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PEOPLE'S THEATER- Theater created directly by the people themselves, existing among the broad masses in forms organically related to oral folk art. In the process of historical development of arts. the culture of the people is the fundamental principle that gives rise to the entire subsequent history of prof. theater. claim-va, is adv. theater. creation.
Folklore theater is the traditional dramatic creativity of the people. The types of folk entertainment and play culture are varied: rituals, round dances, mummers, clownery, etc. In the history of folk theater, it is customary to consider the pre-theatrical and majestic stages of folk dramatic creativity. Pre-theatrical forms include theatrical elements in calendar and family rituals. IN calendar rituals- symbolic figures of Maslenitsa, Mermaid, Kupala, Yarila, Kostroma, etc., acting out scenes with them, dressing up. Agricultural magic played a prominent role, with magical acts and songs designed to promote the well-being of the family. For example, for winter Christmastide they pulled a plow around the village, “sowed” grain in the hut, etc. With the loss magical meaning the ritual turned into fun. Wedding ceremony also represented; theatrical play: the order of “roles”, the sequence of “scenes”, the transformation of the performers of songs and lamentations into the protagonist of the ritual (the bride, her mother). A complex psychological game was the change in the internal state of the bride, who was supposed to cry and lament in her parents’ house, and in her husband’s house to indicate happiness and contentment. However, the wedding ceremony was not perceived by the people as a theatrical performance. In calendar and family rituals, mummers were participants in many scenes. They dressed up as an old man or an old woman, the man dressed in women's clothes, and the woman in men's clothes, they dressed up as animals, especially often a bear and a goat. The costumes of the mummers, their masks, makeup, as well as the scenes they performed were passed down from generation to generation. On Christmastide, Maslenitsa, and Easter, mummers performed humorous and satirical scenes. Some of them later merged into folk dramas.
Balagan- temporary wooden building for theater and circus performances, which became widespread at fairs and folk festivals. Often also a temporary light building for trade at fairs, to accommodate workers in the summer. IN figuratively- actions, phenomena similar to a farce performance (buffoonish, rude). Balagans have been known since the 18th century.
Nativity scene- a folk puppet theater, which is a two-story wooden box resembling a stage. The nativity theater entered Russia at the end of the 17th - early XVIII centuries from Poland through Ukraine and Belarus. The name is associated with the original depiction of scenes about the life of Jesus Christ in the cave where he was hidden from King Herod.
Among Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians, the performance was divided into two parts: religious and everyday. Over time, the religious part shrank and acquired a local flavor, while the repertoire expanded and the nativity scene turned into a folk theater.
Unlike the “Parsley Theater”, the puppets are controlled from below
The nativity scene was a large box, inside of which there was a stage, usually two-tiered. On the upper stage they showed the worship of the newborn baby Jesus, on the lower stage - episodes with Herod, after whose death the everyday part of the performance followed. Wooden dolls were attached to a wire from below, with the help of which the nativity scene maker moved them along slots in the floor. The main decoration on the stage is a manger with a baby. At the back wall were the figures of the righteous Joseph with a long beard and the holy Virgin Mary. Scenes with the birth of Christ were traditionally played out in the upper tier. The owner of the nativity scene usually himself pronounced the text in different voices and led the dolls. The choir boys sang Christmas carols. And if a musician was present, he would accompany the singing and dancing with music. Puppeteers and the accompanying musicians and choir walked from house to house, or staged performances in public gathering places - in shopping areas.
In fact, it was a two-tier box, 1 x 1.5 m, with dolls moving on the tiers.
Petrushka Theater- The parsley screen consisted of three frames, fastened with staples and covered with chintz. It was placed directly on the ground and hid the puppeteer. The barrel organ gathered spectators, and behind the screen the actor began to communicate with the audience through a peep (whistle). Later, with laughter and reprise, he ran out himself, in a red cap and with a long nose. The organ grinder sometimes became Petrushka's partner: because of the squeak, speech was not always intelligible, and he repeated Petrushka's phrases and conducted a dialogue. The comedy with Petrushka was played out at fairs and booths.
In Russia, only men “drove” Petrushka. To make the voice louder and squeakier (this was necessary both for audibility at fair performances and for the special character of the character), they used a special squeak inserted into the larynx. Petrushka's speech had to be “piercing” and very fast.
Unlike the Nativity Scene, the screen is not a box, but a window with “curtains”. And the person who controlled the puppet in the Parsley Theater could appear to the public himself and talk to his own puppet.
Rayok- a folk theater consisting of a small box with two magnifying glasses in front. Inside it, pictures are rearranged or a paper strip with homegrown images of different cities, great people and events is rewound from one skating rink to another. Rayoshnik moves the pictures and tells sayings and jokes for each new plot.
The highest manifestation of folk theater is folk drama. The first folk dramas were created in the 16th–17th centuries. Their formation proceeded from simple forms to more complex ones. The most famous and widespread folk dramas were "The Boat" and "Tsar Maximilian". Folk, everyday satirical dramas were also performed ("The Master", "The Imaginary Master", "Mavrukh", "Pakhomushka", etc.), adjacent to the Yuletide and Maslenitsa games. They are based on dramatic scenes that were performed by mummers.
Some of folk dramas were of a historical nature. One of them is “How the Frenchman took Moscow.”
Folklore theater is a set of theatrical phenomena in folklore, the performance of folklore dramas by folk performers, puppet and raesh performances, and the verdicts of farcical grandfathers.
Types and genres:
It includes the performances of buffoons, the puppet theater of Parsley, booths, raek, nativity scene, and, finally, folk drama.
The first actors in Rus' are considered to be buffoons. They were often called amusements because they entertained people with their jokes and funny satirical scenes. The first mentions of buffoons are found in the Tale of Bygone Years.
The buffoons expressed the thoughts and feelings of the people, ridiculed the boyars and priests, and glorified the strength and prowess of the heroes, the defenders of the Russian land.
The authorities treated them as rebels; in 1648, a royal decree was issued banning buffoonery.
Puppet theaters. The first performances were staged by buffoons-puppeteers. Main character- mischievous and cheerful Petrushka. In the comedies about P. there were 2 heroes according to the number of hands of the puppeteer; eg P. and the doctor, policeman, etc.. P. always carries out justice and reprisals against hostile forces.
The nativity scene was widespread especially in the southern regions of Russia. V. is a special portable wooden box in which dolls made of wood or other materials could move.
2 floors. Biblical scenes were usually played out on the top floor, and everyday stories, most often comedies, were played out on the bottom floor. With the help of dolls depicting various biblical characters, scenes of the Nativity of Jesus Christ were played out, which, according to the Gospel, took place in a cave in the lane. nativity scene Popular play King Herod.
Rayok is a small box with two magnifying glasses in front, inside of which a strip with images of different cities, great people and events is rewound from one skating rink to another.
