Monodrama N. N. Evreinova

Monodrama - the principle of theatrical theory of N. N. Evreinov , the unfolding of stage events, as if projected through the consciousness of the protagonist or one of the characters. It implies a dramatic performance that presents the world around him as he is perceived by the protagonist “at any moment of his scenic being,” and makes each of the audience become that person’s position, “heal his life” ^{[1] [2]} .

After the emigration of N. N. Evreinov, this principle, developed and first applied by the director, was sharply criticized by Soviet theater and literary scholars. So, for example, S. Mokulsky writes in an encyclopedic article devoted to the concept of:

"To all the listed types of monodrama, which are characterized by an external centralization of dramatic action, the opposite is monodrama in the understanding of N. N. Evreinov, who put forward in the first place the internal centralization of action, turning" alien to me drama "into" my drama ", that is, the drama of the viewer himself , empathizing with the central "acting" character of the play. This "acting" Evreinov calls the "subject of action" or simply "I." The relationship of this "I" to the world, its subjective perceptions of people and things determine the nature of The monodrama is a "projection of the soul" of the central character on the outside world; "the spectators perceive the other participants in the drama only in reflection by their subject of action, and therefore their experiences, which do not have independent significance, are only scenically important insofar as they are projected into them the perceiving “I” of the subject of action. ”Such a consistent subjective-idealistic theory of monodrama, put forward by the decadent bourgeois-noble intelligentsia, in essence vlyalas conclusion of the dramatic practice of some Symbolist poets Alexander Blok , F. Sologub , partly Andreeva ( "Black Mask"). The product of bourgeois decadence , the monodrama of Evreinov (The Representation of Love, 1909), however, did not receive full realization in the pre-revolutionary theater. It was cultivated only in terms of a stage parody and grotesque at the Crooked Mirror Theater (In the Backstage of the Soul - Evreinov, Memoirs and Water of Life - B. Geyer ). In the Soviet era, individual echoes of the Evreinov theory can be found in the practice of directors of the aesthetic-formalist camp. At the same time, they took the principle of monodrama not from its original source (Evreinov), but from the practice of filmmaking, canonizing the reception of "monodramatic editing" (the term S. A. Timoshenko), the task of which is to show the viewer what the hero sees or feels from the point of view of this hero. Picked up by the "left" theaters under the name of "influxes", this technique was widespread. The most striking examples were given by V. E. Meyerhold ( “The Examiner” ) and M. V. Sokolovsky, director of the Leningrad TRAM (“Days are melting”, “Flush thoughtful”, etc.). In the latter case, the application of this principle was reinforced by the then TRAM theoretician, A. I. Piotrovsky , as a search for a “dialectical, capacious form of dramaturgy”. The exposure of Piotrovsky’s formalistic attitudes (supported by the self-critical speeches of Piotrovsky himself) led to a revision by the Theater of working youth of its positions and the elimination of the abuse of “influxes” " ^[3]

However, as time has shown, if not to the full extent of the genre , the Jewish monodrama back in Soviet times became one of the key theatrical and cinematic techniques that make it possible, for example, to most convincingly reveal the hero’s inner world, memories, the formation of plot plans, etc. Paradoxical as it may seem, it was the inability of traditional methods to realize the informatively rich fabric of dramatic narration (especially in theatrical productions) that prompted the directors of the new era, on the one hand - to turn this impotence into a convincing satirical tool, which, however, was also used by N. N. Evreinov himself, and on the other hand, gave impetus to the localization of the characteristic features of this tongue-tied tongue and the lack of relevant expressiveness in the form of a whole cascade of theatrical forms, namely the so-called . formalistic theater: from dada and theater of the absurd to shocking naturalistic performances that ignore artistry as a semiotic category.

It is believed that the ideas of N. N. Evreinov, K. S. Stanislavsky , and M. A. Chekhov formed the basis of the " theater of improvisation " by J. Moreno ^[4] . The “Improvisation Theater” was a prototype of psychodrama ^[5] and a playback theater was born from it (in 1975).