Bolshoi Drama Theater. Tovstonogov: repertoire, history
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The Russian State Academic Bolshoi Drama Theater (BDT) is one of the first Soviet theaters. The prefix named after G.A. Tovstonogov ”he received in honor of his leader - the famous director Georgy Tovstonogov.
Theater of big names
Prior to this, the theater was named after M. Gorky and was called the Leningrad Academic Bolshoi Drama Theater. Actually, thanks to Maxim Gorky, the theater was organized in 1919; the basis of his troupe was made up of the artists of the Theater of Artistic Drama, created a year before. In 1920, the theater received a building on the Fontanka, and remains there to this day. An interesting fact: the first performance of the theater - "Don Carlos" based on the play by Schiller - lasted five whole hours; The premiere took place in winter, in mid-February, in frosty weather, and the building was not heated - but the audience willingly spent the whole evening in the hall. The scene was so exciting! And this is not surprising. After all, all the time of its existence, the charisma of the Bolshoi Drama was based on the bright energy of outstanding figures of Russian culture. Many big names are associated with this theater. In 1919, the poet Alexander Blok was appointed chairman of the artistic council. Maxim Gorky continued to take the most ardent part in the fate of the theater. This cultural platform was intended to become a source of heroic pathos, revolutionary ideology, majestic passions, not limited to the fate of one person, but exciting the fate of many. In those years, the repertoire of the Bolshoi Drama Theater was based on a revolutionary program. It was composed of works of world drama, corresponding to heroic moods: Shakespeare's tragedies, Hugo's dramas, plays by Merezhkovsky and Bryusov. But the fate of the theater turned out to be changeable. For various reasons - political or personal - talented directors did not stay in it for a long time, the team was left without a leader for a long time, without a strong hand, the theater gradually lost popularity ... And only in 1956 a new era began: an outstanding and successful director Georgy joined the team. Tovstonogov, very demanding on the quality of acting, setting the highest bar in his work. For more than 30 years, the fate of the theater was decided: the popularity and love of the audience returned to it.
By the strictest criteria for stage quality
The most important criterion for the skill of an actor in the theater remains the intellectual level and the ability to improvise. This is what has made the troupe of the Bolshoi Drama Theater one of the strongest theater groups in the world for decades. "Well-trained" by the strict director Tovstonogov, the actors passed on to new generations the traditions of self-exactingness and impeccable clever acting. In the 90s, after the death of the chief director, the theater again found itself "in search", it was temporarily headed by Kirill Lavrov, and then the leadership was transferred to director Temur Chkheidze. Changes affected the Bolshoi Drama Theater in 2011-2014: as in many other theaters at this time, it was undergoing technical restoration. Critics, and many spectators, feared that after the reconstruction the theater would no longer be the same - its ideology and philosophy would change too ... But the very first performance - "Alice" based on the works of L. Carroll with Alice Freundlich in the title role - became the owner of the highest theatrical St. Petersburg awards "Golden Soffit" in the nominations "Best Performance" and "Best Actress". It is impossible to buy tickets to the Bolshoi Drama Theater on the day of the performance - after all, this is one of the most popular stage venues, a historical and cultural center, for a visit to which they prepare in advance ...
In fact, these three milestones mark the most significant periods in the life of the theater, born of the revolution. Since 1920 it has occupied the building of the former Suvorin Theater on the Fontanka. Before the revolution, the St. Petersburg Maly Theater was located here, in which the troupe of the Literary and Artistic Society worked at the turn of the century. Since the main shareholder, unofficial artistic director, as well as its ideologist was the publisher of the newspaper Novoye Vremya, A.S. Suvorin, Petersburgers called the theater Suvorin's. From time to time, the life of the theater, not rich in artistic events, was illuminated by creative discoveries. Thus, E. Karpov was staged for the first premiere of the theater. Reign of darkness Leo Tolstoy, with P. Strepetova in the role of Matryona. The performances with the participation of P. Orlenev, an actor who created a new role of a "neurasthenic", became an equally important phenomenon. M. Chekhov studied at the theater school; G.A. Tovstonogov was appointed T.N. Chkheidze.
