In folk art was also known puppet theater: marionette theater(in it, the dolls were controlled with the help of threads), Petrushka theater with glove puppets (the puppets were put on the puppeteer's fingers) and nativity scene(in it, the dolls were motionlessly fixed on the rods and moved along the slots in the boxes).
The Petrushka Theater was especially beloved by the people. In the 19th century, the Petrushka Theater was the most popular and widespread type of puppet theater in Russia. It consisted of a light folding screen, a box with several dolls (the number of characters is usually from 7 to 20), a hurdy-gurdy and small props (sticks or ratchet clubs, rolling pins, etc.). The theater of Petrushka did not know the scenery. The puppeteer, accompanied by a musician, usually an organ grinder, went from court to court and gave traditional performances about Petrushka. He could always be seen during festivities, at fairs. The main character was Petrushka, after whom the theater is named. This hero was also called Pyotr Ivanovich Uksusov, Pyotr Petrovich Samovarov, etc. It arose under the influence of the Italian puppet theater Pulcinello, with which the Italians often performed in St. Petersburg and other cities.
In the Petrushka Theater, separate satirical scenes were presented. A.M. Gorky noted that "the invincible puppet hero defeated everyone and everything: priests, the police, the devil and death. He himself remained immortal." one
Here is how D.A. Rovinsky's performance of the Petrushka Theater, which he witnessed:
“This comedy is being played in Moscow, near Novinsky. [...] Its content is very simple: at first Petrushka appears, lies all sorts of nonsense in verse, burr and nasal in his nose, - the conversation is conducted by means of a typewriter, attached to the sky, over the tongue, just like The Gypsy appears, offers Petrushka a horse, Petrushka examines it, and receives kicks from the horse now in the nose, now in the belly, the whole comedy is filled with jerks and kicks, they constitute the most essential and most ridiculous part for spectators. Bargaining in progress, - Gypsy speaks without a typewriter, in a bass voice. After a long auction, Petrushka buys a horse; Gypsy leaves. Petrushka sits on his purchase; the purchase hits him front and back, throws Petrushka and runs away, leaving him dead on the stage. A plaintive howl follows Parsley and laments for an untimely death good fellow. The Doctor comes
Where does it hurt?
Here!
And here?
It turns out that Petrushka is in pain. But when the Doctor reaches the tender spot, Petrushka jumps up and taps him on the ear; The Doctor fights back, a fight begins, a stick appears from somewhere, with which Petrushka finally calms the Doctor.
What kind of Doctor are you, - Petrushka shouts to him, - if you ask where it hurts? What did you study for? You must know where it hurts!
A few more minutes - the Quarterly, or, in a puppet style, “fatal fiter” appears. Since a dead body lies on the stage, Petrushka is subjected to a strict interrogation (treble):
Why did you kill the Doctor?
Answer (on the nose):
Then, that he knows his science poorly - he looks at the beaten man, what he does not see, and he also asks him.
Word for word, - apparently, the interrogation of Fatal Petrushka does not like it. He seizes the former stick, and a fight begins, which ends with the destruction and expulsion of the Fatal, to the general delight of the spectators; this puppet protest against the police usually makes a real sensation in the public.
The play, it would seem, ended; but what to do with Petrushka? And then a wooden Poodle Dog, pasted over the tail and legs with shreds of whipped cotton wool, runs into the stage, and starts barking with all his urine (the bark is attached at the bottom of the husky).
Shavochka-darling, - Petrushka caresses her, - let's go live with me, I'll feed you cat meat.
But Shavochka grabs Petrushka by the nose for no reason; Parsley aside, she holds his hand, he takes the other, she again holds his nose; Finally, Petrushka takes a shameful flight. And so the comedy ends. If there are many spectators and Petrushkin's matchmaker, i.e. the chief comedian will be given vodka, then after that a special interlude is presented called Petrushka's wedding. There is no plot in it, but there is a lot of action. Petrushka brings the bride Varushka; he examines her in the manner of a horse. Petrushka liked Varyushka very much, and he could not bear to wait for the wedding, which is why he began to beg her: “Sacrifice yourself, Varyushka!” Then the final scene takes place, in which the fair sex cannot be present. This is the real and “latest end” of the show; then Petrushka goes to the outdoor stage of the booth to lie all sorts of nonsense and invite the audience to a new performance.
In the intervals between the actions of the play, dances of two Arapok are usually presented, sometimes a whole interlude about a Lady who was stung by a snake (Eve?); here, finally, the game of two Pagliacs with balls and a stick is shown. The latter comes out with experienced puppeteers extremely deftly and funny: the doll has no body, but only a simple skirt is faked, to which an empty cardboard head is sewn on top, and hands, also empty, from the sides. The puppeteer sticks the puppet in the head forefinger, and in the hands - the first and third fingers; he usually puts a puppet on each arm, and in this way acts with two puppets at once. In puppet comedy there is always a hurdy-gurdy, which replaced the old classical bagpipe, harp and whistle; the organ grinder at the same time serves as a “push”, i.e. enters into conversations with Petrushka, asks him questions and urges him to continue his lies without stopping.
People's Theater multifaceted and many-sided, but among its various types, the Petrushka puppet theater is the most striking and original. As folklore performance, the Petrushka Theater, existed in Russia from about the 18th century. Your finished classic look he didn't buy right away. Let us recall the history of the development of Russian folk puppet comedy. A. Belitsky sees the first, naive forms of puppet theater in the rite, “in playing with a puppet, dressing up, “moskuludstve”. The abstract form of disguise in the puppet theater is also noted by A.V. Gruntovsky.
It is known that for the first time the Petrushka theater was described by the German scientist, diplomat and traveler Adam Olearius, who was in Russia twice in the forties of the 17th century. In the travel diary published later, Olearius describes the performances of buffoons-musicians who sang songs, danced, showed various scenes puppet show. In addition to the puppet show, Olearius also describes “bear fun”. The leaders of the bears “had with them such comedians who, by the way, could immediately perform some kind of trick or klutch (prank), as the Dutch call it, with the help of puppets. To do this, they tie a sheet around their body, lift its free side up and hold it over their heads, thus forming something like a stage ... with which they walk the streets and show various performances on it from dolls. The testimony of Olearius is confirmed by an illustration, which probably depicts the scene of the sale of a horse. The puppet show described by the traveler was probably a prototype of the puppet comedy about Petrushka of the 19th century, although the hero of this performance could have had a different name, and story line could be different. In the 30s of the 17th century, puppet shows were based on an elementary plot, which served as the starting point for numerous improvisations of puppeteers. Presumably at that time there were already performances of the folk puppet theater, which were a success with common people and disliked by the authorities. Judging by the fact that these performances were shown in the programs of buffoon games, they were short and consisted of one or several short scenes. The comedy about Petrushka is often seen as a borrowed, puppet game brought from the cultures of countries Western Europe or East. Moreover, the time of borrowing is attributed to the end of the XVI - early XVII centuries (as V.N. Peretz believed), then to early XIX in. (according to the assumption of A.F. Nekrylova). “Precise data on the performances of Petrushka in the 18th century have not been preserved,” wrote V.D. Kuzmina, “but it is absolutely indisputable that such performances were and were a natural link between the Petrushka comedy that Olearius saw performed by buffoons XVII century, and folk puppet comedy of the XIX-XX centuries.