Associated with the development of trade in Russia, the growth of cities and the popularity of Russian fairs. Raeshnik not only showed pictures, but also commented on them, talking about the events depicted there, sometimes criticizing the authorities and the established order, in a word, he touched upon pressing issues.
Showcase. They were built right on the square from boards and canvas. Inside there was a stage, a curtain and benches for spectators.
The show troupe, as a rule, consisted of traveling actors. They gave several performances a day. Mostly these were tricks and clownery. Singers, dancers and simply strange people performed here.
Folk dramas were staged during holidays in villages and cities. These were original performances on historical, everyday, religious themes and plots. They were usually played out in a hut, in spacious barns or under open air. Boat, Tsar Maximilian.
Along with the Russian folk theater, there were performances similar to it in form, staged on the days church holidays in Orthodox churches. They were called liturgical actions. Walking on a Donkey or the Flower Blossom Act was performed in the spring on Palm Sunday.
The originality of the folk theater "Petrushki" as a form of urban spectacular folklore in Russia. Artistic originality and expressive elements of the performances of the folk theater "Petrushki". The main artistic and expressive elements of the image of "Petrushka".
St. Petersburg University of Culture and Arts
Test
Subject: “Folk artistic creativity”
Topic: “Folklore theater”
Rostov-on-Don
2010
INconducting
Folk art, which originated in ancient times, is historical background of the entire world artistic culture, a source of national artistic traditions, an exponent of national self-awareness. Some researchers also classify all types of non-professional art (amateur art, including folk theaters) as folk art.
Folk art - folklore, most often oral; artistic collective creative activity people, reflecting their life, views, ideals; poetry created by the people and existing among the masses (legends, songs, ditties, anecdotes, fairy tales, epics), folk music(songs, instrumental tunes and plays), theater (dramas, satirical plays, puppet theater), dance, architecture, fine and decorative arts.
Folklore is divided into two groups - ritual and non-ritual. Ritual folklore includes: calendar folklore (carols, Maslenitsa songs, vesnyankas), family folklore ( family stories, lullabies, wedding songs, lamentations), occasional (spells, chants, counting rhymes). Non-ritual folklore is divided into four groups: folklore drama, poetry, prose and folklore of speech situations. TO folklore drama include: Parsley Theater, religious drama, nativity scene drama.
The nativity play got its name from the nativity scene - a portable puppet theater in the shape of a two-story wooden box, whose architecture resembles a stage for performing medieval mysteries. The beginning of the nativity play should be considered the Christmas drama of puppets, which passed from Western Europe to Poland in the 17th century; At the same time, nativity play appeared in Ukraine. The environment in which nativity drama was born, grew up and became widespread is the Ukrainian students, mainly the Kyiv “spudes”, who contributed to its introduction to the north, for example, to Siberia. The existence of nativity play in Poland and Russia is estimated at approximately 200 years. In the first half of the 19th century, the nativity scene disappears as an everyday phenomenon, appearing at times in remote places of Belarus and Ukraine and lingering more firmly in the life of the Ukrainian peasantry of Eastern Galicia. The text of the Khorol nativity scene, published in the book by E. Markovsky, recorded in 1928, indicates that the nativity scene drama in Ukraine has survived to this day.
The Belarusian Batleyka theater was also famous. It was a portable wooden cabinet with a two-tiered stage for performing drama. The front side of the box is closed with shutters. The dolls, attached to rods, move along slots in the floor. Scenes with the birth of Christ were traditionally played out in the upper tier. A fortified manger and figures of Mary and Joseph were placed here.
The active development of folk art was expressed in poetry. Folklore poetry includes: epic, historical song, spiritual verse, lyrical song, ballad, cruel romance, ditty, children's poetic songs (poetic parodies), sadistic rhymes. Folklore prose is again divided into two groups: fairy-tale and non-fairytale. Fairytale prose includes: fairy tale (which, in turn, comes in four types: fairy tale, tale about animals, everyday tale, cumulative tale) and an anecdote. Non-fairy tale prose includes: tradition, legend, tale, mythological story, story about a dream. The folklore of speech situations includes: proverbs, sayings, well wishes, curses, nicknames, teasers, dialogue graffiti, riddles, tongue twisters and some others. There are also written forms of folklore, such as chain letters, graffiti, albums (for example, songbooks).
A precise definition of the term “folklore” is difficult, since this form of folk art is not immutable and ossified. Folklore is constantly in the process of development and evolution: Chatushki can be performed to the accompaniment of modern musical instruments on modern themes, new fairy tales can be devoted to modern phenomena, folk music can be influenced by rock music, and modern music may include elements of folklore, folk fine and applied arts may be influenced computer graphics etc.
About the forms of urban spectacular folklore, first of all, it is necessary to say about the era of Peter I. In the era of Peter I, the number of fairs (fairs) sharply increased in the cities of Russia. Fairs were held before major holidays. Holidays include elements and forms of various traditions, spheres of life, culture and art. Initially, folk fair culture absorbed strict regulation and ritual, magical and pagan functions. The main element of urban spectacular folklore is public art.
The middle strata of townspeople participate in the formation of their public art. People's entertainers flocked to the fairs. They built taverns, carousels, swings, circus and theater booths, and later stages. The fairground became a place for various mass entertainments and amusements.
Scientists (M.M. Bakhtin, D.S. Likhachev, A.F. Nekrylova, N.I. Savushkina) discover similarities between Russian fairground amusements and Western European phenomena artistic means And stylistic devices, the fusion of two cultures - agricultural and industrial. The fair square theater incorporates many staging techniques, various pyrotechnic and lighting effects, colorful costumes and a repertoire of European art. He was no stranger to traditional folk shows, performances by actors and jokers. Folklore theater occupied a very prominent place in the life of Russian cities. By adapting all types of art to the needs of his visitor, he has a great influence on his tastes and needs.
Parsley performances were especially popular at fairs and folk festivals and were a form of urban spectacular folklore.
1. The originality of the folk theater "Petrushki" as a formurban spectacular folklore of Russia
Parsley is one of the characters in Russian folk puppet shows. Depicted in a red shirt, canvas pants and a pointed cap with a tassel; Traditionally, Parsley is a glove doll. PETRUSHKA, “the nickname of a farce doll, a Russian jester, a jokester, a wit in a red caftan and a red cap; the entire jester’s, puppet den is also called Petrushka” (V. Dahl).
