In the retinue of the empress was a member of the French embassy, ​​Count Segur, who was rather skeptical about the Russian nobles and their holidays in honor of Catherine II: “These magnificent celebrations are always the same: boring balls, uninteresting spectacles, magnificent poems for the occasion, brilliant fireworks, after which only smoke remains, a lot of wasted time, money and effort ... If it was boring to participate in them, then it is even more boring to describe them ... However, I will not pass in silence on one given in honor of the Empress by Count Sheremetev.

Artist Ivan Argunov.

(presumably Anna Izumrudova-Buyanova).

The performance made a special impression on Segur: “I was surprised by the elegance of the melodies, the richness of the outfits, the dexterity and lightness of the dancers and dancers. But most of all, I was struck by the fact that the author of the words and music of the opera, the architect who built the theater, the painter who decorated it, the actors and actresses, dancers and dancers in the ballet, the musicians who make up the orchestra - all belonged to Count Sheremetev, who carefully tried to educate and teaching them."

The Kuskovsky Theater was indeed the fruit of the creativity of His Excellency's “own” people, despite the fact that many opera claviers, sketches of scenery and costumes, projects of the theater and its machinery were sent by Ivar, Nikolai Petrovich’s Parisian correspondent. All this took shape thanks to architects Argunov and Mironov, decorators Funtusov and Kalinin, musicians Kalmykov and Smagin, singers Grigory Kokhanovsky and Stepan Degtyarev, actresses Praskovya Zhemchugova and Anna Izumrudova, dancers Alexei Vorobyov and Tatyana Shlykova.

Sketch of the hero's costume for the theater
Sheremetevs. 80s of the XVIII century.
Artist M. Kirzinger.

Sketch of the costume of the heroine for the theater
Sheremetevs in Kuskovo. 1780s.
Artist M. Kirzinger.

This discovery struck Segur because everywhere in Russia he saw traces of "real slavery", imposing the seal of hopeless downtroddenness and savagery on the serfs. “The common people, immersed in slavery, are not familiar with moral well-being,” the Frenchman noted in his notes, comparing the Russians with the Scythians or barbarians of Roman times. And suddenly - such a level of artistic performance, such impeccable musicality and grace?! Yes, what about the foreigner Segur, when many of our compatriots shared his opinion. For example, a contemporary and close relative of the Sheremetevs, Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Dolgoruky (himself an amateur actor and playwright) had great doubts about the possibility of inspired creativity among serfs: to plant a chair one at a time? He believed that such an actor is only able to play “like an ox carrying a load when it is being driven with a rod”.

Indeed, Sheremetev could dispose of the serf "soul" that belonged to him at his own discretion and act with his "own" people, according to the concepts of that century, like a "father": for the slightest exit "from the will of the count" the owner chose a rod, a reduction in salary or another punishment. True, Sheremetev did not resort to them very often. Nikolai Petrovich would later write to his son Dmitry Nikolayevich in a "testamentary letter": "My parent's house was different from the others." And this difference manifested itself primarily in relation to the serfs, and especially theatrical ones.

His actors, singers, musicians, artists received an excellent education; they were given a fixed salary, which consisted of a monetary “dacha” and a “grain dacha”; they were never used in any other work: neither in the field, nor in the house and in general, which was very common with other, even very wealthy owners of home theaters; the first performers ate from the count's table and used the services of the count's doctor. However, “laziness, negligence and inattention in teaching” were punished by the fact that the guilty were “put on their knees or put on bread and water” (educational measures that were quite widespread in the 18th century).

All the actors were entrusted with "strong watching" Vasily Voroblevsky, who was obliged to watch over them physically and morally. Observance of morality was given special attention: on the Sheremetev stage, in all the plays, love reigned with its temptations and appeals (in a newfangled and progressive spirit) to the free choice of one's beloved. But since the count created a theater for himself and those like him in position, then all these appeals should have had nothing to do with his serfs. They tried to strictly protect stage servants outside the theater from the temptations of love and, most importantly, from its free choice. This was achieved by the absence of idleness and the impossibility of communicating with the opposite sex, for which the same Vasily Voroblevsky, slavishly devoted to the owner, was responsible.

fortress theater fortress theater

in Russia, a private noble theater with a troupe of serfs. They arose at the end of the 17th century, became widespread at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries, mainly in Moscow and the Moscow region (the theaters of the Sheremetevs, Yusupovs, etc.). The names of many serf actors entered the history of the theater (P. I. Zhemchugova, T. V. Shlykova-Granatova, and others). Fortress theaters became the basis of the Russian provincial stage.