Comedy and its hero passed interesting, hard way, absorbing foreign and Russian features, reworking and mastering in a special way spectacular folklore, satirical genres of Russian folk art, the achievements of the democratic theater of the 17th-18th centuries and folk drama. V.N. Vsevolodsky-Gerngross in his work “Russian folk drama” noted that the old Russian puppet hero resembled, on the one hand, a passive young man from The Tale of Grief-Misfortune, and on the other hand, the enterprising Frol Skobeev and differed from Petrushka, who was well known from the performances of the 19th century. The core of the plot of the puppet comedy was also formed: a young guy decides to get married, acquire a household, and therefore, first of all, he buys a horse from a gypsy. Having fallen from a horse, he turns to a charlatan doctor, unable to bear the deceit, kills him with a club and buries him. In this plot, there is a clear connection with folk games, which are based on a parody: on matchmaking, wedding, bargaining, treatment, funeral. By the 19th century, Petrushka's comedy had passed its formation. Using the principles of an impromptu game, the puppeteers began to present the simplest plots, which were based on some proto-plots, which were formed, as we have already mentioned, probably under the influence of pagan folk cults, rituals, games: “walking with a filly”, “matchmaking”, “clownery”. treatment”, “parodic funeral”, etc. Hence, the characters of the Petrushka Theater are in many ways similar to the characters of pagan disguises, such as an old man, an old woman, a gypsy, a priest, singers, a dead man. The plot was also determined, which began to consist of a chain of scenes based on the motive of Petrushka's meeting with different characters. The sequence of the main scenes later was fixed by tradition. Usually the comedy began with a greeting, a conversation on a topical topic, an appeal to a musician, followed by scenes with a bride, buying a horse, meeting with a doctor. Then, in a different order and quantity, Petrushka's encounters and clashes with various characters followed: a German, an officer, a soldier, a quarterly, a gentleman, a rap, a friend and others. The appearance of the characters "was given typical features by which it was easy to recognize the hero - his social status, profession, nationality." .
But let's talk about central character puppet comedy. Of all the versions about its origin, let's focus on the most famous. Perhaps our hero received the name "Petrushka" by the name of the well-known in Russia jester of Queen Anna Ioannovna, Pietro Mirro (aka Pedrillo, aka Petruha-Farnos, or simply Petruha). There are other hypotheses about the origin of the main character of the comedy. Petrushka could adopt his name on behalf of one of his predecessors - the ancient Hindu jester Vidushak, who in appearance and behavior strongly resembled Petrushka. Other versions are also possible. So in roadside actors-puppeteers early XVIII in. the name of Petrushka Ivanov is mentioned, and in the first half of the same century, the puppeteer Pyotr Yakubovskaya gave performances in Moscow, so it is likely that the puppet hero could borrow his name from one of the puppeteers, whose performances were the most popular. There is another assumption that also has the right to exist. Comic characters loved by the people often received nicknames for the names of various dishes and seasonings. So the European Hanstwurst, Jean Farina, Pikkelgering, Jack Snack had funny nicknames - Ivan Sausage, Ivan Muchnik, Pickled herring, light snack. Vanka Ratatouille (“ratatouille” is the name of a French vegetable dish) appears in a similar way, which indicates the connection of the Russian puppet character with his European relatives. In addition, the name "ratatouille" is also known in northern Russian dialects as "poor empty soup".
In the first third of the 18th century, Petrushka was respectfully called none other than Pyotr Ivanovich (Petrovich) Samovarov, and in the 19th century he was also known as Pyotr Ivanovich (Petrovich) Uksusov. And finally, perhaps our hero got his name from his Italian counterpart - Pulcinella, whose name is translated from Italian as "cockerel".
So who is Petrushka - a social type, a national character, or a primitive person? In the folk theater, the character of the character was perceived as a given, as a collection of some definite, unchanging features. This theater was not interested in a specific person, it was concerned with a person in the most general manifestation, as "a person in general." “Petrushka alone stood apart: he had no prototype in real life, since he belonged to the family of European folk jesters who had common features in appearance - a huge nose, a hump or two humps (front and back), a protruding chin, a stupid cap on his head” . Another one feature Parsley is a special "musical" voice created using a special device - a squeaker. This inhuman voice, as well as four-fingeredness, indicate Petrushka's ancestral connection with the “other world”. And although in the comedy Petrushka, he tries on various social roles: marries, buys a horse, gets sick, goes to the soldiers, etc., he is by no means a social type. To see the national character in a character who belongs to the family of folklore jesters, possessing not only a similar appearance, but also character traits, is a hopeless occupation, although Petrushka, like all of them, has become a favorite folk puppet hero in Russia.
As we can see, Petrushka is referred not only to the characters that reveal the national character, but is correlated with the social type, and finally, with Homo Primitivus. Let us recall that Petrushka, like his brothers Pulcinella, Polichinel, Punch, was born in the theater of mask convention, in art, where naive-metaphorical thinking dominated, in the realm of farcical grotesque, rude folk reprise. The comic effect of the episodes in which the character participated was achieved by techniques typical of folk culture of laughter: fights, beatings, obscenities, imaginary deafness of the partner, funny movements and gestures, mocking, fun funerals, etc. According to M.M. Bakhtin, laughter “stupefies”, “unmasks”, returns to the world its original chaos and purifies it spiritually, absorbing everything negative.