THEATER BORN OF REVOLUTION
Actually, the real history of the BDT begins after the October Revolution. The new theater opened on February 15, 1919 with a performance Don Carlos F. Schiller in the Great Hall of the Conservatory. The first theater of Soviet dramatic art was conceived as a theater of heroic repertoire, large-scale images, "great tears and great laughter" (Blok). Born of a heroic era, he had to convey its special greatness. It was to be a theater of "heroic tragedy, romantic drama and high comedy." The main ideological inspirer of the new theater was M. Gorky. In the early years, mainly classical plays were staged, in which tyrannical, freedom-loving motives were accentuated. Major actors NF Monakhov, VV Maksimov entered the troupe, Yury Yuryev, the main romantic premier of the Alexandrinsky stage, moved from the Petrograd State Drama Theater (Akdram) for several years. The main director was A.M. Lavrentyev, who made the productions: Don Carlos (1919), Othello and King Lear W. Shakespeare (1920). The performances were also staged by N.V. Petrov ( twelfth Night Shakespeare, 1921; Ruy Blaz Hugo, 1921), B.M. Sushkevich ( Robbers Schiller, 1919), A.M. Benois ( Servant of two masters K. Goldoni and Reluctant healer Moliere, 1921), R.V. Boleslavsky ( Torn cloak S. Benelli, 1919). Artists A.N.Benois, M.V.Dobuzhinsky, V.A.Shchuko and composers B.V.Asafiev, Yu.A. Shaporin, in close contact with directors, strove to adhere to the traditions of stage romanticism. In the early 1920s, dramas of German expressionists appeared in the repertoire of the BDT, which were embodied by K.P. Khokhlov in an urban spirit, in a constructivist design - Gas G. Kaiser (1922, artist Yu.P. Annenkov), Virgin forest E. Toller (1924, artist N.P. Akimov). Aesthetically, these productions were joined by the performance Riot of machines A.N. Tolstoy (adaptation of the play by K.Chapek R.U.R., 1924, artist Annenkov).
The attraction of the poet A.A. Blok to the post of chairman of the BDT Directory was of great importance for the fate of the theater.
But along with the heroic-romantic productions of Schiller, Shakespeare, as well as experimental works, the theater focused on box-office performances, and often staged "lightweight" historical melodramas. One of them - Empress conspiracy A.M. Tolstoy and P.E. Shchegolev (1925, director Lavrentyev, artist Shchuko) - enjoyed a resounding success.
THEATER APPROACHES TO MODERNITY
The most serious performances of that period are associated with the work of K.K. Tverskoy, who usually worked with the artist M.Z. Levin; among them, plays by contemporary authors became important - Mutiny(1925) and Fault B.A. Lavreneva (1927), Man with a briefcase A.M. Faiko (1928), City of winds V.M.Kirshona (1929), My friend N.F. Pogodin (1932). Since the mid-1920s, Soviet plays began to define the repertoire of the BDT. Following the time, the theater for the first time tried to bring Romance closer to reality, to combine heroic pathos with a specific living environment. In the troupe of the theater, strong acting personalities were formed: O. G. Kaziko, V. T. Kibardina, A. I. Larikov, V. P. Poliseimako, K. V. Skorobogatov, V. Y. Sofronov.
In the year of production Break During his Leningrad tour of the Moscow Art Theater, KS Stanislavsky wrote on a portrait presented to the BDT: "Your theater is one of those few who know that the revolution in art is not only in its outer form, but in its inner essence ...".
For many actors, participation in Gorky's plays became a turning point. Gorky's plays had significant success Egor Bulychev and others(1932, directed by K.K. Tverskoy and V.V. Lutse) and Dostigaev and other(1933, directed by Luce). The name of Gorky was given to the theater for a reason. Departure from Gorky's laws of drama, which always presupposed clarity of thought, clarity of ideological position, brightness of characters, irreconcilable conflict and special theatricality, almost every time led the theater to failures.
G.A. TOVSTONOGOV COMES TO THEATER
After Tverskoy left the theater, a difficult time began. Artistic directors changed frequently: 1934 - V.F. Fedorov, 1936-1937 - A.D. Dikiy, 1939-1940 - B.A.Babochkin, 1940-1944 - L.S.Rudnik. In an atmosphere of aesthetic simplicity, multidirectional searches, only a few performances have become notable events in the performing arts: Bourgeoisie Gorky (1937, director Dikiy); Summer residents Gorky (1939) and Tsar Potap A.A. Kopkova (1940 - both directed by Babochkin); King Lear Shakespeare (1941, directed by G.M. Kozintsev). In the first years of the Great Patriotic War, the theater worked in Kirov, in 1943 it returned to Leningrad and continued to work under the blockade, serving the troops of the Leningrad Front and hospitals.
