Moscow Art Theater 2nd

The initiators of the creation of the 1st Studio in 1912 were the young actors of the Art Theater , who conceived it as "a collection of believers in the Stanislavsky system." The Management Board of the Studio was headed by K.S. Stanislavsky , and her immediate work was led by the closest assistant to Stanislavsky in the Moscow Art Theater, Leopold Sulerzhitsky . This was a new type of studio theater, which later served as a model for numerous studios and theater studios that were created as collectives of like-minded people ^[1] .

Until 1921, the Studio gave performances in a small room with a capacity of about 100 spectators on Skobelevskaya Square. A small hall, in which there was also no stage, demanded that the actors have special authenticity of experiences and a careful selection of expressive means - new methods for working the actor were worked out in the Studio; at the same time, it became a creative laboratory for aspiring directors of the Art Theater: here, under the leadership of Sulerzhitsky, Yevgeny Vakhtangov , Boris Sushkevich , Richard Boleslavsky gained experience and developed their own style.

The first performance, “The Death of Hope” by G. Geyermans directed by R. Boleslavsky, was presented to the public in the hall of the Lux cinema in 1913 and immediately attracted attention to the Studio. Success was consolidated by the “Peace Festival” by G. Hauptmann , posed by E. Vakhtangov.

Boris Sushkevich in the studio play "The Flood"

The same “visiting card” that Chekhov's “The Seagull” was for the Moscow Art Theater, for his first studio was the performance “Cricket on the Furnace” by C. Dickens, staged in 1914 by B. Sushkevich ^[2] . The studio allowed actors who were not in demand in the Art Theater to be realized, and very soon their own “stars” appeared in the young team: Mikhail Chekhov , Alexey Dikiy , Serafima Birman ; revealed as an actor and Eugene Vakhtangov ^[3] .

In 1916, Sulerzhitsky did not become; in the same year, he went as a volunteer to the Boleslavsky front; The first Studio was actually headed by B. Sushkevich, while Vakhtangov worked in his own amateur studio since 1913, and from the 3rd Moscow Art Theater since 1920 ^[3] .

In repertoire politics, the Studio for a long time followed the Art Theater, giving preference to classics and contemporary foreign dramaturgy; the best performances staged on Skobelevskaya Square are considered to be the brightly comedic “Twelfth Night” by W. Shakespeare and the tragedy “Eric XIV” by A. Strindberg ^[1] . Initially, the studio professed the “spiritual realism” characteristic of the early Moscow Art Theater, the natural existence of a person on stage, the reduction of the distance between the actor and the audience — those principles from which the Art Theater gradually departed ^[4] .

In 1921, the Studio was given a more spacious premise of the former Alcazar Theater; here began a gradual departure from "studio".

The performances of the 1st Studio, created by very different artists, of which the majority were still looking for their way, bribed the audience with their unpredictability. Vakhtangov began performances almost naturalistic, in the spirit of the Art Theater, a few years later staged the ascetic and conditional “Rosmersholm” by G. Ibsen , and finished (along with Sushkevich) the expressionist “Eric XIV” ^[5] ; other directors have done a similar evolution, over the years giving more preference to the brightness of theatrical forms ^[1] .

Igor Ilyinsky , who worked in the 1st studio in parallel with the Meyerhold Theater since 1922, subsequently recalled: “The atmosphere that accompanied all our rehearsals was wonderful. The direction was collective, collective was the work on individual roles. For all my life I, perhaps, have not met such a keen, friendly, truly comradely atmosphere that reigned in rehearsal work ... I had the impression that every member of the studio was its equal owner. Of course, there was some kind of board or directorate, or the main group of the studio, which decided the plans of the theater, the repertoire that led the theater. But all this was surprisingly fraternal, democratic, and I think, or I have the impression that every artist - a member of the studio - could do what he wants in the studio ” ^[6] .

Recognition from the public prompted the leading actors of the Studio to seek independence from the Art Theater, which had been in crisis for many years, and in 1922 departed for a two-year foreign tour.