The modern researcher A. Gref argues that Petrushka himself is not a social type, not a satirical character, and certainly not a national character, but a “primitive”, that is, Primary Man, Homo Primitivus, proto-man. Only from this point of view it is possible to understand the antisocial behavior of our hero, which, first of all, is associated with numerous fights. It is known that the meaning of a fight in the primary theater is interpreted as a ritual battle with "evil forces". However, over time, this value decreases to a fight with a variety of characters: a policeman, a city man, a soldier, a doctor. All these characters do not pose a threat to our hero, and only a representative of the infernal world (a dog or death itself) takes his life. The finale of the comedy - the end of Petrushka, means the end of the performance. But Petrushka is immortal! Death is ridiculed, with the resurrection of Petrushka, the comedy begins anew. As you can see, Petrushka was perceived as the main character of the Russian puppet theater. His image is “wider than the concepts of “negative and positive”: the people invented it for their own amusement and for the fear of those in power. He is negative, cruel, satirical and at the same time arouses some kind of aching tenderness towards himself. This is exactly how he was remembered by many famous artists, composers, writers and poets, who in their memoirs describe their childhood and youthful impressions of the Petrushka Theater and the parsley growers. This is evidenced by the memoirs of F. Chaliapin, M. Gorky, A. Benois. The impressions of meetings with Petrushka were conveyed in their works by N. Nekrasov (The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”), I. Stravinsky in the ballet “Petrushka”. AT late XIX and the beginning of the 20th century, the comedy about Petrushka was unparalleled in popularity among other types of public art.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the popularity of this farcical hero fell. A new miracle appears in Russia - cinema and the merry fellow and mischievous Petrushka were no longer able to satisfy the needs of the public. With the advent of new life realities, the image of the classic Petrushka disappears. Against the backdrop of political changes in the country and the world, while continuing to be part of the holiday entertainment, Petrushka is also changing, new characters and plots appear. After the revolution of 1917 he was transformed into a victorious proletarian. The new government quickly realized the propaganda possibilities of the people's theater and put forward the slogan: "Return the theater to the people!" Special meaning given to the puppet theatre. A. Lunacharsky in his “Memorandum” to the People’s Commissariat of Education in 1918 wrote: “Easy technically, closely connected with all its elements with folk art, it will serve as a touchstone for establishing the true folk repertoire and for the development of those theatrical techniques that will lead to the inseparable merging of the stage with the people's audience. The first enthusiasts of the new puppet theater were artists, it was with their light hand that the first State puppet theaters appeared in Leningrad and Moscow. In addition to plays with Petrushka, there were performances of I. Krylov's fables. The performances of the puppet theater by N. Simonovich-Efimova became widely known in northern capital. Subsequently, she recalled: “There was a rout about the daughter’s name day in one familiar family, where poets and artists gathered. The mistress of the house asked me to show the puppet theater. By that time, “Sick Petrushka” (which I came up with for village children) had developed. I played it and two new fables. It was then that the fantastic, arrogant thoughts about the Petrushka Theater began to be justified, because when I had finished, Alexei Nikolayevich Tolstoy, who, it turned out, was in the audience, approached me and asked: “Who wrote the text of Petrushka for you? You know that it is very, very well written…” He continued: “Stanislavsky has been dreaming of a puppet theater for a long time and ordered me a play. I know how difficult it is to write for Petrushki, which is why I appreciated yours. You need to show your theater to Stanislavsky, I will arrange it”… And I arranged it. Two days later I played these pieces to Stanislavsky at his home, and a few days later - in Art Theater: for theater and studio artists". One of the first performances was a staging of A. Tolstoy's fairy tale "Merin". Official support led to the fact that major masters of art began to work in the puppet theater; among them are the composer Y. Shaporin, the artists V. Favorsky and the young Kukryniksy. At first, all these talented people relied on the experience of the old folk game. Petrushka, resurrected from non-existence as a hero of Soviet reality, did not at all seem like an anachronism or a false number. The doll of the "Red Army Petrushka", created by the Kukryniksy, made a splash at the First All-European Exhibition of Theater Puppets in Brussels in 1930 and became the emblem of the All-Union Union of Puppet Makers. On the days of the celebrations (May 1, November 7), platforms appeared on the squares of large cities, from the barriers of which Petrushka, well known to the public in a red shirt, poured salty politostrots, causing general delight of the audience. Next to him were "class enemies": a priest in a cassock, a fat-bellied fist, a Nepman dressed to the nines. The Petrushka Theater becomes, first of all, a theater of revolutionary satire, a political theater. This is how “Cooperative Petrushka”, “Petrushka-Rabfakovets”, “Red Army Petrushka” appear. Puppet shows were timed to coincide with each of the many new holidays of the "red calendar": International Youth Day, Red Army Day, Enlightenment Day, etc. Recent opponents - Kolchak, Denikin, Wrangel, and the leaders of bourgeois Europe - Lloyd George , Poincaré, Curzon. The task is to promote the implementation of “ Soviet image life "becomes a priority for the Petrushka Theater. Now it is considered as the theater of the workers' club, responding to any significant events in the life of the factory or plant. He was supposed to ridicule truants, hooligans, bureaucrats from the administration of the enterprise. Petrushka often began to be assigned the role of a reasoner, introducing the viewer to the essence of the matter at the beginning of the performance and summing up at the end. The new theater also needed its authors. Petrushka Theater became literary theater. “The writers placed Petrushka in modern Soviet life, where he acted as a dues ex machine, but also as an ordinary stage hero. And Petrushka not only did not look like an anachronism, did not destroy the integrity of the stage narrative, but also remained a kind of literary standard that determined the development of this art. And here is an example of the title of one of the plays imitating folklore: “Amateur performance about the consumer business, about Nyurka, a merchant and a clerk, a merry Petrushka the storyteller,” the author is M.D. Volpin, famous Soviet playwright, poet and screenwriter. Parsley is beginning to be perceived as one of the "world images" of classical culture. M. Gorky spoke about this in a speech at the First Congress Soviet writers in 1934 He built a peculiar series of these images: "Hercules, Prometheus, Mikula Selyaninovich, Svyatogor, - further - Doctor Faust, Vasilisa the Wise, the ironic lucky Ivan the Fool and finally Petrushka, defeating the doctor, the priest, the policeman, the devil and even death" . Tolstoy's new work "The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio" brings to the stage a new resilient puppet hero Pinocchio, in which the main features of Petrushka are so clearly manifested. The new image completely fit into the context of the new time. In all its manifestations, it is strikingly reminiscent of the usual fair Petrushka. So, Petrushka merged with Pinocchio, and long time remained a character children's theater. This Petrushka has changed, ceased to be aggressive, "cultivated" and became just a cheerful little man. Over time, parsley began to appear at children's parties and Christmas trees. Petrushka was in business and was a true hero of the Soviet puppet theater, until traditional art remained the only one. But when was born new theater, built on the principles of conditional psychologism, Petrushka became a complete absurdity, he could not withstand the psychological load, and any attempts to build his image with the help of a psychologically justified characteristic ended in failure. Petrushka did not take root in the theater of S. Obraztsov. From the end of the 40s, Petrushka disappeared altogether and for almost 50 years he was not remembered.
But time does not stand still. As proof, in the 2000s, a play for children “Petrushka at War” appeared in the genre of a farce parsley show about how Pyotr Petrovich Uksusov became a Red Army soldier and defeated all fascist enemies. Performance in one act, based on Russian folklore, for children from 6 years old. The performance is based on mischievous folk humor and satire.
Unfortunately, a living tradition folklore theater dolls in our country is lost. At present, one can count on one hand those who are engaged in the reconstruction of the Petrushka Theater in the form in which it existed in the century before last. Huge work in this direction is carried out by the theater of A. Gref "Wandering Nativity" in Moscow, the theater "Papmashenniki" by V. Mizenin and the theater "Balagan" in St. Petersburg. The theater of Tatyana Chunakova, who continues the traditions of the theater of N. Simonovich-Efimova, is also well known. Puppeteers give their performances under open sky: in Moscow on the Arbat and in St. Petersburg on Nevsky Prospekt, in clubs and orphanages and, if invited, in apartments, reviving the tradition of the St. Petersburg theater N. Simonovich-Efimova. The Wandering Nativity becomes a theater accessible not only to children, but also to adult audiences. Every year the theater acquires not only many fans, but also people who seek to revive this type of puppet show locally, creating their own Petrushka Theater in schools, institutions of additional education, and clubs.
The editors of ProDetki love to visit cultural places and discover new heroes and characters. For example, we became interested in the hero Petrushka in the puppet world.
The Petrushka Theater is a unique performance whose history goes back to the 17th century. At first it was a popular entertainment for the common people, and then it gained its popularity among high society.