KEPOSTNOY THEATER, a private noble (home landlord) theater in Russia, which arose on a feudal-serf basis. Separate home performances by serf actors began to be staged as early as the end of the 17th century, but serf theaters became especially widespread in the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries and existed until the abolition of serfdom (1861).
Types of fortress theaters
The fortress theaters, of which there were about two hundred, were distinguished by many significant nuances: only the nobles themselves, often titled and high-ranking, or their children played in some - such a theater is usually called a noble amateur theater; in others, “brownies”, that is, serf actors, performed next to amateur nobles; in the third, "free" artists of the public imperial stage or private professional entreprise were invited to the main roles, and the rest of the troupe was from their "homegrown" ones; in the fourth - "free" celebrities, Russian and foreign, appeared only as orchestra leaders, choreographers and theater teachers, and the performers were mostly "own" actors; there were also landlord theaters, which turned into public ones with an entrance fee.
Features of the fortress theater
Any such serf theater, intimate home or public, was created at the whim of the landowner, at his expense, thanks to the labor of his own serfs, used as either actors, or orchestra musicians, or attendants of the stage action, which took place most often in his (sometimes rented) house, where the owner was the absolute master on the stage, behind the scenes and in the auditorium, that is, he determined the artistic and aesthetic level of performances, formed the direction (dramatic or musical), chose the repertoire, distributed roles, etc., placed in his own way discretion of the audience, and also determined the moral face of the theater.
Spread of fortress theaters
At first, serf theaters were set up in the city estates of both capitals, especially in Moscow, where more than twenty of them existed in the 1780s and 1790s alone. In winter, home theaters functioned in the city, and in the summer, together with their owners, they moved to country estates. So, in Moscow in the late 18th - early 19th century. theaters operated: S. S. Apraksin, G. I. Bibikov, I. Ya. Bludov, N. A. and V. A. Vsevolozhsky, P. M. Volkonsky, I. A. Gagarin, A. I. Davydov, N. I. Demidova, I. A. Durasova, I. K. Zamyatin, L. K. Naryshkin, N. I. Odoevsky, V. G. Orlov, S. M. and G. P. Rzhevsky, D. E. and A. E. Stolypinykh, A. S. Stepanova, P. A. Poznyakova, D. I. and N. N. Trubetskoy, P. B. Sheremeteva (cm. Sheremetev Peter Borisovich) and N. P. Sheremetev (cm. Sheremetev Nikolay Petrovich), N. G. and B. G. Shakhovskikh, N. B. Yusupov and others. Home theaters were especially famous in St. Petersburg: D. P. Baryatinsky, P. A. Golitsyna, E. F. Dolgoruky, A. A. and L. A. Naryshkin, A. N. Nelidinskaya, A. S. Stroganov, I. G. Chernyshev, heir to the throne Pavel Petrovich (cm. PAVEL I Petrovich), and etc.
Theater of Counts Sheremetevs
One of the first and most outstanding was the theater of the Counts Sheremetevs. He began his activity in St. Petersburg in 1765 as an amateur nobleman and finally took shape by the end of the 1770s in Moscow (on Bolshaya Nikolskaya Street). From hundreds of thousands of their serfs, the Sheremetevs carefully selected and trained various masters who took part in the creation of the theater (architects F. S. Argunov, A. Mironov, G. Diushin; artists I. P. and N. I. Argunov (cm. ARGUNOVA), K. Vuntusov, G. Mukhin, S. Kalinin; engineer F. Pryakhin; musicians P. Kalmykov, S. Degtyarev, G. Lomakin (cm. LOMAKIN Gavriil Yakimovich) and etc.). They worked under the guidance of and next to renowned European and Russian masters.
In the Sheremetev estate near Moscow, Kuskovo (cm. KUSKOVO), theaters were built: "air" (in the open air), Small and Big. The troupe included serf actors, musicians, dancers, decorators, etc. (more than two hundred people), among them - an outstanding actress and singer Zhemchugova (P. I. Kovaleva). Artists were supposed to be paid money and food. The troupe was led and overseen by the serf "His Excellency's librarian" B. G. Vroblevsky, who was educated at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy (cm. SLAVIC-GRECO-LATIN ACADEMY) and who visited together with N.P. Sheremetev in the early 1770s abroad. Wroblewski translated plays while reworking them. The theater's repertoire included more than a hundred plays, mostly comic operas, but also comedies, operas and ballets.
The theater reached its peak in the mid-1780s, when N.P. Sheremetev-son became its owner - an enlightened nobleman, a talented musician and a selfless lover of theatrical art, who rebuilt a magnificent theater-palace in the village of Ostankino in the early 1790s (cm. Ostankino).
Fortress Theater of Prince Yusupov