Selected Repertoire

• 1913 - “The Death of Hope” by G. Geyermans . Director R. Boleslavsky. Cast: Barend - A. Wild, Simon - A. Ceban
• 1913 - “Holiday of Peace” by G. Hauptmann . Director E. Vakhtangov. Cast: Fribe - A. Cheban
• 1914 - “Cricket on the stove” according to C. Dickens , staged by B. Sushkevich. Director - B. Sushkevich. Roles were performed by: Author - B. Sushkevich, Theklton - E. Vakhtangov, John Piribingl - A. Dikiy, Mary Piribingl - M. Durasova
• 1914 - "Kaliki passers" by V. Volkenstein
• 1915 - The Flood by G. Berger. Director E. Vakhtangov. Cast: Stratton - B. Sushkevich and A. Cheban, Freger - Vakhtangov, Charlie - V. Smyshlyaev, Lizzi - O. Pyzhova .
• 1917 - "Twelfth Night" by W. Shakespeare . Artistic director of the production K. Stanislavsky, director B. Sushkevich. Roles were performed by: Viola and Sebastian - O. Pyzhova, Malvolio - M. Chekhov, Jester - E. Vakhtangov.
• 1918 - “Rosmersholm” by G. Ibsen . Director E. Vakhtangov. In the role of Mortensgor - B. Sushkevich
• 1921 - "Eric XIV" by A. Strindberg . The directors are E. Vakhtangov and B. Sushkevich. Artist I. Nivinsky . Roles were performed by: Eric - M. Chekhov, Person - B. Sushkevich, Mons - A. Cheban, Duke John - A. Wild
• 1922 - "Irish Hero" by Sing; Director A.D. Wild. In the role of Christie Magon - I. Ilyinsky (input)
• 1923 - The Taming of the Shrew At Shakespeare. The directors are V. Smyshlyaev, Cheban, Gotovtsev.
• 1923 - “King Lear” by Shakespeare. Director B. Sushkevich. Roles were performed by Lear - I. Pevtsov , Goneriliya - S. Birman, Edgar - I. Bersenev, Gloucester - V. A. Podgorny, Cordelia - M. A. Durasova, Edmund - A. Zhilinsky, Regan - E. Izmailova.
• 1924 - The “Waste” by N. Leskov . Director B. Sushkevich. Roles were performed by: Knyazev - I. Pevtsov, Molchanov - A. Wild, Minute - I. Bersenev

Led by Chekhov

In September 1924, 1st Studio turned into an independent theater, Moscow Art Theater 2nd, with its own leadership - the directorate, headed by Mikhail Chekhov, and received at its disposal the premises of the former New Theater ("Shelaputinsky Theater") (on Theater Square ).

From the memoirs of I. Ilyinsky (who left the theater that same year): “I was at that meeting when MA Chekhov announced to his comrades that he wants to become the head of the studio, that he wants to build a theater, that he sees the way for this, on which the theater studio should go, and that if the comrades believe him, he will become the head of the theater. If not, then he is forced to leave the studio and build such a theater on the side. All the students were thoughtful - they realized that from this day the look of the studio would change. This was especially felt by the older comrades. But Chekhov’s authority was so great at that time, all the youth loved him so much that there could be no question of Chekhov’s departure. Chekhov’s proposal was accepted ... " ^[6]

Eclecticism inherited the new theater from its predecessor; in addition to B. Sushkevich and A. Dikogo (who soon left the theater), the performances were also staged by the second from the main Moscow Art Theater, Valentin Smyshlyaev , the leading actors of the theater, former Moscow Art Theater Alexander Cheban , Serafima Birman , and later Ivan Bersenev ; the actual equality of several directors did not contribute to the development of a unified, personal style ^[1] . According to the memoirs of I. Bersenev, the Moscow Art Theater 2 was "a complex, interesting creative organism, an arena of collision of dissimilar, and sometimes even polar, opposing individuals and artistic aspirations." The symbolist tendencies that Chekhov supported and directly embodied Smyshlyaev and Cheban (Hamlet, Petersburg) competed here with the realistic ones in the person of Sushkevich (The Affair) and the vivid theatricality in the style of the late Vakhtangov, whose fan remained A. Dikiy (“ Flea ") An error in the footnotes ^? : Invalid call: invalid keys, for example, too many keys were specified or the key was incorrect .