The origin of this doll, which appeared in Russia in the second half of the 19th century, has not been reliably clarified. Although in Russia (Encyclopedia Around the World) Parsley has been known since the 17th century. Russian puppeteers used marionettes (string puppet theater) and parsleys (glove puppets). Until the 19th century, preference was given to Parsley, by the end of the century - to marionettes, as parsley makers united with organ grinders. The parsley screen consisted of three frames, fastened with staples and covered with chintz. It was placed directly on the ground and hid the puppeteer. The barrel organ gathered spectators, and behind the screen the actor began to communicate with the audience through a peep (whistle). Later, with laughter and reprise, he ran out himself, in a red cap and with a long nose. The organ grinder sometimes became Petrushka's partner: because of the squeak, speech was not always intelligible, and he repeated Petrushka's phrases and conducted a dialogue. The comedy with Petrushka was played out at fairs and booths. From some memoirs and diaries of the 1840s it follows that Petrushka had a full name - he was called Pyotr Ivanovich Uksusov. The famous Russian puppeteer Sergei Obraztsov called Petrushka Pyotr Petrovich Uksusov (the story "The Four Brothers") or Vanka Ratatouille. There were main plots: Parsley's treatment, soldier training, the scene with the bride, buying a horse and testing it. The stories were passed from actor to actor, by word of mouth. Not a single character in the Russian theater had the popularity equal to Petrushka.
First puppet shows with the main character - Petrushka appeared in the first half XIX century. On the pages of everyday life essays and popular print books, his name has been mentioned since the 1840s.
In Russia of the last century, the comedy about Petrushka had no equal among other types of puppet theater in terms of popularity among the common population and breadth of distribution (from St. Petersburg to Sakhalin and from Arkhangelsk to northern Caucasus), in terms of topicality, wit and the deadly power of laughter. Petrushka was considered the main and perhaps the only hero of the Russian puppet theater.
Petrushka's comedy was constantly in the process of development, replenished with new characters, and became more and more relevant and socially rich.
The Petrushki Theater was created not only under the influence of Russian, Slavic, and Western European puppet traditions. It was a type of folk theater culture, part of the extremely developed entertainment folklore in Russia. Therefore, it has a lot in common with folk drama, with the performances of farce barkers, with the verdicts of the groomsmen at the wedding, with amusing popular prints, with the jokes of the raeshniks, etc.
The special atmosphere of the city's festive square explains, for example, Petrushka's familiarity, his unbridled gaiety and indiscriminateness in the object of ridicule and shame. After all, Petrushka beats not only class enemies, but everyone in a row - from his own fiancée to the policeman, often beats him for nothing (a blackamoor, an old beggar woman, a German clown, etc.), and in the end he gets hit too: the dog mercilessly tugs at his nose. The puppeteer, like other participants in the fair, square fun, is attracted by the very opportunity to ridicule, parody, beat, and the more, louder, more unexpected, sharper, the better. Elements of social protest and satire were very successfully and naturally superimposed on this ancient basis of laughter.
Like all folklore entertainments, “Petrushka” is filled with obscenities and curses. The original meaning of these elements has been studied quite fully, and how deeply they penetrated into the folk culture of laughter and what place swearing, verbal obscenity and demeaning, cynical gestures occupied in it, is fully shown by M.M. Bakhtin.
Performances were shown several times a day in different conditions (at fairs, in front of booths, on city streets, in the suburbs). "Walking" Parsley was the most common use of the doll.
For the mobile folk theater, a light screen, dolls, miniature backstage and a curtain were specially made. Petrushka ran around the stage, his gestures and movements creating the appearance of a living person.
The comic effect of the episodes was achieved using techniques characteristic of folk laughter culture: fights, beatings, obscenities, imaginary deafness of a partner, funny movements and gestures, mockery, funny funerals, etc.
There are conflicting opinions about the reasons for the extraordinary popularity of the theater: topicality, satirical and social orientation, comic character, simple and understandable acting for all segments of the population, charm of the main character, actor’s improvisation, freedom of choice of material, sharp tongue dolls
Parsley is a folk holiday joy.
Parsley is a manifestation of popular optimism, a mockery of the poor at the powerful and rich.
The Parsley Theater remained a part of holiday entertainment for a long time. As a mass phenomenon of folk fair culture, it ceased to exist at the beginning of the 20th century.
2 . Artistic originality and expressive elements of the performances of the folk theater "Petrushki"
2. 1 Content and plot basis of parsley performances of folk theater
An organ grinder is coming to our yard this spring
He brought the actors and the troupe on his back...
He unfolded the screen in the middle of the yard;
Janitors, footmen, laundresses, coachmen
They crowded around the screens to watch,
How Parsley will represent the comedy.
The originality of the Petrushki Theater was that the viewer did not derive pleasure from meeting a new hero and plot: the content of the comedy and its characters were well known to everyone. The main attention was paid not so much to what they play, but to how they play. This was also facilitated by the “antipsychologism” of the comedy heroes. Viewers of "Petrushka", whose aesthetic ideals and artistic taste were brought up mainly on folklore works, did not require psychological development of characters in the comedy; they liked to follow what this or that already well-known character would do if he found himself in this situation. In this theater, all the characters, “well known to the public audience from life, from everyday life... entered the play already fully formed, and it was not their “development” that was interesting to the viewer, but their “overcoming”, their shame.”
Petrushka, and comedy itself, have gone through an interesting, complex path, absorbing foreign and Russian features, processing and specially mastering the rich spectacular folklore, comic and satirical genres of Russian folk art, the achievements of the democratic theater of the 17th - 18th centuries in folk drama.
The cast of characters in the comedy is quite wide and varied - a soldier, a gentleman, a gypsy, a bride, a doctor, a policeman, etc. The surviving materials allow us to talk about about 50 characters, although in reality each puppeteer had no more than 20 - 25 dolls, and participated in the performance not all of them.
The performance consisted of a chain of meetings - clashes between Petrushka and different characters. The scenes in the comedy are weakly or not at all connected with each other, so the order of their placement was not strictly fixed and allowed for a variety of rearrangements, the loss of individual scenes and the addition of new ones.
Judging by the material at our disposal. The comedy could include the following scenes:
A)Exit Parsley.
The performance began with laughter, singing, noise coming from behind the screen, and then parsley quickly jumping out. He greeted the people gathered around his screen, congratulated everyone on the holiday, started a conversation on some topical topic, asked questions, joked, and “bullied” the audience. Characteristic feature This scene is Petrushka's exit monologue, which included typical folklore comic self-characterization and mockery of the audience.
B)Marry.
After talking with the audience, Petrushka turned to the musician and informed him of his intention to get married. The musician asked to bring the bride and asked about the dowry. The bride appeared, Petrushka praised her, and the musician always found a flaw in her: from his point of view, she had a snub nose, “lame in one eye,” “bricky,” etc. Petrushka got angry, asked the musician to play something funny, danced with his chosen one and then escorted her “home”, behind the screen. In most cases, the bride was depicted as chubby, red-cheeked, plump, dressed in fashion, while fashionable details were exaggerated and caricatured.
Often the scene with the bride was filled with comic cynicism and stood out as a special interlude, which, called “Petrushka’s Wedding,” was shown for an additional fee and not for a wide range of viewers.
IN)Buying a horse.
Petrushka was planning to buy a horse. He barely had time to tell the musician about this when a gypsy immediately appeared and offered an excellent horse: “Not a horse, but a miracle: it runs and trembles, but if it falls, it never gets up. In the wind, without a collar, drive with two whips, flies like an arrow and doesn’t look back... He’ll run up the mountain and cry, and he’ll run and jump down the mountain and get stuck in the mud, so take him from there yourself - an excellent horse.”
