• The System of Party-State Management of the Theatre in the USSR in 1932–1939

УДК: [351.854+792.03](47+57)"1932/1939"

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2023-2-63-82

EDN: RPAGYV

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Mikhail G. Zaslavskiy

Master’s degree student in History Faculty
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Moscow, Russia
E-mail: mikhail_zaslavskiy@mail.ru

The System of Party-State Management of the Theatre in the USSR in 1932–1939

Abstract

The article is devoted to the system of state management and control over theatre institutions. In the early thirties in the USSR there was a complex and cumbersome system of theatre management. Formally, there wasn’t any unified part responsible for art, and the main department of theatre management was actually the People’s Commissariat for Education of the RSFSR. Nevertheless, its powers especially in regards to the USSR republics’ theatres were not fully defined. In addition there were also other institutions that controlled theatre policy.
In 1936 there was established the All-Union Committee on Arts, and it had significant resources and powers. This was an institution officially responsible for all Soviet art, including theatre. Although many controversial issues of theatre management still remained unsolved, and the leading role in theatre management, as happened in all spheres of Soviet life, belonged to the party, the creation of the All-Union Committee on Arts Affairs was one of the key steps in the process of creating a centralized theatre management system.

Keywords

Soviet theatre, Soviet cultural policy, institutional transformations, People’s Commissariat for Education of the RSFSR, All-Union Committee on Arts Affairs.

For citation

Zaslavskiy M.G. The System of Party-State Management of the Theatre in the USSR in 1932–1939. Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2023, no. 2. pp. 63–82.

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2023-2-63-82

EDN RPAGYV

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Received: 12.02.2023

Revised: 12.05.2023

Accepted: 14.05.2023