening go on without interruption. The average earnings of a "rat-tower" is about 20-25 rubles. dolls for the most part wooden or sheathed with husky. In addition to Petrushka himself, they show up a little below the waist.

Parsley. Recorded in St. Petersburg on August 16, 1903 from a puppeteer.
The text is in the collection of P. N. Tikhanov, l. 99-107. First published: Folklore Theatre, p. 279-292.
Maryina Roshcha is the nearest Moscow suburb (it became part of the city at the end of the last century), where festivities took place with brisk trade, accompanied by inevitable fights, deceit, revels to the last penny.
Gostiny Dvor is the largest store in St. Petersburg (Leningrad), located in the center of Nevsky Prospekt.

Parsley. Street theater written off from the words of a street buffoon.
Lubok book with the same name. Published in Moscow in 1887 in the printing house of F. Ioganson.
Gypsy Mora from the Yarovsky Choir. - "Yar" - the most famous out-of-town restaurant in Moscow, famous for its gypsy choirs.
Zolotorottsy from the Khitrov market. - Khitrovka, Khitrov market - big square in the center of Moscow, near the Yauza River. The place had a bad reputation. V. Gilyarovsky once called Khitrovka "a moving rotten pit". This "exchange of thieves and fugitives" was known for its lodging houses and the fact that the police were afraid to go there.
Zamarashka, isn't she from Zaryadye? - Zaryadye - a district of old Moscow, located behind the shopping arcade on Red Square. The place is littered, dirty.

Parsley. Street theatre. The text of the lubok book. Ed. T-va I. D. Sytin. M., 1915.
To Pokrov - Pokrov, according to the old style, was celebrated on October 1. ... they will be taken on firewood - that is, to the cemetery.

From Varvarka to Arbat and to Presnensky Ponds - widely Famous places old Moscow.
... lost on Trubnaya Square - Truba, Trubnaya Square - in Moscow, the Neglinka River flowed under the square, concluded in Catherine's time in an underground pipe (hence the name of the square). In rainy times, part of Trubnaya Square turned into an impassable swamp. The notorious tavern "Krym" existed for a long time on Trubnaya Square.

Mischievous Petrushka. The text of the popular print book “Mischievous-Petrushka. Pieska for the Petrushka Theatre. M., Typo-lithography by I. I. Pashkov, 1907. From the collection of S. V. Obraztsov at the State Central Television Gallery.
On the Butyrsky field - in Moscow, a place behind the Butyrskaya outpost.
Snuffbox is a playful name for a big nose.

Vanka. Modern folk puppet comedy. The comedy was recorded in October 1924 from three Voronezh puppeteers.
First published: Voronezh literary conversation. Ed. A. M. Putintseva. Voronezh, 1925, book. 1, p. 7-14.
When published in this volume, the text was edited in accordance with modern spelling (in the original - phonetic notation) while maintaining lexical and morphological features.
He came from Berlin, from Germany itself - apparently, this is a reflection of the fact of the biography of the main puppeteer.
The collector said about one of the puppeteers: “M. A. Plotkin, who plays for dolls - the main one - is a professional (a native of Mogilev province.), He has been playing in a booth since he was 9 years old. In 1924 he was 35 years old. He was a prisoner in Germany. He traveled all over the south and south-west of Russia” (p. 5). “All dolls were made by Plotkin with the assistance of Zakharov. The work is rough. The decoration of the dolls is poor. Plotkin speaks for all the characters, changing his voice accordingly... The Answerer and the Musician speak in ordinary voices, without changing them. They play behind the screens, showing puppets from above the screens from 4 sides. The Respondent and the Musician are outside, near the screen” (p. 8).
In Voronezh and its environs, the puppet theater was very widespread and popular with mid-nineteenth V. According to the publisher, Petrushka was then “represented in a booth on a specially arranged stage, and the puppets were moved by a skilled craftsman through a complex system of threads; there were special "players" to make speeches for the puppets; music was given not by one musician, but by a small orchestra, always with a drum. The people called out with cunning jokes. So it was in the days of the fair, and in regular time the comedy was played by the "walking" Petrushka (p. 5).

Nativity scenes

King Herod. Recorded in Smolensk, reproduces a performance dating back to the 1860s-1870s.
The text is taken from the article: Dobrovolsky V.N. Some information about the Smolensk and Elninsk puppet theater / / Izvestiya ORYaS. SPb., 1908, vol. XIII, book. 2, p. 71-78. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 346-349.
Solution - here: Christmas.
The Smolensk crib performance is close to the Belarusian batleika, from which the song “Don’t cry, don’t cry, Rachel” and two everyday scenes - “Arishenka” and “Maximka, the mushroom picker, and his father” are here. The scene with the Hermit and Herod's dialogue with Death are not known to the batleika. The latter, it seems, is borrowed from the dialogue "Anika and Death", performed in the Russian tradition independently or as part of large folk dramas (see "Tsar Maximilian").
In addition to the textually recorded scenes of the second part of the performance (secular), V. N. Dobrovolsky mentioned others where the Gypsy, Mezhevaya and Mezhevaya, Prince and Princess, Alexander the Great, fighting with Persian king Pirom.

Death of King Herod. Recorded at the beginning of the 20th century on a Volga steamer from puppeteers from Novgorod.
First published: Izvestiya ORYAS. SPb., 1905, vol. X, book. 3, p. 365-382. The text is taken from the book: Vinogradov N. Great Russian nativity scene. SPb., 1906.
Volstvie (magicians), shepherds (shepherds), otrocha (lad) - obsolete Church Slavonic words, word forms.
The theater met by Vinogradov was somewhat different from the usual two-story one. This is a “rectangular box, about a yard and a quarter wide, three-quarters of an arshin deep and about a yard high. The front wall opens and, being lowered down, closes the various manipulations carried out under the floor by the nimble hands of the owner of the den; the top is brought together by a horse and decorated with carvings. Outside, the theater is covered with binding paper and popular prints depicting various “ages of human life”. The interior is richly decorated. The walls and ceiling are covered with gold and silver paper, multi-colored foil and sparkles. Several multi-colored lanterns are suspended on the sides and top to illuminate the stage during evening performances. The floor is covered with black fur, which masks the movements of puppets on wires, along cracks cut in different directions. In the right and left sides cut through the door. At the back wall, in the middle, stands the decorated throne of King Herod, rising several steps above the floor level. Near

The throne, on both sides of it, are three fixedly attached warriors in full armor. This is the royal retinue. In the right corner from the audience, a nativity scene with a newborn baby was made and a shining star was hung over it. (The first four scenes pass in front of this den; then it is closed with a curtain.) The opening and closing of the performance is carried out with the help of a red kumak curtain.
From a conversation with puppeteers, Vinogradov learned that in the Novgorod province "several more people are engaged in the same craft", that they "go every year with their theater to different localities" and everywhere they are received "very well, but the earnings are not important, and the police oppress" . The puppeteers know the play by heart and play “with minor variations”, one of them has the text written down in a notebook. Vinogradov wrote down the play from the words of the puppeteer, “with his explanations, then listened, compared and supplemented the performance, and finally wrote out all the options from the notebook [...], where, in addition, one more phenomenon turned out to be superfluous.”