A gypsy - a doll in a red shirt, a black vest, with a whip in her belt, black disheveled hair and a face smeared with soot - demands a huge price. After a long bargain, Petrushka goes for a deposit, but returns with a stick and beats the gypsy, who runs away or falls killed from too much portions of “birch money”.
Horse test. Petrushka examines the horse, tries to mount it, climbs on backwards and falls, thrown off by the restive purchase.
G)Treatment.
Parsley, lying on the ground, moans loudly, screams, and calls the doctor. A doctor appears, dressed all in black, with huge glasses. He pronounces a comic monologue - self-characterization:
I am a staff doctor, a healer,
from under the Stone Bridge there is a pharmacist.
I take out my teeth
I'm adding leeches and jars.
I take it on my feet,
I send you on crutches.
Then follows an episode of searching for a bruised place, during which the doctor and patient are mutually angry with each other: the Doctor because Petrushka cannot indicate what and where it hurts, and Petrushka because the doctor himself is not able to identify the sore spot . In the end, Petrushka beats the doctor, thus paying him for the visit and showing him on the “medic-re-pharmacist” where the horse hit.
D)Meeting with a foreigner.
Most often, a German plays the role of a foreigner. Petrushka teaches him to speak Russian or tries to explain himself. in German, translating foreign words and expressions according to the principle of folk etymology (translation not by meaning, but by similar sound). In the scene with the German, the most everyday German phrases, best known to the Russian population of the urban lower classes, are played out:
Was? Was it das? - once, sour kvass.
Donner Wetter? - the wind is blowing.
Guten Morgen? - in the face
Schprechen-sie Deutsch? - Ivan Andreich, Trifon Matveich, etc.
After several unsuccessful attempts to understand each other, the heroes fight, Petrushka gains the upper hand, drives away, and more often kills the German.
Training in soldier techniques. A soldier appears on the stage, announces the order to take Petrushka into service and begins to teach him the science of soldiering. The central moment of the scene is the episode of Petrushka’s comic execution of the soldier’s commands, where the play on auditory homonyms is also widely used:
“Corporal: Here's a gun for you. Hold it!
Parsley: I'll hold it.
Corporal: Look!
Parsley: I'm looking.
Corporal: Listen!
Parsley: I'll eat it.
Corporal: Don't eat, but listen. Keep it straight!
Parsley: What is it? Matryona Petrovna?
Corporal: Not Matryona Petrovna, but hold steady! What kind of Matryona Petrovna do you like? How clueless you are.
Parsley: Come on, I’ll take a ruble, go and bring it...”
When Petrushka gets tired of this activity, he gets rid of his “teacher”, as always, with the help of a club.
E) Interrogation.
The interrogation is carried out by a policeman, a police officer, or an officer after the next reprisal of Petrushka against any character. The police representative wants to punish Petrushka, but he does not allow himself to be offended and deals in his own way even with such a truly dangerous opponent. This scene was often perceived as the climax of the comedy; it was the most poignant and aroused warm approval from the audience of “Petrushka”. Let us recall that in A. N. Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” the folk parsley comedy is characterized by two lines:
“To the resident, the quarterly
Not in the eyebrow, but straight in the eye!”
This, according to the poet, is its main advantage, strength, and this is why it attracts numerous participants in the rural fair. Iskrist poet G.N. Zhulev dedicated a whole poem to “Petrushka”, in which he emphasizes the same features and the same reaction of the audience:
Well done, Petrushka! But everything calmed down in an instant:
A red collar appeared from behind the screens,
He went up to Petrushka and said in a deep voice:
“Why are you a rascal here? I'll kill you!
Petka is not timid: take the stick, clap!
Wise bosses with a wooden forehead.
“I didn’t upset the authorities! What miracles!...”
YES. Rovinsky, in his description of the Moscow performance with Petrushka, reaching the scene of the interrogation, which was carried out here by the “fatal officer,” noted: “A fight begins, which ends with the destruction and expulsion of the fatal, to the general pleasure of the audience; this puppet protest against the police usually creates a real sensation in the public.”
AND)Service at the master's.
Petrushka announces to the musician that he is forced to enter the service, since he has completely “squandered”, or the master himself invites him to his place and sets him a salary - “the first month... a pound of chaff, for the second month - a quarter of rotten rowan.” Having agreed on the payment, the master sends a new servant to install the samovar. After some period of time, Petrushka appears and reports that “the samovar has run away.” The stupid master understands this in the literal sense and is surprised how the samovar can run. Sometimes the master’s wife takes part in this scene, or simply “Mamselle Katerina”, with whom Petrushka dances.
H)Competition with a blackamoor.
Very often, the performance included scenes of Petrushka competing with a blackamoor (a doll with a black face in a red robe) in singing, playing the violin, etc., which, according to the rules of comedy, ended in the victory of Petrushka.
AND)Fights, dancing.
The parsley performance could be interrupted by peculiar interludes - scenes of fights or dances. In this case, the puppeteer demonstrated his virtuosity and invention, exhibiting dolls in exotic outfits that had nothing to do with the comedy with Petrushka. In the play, shown in 1899 in the city of Lyubech, Chernigov province, after several of the usual adventures of Petrushka, there was a pause: “From behind the screen there are dolls - representatives different nationalities, and they all start dancing. At this time, Petrushka sings “On the Pavement Street,” sitting on the edge of the screen.”
TO)Meeting with a friend.
In many versions of the comedy there is a scene where Petrushka meets a character who declares himself to be his friend. Filimoshka tries to remind him of himself, talks about their joint parties, about their previous fun pastime and asks to treat him on the occasion of the meeting. Petrushka pretends that he recognizes his friend, leaves for a drink and a snack, and, as always, appears with a stick, treating the found friend with blows.
L)Funeral.
Among the most common comedy scenes, let's also mention the “funeral”, when Petrushka or some other characters bury the victim with a parsley club. As a rule, it was a pantomime scene. A striking example One of the southern comedy lists contains such an inserted scene: “Two blueberries enter. They take the dead German and roll him into canvas. Then they bow to the audience and leave to pick up the coffin. [...] Blueberries bring in the coffin. They take the German and start measuring. The coffin is short in length and narrow in width. They try it on three times. Then they think about it. Then they grab the German, fold him, crumpling him into three, and stuff him into a coffin. One of the blueberry nuns bends low to see if the deceased is comfortably placed. Another, absent-mindedly, does not notice this, closes the lid of the coffin, and pinches the head of her friend. She screams obscenities, trying with all her might to escape. When she finally succeeds, she starts a fight with her distracted friend. Finally, to the sounds of Komarinsky, the coffin is carried away.”
In isolated cases, there are recordings of scenes of Petrushka’s quarrel with his wife, his reprisal against the shopkeeper, the trial of Petrushka and some others.
