• On the Issue of Semiotic Analysis of Anatoliy Vasiliev’s Performing Structures

УДК: 792.075:792.028.3

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2026-1-36-50

EDN: HHPLDZ

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Pavel N. Pronin

Post-graduate student at the History of the Russian Theatre Department. Scientific supervisor: Grigoriy A. Zaslavskiy — Cand. Sc. in Philology, Professor, Rector of the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS)., Lecturer at Anatoliy Vassiliev’s Department
Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS).
Moscow, Russia
E-mail: pavel.pronin1986@gmail.com

On the Issue of Semiotic Analysis of Anatoliy Vasiliev’s Performing Structures

Abstract

Since its very beginning, theatre semiology has studied theatre performance as a whole, examining it from the perspective of an observer. In this analysis, acting has always been broken down into several sign systems, which are then subjected to study. A rare example of studying the actor’s inner processes was provided by Jan Mukařovský in his study of Charlie Chaplin’s performance in the film City Lights: A Comedy Romance in Pantomime. However, this analysis is conducted from an observer’s perspective and does not take into account the actual internal mechanisms of acting. This selectivity is largely explained by the understanding of acting as a largely intuitive art, which cannot provide sufficient analytical material. However, the mechanisms of acting, discovered and developed by Anatoliy Vasiliev, constitute a coherent grammar of acting and can provide the basis for a fundamental semiotic analysis of the actor’s inner processes. The closeness of Anatoliy Vasiliev’s dramatic theatre paradigm to the French school of theatre semiology in the context of contemporary theatre scholarship also supports the application of semiotic analysis tools to this grammar. This article examines one of the mechanisms of actor’s work developed by Anatoliy Vasiliev — performing structures. The results of the study of those structures from the perspective of theatre semiology are presented in the article. They allow us to draw a clear conclusion not only about the feasibility of conducting a semiotic analysis of Anatoliy Vasiliev’s performing structures but also about the broader use of the tools of theatre semiology while studying the actor’s inner work in all its diversity.

Keywords

Theatre semiology, semiotic analysis, performing structures, ludic structures, performing theatre, Anatoliy Vasiliev.

For citation

Pronin P. N. On the Issue of Semiotic Analysis of Anatoliy Vasiliev’s Performing Structures Theatre. Fine Arts.Cinema. Music. 2026, no. 1, pp. 36–50.

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2026-1-36-50

EDN HHPLDZ

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Received: 29.11.2025

Revised: 11.02.2026

Accepted: 14.02.2025