Ancient Theatre as a Utopian Project of the Silver Age Passéisme
Abstract
In the era of the Silver Age, which is called the Russian Renaissance, there was a great
interest in the art and culture of past centuries. The foreseeing of the coming cataclysms
sharpened the question about the future of Russia. The two poles of Russian art of the
Silver Age — futurism (going into the future) and the avant-garde associated with it,
as well as passéisme (returning to the past, their brightest representatives were the
members of The World of Art who organized the performances of the Ancient Theatre)
clearly demonstrated the rejection of history. The author considers the utopian project
of the Silver Age — Ancient Theatre, which appeared in St. Petersburg as an initiative
of the director N. Evreinov and Baron N. Drizen. The author studies the positions of
passéisme, guided by a cultural-historical approach, choosing the analysis of secondary data as a methodological instrument.
On the stage it was planned to embody the theatrical forms of past eras, from antiquity to modernity. Ancient Theatre had existed only for 2 seasons (1907–1908) and
(1911–1912). The third season (1914–1915), in which a production of the Italian
comedy del arte was planned, didn’t happen because of the beginning of the First
World War. The new stage techniques and a new understanding of theatre art was
based, among other things, on the past theatre eras. And the passéisme of Ancient
Theatre played a notable role in it. Turning to other eras helped in the understanding
of the specifics of acting skills and the need to educate a new actor who masterfully
controls his body.
Keywords
Silver age, Ancient Theatre, N. Evreinov, N. Drizen, The World of Art, passéisme,
theatrical utopia, reconstruction of performances.
For citation
Shakhmatova E.V. Ancient Theatre as a Utopian Project of the Silver Age Passéisme. Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2023, no. 3, pp. 108–120.
DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2023-3-108-120
EDN IRBSYW
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Received: 06.04.2023
Revised: 05.07.2023
Accepted: 12.08.2023