King Herod. Recorded in the town of Slavuta Zaslavsky near. Volyn province. in the winter of 1896/97 from local boys aged 18-20.
The text is in the collection of IP Eremin. Published under the article: Eremin IP Drama-game "King Herod" // Proceedings of the Department of Ancient Russian Literature. M.; L., 1940, v. 10, p. 234-237. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 352-355.
Katuy - executions (from Ukrainian to roll - to execute).
Katya - kat, executioner.
Miolan - "Miolan, Zmiulan - characters of folk tales, knightly stories of the 17th-18th centuries. and a number of folk dramas. This name comes from the combination of two words - “Snake” and “Ilan” (tat. serpent, dragon)” [Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 336).
This performance is especially interesting in that it was played out not with puppets, but by people - Russians living in Ukraine (in the Volyn province), and the performance was given by two parties: “older guys took part in one - eighteen to twenty years old, [...] the other was younger lads - thirteen or fourteen years old.
According to the collector, ethnographer V. A. Moshkov, both troupes had “no decorations; all their theatrical possessions consisted of their costumes, which they made again for every Christmas, and a tent in which Herod's throne (simply a stool) was placed. King Herod was depicted “in a soldier's uniform, over which a red mantle was thrown: he was belted with a wide sash pasted over with gilded paper; a paper sash is hung over the left shoulder, and a saber on a sword belt pasted over with gold paper over the right shoulder,

On the head is a cardboard crown pasted over with gilded paper, white gloves are on the hands. Herod's guardian performed “in an ordinary mari-narca with gold galloons on his chest, with a ribbon over his shoulder and with a saber; on the head is a low cylindrical cap with a feather. Warriors - “in short chintz uniforms, in leather sashes with a badge, with checkers over their shoulders; on the heads of helmets made of gilded paper; one of them, besides checkers, has a spade. Rachel - "a lad dressed in a woman's dress, with a rag doll in his hands." The devil - or "in an ordinary marinar with a black mask on his face, with horns", or "in a sheepskin coat, turned inside out." Death - "a lad with a sheet thrown over his head, in a white mask, with a wooden scythe in his hands."

FOLKLORE OF URBAN FESTIVE SPEECHES

Petersburg district. I. The text is taken from the book: R o v i n s k i y D. A. Russians folk pictures. M., 1881, v. 5, p. 231. See also: Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 125-126; Folk Theatre, p. 379.
II. The text is taken from the book: Book of Alekseev-Yakovlev, p. 55-56. See also: Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 126-127; Folk Theatre, p. 379-380.
Alekseev-Yakovlev heard these jokes from a man of "indisputable talent" - Ivan Danilovich Ryabov, a former "serf of some Oryol landowner, a tall, stately handsome man who was released "to freedom" in 1861." Further, Alekseev-Yakovlev writes: “Acquainted with Ryabov on Admiralteiskaya Square, I then met him in Moscow on the Maiden’s Field, and for the last time in the mid-nineties in the Brazilian Garden, in Kunavin, at the Nizhny Novgorod Fair, where I staged a fairy tale extravaganza , and he traded books, popular publications, for the most part, and continued to show the panorama. [...] Ryabov was inexhaustible in jokes, he did not speak about himself and his wanderings otherwise than - "I'm buffoonish." It was heard that he died in Ivanovo-Voznesensk in the years Russo-Japanese War, to a ripe old age speaking with a panorama.
III. The text is taken from the book: Leifert A.V. Balagany. Pg., 1922, p. 70. See also: Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 127; Folk Theatre, p. 380-381.
IV. The text is taken from the article "Petersburg Notes" // Son of the Fatherland, 1875, No. 8, February 23.
Kostroma is on fire - "a hint at the famous Kostroma fires, during which their own slovenliness accused almost everyone who came across, without exception, of setting fire to" (note by Rovinsky).
Bismarck - Otto Bismarck (1815-1898), the first Chancellor of Germany in 1871-1890, one of the main organizers of the Triple Alliance of 1882, directed against France and Russia.

Senator Gambet was given a carriage. - “Gambetta Leon (1838-1882) - a major French politician, in March 1871 temporarily left political activity. It is possible that the Raeshnik's explanations refer to this episode in Gambetta's biography” (Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 331).
Battle of Sedan - near the French city of Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. German troops surrounded and defeated the French army of Marshal M. E. McMahon, who capitulated led by Emperor Napoleon III.

Moscow raek. I. The text is taken from Yu. A. Dmitriev's article "At the old Moscow festivities." - WTO theatrical almanac. M., 1947, book. 6, p. 347. See also: Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 127-128; Folk Theatre, p. 382.
II. Performed in Moscow, May 1883
The text is in the Archives of the GTsTM, f. 144 Lentovsky, No. 910-911, fol. 1-2 vol. First published. in the book: Russian folklore. L., 1989, v. 25, p. 134-135. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 382-384.
The city of Arivan - Yerevan.
Prince Ivan Fedorovich - Paskevich-Erivansky, who in 1829 took Yerevan by storm, which had previously been in the power of the Turks.
Khodynskoye Pole is a vast field in the northwestern part of Moscow, a venue for mass folk festivals. In 1896, during the celebration on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II, due to the negligence of the authorities, a terrible stampede took place here, where, according to official figures, about one thousand four hundred people died.

Tula district. The text is taken from the article by I. Chulkovsky “Maslenitsa in Tula” // Tula reference sheet, 1865, No. 15, February 20.