Petrushka doll
Parsley- This is a printed doll, dressed in pants and a red shirt, a distinctive feature of this character was: a pointed cap and a huge red nose.
History of the Petrushka Theater
The Petrushka Theater is one of the oldest entertainments in Rus', which has survived to this day and has not lost its relevance. . Many perceive it as a folk creation, but in reality their prototypes Russian folk theater Petrushka has in many countries such as France, Germany, Italy and Turkey.
The first appearance of the Petrushka theater in Rus' was recorded as early as the 17th century, but it gained its main popularity only by the 19th century. Despite the fact that there were several types of puppet theater in Rus', Petrushka's performances were the most popular.
Parsley character
Not surprisingly, Petrushka is the main character in the puppet theater, which is named after him. Let's take a closer look at what it is. As you can see from the history of the creation of the theater, he came to Russian lands from other countries, therefore Russian Petrushka gathered in his appearance many distinctive features different nationalities . For example, his head and hands were incredibly large, and his eyes were almond-shaped, his skin color was swarthy, and his nose had a large hump. Thanks to all this, he was very similar to his Italian prototype - Pulcinella.
Parsley although he put the presentation of his main character at the head, he was not limited to this. For example, a constant partner in the plot for Petrushka was a bear, with whom he played the main scenes .
Russian theater Petrushka and its plots
The plots of the theatrical performance were always based on banal and philistine themes of that time: soldier's service, treatment, the acquisition of a horse and its testing, as well as Petrushka's dates and wedding.
All scenes had their own order and were shown strictly one after another:
- The basis of the first scene was always Petrushka's purchase of a horse. He bargained with a gypsy seller who did not want to give in, then Petrushka got tired of this, for which he hit the merchant. This was the end of the first show.
- The second scene was a demonstration of how Petrushka climbs on a horse, but she does not want to obey him and dumps the main character, and then retires in the wake of the gypsy.
- In the third scene, as in the beginning of the performance, Petrushka is not distinguished by a calm disposition, and, having visited the doctor, beats him, because the doctor finds a lot of ailments in the main character.
— Last scene also not without fights. When the quarterman appears to find out why Petrushka killed the doctor, the main character, without thinking twice, does the same with the quarterman. But justice is personified by a dog that barks and growls at the main character, and then, not succumbing to any coaxing and begging of Petrushka, who grabbed him by the nose, drags him away from the impromptu stage.
This is where the show ends. Interestingly, the duration of the performance depends on how interesting scenes are played out, because it lasts as long as there are spectators on the street who have honored it with their attention.
The Russian folk theater Petrushka is not limited to only four main scenes in its performance . When there are many onlookers on the streets and the public is ready to watch as much as they like - to watch the puppet theater, the story continues with others. interesting stories. One of them is "Petrushka's Wedding". The scenario of this performance was so rude and frivolous that parents did not allow children to watch such a scene.
In all representations, Petrushka acted as a rogue, a swindler and a rude person. Hand his faceportrayeddeven not a sweet smile, as it may seem to many, but a rude grin.
Street theater Petrushka
Traditional Petrushka - puppet theater one actor, whose action has always been street fairs and shopping areas . The very first performances were shown without a screen, as the only actor-puppeteer simply put a special skirt on a hoop around his belt. Raising this ring, the puppeteer disappeared from the field of view of the audience, giving them the opportunity to enjoy the performance. At the same time, he himself could calmly move and work with both hands in order to control two characters at once.
Already at the beginning of the 19th century, such a costume for an actor was replaced by a screen , the prototype of the one used today. It was installed directly on the ground, hiding the puppeteer and all his props.
Only men were puppeteers, but in order to give their voice additional squeakiness, a specialized squeaker was used. It was inserted directly into the larynx. This allowed the puppeteer to speak louder.
Modern Petrushka Theater
Thanks to many artists who make every effort to preserve the traditions of the puppet theater, we have the opportunity to enjoy interesting performances even today. Now, of course, these are not only wandering fair performances, but street puppeteers also meet.
Most often, performances of Petrushka can be seen in children's puppet theaters, for example, such as the Firebird, Albatross, Fairy Tale and many others.
People's Theater Petrushka this moment is an opportunity to acquaint children and adults with history, as well as instill younger generation love and interest in literature.
Literary and artistic research project:
folklore - Petrushka Folk Theater
Moscow 2008
FOREWORD
The Petrushka Folk Miniature Theater is a peculiar phenomenon of Slavic folklore. The forms of existence of the miniature theater are diverse: some are very ancient, others are new and latest. The subject of this study is the need for an urgent close study of Russian folklore - the Petrushka Folk Theater in miniature, given the enormous damage done to Russian folklore in general and the Petrushka miniature theater in particular, during the era of the Bolshevik dictatorship. Therefore, it is necessary to speed up the collection and study of ethnographic materials that the people's memory has still managed to preserve. In addition, after the collapse of the USSR and the formation of the countries of the Commonwealth of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the priority of the international communist attitude changed dramatically, to national folk traditions. The process of spiritual revival of Russia, and Russian national culture throughout the Russian Diaspora began. It is known that Russia is not the whole of Russia, that all over the world Russian communities zealously preserve the ancient traditions of common Russian culture and folklore, including the Petrushka theater. In this regard, it is necessary to expand the area of collecting the pearls of the miniature theater - throughout the depth and breadth of the Russian Diaspora.
Petrushka Theater on turning point Russian history in the present period, at the turn of the millennium, is especially important in the moral education of the younger generation, in the context of a protracted crisis. Only moral guidelines, crystallized by the millennial traditions of oral folk art, can become a reliable foundation for the National Russian culture, on which countless generations of Russian people were brought up.
The rudiments of a miniature puppet theater are found in almost all genres of folk art, and this is manifested in the oral existence of works and in their performance. Among the people, it was often possible to meet talented singers, storytellers, storytellers. They told stories and sang with great skill, accompanying their performance with expressive gestures and facial expressions, bright intonations, conveying the features of scenes and episodes on behalf of their heroes. Storytellers often seemed to reincarnate in the images of their characters, playing out certain scenes. And in this their oral performance folk art, already contained elements of the folk theater. Most meaningful development elements of the folk theater received folk calendar and family rituals; this is especially evident in the depiction of the cycles of the seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter).
A significant role in the Petrushka Theater was given to the musical style of Russian songs and instrumental tunes. Feelings and experiences in music are transmitted through the interaction of various means of musical expression: truly folk refrains, tongue twisters and recitatives - all this played a significant role in the transmission of one or another sensory-emotional experience: joy, sadness, suffering, contemplation, etc. The systematization of musical and ethnographic examples was one of the most important components of this study of the Petrushka miniature folk theater. A variety of printed sources were involved in the musical folklore centers of Russia. Great importance was attached to folklore and ethnographic expeditions to various regions, the southern, central, northern and western parts of the regions of Russia, where, due to special historical conditions, the primordially Slavic roots of the Russian population turned out to be the most preserved.