The creative crisis of the BTC, which became apparent in the mid-1930s, worsened in the post-war years. Artistic directors stayed in the theater only for a short time: 1946-1950 - N.S. Rashevskaya, 1951-1952 - I.S.Efremov, 1952-1954 - O. G. Kaziko, 1954-1955 - K.P. Khokhlov. The introduction into the repertoire of numerous thematically relevant, but craft, and sometimes frankly fake plays, led to a decrease in the artistic level of performances, acting skills, and the loss of the audience. In 1956, G.A. Tovstonogov became the chief director of the theater, having 25 years of experience of fruitful work in various theaters (Tbilisi, Moscow, Leningrad). His arrival coincided with the "thaw" - the revitalization of the country's public life after the 20th Congress of the CPSU. In a short time, Tovstonogov brought the theater out of the crisis, turned the disorganized troupe into a close-knit team, capable of successfully solving the most complex creative problems. The decisive factor in the theatrical policy of the chief director was the renewal of the troupe and the choice of the repertoire. To regain the viewer's trust, Tovstonogov begins with unassuming, but lively and recognizable plays ( Sixth floor A. Gerry, When acacia blooms N. Vinnikova). Talented youth are actively involved in these performances, which soon became the basis of the renewed team (K. Lavrov, L. Makarova, T. Doronina, Z. Sharko). They brought to the stage a living breath of truth, open lyrical hearts, genuinely sincere voices of our time. Liberated by the spiritual atmosphere of their time, the young actors, together with the director, approved a new hero - outwardly not at all heroic, but close to everyone in the hall, glowing with inner beauty and talent of humanity. Staging works of modern drama - Five evenings(1959, in the center of which an unusually delicate duet of E. Kopelyan and Z. Sharko), My older sister(1961 with the brilliant T. Doronina and E. Lebedev) A. M. Volodin, and Irkutsk history A.N. Arbuzov (1960) - went in parallel with careful work on the Russian classics, in which the director heard, first of all, the nerve of today. Performances Moron after F.M. Dostoevsky (1957 and 1966), Barbarians Gorky (1959), Woe from Wit A.S. Griboyedov (1962), Three sisters A.P. Chekhova (1965), Bourgeoisie Gorky (1966, USSR State Prize, 1970) became major events in the spiritual life of society and determined the leading position of the BDT in the national performing arts. Of particular interest was the form of the “novel-play” that developed in the BDT, which is characterized by the thoroughness and subtlety of the psychological analysis of the characters' behavior, the enlargement of images, and close attention to the inner life of all the characters.
Barbarians A.M. Gorky turned out to be the first performance that until recently turned the diverse troupe of the BDT into a powerful and rich ensemble, where the director prepared and ensured the great acting victories of P. Luspekaev-Cherkun, V. Strzhelchik-Tsyganov, V. Policemako-Redozubov, O. Kaziko-Bogaevskaya, Z. Sharko-Katya, T. Doronina- Nadezhda, E. Lebedev-Monakhova, her husband.
An event in the theatrical life of the country was the production of Idiot with I. Smoktunovsky in the title role. A performance in which the director's innovative style was especially clearly manifested: elusive in its many-sidedness on the one hand, and external inconspicuousness on the other. The director creates through the actor, together with the actor and reveals their individualities often unexpectedly for themselves (O. Basilashvili, V. Strzhelchik, O. Borisov).
No idea exists for Tovstonogov outside of the artist. But the director does not "die in the actor." The critic K. Rudnitsky wrote: "... the director comes to life in the actors, the art of each of the artists reveals one of the many facets of the director's own art ...". Therefore, the main work in the theater is working with the author and the artist. The main result of the work is the creation of an ensemble of the highest culture, which can solve the most complex creative tasks, achieve stylistic integrity in any performance.
Contact with the audience in BDT performances is always heightened. But there were performances where this condition became paramount. This is how the play was staged Woe from Wit(1964) with the tragic and at the same time eccentric Chatsky-S. Yursky, who was looking for companions in the hall, addressing the audience, with a lively youthful spontaneity, hoping for understanding.
Each performance of Tovstonogov has its own way of communicating with the audience, be it Horse history(1975) with E. Lebedev as Kholstomer, Chekhov, Gorky or Gogol ( The auditor, 1972), where the director poses the toughest questions to his characters, and therefore to the audience. At the same time, the novelty of the director's reading arises from the depth of the read text, those layers of it that have not yet been seen and studied.
The revolutionary theme of the performances is read and understood in a new way The death of the squadron A.Korneichuk, Optimistic tragedy Vishnevsky, staged repeatedly, at different times, as well as Re-reading M. Shatrova (1980), where a simple person, who finds himself in the face of History, is examined intently, without false pathos.
The characteristic slow development of Tovstonogov's “performances-novels” ( Barbarians and Bourgeoisie; Virgin Soil Upturned according to M.A.Sholokhov, 1964, etc.) gradually brought the actors and spectators to the stormy, "explosive" climaxes.