M)Final.
Deserves special attention final scene"Parsley". In the overwhelming majority of extant versions, the hero falls into the clutches of a watchdog, a mongrel, a devil, a brownie, who carry him down, thereby putting an end to the performance. Apparently, it is precisely this ending that should be considered most consistent with the nature of the comedy, where each scene and the entire performance as a whole have a clearly defined beginning and end. For example, Petrushka always almost disappears behind the screen as soon as the next scene ends (by the way, the puppeteer’s hand is resting at this moment), and reappears at the beginning of the next, thereby mechanically emphasizing the framework of individual scenes. In this sense, the “real” end of the comedy should be considered the death of the hero, since while he is alive, his adventures can continue indefinitely. At the same time, this is a cheerful death, purely formal, compositional technique, and he is perceived exactly this way, without any regret or bewilderment about the so unjustified death of the beloved hero, especially since Petrushka “resurrects” at the beginning of the next performance. This is exactly what the last remark in A.Ya.’s quote speaks about. Alekseev-Yakovlev’s description of the St. Petersburg performance: “But here the musician set an evil, ferocious watchdog against Petrushka, who grabbed Petrushka by the nose and dragged him behind the screen.
Oh, musician, please intercede, - Petrushka screamed nasally - Goodbye, guys! Goodbye, brave life!... Oooh-ooh-ooh!... My daring little head has disappeared, gone along with the cap and the brush!... My respect!... Until the next performance!...”
Individual versions that lack such a scene are generally incomplete or defective recordings. At the same time, it can be assumed that in the last century comedy knew another ending - the triumph of Parsley. This was what M. Gorky meant when, in a speech at the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers, among others folk heroes He also named Petrushka, who defeats “the doctor, the priest, the policeman, the devil and even death.” The words of M. Gorky are confirmed by the Novgorod list of the comedy, where Petrushka beats the policeman with the devil, kills them both and drags them to the landfill. In addition, there is a description of Moscow performances of the 70s of the last century, it says that Petrushka, having dealt with his enemies (doctor, gypsy, gendarme, policeman), “put them all on his shoulders and hid behind a screen, singing.”
Not all of the listed scenes were present in every performance. A comparative analysis of texts and descriptions allows us to say that there were main, obligatory scenes that formed the core of the comedy, its core, and secondary, individual ones. The first (coming, we note, in a certain sequence) include: Petrushka’s exit, the scene with the bride, buying a horse and unsuccessfully riding it, treating Petrushka, teaching him soldier science, interrogating and dealing with a policeman, and also final scene. The presence of two stages, their order and number were determined by various circumstances, such as the talent of the puppeteer, his wealth (how many puppets and assistants he had at his disposal), local tradition, and performance conditions.
Everything that has been said about the Petrushki Theater reflects, in fact, the stage when the comedy was formed, developed a stable presentation scheme, basic images, criteria, and commonplaces. On this general basis, local, individual versions were created, starting from it, the puppeteers improvised, expanded or contracted, were content with simple mockery, or, on the contrary, filled their performances with topical content.
This state was preceded by a rather long period of development of comedy, and we will dwell on some moments of it.
The type of performance that later became known as the Petrushki Theater was formed among the abundance of puppet shows in Russian cities early XIX- late 18th century. The domestic puppet theater that existed at that time consisted mainly of separate, unrelated scenes. Gradually, a tendency arises in it towards cyclization, towards the unification of hitherto disparate scenes around one hero, who fools, deceives, punishes, ridicules those people who in life did not enjoy the sympathy of a simple viewer of folk films. puppet shows. In this regard, there is also a transition from pantomime to conversational scenes. Preference is given to scenes where the dolls “themselves” conduct a conversation, full of bright, sharp, imaginative remarks.
As a result, in the second quarter of the XIX V. On the basis of the traditional everyday puppet theater, the first versions of the future comedy with Petrushka appeared, the hero of which easily absorbed and adapted the scenes of folk puppet shows that existed before him.
In 1844, the caretaker of the parish school V.F. Zolotarenko writes in his diary a very valuable entry for us about his visit during autumn fair puppet comedy in Ekaterinodar. The entry reflects a transitional moment in the development of this type of theater: “I was in a puppet comedy. Here I now saw a circle of violinists, bass, tambourine and cymbals. Screens are made from wallpaper, with a hole in the top. Farcical music began to play, and two unkempt male and female dolls began to dance, only, of course, no legs were visible. One couple was followed by another, in a completely different costume, and so on. At the end of the dance they will kiss. Finally, an unkempt, big-nosed giant appeared; he first killed the soldier, then the doctor, and finally the devil himself. He was rowdy until a white dog grabbed him by the nose and dragged him down backstage. Then they announced: it’s over.”
It is easy to notice that the second half of the performance is close to the classic “Petrushka” of the 19th century, and the first, as we will see later, is similar to the secular part of the performances in another type of puppet theater - the nativity scene. The combination of two traditions was also reflected in the interpretation of the image of the “nosed giant”: the Ekaterinodar puppeteer made him the winner of the devil (following the example of Zaporozhets - the hero of the Ukrainian nativity scene), but the victim of a dog (as in the Russian comedy with Petrushka).
2.2 Artistic and expressive elements of the image of “Petrushka”
The high, rattling voice of this hero was heard at all fairs, at traditional folk festivals, and at temple festivals. In St. Petersburg, for example, on Admiralteyskaya Square during Maslenitsa and Easter festivities, several parsley players performed simultaneously, each of them performing a comedy 8-10 times a day, and a crowd of people always gathered around the screen.
Usually two people walked with “Petrushka”: a puppeteer and a musician. The theater's property consisted of a light folding screen, a box with 7 - 20 dolls and a barrel organ. All dolls were made of gloves, with heads made of wood or papier-mâché, except for the horse, which was cut out of cardboard or plywood.
They tried to give typical features to the appearance of the comedy characters so that it would be easy to “recognize” the hero - his social status, nationality, profession, etc. Such demands were not made of Petrushka; he had no prototype in real life, but was part of a family of folklore jesters who possessed (within European tradition) general mandatory features in appearance: a huge nose, a hump or two humps - front and back, a protruding chin, a stupid cap on the head, etc. Petrushka was dressed in a red shirt or red caftan, trousers tucked into patent leather boots. Sometimes he was dressed in the manner of a harlequin (clothing made of colored scraps) or a clown (collar with bells, etc.).
Petrushka's voice was distinguished by a special timbre and pitch; for this, when speaking for him, the puppeteers used a special device - a talker, a squeaker. As one of the correspondents P.N. reported. Tikhanov, this is “a small projectile consisting of two bone plates, inside of which a narrow strip of thin linen ribbon is reinforced.” According to a collector from the Volyn province, “Petrushka’s special squeaky voice is produced with the help of a “talker”, which the owner of the theater, pronouncing the roles of other dolls, quickly moves to the side, behind his cheek; the speed of movement of the “talk” from the tongue to the cheek and back is remarkable and is achieved through long practice.”