By the beginning of the 19th century. (about 1818) is the heyday of the serf theater of Prince N. B. Yusupov. In 1819, a theater building was rebuilt in Moscow, which had a stalls, a semicircular amphitheater, a mezzanine and two galleries. In the summer, the theater functioned in the village of Arkhangelskoye near Moscow, where a magnificent theater building built in 1818 is still preserved. The scenery for the theater was painted by Pietro Gonzago (cm. GONZAGO Pietro). Operas and magnificent ballet performances were given at the Yusupov Theater.
"Theatrical Phenomenon"
Around 1811, “a theatrical phenomenon worthy of special attention” appeared in Moscow - the serf theater of P. A. Poznyakov, located on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in Leontievsky Lane. The theater gave mainly lavishly furnished comic operas, the scenery for which was painted by the Italian painter Scotty. The serf actors of this theater, who "played incomparably better than many free artists," were trained by S. N. Sandunov (cm. SANDUNOV Sila Nikolaevich) and E. S. Sandunova (cm. Sandunova Elizaveta Semyonovna).
Provincial fortress theaters
By the end of the 18th century serf theaters began to appear in provincial cities and estates, sometimes very remote from the center, including in the Urals and Siberia. Their level was very different: from primitive home-grown performances on hastily knocked together stages with a painted sheet instead of a curtain to perfectly organized performances in specially built theaters with a well-equipped stage. An example of the first is the theater of Prince G. A. Gruzinsky in the village of Lyskovo; the second - the theater of Prince N. G. Shakhovsky in the village of Yusupovo, and then in Nizhny Novgorod; the theater of I. I. Esipov in Kazan; S. M. Kamensky in Orel; S. G. Zorich in Shklov.
Fortress Theater Zorich
In the 1780s, a favorite of Catherine II (cm. EKATERINA II), S. G. Zorich, in his estate Shklov, Mogilev province, arranged a theater, which, according to contemporaries, was “enormous”. The repertoire included dramas, comedies, comic operas and ballets. In addition to the serfs, cadets of the Shklovsky Cadet Corps (established by Zorich) and amateur nobles, among whom Prince P. V. Meshchersky was famous, took part in dramatic performances - M. S. Shchepkin highly appreciated his game (cm. SHEPKIN Mikhail Semenovich). In the ballets, which "were very good," only serf dancers danced. After the death of Zorich, his ballet troupe in 1800 was bought by the treasury for the St. Petersburg imperial stage.
Fortress Theater of Vorontsov
Among the provincial theaters, the fortress theater of Count A. R. Vorontsov also stood out (cm. VORONTSOV Alexander Romanovich), located in the village of Alabukhi, Tambov province, then - in the village of Andreevskoye, Vladimir province. Vorontsov, one of the most educated people of his time, was an ardent opponent of gallomania, which spread among the Russian nobles in the 18th century. Therefore, the repertoire of his serf theater primarily included plays by Russian playwrights: A. P. Sumarokov (cm. SUMAROKOV Alexander Petrovich), D. I. Fonvizina (cm. FONVIZIN Denis Ivanovich), P. A. Plavilshchikova (cm. PLAVILSHCHIKOV Petr Alekseevich), M. I. Verevkina (cm. VEREVKIN Mikhail Ivanovich),I. B. Knyazhnina (cm. KNYAZHNIN Yakov Borisovich), O. A. Ablesimova (cm. ABLESIMOV Alexander Onisimovich) and others. Such plays by Molière were staged (cm. MOLIERE), P. O. Beaumarchais (cm. BEAUMARCHAIS Pierre Augustin), Voltaire (cm. VOLTAIRE) and other European playwrights.
The total composition of the troupe ranged from 50 to 60 people, including musicians, painters, machinists, tailors, hairdressers, etc. The artists were divided into "first-class" (13-15 people) and "second-class" (6-8 people) and depending on from this they received an annual reward in money and things. There was no ballet troupe in the Vorontsov Theater and, when dance scenes were required, "women who dance" were invited.
Public Fortress Theater
The public fortress theater of Count S. M. Kamensky was opened in 1815 in Orel. It was one of the largest provincial theaters. It lasted almost until 1835. Only in the first year of its activity, about a hundred new performances were staged: comedies, dramas, tragedies, vaudevilles, operas and ballets. The count, whom his contemporaries called "the illustrious tyrant" (primarily for his attitude towards serf actors), bought talented actors from many landowners for his troupe, and also invited famous "free" artists, for example M. S. Shchepkin, to play the first roles (cm. SHEPKIN Mikhail Semenovich)(his oral story formed the basis of the plot of A. Herzen's story "The Thieving Magpie"; the atmosphere of this theater is also described by N. Leskov's story "Dumb Artist").
Fortress theaters existed in conditions when their owners tried to make the most of the talent of the serfs, as a result, many of them died prematurely. However, in spite of everything, these theaters made a valuable contribution to the development of national theatrical art, contributed to its wide dissemination - many provincial theaters trace their history back to serf household troupes.

encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .

See what "fortress theater" is in other dictionaries:

The serf theater in the Russian Empire until 1861 (the abolition of serfdom) was a private theater of a nobleman, consisting of serf actors who belonged to him by right of ownership. Such a troupe performed where, how much and how the owner indicated, ... ... Wikipedia

Modern Encyclopedia

In Russia, a private noble theater with a troupe of serfs. Arose in con. 17th century, became widespread in the end. 18 early 19th centuries, mainly in Moscow and the Moscow region (the theaters of the Sheremetevs, Yusupovs, and others). The names of many serf actors were included in ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

fortress theater- FORTRESS THEATER, in Russia a private noble theater with a troupe of serfs. They arose at the end of the 17th century, were widespread at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, and existed until the abolition of serfdom. Sometimes they had an almost professional character, ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

View of a private noble theater in Russia; troupes were created by landowners from among the serfs. K. t. appeared at the end of the 17th century. They became widespread at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, mainly in Moscow and the Moscow region (at the turn of the 18th and 19th ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

The main house of the Lyublino estate The Durasov Fortress Theater in Lyublino was famous throughout Moscow and the outfit ... Wikipedia

Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

1. FORTRESS1 [sn], serf, serf. 1. adj., by value. associated with serfdom. Fortress dependence. Fortress peasant. Fortress economy. Castle factory. Fortress theatre. Fortress work. 2. in value noun serf… Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

1. FORTRESS1 [sn], serf, serf. 1. adj., by value. associated with serfdom. Fortress dependence. Fortress peasant. Fortress economy. Castle factory. Fortress theatre. Fortress work. 2. in value noun serf… Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

Fortress theaters - lordly whim or love of art? July 22nd, 2016

Fortress theaters are a primordially Russian invention. Nowhere else in the world have there been such cultural wonders. However, a special question is whether it is worth being proud of.

Let's start with the fact that the key word here is "serfs". This means that the entire theatre, including the actors, was the property of the landowner. The fortress theater arose at the whim of the landowner. The landowner was the sovereign master, both on stage and behind the scenes, and in the auditorium too. The owner chose the repertoire for his theatre, distributed roles and even directed performances, although in those days the work of the director was not at all glorious and not honorable.

Thus, the fortress theater was a private theater of the nobility. This determined his purpose. It was done not so much for the purpose of earning money, but for the entertainment of oneself, friends and neighbors. Entertainment here should be understood in a very broad sense, which will be discussed below.

The uniqueness of the phenomenon of the serf theater was determined by the word "serf". In the middle of the 18th century, when such theaters began to emerge, of all European countries, serfdom (that is, to put it bluntly, slavery) was only in the Russian Empire. Naturally, it was impossible to start serf theaters anywhere, except in Russia, due to the lack of serfs. Moreover, in some parts of the Russian Empire, where serfdom was abolished "in working order" (the Baltic states and Finland), or where it never existed (Pomorie, Siberia, Cossack regions), such, so to speak, "centers of culture" it was also impossible to start. But in other places there were serfs in sufficient numbers so that serf theaters could appear.

There are 3 types of fortress theaters. In theaters of the first type, the nobles themselves played, as well as their children. The serfs were busy with technical work: raise and lower the curtain, change the scenery. The orchestra, in which the serfs played, could accompany performances. In principle, it was not a serf, but an amateur noble theater. In theaters of the second type, along with amateur nobles, serf actors were released onto the stage, who played secondary roles. Finally, theaters of the third type could be called serf theaters without any discount. All roles, both major and minor, were performed by serf actors.

Usually in winter fortress theaters played in urban manor estates. In the summer, together with the owners, the theater moved to country estates.

