• Ostrovsky’s House and the Revolution: The Maly Theatre in October 1917 — January 1918

УДК: 792.2(=161.1)"1917/1918"

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2024-1-10-27

EDN: AVWJXF

Full text (PDF): Download

Petr N. Gordeev

D. Sc. in History, Senior Researcher of Department of Russian History (19th–21st centuries), Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia.
Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia
Saint Petersburg, Russia
E-mail: petergordeev@mail.ru

Ostrovsky’s House and the Revolution: The Maly Theatre in October 1917 — January 1918

Abstract

The history of the Maly Theatre in the first months after the October Revolution is full of real, non-stage drama. It has yet remained little studied. In this article, it is observed in detail for the first time on the basis of the materials from various Moscow and Saint Petersburg archives. After the theatre’s destruction in early November 1917, the shocked troupe faced two urgent tasks. Firstly, it was necessary to overcome the consequences of the invasion and start the working and creative process again (it happened by the end of November). The second and more difficult task was to determine the place of the Maly Theatre in the changed world, taking into account new political circumstances. The troupe was disjointed: some spoke against the cooperation with the Bolsheviks (the “irreconcilables” were led by A. I. Sumbatov-Yuzhin), while others supported an agreement with the Soviet government (this group was headed by another theatre leader O. A. Pravdin). However, both Yuzhin and Pravdin (honored artists, masters of the stage) believed that the theatre should in any case maintain the autonomous self–management. By the end of January, 1918 the need for some kind of formal agreement with the Bolsheviks became obvious. Further uncertainty in the position of the Ostrovsky’s House was destroying the troupe. Some of its members were preparing to leave for the private stage. After a short struggle inside the theatre, it was decided to admit representatives of the Artistic and Educational Department of the Moscow Council, headed by the Bolshevik E. K. Malinovskaya, to discuss the Temporary situation of the State Moscow Maly Theatre. It was supposed to determine both the internal structure of the theatre and its attitude to the supreme power in the country.

Keywords

Maly Theatre, revolution of 1917, October Revolution, A. I. Sumbatov-Yuzhin, O. A. Pravdin, E. K. Malinovskaya

For citation

Gordeev P. N. Ostrovsky’s House and the Revolution: The Maly Theatre in October 1917 — January 1918.
Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2024, no. 1, pp. 10–27.