In the 1970s, the director will continue his theatrical searches, staging an epic novel in the field of big prose Quiet Don with O. Borisov in the role of Grigory - the central figure of the performance, overshadowing all other persons who have lost their scale in this system. The epic performance viewed Gregory as a tragic hero who has no personal guilt before the fate of History. The director's "novel" productions have always been accompanied by such a quality as polyphony.
But the BDT was no stranger to the funny, mischievous comedy. Spectators of the 1970s will remember for a long time the festive, light-winged Khanuma A. Tsagareli (1972), staged with special lyricism, grace and brilliant acting works by L. Makarova, V. Strzhelchik, N. Trofimov. The experience of a special "Vakhtangov" reading, with its open play in the theater, was successfully mastered by the director in Wolves and sheep A.N. Ostrovsky (1980), A. N. Kolker's farce opera sounded with sharp tragicomic grotesque Death of Tarelkin after A.V. Sukhovo-Kobylin (1982), which revealed the great possibilities of the BDT actors in the field of open theatricality (acting by E. Lebedev, V. Kovel, S. Kryuchkova, etc.). The artists' comedic skills were honed as on the material of a modern play ( Energetic people according to V. Shukshin, 1974), and in staging Pickwick Club according to Charles Dickens, 1978).
In the troupe, in addition to the already mentioned artists, E.A. Popova, M.A. Prizvan-Sokolova, O.V. Volkova, L.I. Malevannaya, Yu.A. Demich, A.Yu. Tolubeev, S.N. . Kryuchkov. In 1983 the troupe of the BDT was replenished with another unique master of the stage - A.B. Freundlich, who played and continues to play the most diverse roles - from three women, opposite in style in comedy This ardent lover(N. Simon, 1983) to the tragic images of Lady Macbeth and Nastya ( At the bottom A.M. Gorky, 1987), and others.
THEATER NAMED AFTER G. A. TOVSTONOGOV
After the death of G.A. Tovstonogov in 1989, K.Yu. Lavrov became the artistic director of the BDT. In 1993, the theater was rightfully named after its former chief director, who became a whole theater era, not only for his theater, but also for his country.
A valuable contribution to the life of this theater was made by the performances of the director T. Chkheidze, which largely coincided with Tovstonogov's requirements for the performance. The depth and scale of the director's intention of T. Chkheidze was embodied by him through a carefully selected ensemble of actors. The most interesting are his performances: Cunning and love F. Schiller (1990), Macbeth Have . Shakespeare, (1995), Antigone J. Anuya (1996), Boris Godunov A.A. Pushkin (1998).
In the modern BDT, many performances by G.A. Tovstonogov continue to run, which are not just preserved, but live a full-blooded life.
In 2007, after the death of K. Lavrov, Temur Chkheidze was appointed artistic director, who had worked with the BDT since 1991, and in 2004 agreed to become the chief director. In February 2013, Chkheidze resigned and resigned as artistic director.
Ekaterina Yudina
The famous building of the Bolshoi Drama Theater, which is located on the Fontanka, was erected in 1877. Its customer was Count Anton Apraksin. It was originally conceived as a theatrical stage, and was supposed to become an auxiliary stage for the Alexandrinka. For a long time, the building was rented by the Directorate of the Imperial Theaters. At the end of the 19th century, it came under the jurisdiction of the Literary and Artistic Society, founded by the playwright Alexei Suvorin. In 1917 the building was confiscated by the Soviet power, in 1920 the Bolshoi Drama Theater was founded here.
The architect Ludwig Fontana, who built the building commissioned by Count Apraksin, chose an eclectic style. Its external appearance combines the characteristic features of the Baroque and Renaissance. Already 10 years after its construction, the building underwent a number of small changes, and at the beginning of the 20th century, a large-scale reconstruction was carried out, during which the stage space was greatly increased. The concept of lighting the interiors of the building has completely changed. In Soviet times, part of the spectator's foyer was converted into a small stage.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the question of the overhaul of the theater premises arose. The last reconstruction of the renowned theater was completed in 2014.
Troupe history
The founders of the Petrograd Bolshoi Drama Theater can be considered Maxim Gorky and one of the oldest Moscow Art Theater actresses, Maria Andreeva, who served as the Commissioner for Entertainment Institutions in the Soviet North. In 1918, she officially signs the decision to open the BDT. The troupe of the new theatrical collective includes the best actors of the Soviet era. Alexander Benois himself became the chief artist of the theater.
Already in 1919 the theater played its first premiere. It was Schiller's play Don Carlos. The theater received a building on the Fontanka only in 1920, and before that the performances were held in the big hall of the Conservatory.