The Petrushki Theater did not know the scenery. Of the props, the main and often the only one was the stick with which Petrushka beat his enemies. To create noise effects, a special ratchet baton was used. The stick also acted as a substitute for some object mentioned during the action: it imitated a gun, a violin, a rifle, etc.
Only two dolls could be present on the parsley stage at the same time (one on each hand of the puppeteer). Next to the screen, on the side, there was a musician with a barrel organ.
One of the most important components of Petrushka's performances is the movement of the puppets. “Their beauty is in movement, the meaning of their existence is in the game. There’s nothing to see in the photo of Parsley,” wrote N.Ya. Simonovich-Efimova in famous book“Notes of a parsley plant.” This is fair because the puppet - the basis of the performance - is perceived only when it “comes to life” on stage, i.e. moves, gesticulates. The folk puppeteers knew this. At times it might seem that many of the dolls’ gestures were unnecessary; are meaningless, but the parsley makers believed that without this the doll would cease to live and instead of “a creature made of meat and blood, with a heart, soul, mind and character,” as Parsley was seen on the screen of the famous I.A. Zaitsev, the viewer will find in front of him only “a rag with a painted wooden head.” This rule was strictly followed by all puppeteers, especially in relation to Petrushka, “whose amusing figure” always “fusily flashed on the “bar” above the clumsy, motley movable screen.” Even while pronouncing his exit monologue, Petrushka did not stop moving and gesticulating. About 40 famous words - this is Petrushka’s speech when entering the screen in the Maykop performance, and it is accompanied by a lot of movements: the hero bows to the audience, hits himself on the forehead, sits on the barrier, knocks on it with his hand, and at the same time interrupts his words with laughter and singing , which were also, naturally, accompanied by various body movements and running along the garden bed.
The comedy was replenished with new characters, became more relevant and socially rich. And where the protest against various government officials, against the oppressors or the existing order reached greater strength.
Parsley in all his actions is a spokesman for protest. His inexhaustible gaiety and striking wit made him a favorite of the broad masses, and the comedy about him the most popular of all ancient folk comedies.
Brawls and murders do not cause censure among the audience for a moment. Moreover, all the recordings of this comedy that have reached us end with Petrushka cruelly paying for his crimes. And yet, the “heavenly punishment” that befalls him does not detract from the optimism and strength of protest that pervade the play as a whole.
The comedy about Petrushka was created and circulated, apparently, in urban, township, and suburban circles. This is evidenced by the scenes in the tavern, the image of Petrushka's friend - a young, artisan who came to the city to earn money, the grief of Petrushka's mother over the fact that her son was marrying a city girl, while he could have chosen a bride in the village. Petrushka remained the main character of a number of new plays and underwent significant changes in character and appearance.
Currently, performances involving parsley are rare, but the system of puppets, commonly called “parsleys” or hand-held riding puppets, is widely used in puppet theater.
One has only to add that “Petrushka” as a mass phenomenon of folk entertainment culture did not cease to exist at the beginning of the 20th century. With all its advantages and disadvantages, the Petrushki Theater occupied a very prominent place in the circle of popular entertainment and had a great influence on the first steps professional theater dolls
Conclusion
If we talk about the topicality of the Petrushki theater, its social relevance, it is necessary to note that their degree could be different even for the same puppeteer, changing from scene to scene, from performance to performance. The comic effect in most cases was achieved using techniques characteristic of the folk culture of laughter, which M.M. wrote about. Bakhtin. These are endless fights, beatings, all kinds of obscenities, witty and illogical combinations of words, playing up the partner’s imaginary deafness, etc. the puppeteer could give each episode the desired at the moment hue, place the necessary accents, focus attention on some scenes and remove and smooth out others. For example, if a comedy was staged in a single company (mainly officers), then the center of gravity fell on the movements of the characters, colored with a kind of comedy. Here a special interlude was played out called “Petrushka’s Wedding,” which D.A. wrote about. Rovinsky: “There is no plot in it, but there is a lot of action. Petrushka brings his bride Varyusha: he examines her like a horse. Petrushka liked Varyushka very much, and he cannot bear to wait for the wedding, which is why he begins to beg her: “Sacrifice yourself, Varyushka!” Then the final scene occurs, in which the fair sex cannot be present.” If the performance was performed in front of “his brother,” ordinary spectators (peasants, the urban poor), then the culmination was the interrogation of Petrushka, which surpassed all comedy scenes in terms of the power of social and emotional impact on the audience. Petrushka's reprisal against the policeman especially attracted regular viewers and was highly appreciated by some revolutionary or democratically minded people. Let us remember: in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” comedy is characterized by two lines:
“To the resident, the quarterly
Not in the eyebrow, but straight in the eye!”
This, according to Nekrasov, is her main advantage, her strength, and this is why she attracts a crowd of people at a rural fair.
M. Gorky, characterizing the image of Petrushka, wrote “... a figure was created, also known to all nations: in Italy it is Pulcinello, in England it is Ponch, in Turkey it is Karapet, and in our country it is Petrushka.
M. Gorky put him on a par with what he said were the deepest and brightest, artistically perfect types of heroes created by folklore, such as Hercules, Prometheus, Mikula Selyaninovich, Svyatogor, Faust, Vasilisa the Wise, Ivan the Fool. Comedy performances always felt like a celebration. Around the screen on which Petrushka was rampaging, it was crowded and very lively.
Parsley is the invincible hero of the folk puppet comedy, he defeats everyone and everything, and he himself remains immortal. In this deep and naive image, the working people embodied themselves and their belief that in the end they will overcome everything and everyone. In the hands of real masters of their craft, rag artists “could” even change their facial expression due to a barely noticeable tilt or turn of the doll’s head, during which the eyebrows and mouth were shaped differently, the painted or glass button eyes were illuminated - the doll laughed, was sad, was perplexed , angry, etc. Professional Soviet puppeteers later established that the doll's facial expression should be neutral, only in this case it can change it depending on the nature of the movement. The head of the folk Parsley was not made according to these rules, in spite of them. At the same time, the hero of the comedy was sometimes not perceived at the time of the play as created from inanimate material; for the public he had facial expressions. The secret of its vitality is its continuous movement throughout the performance.