Theatrical rites in Rus' have long been an action accompanied by singing or prose text according to the established tradition, using masks and special costumes. On the basis of ceremonies, disguise and games, the theater itself arose, which was distinguished by the fact that traditional texts were performed with significant improvisation. The actors, adhering to the main action and the verbal text, adapted them to the circumstances, to the time and place of performance, as well as to the requests of the audience. I would especially like to note about children's folklore, which is very conservative, and thanks to this, it preserves significant layers of the miniature theater of the distant past period of Rus'.
Among the Slavs, the folk theater had such forms as a puppet theater (especially the Petrushka miniature theater), a booth, a paradise, game scenes, and the theater itself with actors. In the puppet theater, the plays were performed by puppets, which were "driven" by puppeteers. The puppets could be put on the fingers of the "puppeteer" or they were set in motion through cuts made on the floor of an artificially created stage, made in the form of a tall box.
Slavic puppet theaters are associated with religious rites (nativity scene, shopka, betleyka) or were purely entertaining in nature, not associated with rituals. The Russian theater of Petrushka designates not only the hero of the performance, but also the theater itself, which is called the Petrushka Theater, after the name of the hero. If the nativity scene arose under the influence of the church, absorbing the centuries-old folklore traditions of ancient pagan Rus', then the Petrushka miniature theater is a purely folk art, both in form and in content and ideological orientation. In the Nativity scene, the main task was to present the birth of Christ or the play "Herod". However, often in the nativity scene there was something in common with the fairground puppet theater. This combination of the secular and the spiritual in a puppet show was especially clearly shown in the Polish Koplyanik Theater or in the Czech Kashparek Theater, in which gentry, gypsies, Jews performed and a Cossack or soldier entered into an argument and a fight with them. Peasants appeared who, in their songs and dances, ridiculed stupid gentlemen, and, at the same time, lazy and drunken serfs. At the end, a wandering folk singer appeared, who sang songs and asked the audience to reward the participants in the performance, as much as they could.
In the Petrushka puppet theater, the main theme was the action in the squares, in the yards and at fairs. During the holidays, the performance of Petrushka was a favorite folk spectacle, often accompanied by a hurdy-gurdy, and Petrushka himself was their most beloved hero, brave and witty, who defeated everyone: the police, priests, Satan himself and even death. And among the people there was a firm belief that it was Petrushka, in his rude, naive image of the working people, who was able to overcome and conquer everything and everyone, and he himself would remain immortal. Petrushka has a rough but vivid image of the working people, with a hump on his back from overwork. Petrushka's clothes are simple but bright: his shirt is usually red, and on his head is a cap with a tassel. The puppeteer puts the Petrushka doll on one hand, and on the other hand he puts on the dolls of other various characters in turn: the master, the priest, the gypsy, the policeman, Satan, the bride, death and other dolls. The puppeteer leads the verbal text on behalf of Petrushka. Other heroes of the performance are usually voiced by another performer of the performance, who plays the hurdy-gurdy. Petrushka's voice is unusual, he is very sharp and loud so that everyone can hear him, even those who do not want to listen to him. For this purpose, the puppeteer uses a special beeper, which he keeps constantly in his mouth.
In the theater of miniature, scenes with vivid comedy are played out. “Often, Petrushka bought a spoiled horse from a gypsy, on which he was going to go to woo a rich bride. But the unfortunate horse fell along the road, while Petrushka hurt himself painfully and called the pharmacist, but the doctor turned out to be a scammer, took money, but his medicine did not help. Here, at the wrong time, an officer appeared who decided to take Petrushka into a soldier ... In the end, Petrushka gets tired of this, and he beats with his stick both the gypsy, and the pharmacist and the officer ... ".
During the holidays, fun fairs small wooden buildings with a light roof, called booths, were built. These were original theaters that had a primitive stage and auditorium. From the balcony of the booth (booth barkers, grandfathers-raeshniks) with cries and jokes, jokes, they invited the audience to their unsurpassed farce. Often the actors in the performances improvised texts that were also of an acutely satirical nature: parodies of church services and rituals. For example, in the play "Pakhomushka", the action of the wedding takes place around a stump, which has a deck through the stump. Often, the heroes of the play were the rebellious peasants (in the play “The Boat”), in which the heroes were robbers floating “Down the mother along the Volga” and along the way dealt with the hated landowners, burning their estates.
Dramatic scenes were often full of folk anecdotes and fairy tales, absorbing diverse folk songs and literary poems. The Petrushka People's Miniature Theater was of great social importance as an expression of people's hopes. At the same time, it was and remains a wonderful folk spectacle that has a huge emotional impact on a wide range of the public.
In our time, the role of the Petrushka miniature theater is growing rapidly, especially with the advent of unlimited possibilities of the Internet. The science of folklore has come a long way of development and has rushed in our days to unprecedented heights. Detailed descriptions and systematization of a significant variety of plots and types of characters in folklore works, especially fairy tales, have already been made. Particular interest in the Petrushka miniature theater was shown at the very recent times. New works are being created for the performances of Petrushka, which reflects modern life multipolar world.
Despite the fact that in the course of the historical development of peoples the general cultural heritage, has undergone and is undergoing changes, but so far the commonality of motives, types of heroes and individual means of expression in the folklore of the Slavic peoples is clearly traced. This is because societies in their cultural developments go through similar steps. It is noteworthy that the development of miniature puppet theaters in various peoples wear a lot common features. So, for example, the Japanese puppet theater has many similarities with our Slavic wandering miniature puppet theaters.
The puppet theater is a living theater in miniature, sometimes even more powerful and frank, as we will see below. The world of antiquity was not only familiar with the theater of miniature puppets, but also knew its price. Among the Greeks, puppets kept up with the live theater and played the comedies of Aristophanes. Later, during the Roman rule, the puppet theater, like the live one, falls into decay. In Rome, preference is given to dumb puppets: mimic performances and ballet appear on the stage in the imperial era. Thus, in the ancient world, dolls from the original image of a deity, from an object of worship, passed into the category of fun, sometimes very immodest. We will see the same in Christian Europe.
Initially, the puppets, as their very name indicates: "les marions", "les mariottes", "les marionnettes", were images of the Virgin in the famous Christmas drama; people did not dare to act themselves as actors in the mysteries, leaving statues to act, at first motionless, later artificially set in motion. When the mystery got further development, the puppets still left the performance of the Christmas drama, which still exists in the den. Gradually, a satirical element entered the serious atmosphere of medieval mysteries, and soon, along with sacred stories and their heroes, clownish farces appear on the stage of puppets. Jugglers and buffoons put their funny, sometimes cynical jokes into the mouths of wooden actors and carried the puppet theater all over Europe. The image of a puppet table, preserved in a German manuscript of the 12th century, represents two crudely made puppets set in motion by threads stretched crosswise to two people; they depicted now fighting warriors, now debaters and poured witticisms and puns.