Were there many fortress theaters? A fair amount. At the end of the 18th - the beginning of the 19th century, the theaters of S.S. Apraksin, G.I. Bibikov, N.A. and V.A. Vsevolozhsky I.A. Gagarin, P.B. and N P. Sheremetev, N. B. Yusupov in Moscow and many others.

Perhaps the most famous of the fortress theaters is the theater of the Sheremetevs. He began his activity in 1765 in St. Petersburg. At that time it was a noble amateur theater. By the end of the 1770s, the theater settled in the Moscow house of the Sheremetevs on Bolshaya Nikolskaya Street. In this area in the very center of Moscow, not far from the Kremlin, there was later the famous Slavyansky Bazaar restaurant, which burned down in 1993. For the summer, the theater moved to the Sheremetev estate Kuskovo near Moscow, and then moved to a building specially built for it in another estate, in Ostankino.

The Sheremetevs had tens of thousands of serfs. Therefore, it was from whom to choose actors, stage workers and attendants. Famous masters were invited to stage performances. The repertoire of the Sheremetev Theater included more than a hundred plays. These were mainly comic operas, vaudevilles and ballets. In the mid-1780s, under N.P. Sheremetev, the theater reached its peak. This was primarily due to the fact that Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev (1751-1809) turned out to be a nobleman, an enlightened, talented musician and a great lover of theatrical art. The other side of N.P. Sheremetev’s activity, charity, is described in the article “How did the hospitable house on Bolshaya Sukharevskaya Square appear in Moscow?” dated 06/30/2016.

Another fortress theater known at the beginning of the 19th century was located in the estate of N. B. Yusupov "Arkhanglskoe". Luxurious opera and ballet performances were given here. There were fortress theaters in the provinces: in Nizhny Novgorod, in Kazan, in Orel, and even in the city of Shklov, Mogilev province.

Was it joyful to be a serf actor? The answer here most of all depended on the character of the landowner and ... on the gender of the actor. The fact that many owners of serf theaters entertained themselves not only with spectacles but also with charming serf actresses is not an evil fiction, but a bitter truth. “Notes and Letters” by M. S. Shchepkin (who himself was a serf actor), the stories “Dumb Artist” by N. S. Leskov and “The Thieving Magpie” by A. I. Herzen. The fate of the serf actress Praskovya Zhemchugova, who became the wife of N.P. Sheremetev, is a rare exception.

If the master did not like the serf actor / actress for some reason, the list of punishments for them was as wide as for other serfs. In the best case, removal to some distant estate, in the worst case, corporal punishment and sale to another owner.

N. Leskov's story "Dumb Artist", although not written off from reality, has a very real basis. In Orel there was a fortress theater of Count Kamensky. Kamensky was distinguished by cruelty. Actors who made some mistake were personally punished with a whip. So the cries of the actors punished during the intermission reached the viewer. All the serf actresses formed a kind of harem for the count. But - art above all. The new favorite was always brought to Kamensky in the costume of St. Cecilia. In general, the life of a serf actor was not honey, not honey at all!

Although Prince Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky, an educated and intelligent man, a friend and favorite interlocutor of A.S. Pushkin, found positive aspects even in serf theaters. In his opinion, such theaters instilled in the serfs the beginnings of enlightenment, literacy and familiarity with the arts. In addition, thanks to the theater, courtyard people became widely known, which ultimately contributed to their ransom to freedom. The famous Russian actors M.S. Shchepkin and P.S. Mochalov, having been born serfs, later became free.

According to P.A. Vyazemsky, theatrical and musical performances also had a beneficial effect on the landlords, distracting them from rough amusements: drinking parties, cards and dog hunting.

1. Fortress theater on Wikipedia


2. Creepy Theater on Wikipedia


3. Presentation

FORTRESS THEATER existed in Russia for about a century (from the middle of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century). The fortress theater was of two types manor and city. The first was a well-organized premises with a large repertoire, a large troupe of artists trained from childhood for theatrical activities, an orchestra, ballet, choir and soloists. This type also includes the so-called "booth theaters", which showed their performances at large fairs in county towns, in settlements at monasteries, etc. The second type includes estate theaters, which were of a closed nature for the amusement of the gentlemen themselves and invited guests. Only at first glance such fortress scenes existed in a closed way: their living connection with the social and cultural life of Russia is obvious.