The joke of the Yaroslavl Raeshnik. Recorded in Yaroslavl in 1938 by V. Yu. Krupyanskaya from S. N. Rodionova.
The text is in the GLM Archive (material of the Yaroslavl expedition in 1938), cor. 20, p. 1d, No. 22. Published for the first time.

Nizhny Novgorod fair districts. First published in the article by A. S. Gatsiski "Whenever". (Literary additions.) I. Fair districts. - Nizhny Novgorod. Guide and pointer to Nizhny Novgorod and the Nizhny Novgorod fair. N.-Novgorod, 1875, p. 173-175. See also: Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 124-125; Folk Theatre, p. 387-388.
Sukharev tower - "a tower over 70 meters high, built according to

Order of Peter I in 1692 in Moscow. During the reconstruction of Moscow, it was dismantled” (Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 330).
Strengthening Cathedral (that is, the Ecumenical Cathedral) - instead of the Assumption Cathedral (in the Kremlin) (Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 330).
Khotinsky field - “Khodynskoye field in Moscow; Raeshnik confused it with the Khotyn field, mentioned in some old soldiers' songs about the Turkish wars in the 18th century. Khotyn - a city in Moldova, in the XVIII century. - a strong Turkish fortress ”(Anthology of P. N. Berkov, p. 330).
Petrossky Palace - Petrovsky Castle in Moscow.
Leksandrovsky Garden - Alexander Garden in St. Petersburg in front of the Admiralty.
Adesta - Odessa. “Raeshnik showed pictures from the history Crimean War. In 1854, the united Anglo-French squadron bombarded Odessa. During the defense of Odessa, ensign A.P. Shchegolev distinguished himself (died in 1904 with the rank of general) ”(Anthology of P.N. Berkov, p. 330).

Russian raek. The text on the lubok picture is "Russian rayek". Ed. L. Abramova, lithograph. N. Golovina. M., 1857.

World Space. Text lubok pictures. Pech. in lithography by A. Prokofiev. M., 1858. Published according to the book: And in and about in E. P. Russian popular popular print. M., 1937, p. 120.

JOKES OF SHOWERS AND CAROUSEL SHUTTERS

Jokes of St. Petersburg "grandfathers". I. Recorded in 1871 from two St. Petersburg "grandfathers" - barkers - retired soldiers Ivan Evgrafov and Gavrila Kazantsev.
The text is taken from the article “Petersburg farcical jokes recorded by V.I. Kelsiev // Proceedings of the ethnographic department of the Society of Lovers of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography. M., 1889, book. 9, p. 113-118. See also: Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 129-133 (not all jokes are included); Folk Theatre, p. 395-401.
V. I. Kelsiev’s notes were published by his brother, who subjected them to some editing: “I accurately copied my brother’s notebooks, softened the words in two or three places, omitted repetitions, arranged the texts in order of content, renumbered and titled them, adhering to the notes on original. With the exception of a few numbers that are inconvenient for printing, here is everything that I found in my brother's manuscripts” (p. 113).
II. The text is taken from the book: Leifert A.V. Balagany, p. 65-69. See also:

Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 129-136; Folk Theatre, p. 401-406.
Sennaya - a square in St. Petersburg, where one of the largest markets in the capital was located.
“Bath” - “alegorically: a police station where pickpockets were subjected to corporal punishment” (Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 332).
Narva Zastava - built in 1814 at the entrance to St. Petersburg along the southern road.
Obukhovsky bridge - a bridge across the Fontanka in St. Petersburg, now does not exist.
"Barber" - in this joke, an allusion to the frequent robberies in St. Petersburg in the 1860s behind the Moscow outpost.
He stood with an elm needle - “with a club, that is, he was engaged in robbery” (Anthology by L. N. Berkov, p. 332).
Fartal - distort. "quarter".
Go for a ride on a boat - that is, on a carousel or a swing with seats in the form of a boat.

Moscow jokes. I. The text is taken from the book: Dmitriy v Yu. A. Russian circus. M., 1953, p. 35.
II. Monologue before the performance. Epilogue.
The text is in the archives of the GTsTM, no. 145904, l. 1-4. First published: Folklore Theatre, p. 408-409.
Mirikaschi are Americans.
Maximilian - refers to the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bTsar Maximilian, which is given in a booth, where the "grandfather" invites.
Walk around the Manezh - In Moscow late XIX V. Folk festivals were often held in the city Manege. “The entire arena was cleaned and decorated with flags, garlands, open stages were arranged for the performances of various magicians, acrobats, storytellers, coupletists, songwriter choirs and other pop performers” (Bel o s o v I. Gone Moscow. M., 1964, p. 337).

Smolensky called out. The text is taken from the book: Alperov S. D. In the arena of the old circus. M., 1936, p. 15-16. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 410-411.

“Here, here, respected gentlemen ...” The text is taken from the book: Filatov V., Aronov A. Bear Circus. M., 1962, p. 21.
The barker's monologue at the circus round, sounded in 1886, when thirteen-year-old Ivan Filatov (the future famous artist circus, trainer) the owner of the circus forced him to perform with lions, instead of the boy’s deceased stepfather.

Clown and ringmaster. 1-4. The texts are in the collection of P. N. Tikhanov. No. 1-3, l. 111-113, No. 4, l. 123. First published: Folk Theatre, p. 416-420.
Ringmaster - in the circus: "head of the stable." The person talking to the clowns is the ringmaster. But in the folk farcical tradition, in many records of "raus" the first term is used.

Clown and owner. The text is taken from an article by V. V. "Comedian" in the Kharkov newspaper "Southern Territory" dated December 18, 1897. First published: Folklore Theatre, p. 420-421.
The seventeenth guild merchant is a comedic combination. In Russia, the merchants, depending on the amount of capital and the type of trade, were divided into three guilds (categories).
The pillar nobleman is an ancient family whose nobility spans several generations.

Comrade and clown. The text is taken from Yu. A. Dmitriev's article "At the old Moscow festivities", p. 354-355. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 422-423.

Yerema and Foma. The text is in the archives of the State Central Museum of Contemporary Art, No. 145905. First published: Folklore Theatre, p. 424-426.
Yerema and Foma are a popular comic couple. The beginning of their conversation is a dialogue well known from popular prints, fairy tales, stories and songs about Thomas and Yerema; the second part is a typical invitation to a farce in the form of a raus dialogue, which uses the popular ideas about the bear as an intelligent animal and having the gift of healing, predicting fate, etc.