At the beginning of this century, Prince I. M. Dolgoruky talks about the puppet theater, as about the usual fun of the people. Here is how he describes in his diary the impressions of the puppet show he saw at the Nizhny Novgorod fair: “The mob hurries to their spectacles: several puppet comedies, bears on a leash, camels, monkeys and buffoons are brought for it. Of all these fun, I happened to go to one puppet comedy. There is nothing to describe: everyone has seen what it is; for me there is nothing funnier than the one who presents, and those who watch. The horn squeaks on the violin; the landlord, releasing the dolls, conducts a conversation for them, filled with all sorts of nonsense. The puppets, meanwhile, click their foreheads, and the audience laughs and is very happy. It always seemed strange to me that a monk is represented at such games and made a laughing stock of him. There is no puppet comedy without a cassock.”
“The idea of paradise was based on the “paradise action” about Adam and Eve, where the comic role is played by the devil and partly by the progenitors of the human race themselves. Gradually becoming more complicated comic scenes, like a nativity scene, and the "paradise action" itself disappeared, and only pictures of a purely secular content remained from it. The device of the raik is very simple: it is a small box with two magnifying glasses in front; its dimensions change, as does the number of glasses. Inside it, a long strip is rewound from one shaft to another, glued together from popular prints with images of different cities, great people and historical events. The pictures are placed in a special tower above the box and lowered gradually on laces, replacing one view with another. The audience looks at the glasses, and the scribe moves the pictures and tells a saying for each new number:
- Here is the city of Vienna, where he lives beautiful Elena;
- Here is Warsaw, where the grandmother is rough;
- And here, gentlemen, the city of Berlin, the gentleman lives here, he has three hairs on his head, he sings in thirty-three voices!
- And here is the city of Paris, as you enter, you will die; here our Russian nobility goes to wind money: they leave with a bag of gold, and return with a wand on foot!
- And here, gentlemen, the city of Rome, the Pope of Rome lives here, raking paw!
In conclusion, a clown, or even two, dance, ringing bells to amuse the audience. As can be seen from the examples given, the text of the paradise representations is taken from popular prints: the same style, the same witticisms and naive antics. It is possible that these texts are the remains of buffoon games and performances and are the product of the interaction of the puppet theater and popular prints, which have preserved the remnants of buffoon farces. “Now the paradise does not at all remind of its religious origin and is a common and beloved type of folk comedy, merging in the nature of the paintings presented with the famous “Petrushka”.
The well-known "Petrushka", which has come down to us, having lived for two centuries, has hardly changed; he took on the features of a Russian buffoon and in this form dispersed throughout Russia.
The device of the modern to us wandering puppet theater is extremely uncomplicated. A sheet of krashenina is hung on two sticks, and because of this sheet the puppeteer shows his puppets and performs his performances, in which the old guslar, horn player or piper is replaced by a hoarse hurdy-gurdy, playing mainly Russian songs, to which the puppets dance. For the most part, now the puppets are shown because of the screens, which, when placed, form a tetrahedron, inside of which there is a box, where, according to the figurative description of Ornest Zechnowitzer, “the “indicator” of the puppets is located. The dolls protrude from behind the screen not on wires, as in a nativity scene, but are made in a completely different way: the dolls do not have a body, but only one head made of wood or cardboard, to which a dress is sewn; instead of hands - empty sleeves with a tiny hand at the end, also made of wood. The puppeteer sticks his index finger into the doll's empty head, and the thumb and thumb into the sleeves. middle fingers; he usually puts a puppet on each hand and thus acts with two puppets at the same time. A crowd of spectators gather around the screens. The hurdy-gurdy plays a song, Petrushka's squealing and his hoarse voice singing along to the hurdy-gurdy are heard from behind the screens. He burrs and whistles loudly with the help of a "beep" in the puppeteer's mouth. Suddenly, Petrushka jumps out from behind the screens and greets the audience: “Hello, gentlemen! I came here from Gostiny Dvor to be hired as a cook - to fry grouse, to fumble through your pockets! .. "
Petrushka enters into a conversation with the organ grinder, who is his constant interlocutor, and asks him to play a dance and dances alone, and sometimes with his wife, who bears the name of Malanya, then Marfushi, or Pelageya, or even Akulina Ivanovna. She calls him to get some coffee, but he pulls her upstairs and, akimbo, dances Russian with her, and then drives her away. A gypsy appears and sells him a horse. Parsley examines her, pulling her ears, her tail. The horse kicks him in the nose and in the belly. These "kicks" of Gypsy Mor's right horse often make up a rather ridiculous part of the play for the audience. Parsley bargains with the gypsy for a long time and, in the end, buys a horse from him, and the gypsy leaves. Petrushka sits on his purchase and boldly prancing on it, singing: “Like along Piterskaya, along Tverskaya Yamskaya” ... The horse starts kicking, hits Petrushka front and back, finally throws him off and runs away. Petrushka falls, loudly banging his wooden face on the ground; he groans, groans, plaintively laments about the premature death of a good fellow and calls the doctor. “A doctor comes, a pharmacist from under the Stone Bridge”, it is recommended to the public that he was in Italy, and was further away, and begins to ask Petrushka: “Where, what and how does it hurt you?”
- What same you doctor! - Petrushka is indignant, - you yourself should know: where, what and how it hurts! ..
The doctor begins to feel Petrushka, poking his finger and asking: "Does it hurt here?"... Petrushka replies: "Higher!.. Lower!.. even a little lower!" The Doctor gives him back. But on the side of Petrushka there is an advantage: he constantly has a stick in his hands, and he drives away the unlucky doctor with it.
The matchmaker brings Petrushka the bride Marfushka or Pigasya, sometimes she herself comes to him, and he begins to examine her, as he examined the horse at the auction with a gypsy. Parsley peeks everywhere, adding strong sentences and evoking incessant laughter from the audience. Marfushka liked him very much, and he is unable to wait longer for the wedding, which is why he begins to beg her: “Sacrifice yourself, Marfushka!” But she “dresses up” and “fordybachit”, but finally agrees ... ".
In his description of the performance of the Petrushka miniature theater, Rovinsky D.A. reports that in the interval between the actions of the play, dances of two arapok are usually presented, and sometimes a whole interlude about a lady who was stung by a snake (meaning Eve); the game of two jesters with balls and a stick is immediately shown. Unfortunately, the details of these and other adventures of Petrushka have been lost and are waiting for their discoverers, since it is clear that many pearls of folk art have been lost. For example, the plays of the Petrushka Theater are known, for which even the name vaudeville is too honorable, but, meanwhile, it has all the signs of opera, ballet and drama. As in an opera, in it a folk hurdy-gurdy serves as an orchestra, and the role opera singer for the general public, not without success, the opera tenor performs, the soloist is Petrushka; like in a ballet, there are dances of Petrushka and Marfushka (or Pegasus) in it. The classic trinity is also sustained in a miniature theater: the unity of time (1 hour), the unity of place (a screen - the scenery has not changed for centuries) and the unity of action (a flea market).