The repertoire, as in the previous period, was dominated by the classics; the theater almost completely ignored the nascent Soviet dramaturgy, even by the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution in November 1927, it preferred to stage a play by R. Rollan “The Bastille”, which caused criticism in the press, and in the theater itself - the conflict, as a result of which the Moscow Art Theater 2 Aleksey Dikiy finally left, with a group of artists, including Olga Pyzhova and Leonid Volkov , unhappy that Chekhov was building a theater for himself. This was noted back in 1924 by P. Markov regarding the production of Hamlet: “Chekhov remains the main excuse for Hamlet at the Moscow Art Theater. Only with reference to it can the contradictory forms of the play and the way of reading the Shakespearean tragedy that was discovered by the play be explained ” ^[7] .

Selected Repertoire

• 1924 - "Hamlet" by W. Shakespeare. The directors are V. Smyshlyaev, V.N. Tatarinov, A. Cheban. Roles were performed by: Hamlet - M. Chekhov, Claudius - A. Cheban, Gertrude - V. Soloviev, Ophelia - M. Durasova, Laertes - I. Bersenev
• 1925 - “Petersburg” according to the novel by A. Bely . The directors are S. Birman, V. Tatarinov, A. Cheban. Roles were performed by: Ableukhov-father - M. Chekhov, Ableukhov-son - I. Bersenev, Lakhutina - S. Giatsintova
• 1925 - “Flea” according to N. Leskov , staged by E. Zamyatin . Director A. Wild; artist B. Kustodiev . Roles were performed by: Lefty - Volkov, Mary - S. Birman, Tsar - Popov, Platov - A. Wild.
• 1925 - "In 1825" N. Wenkstern . Directors - B. Sushkevich and I. Bersenev
• 1926 - Oresteia by Aeschylus . Director - V. Smyshlyaev
• 1927 - The “Case” of A. Sukhovo-Kobylin . Director B. Sushkevich. In the role of Murom - M. Chekhov
• 1927 - The Death of John the Terrible by A. K. Tolstoy . Roles were performed by: Ivan the Terrible - A. Cheban, Boris Godunov - I. Bersenev
• 1927 - The Capture of the Bastille by R. Rollan . Stage Director V. Smyshlyaev, Director V. Gotovtsev
• 1928 - “Sunset” by I.E. Babel. Director B. Sushkevich; artist M. Levin . The roles were played by: Mendel Creek - A. Cheban, Benya Crick - I. Bersenev, Dvoira - S. Birman, Boyarsky - Geyrot, Marusya - Kornakova

Led by Bersenev

In 1928, Mikhail Chekhov left the USSR, and Ivan Bersenev, an actor of the Moscow Art Theater since 1911, who was on the board of the 1st Studio, but in the second half of 20, became the artistic director of the theater (and at the same time director, officially - since 1933) 's just starting to get involved in directing ^[8] ; in fact, the main director of the theater, before his departure in 1931, was Boris Sushkevich, a convinced student who was hard pressed for the loss of his studio atmosphere under Chekhov ^[9] . “In his productions,” writes D. Zolotnitsky , “he gravitated towards a psychologized theatrical game enriched with social analysis, gave the era a conditional cut, in condensed colors, honed the image to hyperbole and grotesque ... Sushkevich’s directional style was an alloy of Mkhat’s psychologism, compassionately - the humane commandments of Sulerzhitsky and the Vakhtangov tradition of justifying the game grotesque. These three sources in different confluences determined so far the general principles of the art of the Moscow Art Theater-2 ” ^[9] .

After the departure of Chekhov, the first premiere of the theater was the play “The Man Who Laughs” based on the novel by V. Hugo , staged by Sushkevich. The sculptor N. A. Andreev designed the performance in the style of magnificent baroque, but grotesquely shifted the proportions, the grotesque also prevailed in the actors' play, and nevertheless the performance turned out to be a textbook ^[9] .