Yerema and Putty. The text is in the archives of the GTsTM, No. 145906. Published for the first time.
Putty - Yerema's partner in the round dialogue, so named because he came out stained in flour (a variant of the Russian Pierrot).
Seltzer water - table mineral water.
... "to drive a bear" - to drink and eat a lot.
The Hermitage is a luxurious expensive restaurant on Trubnaya Square in Moscow, where eminent merchants and the rich used to hang out. That was also the name of the pleasure garden with the famous operetta theater of M. V. Lentovsky.

Transvaal. The text is in the archives of the GTsTM, no. 145909, l. 1. Published for the first time.
The dialogue is a response to the war of 1899-1902. Great Britain vs Boer Republics South Africa- The Orange Free State and the Transvaal.
Ladysmith is a city that was besieged by the Boers at the beginning of the war.
Kruger S.-P. (1825-1904) - President of the Transvaal, one of the leaders of the resistance of the Boers to the British troops.
Chamberlain J. (1836-1914) - Minister of the Colonies of Great Britain in 1895-1903.

Pakhomych. The text is in the archives of the GTsTM, No. 167950. Published for the first time.
The scene, designed for balcony barkers, was created and performed by I. A. Zaitsev at the beginning of the 20th century.
I. A. Zaitsev (1863-1936) - typical representative fair, square culture of Russia, he was a great puppeteer (he was a perfect master of parsley, puppets), he cut and designed puppets, was an acrobat, sword swallower, gymnast, magician, writer and performer of raus miniatures; traveled all over Russia, worked in various booths and circuses. In 1931 he was accepted into the troupe Central Theater puppets under the direction of S. V. Obraztsov, where he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Republic.

Cries and Rhymes of Street Vendors and Artisans

The eloquence of the Russian Torzhok. Materials from the collection of V. I. Simakov, stored in the Manuscript Department of the Institute of the Russian Language of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Published according to the publication of T. G. Bulak in the book: From the history of Russian folklore. L., 1978, p. 107-134.
Recordings were made in Moscow in the 10-20s of our century.
"Korkodil" - the magazine "Krokodil", which began to be published in 1922.
Madnast (mannness) - softness, velvety, tenderness, the absence of any astringency (note Bulak).
"Trezvon" is the name of the old company that produced cigarettes (note Bulak).
"Delhi", "Uzbek" - Soviet-made cigarettes that appeared on the market in 1922-1923. (note by Simakov).
Matches Lapshin - refers to the match factory Lapshin in pre-revolutionary Russia.

Antikh, antique (outdated) - charm, delight; playful expression of praise, the highest degree admiration for someone or something (note Bulak).

Moscow shooter. The text of the popular print "Moscow Sbitenshchik and Khodebshchik", printed in lithography by A. Prokofiev. M., 1858.

Peddler-baluster. The text of the popular image. Lithograph of Golyshev in Golyshevka. 1876.

Pie-maker Yashka. The text is in the ShTM archive, No. 10332 (145908). Published V. D. Kuzmina in Proceedings of the ODRL. M.; L., 1955, vol. XI, p. 421.

Sbitenshchik. The text is taken from an article by M. A. Orlov “Recreation, or May Day” / / Rest of a Christian, 1910, No. b.

BEAR FUN

“The arrival of the leader with the bear ...” The text is taken from the book: R about in and n with k and y D. A. Russian folk pictures. SPb., 1881, v. 5, p. 227-229. See also: Anthology by P. N. Berkov, p. 137-138; Folk Theatre, p. 431-432.
... the lady collects talc and eggs in a basket with women - serfs had to give the landowner a certain amount of yarn, eggs, berries and other products and products of their labor during the year.
...sits, speaks little, burps after a word, after two n[...] - no. - "In the second edition of "Russian Folk Pictures" by D. A. Rovinsky (1900, vol. II, st. 365-367): "...sits, speaks little, through the word [...]" - Rovinsky makes a footnote : “Written down on the performance itself, which in nature was incomparably faster” (vol. II, st. 366).
The leader begins to beat out the fraction. - “This is where the swearing name came from: “Oh, you, retired goat drummer” (note by Rovinsky, vol. II, stb. 367).
Description of the bear comedy of the middle of the 19th century.

Sergach. The text is taken from the essay by S. V. Maksimov "Sergach". // Collected works of S.V. Maksimov. In 20 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1909, v. 13, p. 76-83. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 435-438.
...the annual celebration of the summer Kazanskaya. - Appearance of the Kazan Icon of God

Mother is celebrated on July 8 (21). The holiday was especially solemnly celebrated where Kazanskaya was a patronal holiday; guests came to such a village, youth festivities were organized.
... grins already non-dangerous teeth. - For the safety of the leader, young bears, which were prepared for fun, filed their claws and teeth.
The essay describes the Nizhny Novgorod bear fun of the middle of the 19th century.
Explaining the nickname of the bear, Maksimov writes: “In our northern Great Russian provinces, the custom of driving bears has been adopted by residents of well-known localities; mostly driven by Tatars of the Sergach district Nizhny Novgorod province. And here is the origin of the name sergach, which passes from the guide-master and to the furry dancer; one conductor remains with its unchanged name - goats. The name sergach has recently become so common that, whether a guide from Myshkin (Yaroslavl province), Vladimir, Kostroma, he will certainly be given the name of a Nizhny Novgorod town ”(pp. 73-74).

Driver's sentence. Recorded in the Knyagininsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod province. from the words of a Russified Tatar leader from Vasilsky district, in the middle of the 19th century.
The text is taken from the book: Nizhny Novgorod collection. Ed. A. Gatsiskogo. N.-Novgorod, 1867, v. 1, p. 220-221. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 441.

