Theatrical art in Kiev

The first information about theatrical performances in the modern sense refers to the second third of the XVII - beginning of the XVIII century, when the Kiev collegium was the main educational institution of the city, since 1701 it received the status of the academy ^{[3] [2]} . There was a school theater here, performing in the building of the collegium / academy, and in the summer on open air venues. One of the earliest references to the school theater of the Kiev Collegium is contained in a letter from Archbishop Lazar Baranovich to Meletiy Dzik of 1676. In this letter, Lazarus recalls his own acting participation in performances (as a student, obviously, in the 1630s), along with him Feodosiy Safonovich participated in staging the tragedy ^[3] . According to Metropolitan Evgeny Bolkhovitinov , summer performances often took place on the slopes of Mount Schekavitsy , near the tract of the Glubochitsy River ^[2] . School dramas were written by teachers of poetry and rhetoric, there was a tradition to write new texts every year, so over time many versions of these plays appeared. They were created in the form of morality , miracles , dialogues, Christmas and Easter cycles. One of the most popular was a work written by an unknown author in 1673 and first staged in 1674 - "Alexei, the man of God." It was a drama with an hagiographic plot, including images of ancient mythology . In addition to the “professorial” plays, students wrote small comic interludes on folk themes that played between acts of large dramas, sometimes they were plot-related to the main drama and supplemented it (the interplay “Playing Weddings” to the play “Alexei, the Divine Man”) . From the 1650s, the den of drama spread, also created by students of the Kiev Collegium ^[4] .

Until the second half of the 18th century, the theatrical life of the city remained almost exclusively associated with the Kiev Academy. The school theater’s repertoire included such works as the tragicomedy Feofan Prokopovich “Vladimir” (it was considered a model of school drama on historical subjects), “Grace of God” by an unknown author based on historical songs and folklore, “Tragicomedy” by Sylvester Lyaskoronsky , Christmas “Comic Action” Mitrofan Dovgalevsky , “Resurrection of the Dead” by Gregory of Konis . In the XVIII century, the theater of the Kiev Academy had complex decorations, special visual, light and sound effects were used ^[5] .

Along with the school theater, in the 18th century, performances of folk farce artists (lyceum artists) and serf theaters began to become popular in Kiev. Representations of the latter took place in private houses, in which a large room was allocated for the "theater". Since 1789, the outbuilding of the Mariinsky Palace was set aside for theater performances, and at the end of the century, performances took place in one of the houses on Pechersk , called the “Redoubt” ^{[5] [2]} .

The First and Second City Theaters

Of particular importance for the history of the theater in Kiev is the transfer to the city of Dubna counterfeit fairs in 1797. In Kiev contract fairs, in addition to merchants and business people, artists gathered. Polish, Russian and Ukrainian troupes, ballet from Spain, Italian opera performed here ^[6] . Then there was a need for a permanent theater building. The first Kiev City Theater was built by A. I. Melensky in 1804-1806 ^[7] on the square, which at that time was called Horse. (After the construction of the theater, it became the Theater, the modern name is European ). In 1834, the first summer theater in Kiev was built in the Palace Park ^[8] . Later, summer theaters opened in the Chateau de Fleur park (in 1864), in the Hermitage park on Trukhanovy Island (in the 1890s) and in the Merchants Garden ( Summer Theater of the Merchants' Assembly , 1901) ^[9] . The concert and theater hall was also located in the Contract House on Podil, built by V. Guest and A. I. Melensky in 1815-1817 ^[10] . In 1850, the project of building a new city theater on the corner of Vladimirskaya and Kadetskaya streets was approved ^[11] . By that time, the wooden building of the first theater was dilapidated and was demolished in 1851.

The stone second City Theater (architect I.V. Shtrom ) opened only in 1856, and for five years Kiev remained without a permanent theater building. During this period, Kiev artists established a small theater society ^[5] , renting private premises - in the estate of General Brinken on Khreshchatyk , in the house of the heirs of General Belogorodsky on Lipki ; also under the temporary theater was equipped with the building of the former prison in Podil ^[11] .

