Overview

This is the first collection of primary sources that addresses the amateur theatre produced by the workers in the first decade after the Russian Revolution. Newly translated from the Russian, the essays capture both theoretical articulations on the scene – by luminaries such as Alexander Bogdanov, Platon Kerzhentsev, Valerian Pletnev, Alexander Mgebrov and Valentin Smyshliaev – and the more fleeting descriptions and first-hand accounts of the productions staged, accounts and voices which are typically harder to capture. The essays tell a story of unabashed optimism in the creativity of the working classes. They speak of the use of theatre to carve a public and political role in the construction of a new world. The sources, however, also exhibit the flipside of the scene, or the sombre difficulties faced by the amateur actors and the incessant calls to raise standards through professional help. The narrative developed is that of an amateur theatre which began as an autonomous and heterogeneous activity but which by the mid-to-late 1920s was transformed into a regulated practice and a space for cultural programming. The collection makes an important contribution to our understanding of modern theatre: scholarship conventionally tackles the canonical names from the professional world but gives little attention to the more down-to-earth forms of performance taking place in factories, clubs and amateur circles. An introductory essay also highlights the range and significance of the collection and draws links between the essays.

Full Product Details

Author:   Dr Stefan Aquilina (University of Malta, Malta) ,  Dr Stefan Aquilina (University of Malta, Malta)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Methuen Drama
Weight:   0.503kg
ISBN:  