[Sentences of the bugbear]. The text is taken from the article: Albinsk and P. Sergach Bear Bears (From the history of obsolete seasonal trades) // Nizhny Novgorod provinces. statements. 1887, 7 Jan. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 439-440.
P. Albinsky, like S. Maksimov, considered the leaders of the Sergach and Vasilsky districts of the Nizhny Novgorod province to be “real, indigenous bear bearers”. “The Tatar settlement Andreevka was especially famous for the number of its bears, where there were up to 150 bears. A significant number of bears were found in [...] Gribanovo (up to 50 bears), Poshatov (about 10 bears), Anda, Kochko-Pozharki [...], in the county town of Ser-gach (up to 90 bears), in the villages of Klyuchev (up to 120 bears) and Cemeteries (up to 60 bears). Our Sergach bear hunters bought bears wherever they could find them - near the Tver province, in forests and swamps, in manor yards, from hunters [...] ". Bear cubs cost from a ruble to four, and a large trained bear was estimated at up to 150 rubles. “There were relatively wealthy people among the bears, who had several bears and rented them to others,” in this case, the leader received half of the earnings, the “goat” boy received a third or fourth, the rest was due to the owner of the bear. "General environment-

The figure of money brought by each bear bear from campaigns with a bear was equal to 100 rubles a year, ”the campaigns were very distant and long: fifteen people left the house to fish in artels“ near the Savior of the Transfiguration (Aug. 6) and around Sergius Day (25 Sept.), and returned back to Peter's Day (June 29), to the Trinity, to Ilyin's Day ”[Dates are given according to the old style. Ilyin's day - July 20 (old style)], i.e., it was possible to live at home for three weeks, at best a month. Sergach "bears" went to Moscow, Smolensk, Belarus, Ukraine, and went to Poland, Latvia, Moldova.
The stories and verdicts were recorded by P. Albitsky mainly from the “old bear” from the village of Cemeteries Andrei Vasiliev Lomakin.

“Come on, Mishenka Ivanych...” The text of the popular print printed in the lithograph by A. Abramov. M., 1866. Published on Sat.: Folk poetic satire. L., 1960, p. 298-299. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 446-447.

[Bears in Kaluga]. Recorded in 1928 in Kaluga from bear leaders N. I. Balanov, 37 years old, and N. F. Reshetnik, 38 years old - Moldavians of the Khotinsky district of Bessarabia.
The text is taken from the article by Sheremeteva M.E. “The leaders of the bears in Kaluga” // Collection of the Kaluga state. museum. Kaluga, 1930, no. 1, p. 61-64. See also: Folk Theatre, p. 442-444.
Moldavian bears traveled all over the country, their fishing is hereditary, in some families this occupation was passed down from generation to generation for three centuries. According to the leaders from whom the recording was made, children in such families were trained in the art of comedy from early childhood, working with bear cubs and young bears.
The performance went to the harmony and tambourine, a comedy was played in Russian.

WRITERS AND CULTURAL WORKERS ABOUT THE FOLK THEATER

FOLK DRAMA

“The singers did not stop...” The text is taken from the essay by A. S. Griboedov “A country trip (an excerpt from a letter from a southern resident)”.
Published according to the book: Griboedov A.S. Full. coll. op. A. S. Griboedova. SPb., 1889, vol. 1, p. 109.

“Our playful amusements...” An excerpt from the memoirs of F. I. Buslaev about the days of study at Moscow University.

Published according to the book: Buslaev F.I. My memories (Academician F.I. Buslaev). M., 1897, p. 116-117.

“I also remember well...” From M. Speransky's article “Iv. Al. Goncharov and new materials for his biography // Bulletin of Europe, 43rd year, vol. VI, St. Petersburg, 1908, p. 25.

“I had masquerades on holidays...” An excerpt from a letter from I. S. Turgenev to Aksakov.
Published according to: I. S. Turgenev. From the correspondence of I. S. Turgenev with the Aksakov family. Forty years ago: 1852-1857 // Bulletin of Europe, 29th year, book. 1. St. Petersburg, 1894, p. 339.

“In the evening, artillery soldiers came to me ...” An excerpt from a letter from I. S. Aksakov to his relatives.
Published according to the book: Aksakov I. S. Ivan Sergeevich Aksakov in his letters, part 1, vol. 3. Letters of 1851-1860. A trip to Little Russia. Militia... Travel abroad. M., 1882, p. 221-222.

"Original announcement in Sestrebek..." From Ya. P. Polonsky's diary. December 18, 1855 // Voice of the Past, 1919, No. 1-4, p. 115.

“In county towns at that time...” An excerpt from the memoirs of P. V. Zasodimsky.
Published according to the book: Z a s o d i m s k i y P. V. From memories. M., 1908, p. 13-15.

"Alexander Ivanovich told a lot..." An excerpt from the memoirs of A. Milyukov about Herzen.
Published according to the book: M i l yu k o v A. Literary meetings and dating. Stories by A. Milyukov. SPb., 1890, p. 143, 145-146.

“The vanity of the sexual ones has begun again ...” An excerpt from the essay by F. D. Nefedov. Christmas time in the village of Danilov. Essays from the life of the factory village "// Bulletin of Europe, 6th year, vol. II. SPb., 1871, p. 83-87.

[Fair scooters] An excerpt from an essay by A. P. Melnikov. Essays on everyday history of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair.
Published according to the book: Centenary of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair. N.-Novgorod, 1917, p. 126-128.

“It's not a village here...” An excerpt from the essay by O. Ya. Yelpatevsky “Fair Pictures. I. Scooters.
Published according to the book: Elpatevsky O. Ya. Stories. M., 1919, v. 2, p. 136-138.

The choir performed in indoors...» From the memoirs of the honored artist M. A. Rostovtsev.
Published according to the book: Rostovtsev M. A. Pages of life. M., 1939, p. 63-65.

“Polyakov called us for a long time...” An excerpt from the diary of V. Ya. Bryusov about the meeting of the New Year (1900) at the factory of A. Polyakov.
A. A. Polyakov - manufacturer-philanthropist.
Yu. K. Baltrushaitis (1873-1944) - Lithuanian poet, at the beginning of the 20th century he joined the Symbolists.

“In a few days, Anton Bobrov himself comes ...” An excerpt from the memoirs of E. V. Sakharova “The People's Theater and the Family of V. D. Polenov. Memories of the Artist's Daughter // Tarusa Pages. Literary and artistic illustrated collection. Kaluga, 1961, p. 243.

PUPPET SHOW

“This comedy is being played in Moscow...” Description of a parsley performance in Moscow in the middle of the 19th century. The text is taken from the book: R o v i n s k i y D. A. Russian Folk Pictures. SPb., 1881, v. 5, p. 225-227.

["Petrushka" in the Kuban.] Diary entry superintendent of the Ekaterinodar parish school V.F. Zolotarenko dated October 1, 1844
Published according to the book: From the diary of V. F. Zolotarenko (1841-1847) // Kuban Regional Gazette, 1901, No. 165, July 29.