DOI: 10.35852 / 2588‑0144‑2024‑1-10-27

EDN AVWJXF

References

  1. Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI). Fond 878. Op. 1. D. 212.
  2. Knjazevskaja T. B. Juzhin-Sumbatov i sovetskij teatr [Yuzhin-Sumbatov and the Soviet Theatre]. Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1966. 200 p.
  3. Gordeev P. N. “Hochetsja idti k vam i svoimi rukami ochistit’ dorogoj teatr ot skverny, zanesennoj stihijnym bezumiem”: razgrom Malogo teatra v nachale nojabrja 1917 g. [“I Want to Come to You and Free My Dear Theatre from the Filth Brought by Spontaneous Madness”: The Destruction of the Maly Theatre in Early November, 1917]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Serija 8: Istorija. 2022, no. 3, pp. 53–72.
  4. Rodja. Arabeski [Arabesques]. Teatr. 1917, November 9–11, pp. 5–6.
  5. RGALI. Fond 878. Inv. 1. Case 1418.
  6. Gordeev P. N. Gosudarstvennye teatry Rossii v 1917 godu [State Theatres of Russia in 1917]. Saint Petersburg: Izdatelstvo RGPU n. a. A. I. Gerzen, 2020. 856 p.
  7. Manuscript Department of the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences. № 15227.
  8. RGALI. Fond 878. Inv. 1. Case 114.
  9. A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum (GCTM). Fond 217. № 2069.
  10. Moskovskij voenno-revoljucionnyj komitet. Oktjabr’ — nojabr’ 1917 g. [Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee. October — November 1917]. Comp. by V. A. Kondrat’ev. Moscow: Moskovskij rabochij, 1968. 304 p.
  11. A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum (GCTM). Fond 217. № 4821.
  12. Sovetskij teatr. Dokumenty i materialy. Russkij sovetskij teatr. 1917–1921 [Soviet Theatre. Documents and Materials. The Russian Soviet Theatre. 1917–1921]. Ed. by A. Z. Jufit. Leningrad: Iskusstvo. Leningradskoe otdelenie, 1968. 548 p.
  13. Saint Petersburg State Theatre Library. Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books. Fond 1. № 873.
  14. A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum (GCTM). Fond 217. № 3798.
  15. RGALI. Fond 649. Inv. 1. Case. 13.
  16. Gippius Z. N. Stihotvorenija [Poems]. Saint Petersburg: Gumanitarnoe agentstvo “Akademicheskij proekt”, 1999. 591 p.
  17. A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum (GCTM). Fond 217. № 4823.
  18. Teatral’nyj den’ [Theatre Day]. Teatr. 1917, November 15–17, p. 5.
  19. (Ob’javlenija) [ (Announcements)]. Novosti sezona. 1917, November 18–19, p. 1.
  20. Zograf N. G. Malyj teatr v konce XIX — nachale XX veka [Maly Theatre in the Late 19th — Early 20th Century]. Moscow: Nauka, 1966. 603 p.
  21. Hronika [The Chronicle]. Novosti sezona. 1917, November 23–25, pp. 3–4.
  22. Volin V. Malyj teatr. Uajl’dovskij spektakl’ [Maly Theatre. Wilde’s Play]. Teatral’naja gazeta. 1917, December 17, pp. 6–8.
  23. Hronika [The Chronicle]. Teatr. 1917, November 9–11, p. 5.
  24. Vil’de N. Naivnaja beznravstvennost’. (Po povodu vozobnovlenija “Beshenyh deneg”) [Naive Immorality. (About the Return of Crazy Money Performance)]. Rampa i zhizn’. 1918, no. 2–3, pp. 7–8.
  25. A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum (GCTM). Fond 217. № 4943.
  26. RGALI. Fond 649. Inv. 1. Case. 2.
  27. Zolotnickij D. I. Akademicheskie teatry na putjah Oktjabrja [Academic Theatres on the Rails of October]. Leningrad: Iskusstvo. Leningradskoe otdelenie, 1982. 343 p.v
  28. State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF). Fond 564. Inv. 1. Case. 1700.
  29. RGALI. Fond 878. Inv. 1. Case 1695.
  30. A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum (GCTM). Fond 217. № 780 a.
  31. Mi[Kugul’skij S. L.]. U rampy [At the Ramp]. Novosti sezona. 1918, January 6–8, p. 5.
  32. Teatral’nyj den’ [Theatre day]. Teatr. 1918, January 3–4, p. 5.
  33. Hronika [The Chronicle]. Novosti sezona. 1917. December 21–23, p. 5.
  34. Rodja. Arabeski [Arabesques]. Teatr. 1917, December 30–31, p. 7.
  35. Teatral’nyj den’ [Theatre Day]. Teatr. 1917, December 14–16, p. 4.
  36. Teatral’nyj den’ [Theatre Day]. Teatr. 1918, January 18–20, pp. 4–5.
  37. Rodja. Arabeski [Arabesques]. Teatr. 1918, January 9–11, p. 6.
  38. Teatral. “Amerikancy” [“Americans”]. Teatr. 1918, February 24–25, p. 3.
  39. GARF. Fond A-2306. Inv. 38. Case 60.
  40. K. [Kugul’skij S. L.]. Krizis Gosudarstvennyh teatrov [Crisis of State Theatres]. Novosti sezona. 1917, December 17–18, pp. 3–4.
  41. Teatral’nyj den’ [Theatre Day]. Teatr. 1918, January 9–11, p. 5.
  42. Teatral’nyj den’ [Theatre Day]. Teatr. 1918, January 14–15, p. 4.
  43. Teatral’nyj den’ [Theatre Day]. Teatr. 1918, January 23–24, p. 4.
  44. Rodja. Arabeski [Arabesques]. Teatr. 1917, December 10–11, p. 6.
  45. Hronika [The Chronicle]. Rampa i zhizn’. 1918, no. 1, pp. 7–8.
  46. Hronika [The Chronicle]. Rampa i zhizn’. 1918, no. 2–3, pp. 10–11.
  47. Hronika [The Chronicle]. Rampa i zhizn’. 1918, no. 4, pp. 10–12.
  48. Teatral. Moskva, 23 janvarja [Moscow, January 23]. Teatr. 1918, January 23–24, p. 3.
  49. Hronika [The Chronicle]. Rampa i zhizn’. 1918, no. 5, pp. 9–10.
  50. Teatral. Moskva, 13 janvarja [Moscow, January 13]. Teatr. 1918, January 14–15, pp. 3–4.
  51. G. Lunacharskij i Moskovskie teatry [Mr. Lunacharsky and Moscow theatres]. Novosti sezona. 1918, January 16–17, p. 5.
  52. Ob ohrane dvorcovogo i udel’nogo imushhestv [On the Protection of Palatial and other Private Property]. Izvestija Moskovskogo soveta rabochih i soldatskih deputatov. 1917, November 25, p. 2.
  53. Lo [Munshtejn L. G.]. Serafimovichu (Otkrytka) [To Serafimovich (Postcard)]. Rampa i zhizn’. 1918, no. 1, p. 12.
  54. Gordeev P. N. 2 janvarja 1918 g.: den’, kogda bol’sheviki podchinili gosudarstvennye teatry [January 2, 1918: The Day when the Bolsheviks Subordinated the State Theatres]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Istorija. 2023, no. 84, pp. 11–17.
  55. Central State Archive of St. Petersburg. Fond R-2551. Inv. 1. Case. 2096.

Received: 22.11.2023

Revised: 29.12.2023

Accepted: 13.01.2024