From the second half of the 1920s, the theater increasingly turned to contemporary Russian drama, not always of a high level, which gave rise to a series of passing performances; but there were in his repertoire both “Sunset” by I. Babel , and “Peter I” by A. N. Tolstoy (1st edition), and which became an event in the history of the Soviet theater “Miracle” by A. Afinogenov , withstood more than 500 performances. “After many performances that were obscure or far from modern,” wrote P. Markov in 1929 about “The Eccentric,” “the Moscow Art Theater 2 gave a production of exciting freshness and theatrical contagiousness. The performance “Eccentric” returns the Moscow Art Theater to its 2nd former trepidation and activity ” ^[10] .

At the beginning of the 30s, disagreements became aggravated in the theater’s leadership: in 1931 the Moscow Art Theater 2nd left V. Smyshlyaev, in 1932 B. Sushkevich and N. Bromley , one of the theater’s leading actresses ^[2] , left - Sushkevich’s last performance was "Ungrateful role" A. Fayko. After his departure, the main directors were A. Cheban and I. Bersenev. In this last period, the performances “Humiliated and Insulted”, “Twelfth Night”, and “Spanish Priest” became notable phenomena in theatrical life.

Famous artists Boris Kustodiev and Ignatius Nivinsky collaborated with the theater, even at its studio stage; in the 30s, theater performances were designed by Vladimir Favorsky and Aristarkh Lentulov .

Selected Repertoire

• 1929 - “The Man Who Laughs” by V. Hugo . Director B. Sushkevich; artist N. A. Andreev . The roles were performed by: Guinplen - I. Bersenev, Queen Anna - S. Birman, Dea - M. Durasova, Josiana - Karnakova
• 1929 - “The Eccentric” by A. Afinogenov . Directed by A. Cheban and I. Bersenev. Roles were performed by: Volgin - A. M. Azarin , Rygachev - V. S. Smyshlyaev, Gorsky - I. Bersenev.
• 1930 - “Peter I” by A. N. Tolstoy . Director B. Sushkevich; artist I. Nivinsky. Roles were performed by: Peter I - V. Gotovtsev, Alexei - I. Bersenev, Catherine - N. Bromley
• 1930 - "Shine on us, stars" Mikitenko. Director B. Sushkevich
• 1931 - “The Shadow of the Liberator” according to M. Saltykov-Shchedrin . Director B. Sushkevich. In the role of Judas Golovlev - I. Bersenev
• 1932 - The Ungrateful Role by A. Fayko. Director B. Sushkevich
• 1932 - “Humiliated and Offended” by F. M. Dostoevsky ; dramatization of Y. Sobolev. Directors I. Bersenev and S. Birman; artist Tikhomirov. Roles were performed by: Nelli - S. Giatsintova, Valkovsky - B. Sushkevich, Alyosha - A. Kislyakov, Katya - Vishnevskaya, Ikhmenev - A. Cheban ^[11]
• 1933 - The Twelfth Night by W. Shakespeare . Staged by S. Giatsintova, V. Gotovtsev, S. Khachaturian ; artist V. Tabor. Roles were performed by: Sir Toby - V. Gotovtsev, Maria - S. Giatsintova, Malvolio - A. Azarin, Viola - M. Durasova.
• 1934 - The Spanish Priest by Fletcher. Director S. Birman; artist A. Lentulov. Roles were performed by: Violanta - Yureneva, Birman, Amaranta - Giatsintova, Lopez - Popov.
• 1935 - “A Pray for Life” by J. Deval. Artist V. Favorsky. Cast: Pierre Massubre - I. Bersenev, Genevieve - S. Giatsintova.

Theater Closure

In 1936-1938, many Moscow theaters were merged or closed; did not escape this fate and the Moscow Art Theater 2nd. The theater was closed in the spring of 1936 by the decree of the Council of People 's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) “On the Second Moscow Art Theater”: “The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) believe that the so-called Moscow Art Theater 2 does not justify its title of the Moscow Art Theater and is посредственным театром, сохранение которого в Москве не вызывается необходимостью». Здание на Театральной площади отдали детскому театру под руководством Н. Сац , который стал Центральным детским театром (современный Российский молодёжный театр).

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