Petersburg organ grinders. The text is taken from the essay by D. V. Grigorovich "Petersburg organ-grinders" (1843) // Grigory and ch D. V. Full. coll. op. In 12 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1896, v. 1, p. 22-26.
In the Semenovsky regiment, in the corner, in the fifth company, in the Goat Swamp, there is a comic address that combines real St.

Stvenno the streets of this area were called "companies" and were numbered.

“Having heard about the farce ...” An excerpt from the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who should live well in Rus'” (1863-1877): part one, chapter II “Village Fair”.

Parsley. The poem belongs to the Iskra poet and actor of the Alexandrinsky Theater G. N. Zhulev (1834-1878), written in 1864.
Published according to the book: Poets of Iskra. In 2 vols. L., 1987, v. 2, p. 305-306, 413.
...they play roles because of one-offs - that is, on the terms of per-performance payment for artists.
... red collar - quarterly.

“I led him to listen to Petrushka...” F. M. Dostoevsky’s draft notes for the 3rd chapter of the first chapter of the Writer’s Diary for January 1876
Published by A. S. Dolinin in the Scientific Records of the Leningrad Ped. in-ta im. Pokrovsky, vol. 2. L., 1940, v. 4, p. 315-316; See also: F. M. Dostoevsky on art. M., 1973, p. 452-455.
Dostoevsky's reasoning is caused by the performance of a folk puppet comedy on a Christmas tree in the Artists' Club in St. Petersburg, which he saw together with I.F. Gorbunov.
Samoilov V.V. (1813-1887) - actor of the St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky Theater, who had big success in the plays of A. N. Ostrovsky, Sukhovo-Kobylin, Shakespeare.
Gorbunov I.F. (1831-1896) - actor of the St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky Theater, author and excellent performer of short humorous stories-sketches.

Country Fair and Vinegar Parsley. An excerpt from the travel diary of Iv. Shcheglova (I. L. Leontiev), related to the fair in the city of Murom, Vladimir Province. in 1895
Published according to the book: Shcheglov I. The people and the theater. SPb., 1911, p. 117-127.

Parsley on Sakhalin. Text from the chapter "Convict theater" of V. M. Doroshevich's book "Sakhalin" (M., 1903, p. 125-126).

Petr Petrovich Uksusov. The text is taken from the book: Speransky E.V. Actor of the puppet theater. M., 1965, p. 15-21.
The description of the parsley comedy in Moscow at the beginning of the 20th century belongs to

lies major figure Soviet theater puppets - an actor, director, playwright, author of a number of works on the puppet theater. E. Speransky looks at "Petrushka" through the eyes of a professional, brought up on a qualitatively different art, and nevertheless highly appreciates the centuries-old folk experience, the skill of ordinary street puppeteers.

"Nativity scene - a box with two tiers..." An excerpt from the memoirs of the writer E. A. Avdeeva about Irkutsk at the end of the 18th century.
The text is taken from the book: Avdeeva E.A. Notes and remarks about Siberia. M., 1837, p. 57-59.

Nativity scene in Irkutsk. Memoirs belong to the famous critic and playwright of the last century - Nick. Field, whose childhood was spent in Irkutsk at the beginning of the 19th century.
The text is taken from the article: Polevoy N. My memories of the Russian theater and Russian drama // Repertoire of the Russian theater. SPb., 1840, book. 2 (Feb.), p. 2-3.
Catalani Angelina (1780-1849) - famous Italian Opera singer. She performed in many countries, including Russia (in 1820).
Sontag Henriette (1806-1854) - German opera and chamber singer. In 1837-1843. lived in Petersburg.
Requiem, Don Juan - works by V.-A. Mozart.
The clan of Scapen the servant, the clan of Orgon the master - the heroes of the plays by J.-B. Molière ("Tricks of Scapin" and "Tartuffe").

FAIR SPEECH FOLKLORE

“A little further ...” An excerpt from the essay by the writer of the sixties A. I. Levitov “Types and scenes of a rural fair” // Lev and tov A. I. Soch. In 2 t. L.; M., 1932, v. 1, p. 110-111.
The city of China is a mixture of China and the central part of Moscow adjacent to the Kremlin - Kitay-gorod.
Spassky Gates - refers to the gates in the Moscow Kremlin.
Bruce - an overseas sorceress - “Bruce Yakov Vilyamovich (1670-1735) - general under Peter I; in 1709-1715 published the so-called "Bryusov calendar" with drawings and predictions of events until 1821, which is why he was known among the people as a sorcerer. In pre-revolutionary times, many publishers printed all sorts of nonsense in the mass editions of calendars under the title "Predictions according to Bruce" (note by I. S. Yezhov to Levitov's decree to that, p. 846).
Alexander the Blessed - Alexander I.

“Have you ever…” An excerpt from the review of V. G. Belinsky “Benefit performance of the city of Zhivokini” // Belinskiy V. G. Soch. M., 1888, part 1, p. 505. Review written 1835.

Yushka is a comedian. The text is taken from the book: G i l yar o v k i y V. A. Moscow and Muscovites // G i l yar o v k i y V. A. Favorites. In 3 vol. M., 1961, vol. 3, p. 74-75.
Julia Pastrana is a woman with increased hairiness ("lady with a beard"), who was often shown in booths as a "wonder of nature."

Yashka-clown. Fragments from the memoirs of F.I. Chaliapin about Kazan in the early 1880s. Published according to the book: Fedor Ivanovich Chaliapin. literary heritage. Letters. In 3 vols. M., 1957, vol. 1, p. 42-43; 243-244.
Fomin's week - following the Easter week.

“In the gateway of our house...” An excerpt from the book by Lev Uspensky “Notes of an Old Petersburger” (L., 1970, p. 76-79). We are talking about St. Petersburg at the beginning of the 20th century.
Nyustadtskaya street - now Lesnoy avenue in Leningrad.

“Small, caricatured NEP...” From an article by V. V. Mayakovsky in 1923 “Small NEP. (Moscow Sketches)" // Maya k o v s k i y V. V. Poln. coll. op. In 13 t. M., 1959, v. 12, p. 59-60.

Damn and alarm clock. Performance in one of the booths on Devichye Pole in Moscow in the middle of the 19th century.
The text is taken from the book: R o v i n s k i y D. A. Russian Folk Pictures. In 2 vol. M., 1900, vol. 2, stb. 407.