Until the last quarter of the 19th century, the Kiev theater did not have its own permanent troupe and was universal - its repertoire included plays of a dramatic and comedic genre, as well as opera , ballet , and operetta . And the troupes of that time often did not have a clear specialization in types of stage art, even the same artists could act as singers or dramatic actors ^[12] . It is believed ^{[* 1]} that the serf troupe of the retired colonel Dmitry Ivanovich Shirai, the owner of the estate of Spiridonov Bud in the Chernihiv province, opened the season of 1806 in the first City Theater ^[11] . In 1805, D.I. Shirai acquired a plot on the mountainside opposite the theater, built a manor here, in the main building of which the theater also worked ^[7] . About 200 artists and musicians participated in the troupe of D. Shirai, among whom were serfs and freedmen ^[13] .

Polish, Polish-Ukrainian, and Russian-Ukrainian troupes performed in city theaters - A. Lenkavsky, Lototsky, Zholkevsky, P. Rekanovsky , I.F. Shtein , L. Yu. Mlotkovsky . They usually performed in Polish, less often in Russian and Ukrainian ^{[13] [14]} . The performances were staged according to the classical works of Shakespeare , Schiller , Moliere , Voltaire , and the operas Rossini and Cherubini were played. But often productions of far from best works were given, they tried to attract the audience with the “terrible” names of these low-grade plays, such as “The Terrible Shadow of Rinaldo, or the Phantom”, “Abbelino, or The Horrible Bandit of Venetian”. On March 2, 1823, the Lenkavsky troupe staged for the first time the Ukrainian opera “Ukrainka, or the Magic Castle” ^{[* 2]} , in the same year there was a drama in the Ukrainian language “Elena, or Robbers in Ukraine ^[12] .

Tours were often held, which were performed by prominent actors - M. S. Shchepkin (1820s and 1840s), P. S. Mochalov (1837-1838), L. I. Mlotkovskaya , A. E. Martynov , K. T. Solenik (1845), N. Kh. Rybakov . Feedback on the acting skills of Schepkin was left by T. G. Shevchenko , and later dedicated to him the poem “Bewitch me, the sorcerer” and the poem “Neophytes” ^[13] . Major theater seasons in Kiev took place in 1821, 1829-1830, 1837-1838, 1840, 1843 ^[12] . In 1823, opera singers of the Lviv theater toured in Kiev, and in 1835 a Paris drama troupe with the famous Austrian actor Joseph Skala. Since the 1840s, Kiev began to be famous as a theater city. In 1841-1842, a drama theater from France toured here again - headed by metro Georges , ballet from Spain and opera companies from Italy and Poland performed in the Contract House. ^[8]

In the second half of the XIX century, the theater occupies an important place not only in the cultural, but also in the socio-political life of the city. In the 1860s, a permanent Russian drama troupe of N. K. Miloslavsky worked in Kiev. She staged plays by Russian classics - N. V. Gogol , A. N. Ostrovsky , M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin ; works of low content were supplanted from the repertoire. Since the end of the 1860s, a specially created public committee was engaged in compiling a highly artistic repertoire. Tours of the best Russian actors, famous foreign theaters have become regular. In the 1860s - 1890s, the stars of Moscow and St. Petersburg came to Kiev - I.F. Gorbunov , V.V. Samoilov , V.V. Charsky , F.P. Gorev , M.G. Savina , P. A Strepetova , G. N. Fedotova , M. N. Ermolova , Kiev saw the game of European and American masters - E. Rossi , S. Bernard , B. Koklen , E. Duse , A. Aldridge ^{[15] [16]} . In 1863-1865, an Italian opera performed in Kiev, whose artists became well-known in Russia - T. De Julie Borsi , A. d'Alberti , A. Rene, choirmaster S. Sabatelli ^[17] . The entrepreneur of this troupe F. Berger in 1867 founded the first Russian opera in Ukraine. The date of birth of the Kiev Opera House is October 27, 1867, when the Askold's Grave by A. N. Verstovsky was staged at the official opening of the Russian Opera ^[18] . Since the 1870s, the composer N.V. Lysenko , creator of Ukrainian opera classics, lived and worked in Kiev. His first operas "The Black Sea" and "Christmas Night" in 1872-1873 were staged by amateur groups and were very successful, and since 1874 Lysenko’s operas were performed at the City Theater. The Kiev Opera was repeatedly visited by P.I. Tchaikovsky and left positive reviews both on the skill of actors and musicians, as well as on the artistic design of the performances. In 1890, the composer himself directed the production of his opera The Queen of Spades in Kiev. In the 1890s, the production of “The Snow Maiden ” by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov was performed, at which the author was present, and S. V. Rachmaninov acted as a conductor at the production of the opera Aleko ^[15] .