To the oldest actor Soviet theater dolls E.V. Speransky in his childhood had to see the folk “Petrushka” more than once and this is what he writes about him: Pyotr Petrovich Uksusov is a “creature” tailored, it would seem, contrary to all the laws of our art: we are now afraid of the too specific expression of a doll mask, but he laughs openly and boldly; we avoid naturalistic details, and carefully drawn eyes stare at you. It is designed for quick rises and falls, for instant turns, lightning strikes. His stage pauses were measured in fractions of seconds; he, like a photon, a particle of light, was deprived of “rest mass” - that’s why he had the right to carry his impudent, toothy smile through the entire performance: it did not have time to freeze, turn into a grimace.” The role of movement is great in performances like the comedy about Petrushka also because the audience was attracted not so much by the plot itself, which was well known in advance, but by the living embodiment, playing it on stage. This is a typical manifestation of the folklore nature of the Petrushki theater and it was designed for spectators whose aesthetic ideals and artistic taste were formed and brought up mainly on folklore traditions. What was required from the performance was not the psychological development of the heroes, not the disclosure of the motives of their actions, but the actions themselves, actions aimed primarily at overcoming obstacles and shaming their enemies. “The whole comedy is filled with punches and kicks,” noted D.A. Rovinsky, - they constitute the most significant and most ridiculous part of the audience. Fights always took place with noise and exclamations. Not only the vocal capabilities of the puppeteers were used, but also the ratchet baton with which Petrushka beat his victim, as well as the knocking of the wooden heads of the dolls on the edge of the screen. The audience especially liked the latter, as it “visually” showed the force of the blow and the intensity of the fight.
Pantomime occupied a prominent place in the Petrushki Theater. These are funerals, fights, dances, divertissement appearances of “outside” dolls.
Despite the brightness and extreme comedy of pantomimic episodes of comedy, they do not form its basis. The Petrushki Theater is a type of folk theater that was not only watched, but also listened to, so most of the scenes included different proportions both movement and conversation. In the episodes of bargaining (the scene of buying a horse), treatment, ridicule of soldier drill, word and gesture are, as a rule, equivalent; they complement each other, combining visual and auditory perception.
Songs and dances were an integral part of most of the performances of the Petrushki Theater. The heroes of the comedy performed lyrical songs, dance songs, ditty couplets, cruel romances, and songs of literary origin. They danced Russian, Komarinskaya, trepaka, “lady”, polka, waltz, etc. Played a big role in the comedy music exhibitions. Dances and songs, hurdy-gurdy melodies were not just the musical setting of the performance, they were designed to set the audience in a cheerful, festive mood, to create additional comic effect through a contrasting relationship between melody and action, serve as a characteristic of the characters, diversify them, in other words, together with other poetic and stage techniques, make the performance a lively and vibrant spectacle.
The puppeteer was free to choose the repertoire, to distribute it among the characters, and to enrich the performance with musical inserts. First of all, it depended on the parsley man’s talent, taste, ability to sing and knowledge of songs and dances, on his ability to “feel” the audience. However, there were still some restrictions and patterns. Firstly, songs and melodies that were popular in this environment were selected. This was done not only because the performances were designed for the widest, grassroots audience. Another thing is no less important. Due to their specificity, folk puppet shows cannot go on for long and require frequent changes of episodes and rapid action. Therefore, the heroes of such a performance, as a rule, do not sing entire songs and do not dance for a long time, otherwise this will disrupt the tempo and will certainly affect the quality of the performance. The verse, the initial lines of the song are performed, the first bars of the melody are played, sung or whistled, and since well-known works are used, the audience themselves instantly restores the whole and tunes into the mood needed at the moment. In addition, often a song and musical insert creates a comic effect by parodying some work, and the degree of comedy largely depends on the popularity of the thing being parodied. Often the laughter of the audience accompanies the performance of a song because its content is sharply contrasted with the actions of the heroes. Petrushka with difficulty climbs onto the horse, sits backwards, comically grabs the tail or mane so as not to fall, and begins to sing a dashing coachman's song, “I will harness three greyhounds of dark brown horses.” No less contrasting, hence the lines of the romance “Don’t leave, my darling, Don’t leave your dear fields...”, performed by Petrushka immediately after he beats and drives away the blackamoor with a stick, sounds no less funny.
A song can also act as a character’s self-description. So, a drunken man appears above the screens, singing “Oh, late in the evening, a fine fellow took a walk in the field”; friend Filimoshka usually sings songs that in one way or another touch on the theme of the tavern, like
"The breeze is blowing, the breeze is blowing
From the tavern to the cellar.
Walk and walk";
The gypsy sings those songs that talk either about gypsies, or about horses, etc.
Structure theatrical performance determines the relationship between spectators and actors. Public orientation existed and exists in all forms theatrical arts, in varying degrees, of course, and in varying quality.
Folklore theater
1. Russian folk theater
Russian folk drama and folk theater art in general are a most interesting and significant phenomenon national culture. Even at the beginning of the 20th century, dramatic games and performances formed an organic part of the festive folk life, be it village gatherings, religious schools, soldier and factory barracks, or fair booths.
Folk drama is a natural creation folklore tradition. It was compressed in it creative experience, accumulated by dozens of generations of the broadest strata of the people. In later times, this experience was enriched by borrowings from professional and popular literature and democratic theater.
Folk actors for the most part were not professionals, they were a special kind of amateurs, experts in folk tradition, which was inherited from father to son, from grandfather to grandson, from generation to generation of village youth of pre-conscription age. A man would come home from work or a trade and bring back to his native village his favorite play, memorized by heart or copied into a notebook. Even if at first he was just a statist in it - a warrior or a robber, but he knew everything by heart. And now a group of young people gathers and in a secluded place adopts the “trick” and learns the role. And at Christmas time there is a “premiere”.
The geography of distribution of folk drama is extensive. Collectors of our days have discovered unique theatrical “hearths” in the Yaroslavl and Gorky regions, Russian villages of Tataria, on Vyatka and Kama, in Siberia and the Urals.
Formation of the most famous folk plays occurred during the era of social and cultural transformations in Russia at the end of the 18th century. Since that time, popular prints and pictures have appeared and been widely distributed, which were both topical “newspaper” information for the people (reports about military events, their heroes), and a source of knowledge on history, geography, and an entertaining “theater” with comic heroes - Petrukha Farnos, broken pancake maker, Maslenitsa.
Many popular prints were published on religious themes - about the torments of sinners and the exploits of saints, about Anika the warrior and Death. Later, they gained extreme popularity in popular prints and books. fairy tales, borrowed from translated novels and stories about robbers - Black Raven, Fadey Woodpecker, Churkin. Cheap songbooks were published in huge editions, including works by Pushkin, Lermontov, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Tsyganov, Koltsov.
At city and later rural fairs, carousels and booths were set up, on the stage of which fairy-tale and national performances were played. historical topics, which gradually replaced the earlier translated plays. For decades, performances dating back to the dramaturgy of the early 19th century have not left the mass stage - “Ermak, Conqueror of Siberia” by P. A. Plavilshchikov, “Natalia, the Boyar’s Daughter” by S. N. Glinka, “Dmitry Donskoy” by A. A. Ozerov , “The Bigamist” by A. A. Shakhovsky, later - plays about Stepan Razin by S. Lyubitsky and A. Navrotsky.
First of all, the confinement of folk ideas was traditional. Everywhere they settled down for Christmastide and Maslenitsa. These two short theatrical “seasons” contained a very rich program. Ancient ritual actions in late XIX- at the beginning of the 20th century, already perceived as entertainment and, moreover, mischief, were performed by mummers.