Forced actors were trained by professional artists, composers, choreographers. Often, serf artists were brought up in state theater and ballet schools, and free artists played next to them on the serf stage. It happened that serfs, rented out by their owners, also appeared on the imperial stage (in such cases, in posters and programs, serfs were not called “master” or “mistress”, but simply wrote their names). There are cases when serf artists were redeemed by the treasury for enrollment on the imperial stage, Stolypin serfs, together with the yard actors of the landowners P.M. M.S. Shchepkin, S. Mochalov (father of the tragic poet P.S. Mochalov), E. Semenova, according to A.S. Pushkin, “the sovereign queen of the tragic scene”, and many others came out of the serf artists.

Such serf troupes as the theater of Count S. M. Kamensky in Orel are widely known. A special building had a stalls, mezzanine, lodges, a gallery. The chaplains were dressed in special livery tailcoats with multicolored collars. In the count's box, in front of his chair, there was a special book for recording the mistakes of artists and orchestra during the performance, and whips were hung on the wall behind the chair for punishment. Within six months in 1817, according to the "Friend of the Russians", in the theater of Count Kamensky "to the amusement of the public of the city of Orel, 82 plays were staged, of which there were 18 operas, 15 dramas, 41 comedies, 6 ballets and 2 tragedies." The count's estate has not been preserved, but in the Oryol Drama Theater. I.S. Turgenev, since the late 1980s, there has been a memorial “stage of Count Kamensky” with a reconstructed stage, a small hall, a curtain, a museum and a make-up room. Chamber performances are played here, and a portrait of the count and a rod for punishment hangs above the chair of the last row.

The theater of Prince Shakhovsky, whose permanent residence was in a specially equipped room in Nizhny Novgorod, belonged to the same type of public serf theaters. Every year in July, the prince brought his theater to the Makariev Fair. The repertoire of the fortress theater included drama, opera and ballet performances. A similar type of theater is depicted in the story of Vl. A. Sologub pupil mores and life of theatrical figures of the early 19th century. conveyed here with the same tragedy as in the story of A.I. Herzen magpie thief. There is enough accurate information about the repertoire of serf theaters in the 1790s, mainly the works of V. Levshin and I. Kartselli: comic operas King on the hunt, Master's wedding Voldyreva, Your burden does not pull, Imaginary widowers and etc.

The theaters attached to the manors' estates were distinguished by a more complex repertoire and arrangement. In his study, V.G. Sakhnovsky notes that they were arranged “more often as fun, as entertainment or the desire to respond to the prevailing fashion, less often, but for a correct assessment of the art of theater in Russia, and for the assessment of artistic culture in Russia in general, it is all the more important as the need for the forms of the theater to express one's sense of life, worldview and, consequently, to quench the passion for the art of the stage. The greatest role in the development of the "instinct of theatricality" in the Russian nobility was played, according to the general opinion of the researchers of the topic, by the county master's theater. The most famous theaters of the nobles of Catherine's and Alexander's time in Moscow and St. Petersburg were the theater of Prince Yusupov on the Moika and in Arkhangelsk near Moscow, the Counts Shuvalovs on the Fontanka, the Potemkin in the Tauride Palace, the Counts Sheremetevs in Kuskovo (later in Ostankino), the Counts Apraksins in Olgov, Counts Zakrevsky in Ivanovsky, Counts Panins in Marfin (N.M. Karamzin, who visited this theater, wrote a play for the serf theater marked “only for Marfin”), Counts Zagryazhsky in Yaropolets Volokolamsky.

By the 1820s, not only the center of Russia, but also the southern and northern outskirts were flooded with the master's estate theaters, both winter and "air", arranged in the summer in estate parks. At the first time of its creation, the serf Russian theater was in many ways imitative, ranging from costume and furniture to language and gesture, it was absolutely alien to nature and domestic life, and, consequently, to the complex of concepts that reigned among the masses, not excluding and far from being always widely educated nobility. It was a time of impulse, the desire to create their own Russian theater. But over time, the most educated of the creators of serf theaters (Shepelev, Sheremetev, etc.) began to enrich their theaters with the heritage of European artistic culture more and more mythological works were included in the repertoire, there arose, according to the correct observation of V.G. Sakhnovsky, “the world of fantastically real art scenes ... he embodied the most early mental states of the serf actors, who at first senselessly pronounced the incomprehensible roles of courtyards and girls, and then brought amazing variations and diverse solutions of motives and melodies of world stage and dramatic themes and ideas by serf actors to clear movements, amazing intonations and original acting. The development of alien life went through adaptations and gradually became one's own. This was the dominant feature of the Catherine and Alexander era of the Russian serf theater. By the second quarter of the 19th century. the estate theater began to compete with theaters in the capital at times. Such was the theater of I.D. Shepelev (A.V. Sukhovo-Kobylin's maternal grandfather) on Vyksa (Vladimir province). In terms of its size, it was slightly smaller than the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre, while the internal arrangement (parterre, boxes, benoir, mezzanine, etc.) was exactly the same. The theater was lit with gas, although at that time even the imperial theaters in St. Petersburg were lit with oil lamps. The orchestra consisted of 50 people, there were 40 choristers. Shepelev also invited artists from Moscow and St. Petersburg, who willingly came to Vyksa, since Shepelev offered high fees. Fortress theaters were visited not only by the guests of the owners of the estates, but also by the emperors, about which a lot of evidence has been preserved. Distinguished guests were especially fond of serfs with valuable gifts and money. The repertoire poster became more and more complicated over time. The technical improvement of stage platforms made it possible to turn to works in which there were many magical effects.