Theaters of Bergonier and Solovtsov

In 1878, the second permanent theater appeared in Kiev. The businessman Auguste Bergonye transformed into his own theater the stationary "Circus Theater Alkazar", which he built in 1875 according to the project of V. N. Nikolaev at the corner of Fundukleevskaya and Novo-Elizavetinskaya streets ^[9] . After this reconstruction, the building was known as the Bergonier Theater . From the mid-19th century, Ukrainian theater culture was subjected to severe censorship restrictions by the tsarist authorities (see Valuev Circular , Emsky Decree ). Such discrimination was opposed not only by Ukrainian, but also by Russian theatrical figures. For example, in 1877, a year after the issuance of the Ems Decree, T. Shevchenko’s drama “ Nazar Stodolya ” was put into G. Fedotova’s benefit . The actress's act had a great sociopolitical resonance. In 1882-1883, the tour of the first Ukrainian professional troupes - G. A. Ashkarenko , M. L. Kropyvnytsky , M. P. Staritsky, took place at the Bergonier Theater. Kropyvnytsky’s performances quickly gained popularity, especially among young people, and this greatly alarmed the authorities. Soon, Kiev tours of Ukrainian theaters were prohibited by order of Governor General A.R. Drenteln . After the ban, only in 1893 the troupe of N.K. Sadovsky was able to appear in Kiev, and since then the Ukrainian theaters performed in the city annually, but under even more tightened control of royal censorship. In an information note compiled by leading figures of Ukrainian theater culture to the First All-Russian Congress of Stage Workers (1897), Ukrainian plays of those years are called “monotonous” and “completely uninteresting to the people,” which was the result of increased censorship. Only after the revolution of 1905 and the exit of the Manifesto on October 17, which granted civil rights and freedoms, did censorship pressure weaken ^{[15] [19]} .

Since the end of the 1880s, tours of Russian drama groups regularly took place in the City Theater and the Theater of Bergonier. The head of one of these troupes, N. N. Solovtsov (Fedorov), founded the Kiev Drama Partnership in 1891, which in 1893 was called the “Solovtsov Drama Theater ”. This was the first Kiev permanent drama group. After a fire that destroyed the City Theater in 1896, Solovtsov organized the construction of his own theater building (designed by G.P. Schleifer and E.P. Bradtman , 1898), but in the place of the burnt City Theater by 1901, it was designed by V.A. Schröter The new Opera House ^{[15] [20] was built} . The Solovtsov Theater worked until 1919, and then was nationalized and transformed into the Second Theater of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic named after V.I. Lenin , which existed until 1924. Solovtsov and subsequent leaders of the theater (after the death of the founder in 1901) paid great attention to the composition of the troupe and the selection of the repertoire, the theater was famous for its exemplary stage culture. In 1894-1905, the Solovtsova stage was annually presented for performances by Ukrainian theaters M. L. Kropyvnytsky, N. K. Sadovsky and P. K. Saksagansky , D. A. Gaydamaki , A. L. Sukhodolsky , E. P. Ratmirova ^[21] .

