УДК: 792.027

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2025-1-89-103

EDN: QBMTMU

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Elena V. Medvedeva

Post-graduate Student of the Department of History of Foreign Theatre. Scientific supervisor: Khaychenko Elena Grigoryevna — Dr. Sc. of Art Studies, Professor of the Department of History of Foreign Theatre of the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS).
Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS)
Moscow, Russia
E-mail: medvedeva.e.v@bk.ru

Adolphe Appia: On the Way to Stage Reform: Space as a Visible Music

Abstract

The article is dedicated to Adolphe Appia (1862–1928), a Swiss architect, theatre artist and musician, an innovator in the field of performance lighting, who developed multidirectional color lighting to design the stage in accordance with the content of the theatrical production. The subject of researches in this article is the early period of his work, connected with the passion for Wagner’s music and French composers. They prepared Appia’s future discoveries in the field of theatre space solutions. Appia considered light, space, and the human body as the elements that combine to create a complete work of art. Using minimal resources, he created an atmosphere on stage suitable for both opera and dramatic performances. It is fundamentally important to study the first theoretical works of the future theatre reformerbasing upon new sources of information, as well as to analyze his drama Undine.

Keywords

A. Appia, scenography, german opera, R. Wagner, Undine, F. de la Motte Fouqué, E. T. A. Hoffmann, H.S. Chamberlain.

For citation

Medvedeva E.V. A. Adolphe Appia: On the Way to Stage Reform: Space as a Visible Music. Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2025, no. 1, pp. 89–103.

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2025-1-89-103

EDN QBMTMU

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Received: 27.09.2024

Revised: 05.12.2025

Accepted: 15.02.2025