The theater of Count N.P. Sheremetev in Kuskovo was especially famous. According to contemporaries, he was considered "the oldest and best of the Russian private theaters, not inferior to the St. Petersburg courtiers and far superior to the structure of the then Moscow, contained by Medox."

see also THEATRE.

1. History of the fortress theater

The history of the Russian theater is divided into several main stages. The initial, playful stage originates in a tribal society and ends by the 17th century, when, along with a new period in Russian history, a new, more mature stage in the development of the theater begins, culminating in the establishment of a permanent state professional theater in 1756.

The terms “theater”, “drama” entered the Russian dictionary only in the 18th century. At the end of the 17th century, the term "comedy" was used, and throughout the century - "fun" (Amusing closet, Amusement chamber). In the popular masses, the term “theater” was preceded by the term “disgrace”, the term “drama” - “game”, “game”. In the Russian Middle Ages, definitions synonymous with them were common - “demonic”, or “satanic”, buffoon games. All sorts of curiosities brought by foreigners in the 16th-17th centuries, and fireworks were also called fun. The military occupations of the young Tsar Peter I were also called fun. In this sense, both the wedding and dressing up were called “play”, “game”. “Play” has a completely different meaning in relation to musical instruments: playing tambourines, sniffles, etc. The terms “game” and “play” in relation to oral drama were preserved among the people until the 19th-20th centuries.

The first public theater appeared in Moscow in 1702. It was the theater of Kunsta-Fgorst, the so-called "comedy temple". It did not last long. He was not popular with Muscovites. Peter I attached special importance to the theater in connection with the fact that he demanded that the theater propagate the ideas of statehood and proclaim its domestic and foreign policy through the theatrical stage. Therefore, under Peter I, nationwide large-scale actions were widely used: triumph processions, masquerades, fireworks. Peter I "pushed the theater out of the royal palace onto the square."

In the 1730s, “public games” appeared in Moscow at Shrovetide, at which Evdon and Berfa, Solomon and Gaer were represented. And since 1742, the German Comedy was represented in Moscow - a permanent city theater, whose performances were attended by many people.

Forced actors were trained by professional artists, composers, choreographers. Often, serf artists were brought up in state theater and ballet schools, and free artists played next to them on the serf stage. It happened that serfs, rented out by their owners, also appeared on the imperial stage (in such cases, in posters and programs, serfs were not called “master” or “mistress”, but simply wrote their names). There are cases when serf artists were redeemed by the treasury for enrollment on the imperial stage - Stolypin serfs, together with the courtyard actors of the landlords P.M. Volkonsky and N.I. Demidov, entered the troupe of the state theater formed in 1806, now known as the Maly Theater. From the serf artists came out M.S. Shchepkin, S. Mochalov (father of the tragedian P.S. Mochalov), E.Semenova, according to A.S. Pushkin, "the sovereign queen of the tragic scene", and many others.

Such serf troupes as the theater of Count S. M. Kamensky in Orel are widely known. A special building had a stalls, mezzanine, lodges, a gallery. The chaplains were dressed in special livery tailcoats with multicolored collars. In the count's box, in front of his chair, there was a special book for recording the mistakes of artists and orchestra during the performance, and whips were hung on the wall behind the chair for punishment. Within six months in 1817, according to the "Friend of the Russians", in the theater of Count Kamensky "to the amusement of the public of the city of Orel, 82 plays were staged, of which there were 18 operas, 15 dramas, 41 comedies, 6 ballets and 2 tragedies." The count's estate has not been preserved, but in the Oryol Drama Theater. I.S. Turgenev, since the late 1980s, there has been a memorial “stage of Count Kamensky” with a reconstructed stage, a small hall, a curtain, a museum and a make-up room. Chamber performances are played here, and a portrait of the count and a rod for punishment hangs above the chair of the last row.