The emergence of operetta theaters

From the season 1869-1870, operetta theaters began touring in Kiev. On various stages, including summer theaters, the operetta was performed by the troupe of V. D. Rokotov (1875), N. N. Savin (Slavich) (1878–79, the Bergonier Theater), I. Ya. Setov (1886–89, the theater Bergonier), Kiselevich and Vladykin (1894), St. Petersburg Russian operetta troupe (1899). In 1890-1918, foreign operetta theaters performed, the first of which was Madame Lazal Theater of France. Kiev was visited by the French troupe A. Judic , de Montclair, Bokur and Charle, Rene Debre; Austrian - " Karl Theater " and " Johann Strauss Theater ", the troupe of G. Zeller, V. N. Schulz, J. Shtilman, L. Bendinder. The operetta of S. Jones “Geisha”, which immediately after the premiere was published by the Izzikovsky publishing house , became extremely popular in Kiev; melodies from it began to be performed by many orchestras and street performers. In 1906, the "Geisha" was staged by D. A. Gaydamaka in a free translation into Ukrainian ^[22] .

Operetta at the peak of popularity

In 1901-1912, the St. Petersburg Theater of S. N. Novikov “Passage” visited Kiev annually. The Novikov Theater was performed by the stars of that time, whose arrival in Kiev became a real sensation - N. I. Tamara (Mitina-Buinitskaya), A. D. Vyaltseva , Yu. S. Morfessi , A... Blumenthal-Tamarin , V. V Kavetskaya . In 1909, entrepreneur M.P. Livsky (Livenson) visited Kiev for the first time with his St. Petersburg troupe. He led several opera troupe in different cities of Russia. In 1910, his Odessa troupe toured, and in 1912-1913 - “Russian Operetta”. In 1912, Livsky rented a room on the street. Nikolaevskoye , where the “Skating Ring” was located - an institution for roller-skating. Livskyi troupes first began to perform the operettas of I. Kalman in Kiev - “Autumn Maneuvers” (1910, in the main role - V. I. Piontkovskaya ) and “Little King” (1913, the main performer - A. N. Feona ). In 1915, Livsky reappeared in Kiev and converted the Sketching Ring into a theater. He worked here, although not for long - about six months, the first stationary operetta theater in Kiev. The former Sketching Ring was subsequently called the Livsky and Kruchinin Theater Complex (the building has not been preserved). In 1915, the Petersburg Palace Theater , whose artists had already visited Kiev, toured in full force. In November 1911, in a building on the street. Meringovskaya, 8 (the building was not preserved, see the Geyman Theater ) the so-called “New Theater” by V. M. Dagmarov was opened, which was leased to various collectives. From the opening ^{[* 3]} until 1914 the Moscow theater of Evelinov and Potopchina , one of the most famous operetta theaters in Russia, toured here (see B. E. Evelinov , E. V. Potopchina ). In February - April 1916, the Larsky Theater was very successful in touring the Fars Theater, the farcical group of the Odessa Russian Theater . The leading actors of Fars were V. M. Vronsky and his wife M. S. Stosin. The benefits of Vronsky and Stosina liked the audience so much that they were repeated. Another successful tour took place in the fall of 1916 at the Livsky Theater - a tour of the Moscow Zon Theater. This theater, owned by the entrepreneur I.S. Zon , had a strong cast and high-quality repertoire. “The Zone” performed operettas by J. Offenbach , F. Lehar , I. Kalman, R. Planket , L. Fall , K. Zeller and other authors; famous actors performing in the theater - S. G. Lin , T. A. Tamara-Gruzinskaya, M. I. Dneprov , M. Tumashev ^[22] .

