Once Upon a Time Ostrovsky and I

The article, presented in the form of a dialogue, analyzes the unique nature of the directorial school of the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS), and more broadly, the directorial stylistics of productions of Russian classics. The conversation took place within the framework of the International Scientific Conference A. N. Ostrovsky. Talent and Society and focused on evaluating the interpretative approaches to the plays of the classic writer at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The details of the rehearsal of Ostrovsky’s play The Forest, presented in November 2023 on the stage of the Moscow Academic Theatre named after Vladimir Mayakovsky, are analyzed. Traditionally, productions of Ostrovsky in this theatre have a programmatic character and manifest stylistic dominants in the work of directors from different decades with the acting ensemble. The continuity of the Mayakovsky Theatre’s 2023 premiere of The Forest in relation to the directorial version by Vs. Meyerhold in 1924 determines the nature of the experiments with the montage principle of organizing dramatic material on stage. The chronotopic unity of Ostrovsky’s plays, embodied in two versions — extended-chronicle and concentrated within a short period — largely determines the breadth of interpretive approaches of the theatre to his legacy. The conciseness of stage directions in Ostrovsky’s plays gives freedom to directorial imagination in creating explication and opens up opportunities for active staging development in the process of creating an original performance. The actualization of the substantive plan of Ostrovsky’s plays in post-Soviet realities has become a form of dialogue with the audience on the themes of individual rights and freedoms in the context of market relations.

Ostrovsky’s texts provide an opportunity to understand the universality of social problems, become an ideal space for creative dialogue between the director and actor, stimulate actor’s search, and allow to feel the connection of time in the actuality of the conflicts provided by the playwright.