"Theater of great tears and great laughter" - this is how Alexander Blok defined the repertoire policy of the BDT. At the beginning of its journey, the theater, accepting the works of the best world and Russian playwrights for staging, brought to the public revolutionary ideas corresponding to the time. During the first years, the main ideologist of the BDT was Maxim Gorky. Since 1932, the theater officially began to bear his name.
At the beginning of the 30s, Konstantin Tverskoy, a student of Vsevolod Meyerhold, became the main director of the theater. During his repertoire, the repertoire was supplemented with productions of modern drama. Plays by authors such as Yuri Olesha brought the theater closer to modern times.
In 1936 Tverskoy was arrested and later shot. After that, it was time for a constant change in the artistic leadership of the theater. Many of his creative leaders were repressed, others came to replace them. This could not but affect the quality of the performances and the state of the troupe. The BDT began to lose its popularity and status as the leading theater in the city. During the Great Patriotic War, the troupe continued to evacuate, and after breaking the blockade returned to Leningrad, where it took up providing leisure time for hospitals.
The theater's creative stagnation lasted until Georgy Tovstonogov took over the post of artistic director in 1956. He completely reorganized the BDT, renewed the troupe and attracted a new audience to the stage. For thirty-three years of his leadership, the troupe of the theater was replenished with such stars as Zinaida Sharko, Tatyana Doronina, Natalya Tenyakova, Alisa Freindlich. Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Pavel Luspekaev, Sergei Yursky, Oleg Basilashvili shone on the stage of the BDT.
After the death of the great master, the star troupe several times changed the main directors, among whom were Kirill Lavrov, Grigory Dityatkovsky, Temur Chkheidze.
In 2013, the BDT was headed by one of the brightest directors of modern Russian theater - Andrei Moguchy. His very first performance "Alice" based on the works of Lewis Carroll, with Alice Freundlich in the title role, immediately won the most prestigious theater awards in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
In 2014, a large-scale reconstruction of the BDT building was completed - thus, the theater was renewed not only artistically, but also architecturally. Having retained its historical appearance, it significantly modernized its technical base.
Currently, the theater has three operating venues - a large and a small stage in the main building on the Fontanka, as well as the Kamennoostrovsky theater, known as the “second stage of the BDT”.
During the last three years of reconstruction of the BDT inside the building, under several layers of plaster and paint, unique bas-reliefs, drawings and stucco moldings were discovered, the existence of which was previously unknown.
After overhauling the building, the builders kept intact such memorable objects as the office of Georgy Tovstonogov, as well as the interiors in the dressing rooms, where the great theatrical figures of our time left their autographs on the walls and ceiling.
One of the most famous Russian drama theaters in 2015 was awarded the Golden Mask National Theater Award in the Puppet Theater nomination, since one of the last BDT premieres was classified by experts not as a drama genre, but a puppet genre. The play "When I Become Little Again" based on the works of Janusz Korczak was staged on the stage of the BDT by the outstanding Russian puppeteer Yevgeny Ibragimov.
In 1956 Georgy Tovstonogov was appointed the chief director and artistic director of the theater. Under him, the BDT became the author's directing theater, known all over the world, the best dramatic stage in the USSR. Tatiana Doronina and Sergei Yursky, Innokenty Smoktunovsky and Zinaida Sharko, Evgeny Lebedev and Valentina Kovel, Oleg Basilashvili and Svetlana Kryuchkova, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Pavel Luspekaev, Oleg Borisov, Nikolai Trofimov, Efirim Kopelyanov and many others ... In those years, the theater toured a lot. In a situation of confrontation between two political systems, the "Iron Curtain" regime, the BDT was a cultural link between East and West. After Tovstonogov's death in 1989, People's Artist of the USSR Kirill Lavrov took over the artistic direction, followed by director Temur Chkheidze. Since 1992, the theater began to bear the name of Georgy Alexandrovich Tovstonogov.
In 2013, director Andrei Moguchy, one of the leaders of the theatrical avant-garde, became the artistic director of the BDT. Under the leadership of the Mighty BDT, it regained recognition from the public and critics, and became one of the main theatrical newsmakers of the country. In December 2015, the theater was awarded by experts of the Russian Association of Theater Critics "For building a new artistic strategy for the Bolshoi Drama Theater."
The creative credo of the BDT is an open dialogue on topics relevant to modern society. Each performance, each project of the new BDT addresses the problems of a person of his time.
The performances of the Bolshoi Drama Theater involve artists of all generations of the troupe - from very young actors of the trainee group to leading stage masters such as People's Artist of the USSR Alisa Freindlikh, People's Artist of Russia and Ukraine Valery Ivchenko, People's Artists of Russia Svetlana Kryuchkova, Irute Vengalite, Marina Ignatova, Elena Popova, People's Artists of Russia Gennady Bogachev, Valery Degtyar, Honored Artists of Russia Anatoly Petrov, Vasily Reutov, Andrei Sharkov, Honored Artist of Russia Maria Lavrova and others. Each season, the performances of the BDT become laureates of the country's main theater awards, including the national theater prize "Golden Mask".