The theater of Prince Shakhovsky, whose permanent residence was in a specially equipped room in Nizhny Novgorod, belonged to the same type of public serf theaters. Every year in July, the prince brought his theater to the Makariev Fair. The repertoire of the fortress theater included drama, opera and ballet performances. A similar type of theater is depicted in the story of Vl.A. conveyed here with the same tragedy as in the story by A.I. Herzen The Thieving Magpie. There is fairly accurate information about the repertoire of serf theaters in the 1790s, mainly the works of V. Levshin and I. Kartselli: comic operas The King on the Hunt, Mr.

The theaters attached to the manors' estates were distinguished by a more complex repertoire and arrangement. In his study, V.G. Sakhnovsky notes that they were arranged “more often as fun, as entertainment or the desire to respond to the prevailing fashion, less often, but for a correct assessment of the art of theater in Russia, and for the assessment of artistic culture in Russia in general, it is all the more important - how the need for the forms of the theater to express one's sense of life, worldview and, consequently, to quench the passion for the art of the stage. The greatest role in the development of the "instinct of theatricality" in the Russian nobility was played, according to the general opinion of the researchers of the topic, by the county master's theater. The most famous theaters of the nobles of Catherine's and Alexander's time in Moscow and St. Petersburg were the theater of Prince Yusupov on the Moika and in Arkhangelsk near Moscow, the Counts Shuvalovs on the Fontanka, the Potemkin in the Tauride Palace, the Counts Sheremetevs in Kuskovo (later in Ostankino), the Counts Apraksins in Olgov, Counts Zakrevsky in Ivanovsky, Counts Panins in Marfin (N.M. Karamzin, who visited this theater, wrote a play for the serf theater marked “only for Marfin”), Counts Zagryazhsky in Yaropolets Volokolamsky.

Isadora Duncan

In the department of the book fund of the Central Theater Museum named after A. Bakhrushin, a small brochure is kept: “Isadora Duncan. Dance of the Future”, published in Moscow in 1907. A newspaper clipping is pasted to the inside of the cover...

Activities of the Ryazan Drama Theater

The Ryazan State Regional Drama Theater is a Russian theater, one of the oldest in Russia. Founded with the assistance of G.R. Derzhavin in 1787 under the name "Opera House". First mentioned in the report of senators Count A. Vorontsov and A...

Ancient Greek theater originated from rural festivities in honor of the god Dionysus. Initially, Dionysus was considered the god of the productive forces of nature, and the Greeks portrayed him in the form of a goat or a bull. However, later...

Ancient Greek theater and sculpture

The folk character of the ancient theater determined the features of its organization and structure. The ancient Greek theater was built in the open air and consisted of 3 main parts: an orchestra, a theater and a skene ...

Origins of Ancient Greek Theater

The history of the theater "Old House"

In 1923, the future head of the Novosibirsk State Farm Theater Anisim Rogachevsky left his home in Yekaterinoslavl and went to Tiflis to enter the Academy of Arts to the famous Yevgeny Lansere With the name of Yevgeny Evgenievich ...

The concepts of "house" and "home" in British society

Even with an address and a map, you will hardly be able to find the house you need in England. Hungarian humorist George Mikes argues that "the English city is a solid cabal of conspirators misleading foreigners" ...

Features of Chinese folk music

Europeans visiting China in the 19th century were attracted and at the same time amazed by the unique form of folk art that combined music, singing, pantomime and acrobatics. There were almost no props used in the performances...

Ryazan theater

The opening in 1787 in the provincial center of the theater was an important event in the cultural life of the Ryazan region. Its origin is associated with the name of the Russian poet G.R. Derzhavin...

Ryazan theater

In the early years of the existence of the Ryazan theater, "comic opera" dominated its stage. Such performances were staged as Ablesimov's "Melnik - a sorcerer, a deceiver and a matchmaker", "Anyuta" by Popova, "Rozana and Lyubim" by Nikolaev, "Sbitenshchik" by Knyazhnin ...

Significantly more complex from the point of view of the science of managing creative and production activities is the so-called "theatrical organism", the essence of which is determined by two factors: structure and number, on the one hand...

Comedy Theater Del Arte

The fate of impromptu comedy in the Middle Ages is little known. It is only known that it was resurrected during the Renaissance and in the second half of the 16th century became a favorite Italian spectacle. The passion for this fun swept the whole of Italy ...