9781350170971

ISBN 10:   1350170976
Pages:   232
Publication Date:   06 May 2021
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Translation Credits and a Note on Transliteration List of Figures Introduction Prologue, 1918 Platon Kerzhentsev An extract from Revoliutsiia i teatr, pp. 5-12 Part 1 Aims and Objectives 1. 'The Proletariat and Art', 1918 Anatoly Lunacharsky Proletarskaia kul'tura, no. 2, pp. 23-24 2. 'The Proletariat and Art', 1918 Resolutions proposed at the First All-Russian Conference of Proletarian Cultural and Educational Organizations Alexander Bogdanov Proletarskaia kul'tura, no. 5, page unidentified 3. 'The Proletkult and Soviet Cultural Work', 1919 Anatoly Lunacharsky Proletarskaia kul'tura, no. 7-8, pp. 1-3 4. 'Ways Towards a Proletarian Culture', 1920 Alexander Bogdanov Proletarskaia kul'tura, no. 15-16 5. 'The Proletkult - Organisation of Proletarian Amateur Performance', 1918 Platon Kerzhentsev Proletarskaia kul'tura, no. 1, pp. 7-8 6. 'Craving the Stage', 1919 Nikolai Lvov Vestnik teatra, 56, p. 8 7. 'Socialist Theatre in the Years of the Revolution', 1919 Piotr Kogan Vestnik teatra, 40, pp. 3-4 8. 'No to Theatre Art, but to Celebration', 1921 Adrian Piotrovsky Zhizn' iskusstva, 19-22 March, 1921, page unidentified 9. 'Drama and Mass Performances', 1921 Viktor Shklovsky Zhizn' iskusstva, 9-11 March, 1921, page unidentified Part 2 Amateur-Professional Relations 10. 'On the Professionalization of the Workers in the Arts', 1919 Fyodor Kalinin Proletarskaia kul'tura, no. 7-8, pp. 29-31 11. 'On Professionalism', 1919 Valerian Pletnev Proletarskaia kul'tura, no. 7-8, pp. 31-37 12. The Creation of the Proletarian Theatre, 1923 Platon Kerzhentsev An extract from Tvorcheskii teatr, pp. 75-88 Part 3 Repertoire Issues 13. Repertoire at a Factory Theatre, [1918] Alexander Mgebrov An extract from Zhizn' v teatre tom 2, pp. 302-06 14. 'The Repertoire of the Proletarian Theatre', 1918 Platon Kerzhentsev Iskusstvo, no. 1 (5), pp. 5-7 15. Notes on Pavel Bessalko's The Bricklayer, [1918] Alexander Mgebrov An extract from Zhizn' v teatre tom 2, pp. 420-33 16. 'Adapt the Plays!', 1919 Platon Kerzhentsev Vestnik teatra, no. 36, pp. 6-8 17. Garland's Inheritance, 1923 Valerian Pletnev An extract from the play, Act 1, pp. 5-17 18. They Tried to Hide, but Ended Up Fathers, 1924 Arkhip Rabochii klub, no. 5, pp. 34-37 Part 4 Production Approaches and Examples 19. 'After the Holiday', 1918 Platon Kerzhentsev Iskusstvo, no. 6, pp. 3-5 20. Performances During the Civil War, [1919] Alexander Mgebrov An extract from Zhizn' v teatre tom 2, pp. 365-71 21. Collective Readings, [1918-19] Alexander Mgebrov An extract from Zhizn' v teatre tom 2 22. 'Collective Creation in the Theatre', 1919 Platon Kerzhentsev Proletarskaia kul'tura, no. 7-8, pp. 37-41. 23. 'Strife Between the Arts', 1919 Platon Kerzhentsev Vestnik teatra, no. 19, p. 2. 24. 'On Futurism', 1919 Fyodor Kalinin Proletarskaia kul'tura,no. 7-8, pp. 41-3 25. 'Creative Play. The Improvisation Method of N. Skarskaia', 1919 Pavel Gaideburov VO, no. 6-8, pp. 36-40 26. 'Experiment in the Staging of Emile Verhaeren's Poem Insurrection', 1919 Valentin Smyshlaev Gorn, no. 2-3, pp. 82-90 27. The Results of the New Theatre, 1923 Platon Kerzhentsev An extract from Tvorcheskii teatr, pp. 123-36 28. The Proletarian Actor, 1922 Valentin Tikhonovich An extract from the essay 'Proletarian Theatre', originally published in O Teatre, a book edited by V. Blum, E. Beskin, B. Ferdinand, A. Gan, I. Aksenov, V. Tikhonovich, M. Zagorsky, B. Arvatov, O. Blum, V. Rappaport, L. Sabaneyev, O Teatre, pp. 89-96 29. 'The Dramatisation of a Living Newspaper', 1924 Moscow Proletkult An essay from the volume Iskusstvo v rabochem klube, pp. 66-71 30. 'On Staging Agit-Trials', 1924 Moscow Proletkult An essay from the volume Iskusstvo v rabochem klube, pp. 96-99 31. 'Club Stage - Competition of Living Newspapers', 1927 N.N.V Rabochii i teatr, no. 15, pp. 16-17 Part 5 Training 32. 'On the Work of the Theatre Department of the Moscow Proletkult', 1918 Valentin Smyshlaev Gorn, no. 1, p. 54 33. Dramatic Laboratories, 1923 Platon Kerzhentsev An extract from Tvorcheskii teatr, pp. 88-94 34. 'A Unified Studio of the Arts', 1924 Moscow Proletkult An essay from the volume Iskusstvo v rabochem klube, pp. 9-16 35. 'On Theatre Work at the Clubs', 1924 Moscow Proletkult An essay from the volume Iskusstvo v rabochem klube, pp. 17-24 Epilogue Sections from N. Evreinov's intervention during the conference on theatre organised by the Agitprop Division of the Communist Party, 1927

Reviews

A valuable source for researchers who are interested in the amateur and proletarian theater of this specific period. * International Journal of Russian Studies *

A valuable source for researchers who are interested in the amateur and proletarian theater of this specific period. * International Journal of Russian Studies * A remarkable source for those interested in early Soviet cultural history, providing nuanced arguments and insights into the minds, ways, and realities of post-revolutionary Russians. At times, it feels like time travel. * The Calvert Journal * [An] absorbing and layered collection of contemporaneous texts ... an absorbing, well-judged and judiciously selected window into a hugely underappreciated and vertiginous five-year moment in the heritage of contemporary practice. * Stanislavski Studies *

Author Information

Stefan Aquilina is Director of the School of Performing Arts and Senior Lecturer in Theatre Studies at the University of Malta. He has published widely on modern theatre in Russia, including Stanislavsky in the World (co-edited with Jonathan Pitches, Methuen Drama, 2017) and Modern Theatre in Russia (Methuen Drama, 2020).

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