Since 2013, at the Bolshoi Drama Theater named after G.A. Tovstonogov, there is a large-scale educational program "The Age of Enlightenment". These are lectures, concerts, exhibitions, round tables dedicated to topical creative issues, meetings with people who create a modern theater, as well as excursions around the museum and behind the scenes of the theater, author's programs dedicated to the history of the BDT. An important area of the Age of Enlightenment is the BDT Pedagogical Laboratory - directors, actors, theater critics and teachers train teachers of secondary schools and kindergartens in St. Petersburg to introduce modern theatrical language and stage techniques into the school curriculum.
In 2015, the BDT became the first Russian repertoire drama theater, the poster of which on an ongoing basis includes the inclusive play "The Language of Birds", created in conjunction with the Center for Creativity, Education and Social Habilitation for adults with autism "Anton is here beside". Along with professional actors, people with autism spectrum disorder play in this play.
At the Bolshoi Drama Theater named after G.A. Tovstonogov three scenes. The main stage (750 seats) and the Small stage (120 seats) are located in a historic building at 65 Fontanka Embankment, erected in 1878 by the architect Ludwig Fontana by order of Count Anton Apraksin. The second stage of the Big Drama Theater (300 seats) is located at 13, Old Theater Square, in the building of the Kamennoostrovsky Theater, the oldest surviving wooden theater in Russia, built by the architect Smaragd Shustov by order of Emperor Nicholas I in 1827. Each season at these three venues there are at least 5 premieres and more than 350 performances.
Bolshoi Drama Theater
The Bolshoi Drama Theater is one of the first theaters created in Petrograd after the 1917 revolution. It was organized by the Department of Theaters and Performances in the person of MF Andreeva with the direct participation of AM Gorky and AV Lunacharsky to implement the task set by the party - "to open and make the treasures of classical art accessible to the working people." To create the Bolshoi Drama Theater of such a "theater of classical repertoire", large artistic forces were involved - artists Yu. M. Yuriev, N.F. Monakhov, V.V. Maksimov, chief director A.N. Lavrentyev, artists V.A. , M. V. Dobuzhinsky and Alexander Benois. A. Blok was appointed chairman of the theater directorate. MF Andreeva herself was the chairman of the directing department of the theater and was an actress in its troupe.
The pre-revolutionary theater was filled with numerous entertaining performances. After the February Revolution of 1917, which lifted all repertoire prohibitions, the line of the repertoire, associated with ridicule of everyone and everything, became even more frank. Theaters and small theaters were simply filled with "Rasputin's problems", comprehended at a thoughtlessly scandalous level. There were plays like "The Tsar's Kept Woman", "Grishka Rasputin", "Rasputin in Hell", "Rasputin and Vyrubov", in which the Tsar and Rasputin and the ministers were taken out in the form of feuilleton heroes. Freedom from censorship immediately turned into scoffing and "socialization of beauty" - for example, Anatoly Kamensky's play "Leda" was played in one of the theaters, while the actress who played Ledoux appeared completely naked in front of the audience. With this performance, the troupe traveled around many cities, and before the performance, lectures were given on the naked body and freedom. But far from immediately left the theater repertoire are salon comedies with weary heroes in tailcoats and "paradoxical ladies" in fashionable dresses. There was practically no new repertoire.
The theater department of the People's Commissariat for Education (TEO) was called upon to deal with the issues of directing and the formation of a new repertoire, pedagogical problems and the creation of new theaters, the education of young personnel and the organization of theater museums. Many educational institutions and studios have sprung up around TEO, with grandiose and often idealistic plans. The theater department constantly organized discussions, including on the topic of "consonance of the revolution." Naturally, in these disputes, theory often prevailed over practice. A wide variety of people were grouped around the TEO - some of them, like Vyacheslav Ivanov, "were able to hold a philosophical discussion, a brilliant polemic with Andrei Bely on the study of the philosophy of Blessed Augustine by future students, while discussing the program of the theatrical university", others like the famous A.A. Bakhrushin, the founder of the theater museum, have always been specific in their plans and deeds. But it was precisely in the very first years after the revolution in the Theater Department that it was really possible to cooperate with people of different ideological and aesthetic ideas, who were engaged in very specific matters - from the creation of theaters to the compilation of a bibliography on the history of Russian theater.