The ancient meaning of dressing up is the magical effect of words and behavior on the preservation, restoration and increase in the vital fruitful forces of people and animals, and nature. This is associated with the appearance of naked or half-dressed people at gatherings, “pecking” of girls with a crane, blows with a tourniquet, spatula, bast shoes or stick when “selling” kvass, cloth, printed cloth, etc.
The Yuletide and Maslenitsa games of mummers are accompanied by small satirical plays “The Master”, “The Imaginary Master”, “Mavrukh”, “Pakhomushka”. They became a “bridge” from small dramatic forms to large ones. The popularity of comic dialogues between master and headman, master and servant was so great that they were invariably included in many dramas.
The style of folk drama is characterized by the presence in it of different layers or stylistic series, each of which relates in its own way to the plot and system of characters.
So, the main characters express themselves in a solemn ceremonial speech, introduce themselves, give orders and instructions. In moments of emotional turmoil, the characters in the drama pronounce heartfelt lyrical monologues (they are sometimes replaced by the performance of a song). In dialogues and crowd scenes, everyday event speech is heard, in which relationships are clarified and conflicts are defined. Comic characters are characterized by humorous, parodic speech. Actors playing the roles of an old man, a servant, or a doctor often resorted to improvisation based on traditional folklore techniques for playing up deafness, synonyms and homonyms.
A special role is played in folk drama by songs performed by the heroes at critical moments for them or by the choir - a commentator on the events taking place. Songs were required at the beginning and end of the performance. The song repertoire of folk dramas consists mainly of original songs from the 18th and 19th centuries that were popular in all strata of society. These are the soldiers’ songs “The White Russian Tsar Went,” “Malbrouk Left on a Campaign,” “Praise, Praise to You, Hero,” and the romances “I walked in the meadows in the evening,” “I’m heading off into the desert,” “What’s clouded, the clear dawn "and many others.
2. Types of folk theaters
2.1 Skomorokhs as the founders of Russian folk theater
They are at the bazaars, at princely feasts,
At the games they set the tone,
Playing the harp, bagpipes, whistles,
At fairs people were amused.
But which mortal does not know
How a song gives strength to the weary,
How music lifts the spirit!
A happy-go-lucky tribe of merry vagabonds
The formation of the Russian folk theater has long been rightly associated with the activities of buffoons.
The word “buffoon” came to Rus' in the 11th century, along with the first translations of Greek texts into the Old Slavic language made in Bulgaria. It should be noted that by this time we already had quite a lot of words that were approximately equivalent to the new one. This is a “player”, a “laugh-maker”, a “laugh-maker”.
All these words were used later, when the word “buffoon” came into full force.
A lively little man in an intricate cap, a caftan and morocco boots sings and dances, playing along on the harp. This is how a Novgorod monk-scribe depicted a buffoon - a folk musician, singer, dancer - in the 14th century. And he wrote: “hum a lot” - “play better.” They danced, sang funny songs, played the harp and domra, wooden spoons and tambourines, pipes, bagpipes and a violin-like whistle. The people loved buffoons, called them “cheerful fellows”, told about them in fairy tales, made up proverbs and sayings: “The buffoon is happy about his domras”, “Everyone will dance, but not like the buffoon”, “The buffoon is not a comrade with the priest.”
The clergy, princes and boyars did not favor buffoons. The buffoons amused the people. In addition, the “cheerful fellows” more than once had funny, witty words about priests, monks and boyars. Already in those days, buffoons began to be persecuted. They could live freely only in Novgorod the Great and in the Novgorod land. In this free city they were loved and respected.
Over time, the art of buffoons became more complex and varied. In addition to the buffoons who played, sang and danced, there were buffoon actors, acrobats, jugglers, buffoons with trained animals, and a puppet theater appeared.
The more fun the art of the buffoons was, the more they ridiculed the princes, clerks, boyars and priests, the stronger the persecution of the “merry fellows” became. Decrees were sent to cities, towns and villages - to drive out the buffoons, beat them with batogs, and not allow people to look at the “demonic games.” The folk art of buffoons lives on in a modified form life to the fullest nowadays: puppet theaters, the circus with its acrobats, jugglers and trained animals, pop concerts with their well-aimed ditties and songs, Russian orchestras and ensembles folk instruments developed into separate large areas from the varied cheerful art of buffoons.
The buffoons differed little from other residents. Among them were small landowners, artisans and even traders. But the bulk of settled buffoons belonged to the poorest strata of the population.
Knowing very well the traditions of festive games and rituals, the buffoon saddles were indispensable participants in every ritual and holiday. It was the buffoon who was the person around whom the main events unfolded at the game. He organized a variety of holiday events, including those that gradually turned into skits and then into folk theater performances.
If in the 11th - 16th centuries it was mainly the church that fought against buffoons, then in the 17th century the state actively joined the fight against them. In 1648, a formidable decree of the tsar appeared, banning buffoon games throughout the country and ordering that disobedient people be beaten with batogs and exiled to “ukrainian cities for disgrace.” But such measures did not eradicate buffoonery.
Since the end of the 17th century, Russia entered into new period its history. Significant changes are taking place in all areas of life. They also touched folk culture. Professional buffoons are becoming obsolete, their art begins to change and takes on new forms. At the same time, the word “buffoon” disappears from the documents. The place of buffoon games is now taken by folk theater performances - a new and higher form of folk dramatic art compared to buffoonery.
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Russian culture of the 19th century
A significant phenomenon in the cultural life of Russia was the first half of the 19th century V. became a theater. The popularity of performing arts grew. The serf theater was replaced by “free” theater - state and private...
Diaghilev's role in Russian propaganda choreographic art
The success of the previous two seasons dealt some blow to Diaghilev’s troupe; many artists, having concluded lucrative contracts, dispersed all over the world. It was necessary to replenish the troupe. From six-week seasons in Paris...
Silver Age of Russian Culture
The Russian religious revival of the early 20th century is represented by such philosophers and thinkers as N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, P.B. Struve, S.L. Frank, P.A. Florensky, S.N. and E.N. Trubetskoy. The first four being central figures God-seeking...
Symbolism and symbolism in culture and art
Russian symbolism, the most significant after French, was based on the same prerequisites as Western symbolism: a crisis of positive worldview and morality, heightened religious feeling...
Modern art movements
The Russian avant-garde of the 1910s presents a rather complex picture. It is characterized by a rapid change of styles and trends, an abundance of groups and associations of artists, each of which proclaimed its own concept of creativity...
Dance as a cultural phenomenon
Folklore dance implies the participation of the audience; it captures the main character traits and temperament of the people who created it. It is usually a dance of anonymous origin, passed down from generation to generation...
The creativity of the impressionists as a manifestation of inconsistency historical era
The most prominent representative of Russian impressionism is the artist Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin (1861-1939). Korovin’s work has firmly entered the history of Russian art and belongs to its highest achievements...