Petrushka was formed from the fusion of elements of Russian folk buffoonery with the features of the German Hanswurst. Its prototype was the same Polichinel - the Italian Pulcinella, which is the ancestor of all European buffoons. However, despite the obvious Italian descent Russian "Petrushka", quite recently a very original opinion was expressed in the literature about its eastern origin. Chinese "Petrushki" is almost the same as our Russian Petrushki. The local wandering artists of the theater of miniatures stopped in front of the balconies of houses and demonstrated their puppet shows. Often the performers of this miniature puppet show are twice Chinese - an elderly and a boy of about 15, the assistant of the first. They carry two boxes on their backs. At the stops, they lower the boxes from their backs to the ground, arrange four-sided screens covered with chintz, and a minute later, our old acquaintance Jester Petrushka, only dressed as a Chinese, appeared on the upper edge of these screens. The adventures of the Chinese Petrushka are completely identical to our Russian brother Petrushka. The same tragicomic, infinitely varied stories take place with Petrushka's military drill, with his answer before the police judge. Then the dressed-up, red-cheeked Bride appears on the stage, and all the scenes between her and Petrushka, again, everything is the same as ours; even Petrushka's manners of speaking and emitting comic cries with the help of a special lip device "beeper", which the comedian puts in his mouth, remain completely identical with Petrushka's manners.
The origins of Petrushka's miniature theater.
During excavations in Egypt, in the vicinity of Antinous, in 1904 a puppet theater was found, the oldest puppet theater known to us, dated back to the 16th century BC.
In his book “The History of the Folk Puppet Theater” (Gosizdat, 1927), Orest Tsekhnovitser notes that the puppet theater disappears in Egypt for many centuries, and it appears already in India. The first mention of mechanical wooden puppets in India dates back to the period of the 11th century BC. At this time, the puppets had already moved from the temple to the theatrical stage, where they were set in motion by the threads (sutras) of the puppeteer. There were no texts for puppet shows, there was only a short script with poems. Improvisation was dominant. The absence of a text explains why we have almost no original puppet play until the 19th century. AD, and even then these records were preserved only thanks to private amateurs and connoisseurs of the miniature puppet theater.
In the most ancient puppet performances of India, there is a distant "ancestor" of the favorite of our people Petrushka, bearing the name - Vidushaka. He is depicted as a hunchbacked dwarf brahmin, who excites gaiety in everyone with his behavior, the appearance of a comic figure, dress, speech and boundless love for the weaker sex. Such is the image of Vidushak-Petrushka, as his contemporaries drew. All similarities between Vidushak and Petrushka are preserved; our merry fellow will not lose his belly, crooked nose, hump and love for women during the nearly three thousand years of his existence.
In India, Vidushaka was portrayed as stupid, but behind this stupidity lurked cunning. He is a mocker and a rude person, he is pugnacious and always beats everyone with his stick. He himself is beaten and even goes to jail, but he never disappears. Vidushaka was portrayed as a Brahmin, and in his person the people ridiculed their priests - their hypocrisy, arrogance, passion for women, for wine and delicacies. However, he does not speak Sanskrit (the language of the upper class), but in native language, in the Prakrit dialect of ordinary people. However, in those days, only Brahmin priests were allowed to speak Sanskrit, and it was forbidden for commoners, up to the use death penalty, because it was believed that for ordinary people to speak the language of the Gods was blasphemy and blasphemy. Vidushaka is not parted from his stick, which in the future will be the constant companion of our Petrushka (Russian club) in all his trials.
Our puppet folk hero Parsley in almost all parts of the world follows the same paths, and endures the same tests of fate, and this similarity in the history of the development of the puppet theater is not accidental. And the current explanation about the origin of the Indo-European language and the epic from the single ancestral home of the ancient Aryans is not enough to explain the comprehensive similarity of the hero of the puppet theater of miniatures. Apparently, the result of the economic communication of individual peoples with each other played a decisive role here. It should be borne in mind that the puppet theater in some places was created thanks to the same prerequisites - natural connections, and therefore was formed independently in its main features.
When studying the oriental puppet theater, one should keep in mind the ways of trade relations connecting individual countries, but it is also necessary to take into account the elements of the original development of individual states. Unfortunately, the fragmentary data that currently exists do not allow us to establish the truth of the question of interest to us with a sufficient degree of persuasiveness, and we are content only with the fact that we have the opportunity to highlight only the main points that influenced the creation of the puppet theater of individual countries, including Rus'. .
The puppet theater is still very popular in all countries of the East. In India today, the puppet theater of marionettes is a favorite show for both adults and children. This theater has retained its ancient basic techniques. Just like many centuries before our era, the people are convened to perform a puppet theater with the same ancient national instruments. Ancient dolls depicting mythical characters and folk types in life-real features have also been preserved. Particularly common in modern India and in almost all countries of the East is the puppet theater of shadows, popular since ancient times and it has reached particular perfection in Turkey and China. But its origins are also lost in the mists of time.
Together with Hindu merchant ships and settlers from the Ganges valley, the Sinhalese race of southern India settled in Ceylon in 543 BC. With the penetration of the culture of India to Ceylon, the Singhalese also transferred the Vidushaka puppet theater there. In the future, a trace of the transfer to other national soils of the folk art of India is noticeable, through settlers and sea trade routes (including the miniature theater of puppets and shadows was transferred). Puppets for a miniature shadow theater were made from buffalo skin. The content of the shadow theater performances consists of ancient Hindu sagas - tales of gods and heroes.
Through sea and land (through the northwestern borders) trade relations, India has long been in contact with Persia. The Persian puppet hero - Kankal Pahlyavan - is also similar to Vidushak. He is an ugly joker, endowed with a squeaky voice and possesses such amorousness and passion that for the sake of women, wielding his unchanging club, he enters into battle with the devil himself.
The origins of Chinese puppetry also come from religious ceremonies. Even in ancient times, dolls took the most effective part in representations of religious content. Many Chinese legends tell about the origin and history of the puppet theater, which existed in China for centuries on a par with the shadow theater. The chronicles of Le Tzu date their occurrence to the time of the tenth century BC. Chinese skilled craftsmen made dolls from straw and wood, which were varnished. According to legend, these dolls could even dance and sing. miniature puppet theaters ancient China have been involved in the public life countries and, along with performances at imperial palaces served to amuse the people.
Along with puppets and shadow theater, for centuries in China there was also "Petrushka" (the main character named Kvo), who again reminds us of Vidushak with his character. The Chinese doll Quo also makes fun of unpopular ministers and courtiers, and his baton also walks along their fat backs. The device of the Chinese theater "Petrushka" is the same as in most European countries. With China and Japan's long-standing close economic and cultural affinity, Chinese puppetry has influenced Japanese puppetry. Japanese puppet theaters have two main types: "Ningyo-tsukai", in which puppets are introduced by people, and "Ito-tsukai" - a kind of our puppets.
Of particular interest is the Turkish puppet hero Karagyoz (Kara - black, gyoz - Eye; Karagyoz - Black-eyed). The image of this doll shows the influence of both East and West (Hellenistic beginnings). Such a reunion of the images of "Petrushka" gives it great brightness and originality. The image of the Hindu doll Vidushak could have influenced the image of the Karagyoz doll. Both in Turkey and in almost all other countries of Asia and Europe, the gypsies were the distributors of elements of the Hindu puppet theater. In all countries of Asia and Europe, puppeteers have long been gypsies who brought their ideas there after the exodus from India during the era of unrest and invasions in the 10th century. The creation of the Turkish puppet theater, in addition, was influenced by the Byzantine and Greek mime, the origins of which were also the ancient puppet theater of miniatures in Egypt and India. Hence the exceptional resemblance of Karagöz to the Italian Pulcinello.