The theater opened on February 15, 1919 in the premises of the Great Hall of the Conservatory, and in 1920 it began to occupy the building of the former Suvorin Theater on the Fontanka. According to the idea of the initiators, the BDT was to become a theater of a heroic repertoire, reflecting great social passions and revolutionary pathos. Gorky saw the task of the newly organized theater in “teaching people to love, to respect true humanity, so that they can finally be proud of themselves. Therefore, a hero is needed on the stage of a modern theater ”. For Gorky, the BDT organization was not the first attempt to create a theater of classical repertoire. Since the end of the 19th century, he has been actively involved in the construction of a workers' theater. While in exile in Nizhny Novgorod, he organized the "Theater of the People's House".
The Bolshoi Drama Theater was opened by Schiller's Don Carlos and was greeted with sympathy by the party press. In the Petrograd Pravda, Lunacharsky insistently suggested that workers' organizations attend the "outstanding performance." Alexander Blok, who accepted the "music of the revolution" and its elemental force, but soon learned the tragedy of this element in his personal life (the "revolutionary masses" burned down his estate), became an active participant in the construction of the new theater. Back in 1918, he spoke about the need to resolutely demand “Shakespeare and Goethe, Sophocles and Moliere - great tears and great laughter, - not in homeopathic doses, but in real ones” the population of the big cities of Europe, the opportunity to listen ten times every year to Richard's explanations with Lady Anne and Hamlet's monologues. " But Blok's perception of reality was, of course, different from that of the same Gorky. Blok sees and feels that his "music" and "hop" revolutions are fading from reality every year more and more clearly. It is no accident that on the first anniversary of the Bolshoi Drama Theater in early 1920, he says: “In every movement there is a minute of slowing down, like a minute of reflection, fatigue, abandonment by the spirit of the times. In a revolution where inhuman forces are at work, this is a special moment. The destruction is not over yet, but it is already decreasing. Construction has not started yet. The old music is no longer there, the new is not yet there. Boring". The meaning and justification for the emergence of the BDT for Blok is precisely and, above all, in the fact that it has become a theater of the classical repertoire. The classical repertoire was like a salvation from the real world of the revolution, which "music has left". That is why Blok called the theater "to breathe, breathe, as long as possible, the mountain air of tragedy." And the leading actor of the theater V. Maksimov believes that the theater makes it possible "to go into the world of the beautiful and noble, makes us believe in the nobility of the human soul, believe in" love until the grave, "" loyalty to a friend, "lordship and happiness of all people." It was idealism, and those theater leaders and actors who did not perceive the revolution in a purely social sense tried to preserve it.
The production of Don Carlos aroused some fears, which was reflected in the press in the following words: “How is it that next to the tragic actor Yuryev, next to the artist of the Shchepkin House Maximov, the operetta simpleton Monks will play the responsible role of King Philip?” But all doubts were dispelled at the premiere - the audience and critics accepted the performance. N.F. Monakhov, however, gave a certain derogation to the image of the king, using realistic and naturalistic means: he was scratching his beard, he was smiling, mowing one eye. He created the image not of a "despot in general", but of a terrible, cruel, low and at the same time unhappy person. In another play - "The Servant of Two Masters" by Goldoni - the same artist used the technique of the actors of the Russian booth, as well as the "garden couplet" to create a cheerful image of a servant, superior to his masters in intelligence and intelligence. In Julia Caesar, the Monks, playing the main role, shows their hero as a great politician, but depressed by old age and fear.
The artists of the Bolshoi Drama Theater were associated with the pre-revolutionary art group "World of Art", which was reflected in the design of the performances, which were distinguished by spectacular splendor and decorative solemnity.
In the very first years of its existence, the theater carried out a rather intense program of the classical repertoire, staging Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Robbers, Othello, King Lear, The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, as well as other classics. The performances were supported by the press and the public, and were widely attended by workers and Red Army soldiers (trips to the theater, as a rule, were organized, so that such a concept as an "organized spectator" arose). The consistent repertoire line (classical) was sufficiently sustained by the theater artistically, but the theater's “political line” was not always accepted as unambiguously. Speaking with introductory remarks to the Red Army men at the play "Much Ado About Nothing." Blok interpreted Shakespeare's comedy as follows: “There were, however, times and countries where people could not reconcile for a long time and exterminated each other. Then it ended worse than it began. Such countries where there was no end in sight to the fratricidal war, where people destroyed and plundered everything, instead of starting to build and protect, these countries lost their strength. They became weak and beggars, then their neighbors, who were stronger, took them with their bare hands. Then the people, who began the struggle for freedom, became a slave, more unhappy than before. " Of course, these words reflected Blok's personal, very personal experience of revolutionary destruction, and he, like an honest artist, tried to convey this to the democratic audience. He also spoke to the Red Army men, explaining to them the play "Don Carlos". And then Blok also said that in the play there is a protest against state power associated with violence, lies, betrayal, and the Inquisition. And these speeches by Blok (during the performance, the "old audience" literally staged demonstrations, supporting the monologue of the Marquis Pose for freedom of conscience) were perceived by the revolutionary intelligentsia as "a reactionary protest against the civil war and terror."