“Many really go to the farce ...” An excerpt from the essay by G. I. Uspensky “Bright Day. I. Night and entertainment "(1863) // Full. coll. op. In 14 t. M., 1952, vol. 1, p. 46-47.

“I got into a booth on Tsvetnoy Boulevard...” An entry from the diary of P. I. Tchaikovsky. Text from the book: Chaykovskiy P.I. Diary. L.; M., 1928, p. 141.

Samara. 1878 ... "From the memoirs of I. L. Filatov - one of the largest representatives of a whole dynasty of artists of the domestic circus.

Published according to the book: F and lat o v V., A ron o v A. Bear circus. M., 1962, p. 16-18, 50-51, 51-53.

“The most vivid impression...” An excerpt from the memoirs of Alisa Koonen (1889-1974), referring to the mid-1890s. Published according to the book: Konen A. Pages of life. M., 1985, p. 14-16.
Odintsovo is a large trading village in the Tver region.
The Malakhov Theater is a country theater in Malakhovka (a village near Moscow), where A. Koonen played in the summer of 1911.
“Where did the fuss catch fire” is a comedy-joke in 4 acts by V. Aleksandrov (V. A. Krylov).

“I remember Easter was approaching...” An excerpt from the biographical story of Nadezhda Plevitskaya, a performer of Russian folk songs famous at the beginning of our century, “Dezhkin Karagod”. The story refers to 1899-1900.
Published according to the book: Nest'e in I. V. Stars of the Russian stage. (Panina, Vyaltseva, Plevitskaya). M., 1970, p. 136-137.

DESCRIPTIONS OF FAIRS AND FESTIVALS

“There are a lot of pedlars on the streets...” Text from the book: Kon and A. F. Old Petersburg. Memories of an old timer. Pb., 1922, p. 19-20, 52-53. Petersburg in the middle of the 19th century.

Petersburg Notes. An excerpt from the essay by V. A. Sleptsov “Petersburg Notes. I. Spring walk with children along the streets of St. Petersburg ”(1863).
Published according to the book: Slepts o in V. A. Soch. In 2 vol. M., 1957, vol. 2, p. 330.

“Crowds of people are stretching from all sides ...” The text is taken from the essay by I. G. Pryzhov “From under Novinsky, which is in Moscow” // Pryzho in I. G. Essays. Articles. Letters. M.; L., 1934, p. 236-237.
Puppets with the same Parsley - puppets in general are meant.

Booths on the holy. Chapter of the essay by V. A. Sleptsov “Street Scenes” // Sleptsov V. A. Soch. in 2 t. M.; L., 1933, v. 2, p. 469-479.
Describes the festivities at Easter in St. Petersburg in the sixties of the XIX century.
The other panorama refers to the rayek.
The city of Arshava: it used to be rough, now it has been smoothed out - a hint of the pacification of the Polish uprising of 1863,

Nikolaevsky bridge - now the bridge of Lieutenant Schmidt on the Neva. In Bolshaya Morskaya - now st. Herzen in Leningrad.

"On the Maiden's Field..." An excerpt from N. D. Teleshov's Notes of a Writer. Published according to the ed.: Teleshov N. D. Notes of a Writer. M., 1948, p. 256, 268-270, 273-274.
The description refers to Moscow at the end of the last century.
In the week of meat-empty - Shrovetide week, Maslenitsa.
Palm Week is the week before Easter.

Memories of Shrovetide booths in St. Petersburg. Foreword by A. N. Benois to the book: Leyfert A. V. Balagany. L., 1922.
Tsaritsyn meadow - Field of Mars, where since the 80s of the XIX century in St. Petersburg Maslenitsa and Easter festivities were held.
Kirochnaya - now st. M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin in Leningrad.
Melpomene and Thalia - in ancient Greek mythology, two of the nine muses of art; the first is the patroness of tragedy, the second is comedy.
Cassandra - in Greek mythology, the daughter of King Priam of Troy, who received a prophetic gift from Apollo.
Captives of the Smolny Monastery - pupils of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens; The Institute was located on the territory of the Smolny Monastery.

Petersburg of my childhood. From the memoirs of M. V. Dobuzhinsky, relating to the 90s of the XIX century.
Published according to the book: Dobuzh and n with k and y M. V. Memoirs. M., 1987, p. 6, 17-20.
The inevitable “Battle of the Russians with the Kabardians” is an extremely popular popular popular novel of the middle of the 19th century, it was reprinted many times, its episodes were played out in farcical performances.
The White General - this was the name of the general from infantry M. D. Skobelev - the hero of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878.

BEAR FUN

“And I still got wound up ...” An episode from “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum”.
Pub. by ed.: Life of Archpriest Avvakum, written by himself, and his other writings. M., 1934, p. 75-76.
Uhari - apparently, "masks", "masks (hari)".
Boyar Vasily Petrovich Sheremetev (d. 1659) - since 1648 he was appointed to the province in Kazan.
Avvakum's meeting with bear cubs took place in July - August

1648 in the village of Lopatitsy, Makaryevsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province.

Notification. Placed in the "St. Petersburg Gazette", 1771, No. 56, July 15. Karls are dwarfs. Gunpowder - here: rubbish, mote.

“A bear and a goat are faking...” The text of the popular print. Second quarter of the 19th century. - State. Russian Museum (Leningrad), engraving department. GR. lub. 2731. See also: Rov and n s k i y D. A. Russian folk pictures, vol. 1, no. 179 b.
Play valika - distort. the spelling must be either "bagpipe" or "balalaika".
Cheese Week - Maslenitsa.
The picture is one of the oldest and most popular, known from the 18th century (engraving on wood), in the 19th century many repetitions were made, engraved on copper.

In Maryina grove. The text of the popular print printed in intaglio E. [I]. Yakovlev. M., 1858.
Published according to the text reproduced in the book: Lubok. Part 1. Russian song. Comp. and comment. S. A. Klepikova. M., 1939, p. 221. (In this edition, the text is given in modern orthography.)
picture used sustained success, willingly sold out and therefore published in large numbers in different printing houses for half a century (since the 1850s).

“As a child, I often saw ...” The text is taken from S. Shcheglov's essay “The City of Petrovsk. Fragments of memories” // Proceedings of the Saratov Scientific Archival Commission, vol. 25, 1909, p. 279.
Memoirs date back to the 1860s.
Petrovsk is a county town in the north of the Saratov province.