In the East, bordering on Russia - in Turkestan, "Petrushka" is presented in its usual form and with all the attributes inherent in it. The Eastern puppet theater of Turkestan was of great importance in the political life of the country, for it was the only platform for expressing public opinion. The puppet theater fought for political emancipation and was persecuted by the authorities. Subsequently, the folk puppet theater played the same role in Europe.
These are basically the milestones and main moments in the history of the national puppet miniature theater "Petrushki" all over the world. Everywhere the puppet theater went through almost the same stages of development: from the church to the street, the square, to the very thick of the population. The puppet theater was the only true creation of the people and was the expression of the spirit of the struggle of all times and peoples for their liberation from the oppressors. And in our difficult time at the turn of the millennium, the role of the Petrushki Theater is constantly growing and our task is to help its revival in every possible way.
Recently in Russia there has been a rapid growth in the performances of the children's puppet theater Petrushka, collected in the cities and towns of Russia, which is still preserved by the people's memory. Along with this, new works of contemporary fairy tale authors are being created for performances in the Petrushka Miniature Theater (Appendices 1-3), as well as for performances in the miniature theater rayok (Appendix 4), shadow theater (Appendices 5- 7), mirror theater (Appendices 8-9), miniature puppet theater (Appendices 11-14) - the division into "Appendices" is conditional.
Petrushka doll is shown from behind a screen at three-quarters of her height. She, as it were, walks on an imaginary floor, located behind the screen, somewhat below its upper edge. In order to show the puppet's gait, the actor either moves behind the screen with small steps, or shakes the hand on which the puppet is put on. Achieving a believable gait in dolls is not an easy task, you need to seriously work on this.
When the doll speaks, it moves; when it is silent, it is motionless. Otherwise, the viewer will not understand which of the puppets is talking. A silent, motionless doll does not mean a dead doll. The actor must find her either a pose that would be expressive enough even when the doll is stationary, or movements and gestures that express an exact reaction to the partner’s words and fall on pauses in the words of the latter. Basic Laws acting skills in the puppet theater are the same as in drama theater. The peculiarity of the puppet theater lies in the fact that here the actor conveys to the viewer all the ideological and emotional content of his role through the medium of an inanimate object - a puppet, and therefore he must always see his puppet, not for a moment weakening his attention to her, feel her physical tasks. , to control the whole line of her behavior. In addition, the puppeteer must always see where the puppet's eyes are directed, make sure that she walks straight, and not sideways, so that she does not fall too far behind the screen and does not crawl out higher than expected. The parsley doll control technique is simple. For reed and mechanical dolls, it is much more difficult. But no matter what doll the actor works with, he needs to regularly train with it so that during rehearsals he can think about the correctness of his acting tasks, about the expressiveness of the doll’s behavior, and not about how to do it technically. Inactive, purely conversational puppet theater scenes sound especially bad. But if the reed puppet, thanks to its broad gesture, can still maintain a fairly long dialogue and even utter a monologue, then the parsley puppet must already play its role as an uninterrupted chain of physical actions. It is pointless to train with a parsley doll without specific physical tasks.
Currently, projects are being successfully implemented to introduce the Petrushka miniature theater and the shadow theater on the Internet. Russian puppet theater miniature Petrushka, rayok, shadow theater and mirror theater acquire new life not only in Russia, but also abroad.
Kuznetsova Oksana
This year I was interested in the topic of history of the origin of the Petrushka theater. Petrushka Theater is a folk puppet theater but until the end of the 19th century Petrushka Theater was not a theater for children. About history of Petrushka theater You can learn a lot from literature, the Internet. Some information about it presented in the presentation of my publication. And I was wondering about musical accompaniment puppet show , a small research work began (a trip to regional library, a children's library, browsing Internet articles, studying literature on local history). That's exactly what my post is about.
I was lucky that I had three toys parsley(Soviet issue, two toys presented in the photo, and the third has not yet been altered (from previous publications, many colleagues know that I collect such dolls and restoring clothes.
Musical accompaniment of the Petrushka Theater.
Part of the majority theater performances« parsley» there were songs and dances. The heroes of the comedy performed lyrical songs, dance songs, couplets of a ditty warehouse, cruel romances, songs of literary origin. They danced Kamarinskaya, trepaka, "lady", polka, waltz, etc. For example, under "Kamarinskaya" Parsley dances with the bride, a German appears to the sounds of a waltz. Big role in comedy musical inserts. Dances and songs, hurdy-gurdy melodies were not just musical design of the performance, they were designed to set the audience in a cheerful, festive mood, create an additional comic effect by contrasting the ratio of melody and action, and serve as a characterization of the characters.
Puppeteer was free to choose his repertoire, distribution it between the characters, in the richness of the performance musical inserts. First of all, it depended on talent parsley, taste, ability to sing and knowledge of songs and dances, from his ability "feel" the public. However, there were still some limitations and patterns. Firstly, songs and melodies popular in the given environment were chosen. This was done not only because the performances were designed for the widest, grassroots circle of spectators, but another thing is no less important. Due to their specificity, folk puppet shows cannot go for a long time and require frequent change of episodes, accelerated action. Therefore, the heroes of such a performance, as a rule, do not sing songs in their entirety and do not dance for a long time, otherwise this will break the pace and will certainly affect the quality. representation. A couplet is performed, the initial lines of the song are played, the first bars of the melody are sung, sung or whistled, and, since the well-known works are used, the audience themselves instantly restore the whole and tune in to the desired mood at the moment. In addition, often song- musical the insert creates a comic effect by parodying some work, and the degree of comicality largely depends on the popularity of the parodied thing. Often audience laughter accompanies performance of the song because its content is sharply opposed to the actions of the characters. Parsley climbs with difficulty onto a horse, sits back to front, comically grabs his tail or mane so as not to fall off, and sings a dashing coachman's song, “I will harness a trio of greyhound dark brown horses”. No less contrasting and funny are the lines of the romance "Do not leave, my dear, Do not leave the fields, dear." performed Parsley immediately after how he beats and drives away the black man with a stick.
To work with children in kindergarten I picked up Russian folk tunes, dance, nursery rhymes and songs. AT modern conditions Parsley acts not as a rude and a deceiver, but as one who needs to be taught good manners and correct behaviour.
Related publications:
Fairy tales: "Zayushkina's hut", "Mitten" and a New Year's fairy tale about carols. The puppet theater is very much loved by children, and always when announced.
Theater is a magical world. He gives lessons in beauty, morality and morality. And the richer they are, the more successful development is. spiritual world children…”.
Methodological development of the puppet show "The Tale of the Gray Baikal" Fairy tale of the Gray Baikal. Based on the Buryat folk tale "The Magic Chest" FOREWORD: The basis of the theatrical puppet show.
The scenario of the puppet theater based on the fairy tale by K. I. Chukovsky "Fedorino's grief" The scenario of the puppet theater based on the fairy tale by K. I. Chukovsky "Fedorino's grief" (Fedora is barely walking) I would wash the dishes, Just do not raise the handles.