However, it was not only Alexander Blok who thought so - the Bolshoi Drama Theater shared his views. In general, the theme of violence will be heard more than once in theater performances. In April 1919, the premiere of the play "Destroyer of Jerusalem" by the Finnish writer Iernefeld took place. The content of the play was as follows: the Roman emperor Titus destroyed Jerusalem, stained his hands with blood, committing violence. But, having received power through bloodshed, he understands that such violence is unfair, that "mercy is higher than strength." Titus becomes merciful, and the people honor the emperor, enlightened by the Christian faith. Titus Flavius abdicates the throne. The theater contrasts the world of violence with the world of love. The play was staged and played in the days of the first campaign of the white general Yudenich against Petrograd and was part of the same left intelligentsia perceived as "a protest against the armed defense of the proletarian dictatorship." Soon the theater will again stage a play by a contemporary author - this time by Maria Levberg "Danton". Danton is shown in it as a patriotic hero. Block believed that "the life of people like Danton helps us interpret our time." Danton is killed by Robespierre, who "was more greedy for human blood." At Danton, as at Titus, the theater emphasized charity. And this was during the civil war! Just as politically “ambiguous” (as the political line of the new government demanded) sounded the play Tsarevich Alexei, staged in 1920 by D. Merezhkovsky, called “yet another protest of the humanitarian intelligentsia against the harsh class practice crushing the human personality”.
But the civil war was over, and the NEP flourished in the courtyard. The theater staged Shakespeare and Goldoni, in which the magnificent design of Alexandre Benois seemed an aesthetic gourmand. The theater also staged plays with an entertainment repertoire. Critics say that the theater in the new conditions is trying to "acquire cash capital and maintain artistic innocence, to feed the hungry NEP wolf with a vegetarian salad from Shaw and Maupassant." This position of the theater forces him to stage "trivia", lightweight plays. On the other hand, in the BDT they are fond of expressionism and stage Bryusov's Land, G. Kaiser's Gas with motives of the death of civilization, catastrophes and pessimism, completely far from the revolutionary cheerful mood. And in 1925 on the stage of the BDT appeared the play-chronicle of A. N. Tolstoy and Shchegolev "The Conspiracy of the Empress", in which the "revolutionary theme" turned into a series of sensationally revealing and adventurous alcove anecdotes. This artistic eclecticism inherent in theater in the 1920s was probably inevitable in many ways. And because the theater declared its predilection for "good manners", and because no one has yet written serious modern plays, and because there were several directors in the theater.
A new period in the life of the theater begins with the staging of Lavrenev's "Mutiny", when the Bolshoi Dramatichesky becomes one of the propagandists of the young Soviet drama. Blok has already died, new directors have already appeared, the theater's repertoire line has already become more "correct". Plays by Bill-Belotserkovsky, Faiko, Shchegolev, Kirshon, Mayakovsky, Kataev and other contemporary playwrights are being staged. In the 1930s, the theater again turned to the classics: Egor Bulychev and Others, Dostigaev and Others by Gorky became significant theatrical events, as did the subsequent production of Gorky's Dachniki (1939) directed by B. Babochkin.
In the first years of the Great Patriotic War, the theater was located in Kirov, and in 1943 it returned to besieged Leningrad and worked under blockade conditions. In the post-war years, the theater again shows dramas by Russian classics and plays by contemporary authors. In 1956, the theater was headed by G. A. Tovstonogov, and since then this theater is often called "Tovstonogovsky", because his glory and prosperity are associated with the name of this director. Tovstonogov staged many performances that have gone down in the history of Soviet theater. He spoke of himself as a successor of Stanislavsky's traditions, working in the style of a psychological acting school. Tovstonogov, indeed, brought up brilliant actors in his theater. He staged the famous Idiot based on Dostoevsky's novel (1957) with I. Smoktunovsky as Prince Myshkin, Gorky's The Barbarians, Arbuzov's Irkutsk History, Volodin's Five Evenings, and many, many other plays. The troupe of the theater consists of actors: V.P. Politseimako, E.M. Granovskaya, E.Z. Kopelyan, E.A. Lebedev. L. I. Makarova, B. S. Ryzhukhin, V. I. Strzhelchik, Z. M. Sharko.