Lost Moscow. An excerpt from the memoirs of the poet, prose writer and translator I. A. Belousov “Gone Moscow” // Gone Moscow. Memoirs of contemporaries about Moscow in the second half of the 19th century. M., 1964, p. 347-348.
... at that time and later - we are talking about the 70s years XIX century.

"Maryanna". The text is taken from the article: Legat V. In the backyards of Moscow // Ogonyok, 1925, No. 36 (127), p. 14-15.
The article reflects last period the existence of bear fun.

Since the second half of the 18th century, comedy has been gaining popularity. New genres are emerging:

• realistic (Fonvizin),
• satirical (Knyaznin, Kapnist),
• sentimental (Lukin, Kheraskov).

Creativity D.I.Fonvizin

Of all the Russian playwrights of the 18th century, Denis Fonvizin (1745 - 1792) is perhaps the most famous. From the school bench, many generations of students remember his sparkling and lively comedy "Undergrowth". She is considered the pinnacle of the playwright's work, which deviates somewhat from tradition and follows the genre of realistic drama.

Brought up in the theater, author with young years dreamed of creating a national comedy. His first literary experiments were translations of French plays. Observations of contemporary life gave the young playwright the necessary food for writing in the 1760s the first serious dramatic work - the comedy "The Brigadier". The premiere of the play took place in 1780 at the theater on the Tsaritsyn meadow.

The comedy is written in a truly folk, aphoristic language. Shortly after the premiere, it was dismantled into quotes. In the center of the work is a brigadier (a rank higher than a major, but lower than a colonel in tsarist army), suffering from pronounced gallomania. His desire to show his literacy and enlightenment lead to comic situations. The simplicity of the plot helps Fonvizin to create a moralistic picture of life " high society and condemn her vices.

The second comedy, "Undergrowth", is devoted to the problems of education. But the meaning of "Undergrowth" cannot be reduced to only one catchphrase -

"I don't want to study, I want to get married."

The central place in it is occupied by the clash of wild feudal landlord orders and the ideals of enlightened humanism. Evil, according to the author, is not only in the absence of education, but also in the despotism of the landowners, the violation of the law, and the abuse of human rights. The anti-serf pathos of the play put Fonvizin in the front ranks of the fighters against landowner arbitrariness. "Talking" surnames (a feature clearly borrowed from classicism) such as Starodum, Pravdin, Prostakova, Tsyfirkin, Vralman helped the playwright to more fully reveal the idea of ​​the comedy.

"Undergrowth" was first staged by the author and Dmitrievsky in St. Petersburg at the theater on the Tsaritsyn meadow. Dmitrievsky played Starodum in the play. The performance was a resounding success with the public. In 1783 the play triumphantly appeared on the stage of the Petrovsky Theater in Moscow.

Fonvizin's last play "The Choice of a Tutor" was written in 1790, it is devoted to the theme of education. In the center of the comedy are false teachers-adventurers who destroy the foundations of the education of a noble society.

Creativity of Ya.B.Knyazhnin and V.V.Kapnist

The playwrights of the 18th century Yakov Knyazhnin (1742-1791) and Vasily Kapnist (1757-1823) went down in history as authors of satirical comedies. Their drinking was notable for its acute social orientation. They scathingly criticized noble society, ridiculed and denounced the vices of high society.

The satirical comedy was more connected with the classicist tradition than the realistic one. It is characterized by the same 5-act construction, presentation in poetic form. However, satirical comedy has a close relationship with the folk theater (games).

The main technique used by Ya.B. Knyaznin is the grotesque . In his comedy "Bouncer", written in 1786, the author ridicules favoritism - the leading feature of Catherine II's style of government. The nobles presented in the comedy are grotesquely implausible, comical, ignorant. They can be easily deceived by playing on weak character traits.

Having fallen into disgrace due to criticism of the reigning regime, the playwright Kniazhnin changes his tone. A significant part of his work is occupied by political tragedies. The action in them takes place, as a rule, in the era of Ancient Rus', but the situations have a modern background. So, Catherine perceived the tragedy "Vadim Novgorodsky" as a personal insult. After her second performance, the empress forbade this work to be staged in theaters, and ordered the published books to be seized and burned.

In the comedy Yabeda (1793), he paints an unattractive picture of Russian legal proceedings, nourished by personal observations (Kapnist had to sue over the estate). Much of the comedy seems to be taken from real life, a special case of the wild revelry of the blind Themis grows to the level of generalizations. This comedy is also interesting because in it for the first time a Russian peasant was brought to the stage. The tsar's ban was placed on Yabeda after its fourth performance at the St. Petersburg Theatre.

Creativity Lukin and Kheraskov

A new direction that came from the West is sentimentalism. And in dramaturgy, it found its embodiment in the "tearful" comedies and "philistine" dramas of Vladimir Lukin (1737 - 1794) and Mikhail Kheraskov (1733 - 1807). Sentimentalism is opposed to classicism. He is addressed to inner world human being, his right to freedom of expression.

V.I. Lukin was an ardent and consistent opponent of classicism. Although he called himself a follower of the national theatrical tradition, in reality he was engaged in stylizations of French plays. Of the 10 plays he wrote, there is only one original. In “Mote, Corrected by Love” (1765), genre canons are completely mixed up, the author brings the commoner to the stage not as a comic character, but as a person with vivid emotions, experiencing real human feelings. The existing landlord system is subjected to sharp condemnation in comedy.

The situations presented in the drama are by no means comical, although laughter is present in the play. The characters evoke compassion and empathy. Many of Kheraskov's dramas have an "exotic" title, lack national and domestic features, which brings them closer to classic aesthetics.

The meaning of Russian drama in the 18th century

Russian drama of the 18th century, which passed under the banner of classicism, gave the Russian stage a lot of talented playwrights working in the most different genres. The theater was enriched with a diverse repertoire. It firmly established:

• "high" and political tragedy,
• household and satirical comedy,
• sentimental drama,
• comic opera.

Such playwrights as Sumarokov, Fonvizin, Knyaznin determined the development of the Russian theater for many years. In the fight against classicism, new aesthetic platforms and sentimentalism were formed. They were closer and more understandable to the common people, so they gained popularity among the people. Gradually, Russian dramaturgy ceases to be purely aristocratic, and includes the questions of common people in its circle of problems. The natural development of dramaturgy leads to the fact that in the 19th century, in the work of Griboedov, Ostrovsky and other playwrights, social and political problems become leading in Russian dramaturgy.