People's houses, Sadovsky Theater, Maly Theater

In 1902, two people's houses opened in Kiev - Lukyanovsky and Troitsky , with auditoriums for 550 and 1000 people, respectively. Halls were leased to theater entrepreneurs. In 1902-1907, the opera troupe of M. M. Borodai performed at the Trinity People’s House; in 1905-1910, the hall was rented by the entreprise of I. E. Duvan-Tortsov . An important stage in the development of Ukrainian theater culture is connected with the Trinity People’s House - in 1907-1917, the first Ukrainian permanent professional theater of N.K. Sadovsky worked here. Thanks to the innovation of the leader and the skillful use of the advantages of the constant stage and political situation, this theater was able to realize the progressive ideas of stage art in its activities ^[23] .

According to the address directory for 1907, at that time in Kiev there were seven permanent theater scenes - the Solovtsov and Bergonier theaters, an opera house, two people's houses, a theater in the Contract House and the Maly Theater by A. M. Kramskoy ^[24] . In 1906, Kramskoy, considered one of the best theater administrators in Russia, organized his theater in a rented room on Khreshchatyk , in a building built in 1877 by V. I. Sychugov and A. Ya. Shile (not preserved) ^[25] . The Maly Theater did not have its own troupe; its stage was provided to various groups and solo performers. Ukrainian groups - D. A. Gaydamaki (1906-1907), Jewish - M. L. Genfer (1907, 1908), Polish - V. Yarshevskaya, Warsaw Theater "News" (Nowości), Maly Maly Theater performed here. Gavalevich, operettas by Yu. Myshkovsky and S. Bogutsky and others. Performances of different genres were staged - dramatic, opera, operetta, as well as circus performances, wrestling championships, lectures, charity events. In 1910, the Kramskoy Theater was transformed into the Satyricon cabaret ^[26] .

A. N. Kruchinin and Small Form Theaters

In 1909, with the assistance of A. M. Kramskoy, the “A. Kruchinin Drama Theater” was opened in the Bergonier premises. It was the second Russian drama theater after Solovtsov, but it did not exist long, in 1912 its director A. N. Kruchinin transformed it into the Art Theater of Miniatures. In 1915, after the death of the founder (1914), the theater was again reorganized and received the name "Kruchinin Art Theater". Since 1917, he occupied the premises of the Livsky Theater, and since then the former "Sketching Ring" has come to be called the "Livsky and Kruchinin Theater" ^[27] .

In 1911, small theaters began to open in Kiev - cabarets , miniature theaters , and music halls (variety shows). According to the Kiev Ramp magazine in October 1912, public interest in these institutions at first quickly faded away and there were only two left - the First Theater of Miniatures by D. G. Gutman and The Art Theater of Miniatures, but soon the fashion for them returned and in 1912 there was a real boom in miniature theaters. This year theaters “Figliki” (Khreschatyk, 7), “Palace” by P. L. Skuratov (in “Sketching Ring”), “Maly Theater of Miniatures” (Khreshchatyk, 36), “Odeon” (B. Vasilkovskaya, 14), Children's Theater of Miniatures by E. L. Zorin, the Mikst mobile theater by A. E. Nekhlyudov (in the Commercial Assembly, Khreshchatyk, 1, the building was not preserved), the St. Petersburg B-Ba-Bo cabaret theater (in "Grand Hotel" on Khreshchatyk) ^[28] . In December 1914, at the Khreshchatyk street, 43 (the building was not preserved), the " Intimate Theater " was opened, created by A. I. Deutsch and N. M. Foregger , then still students of Kiev University. The "Intimate Theater" lasted more than 5 years - until June 1920 (intermittently), it was a record period for pre-revolutionary small theaters. In the beginning, like Kramskoy’s Maly Theater, “Intimate” was only a room that was provided to invited artists, and later he also had his own team. There were N.I. Tamara, V.V. Kavetskaya, M. Lenskaya (1915), I. Ya. Kremer , Yu. S. Morfessi , I.D. Yuryev (1917), Victor Henkin (1917), the first woman entertainer M. S. Maradudin , A. N. Vertinsky (1918), L. I. Utesov (1918), N. V. Plevitskaya (1918-1919) ^[29] . Another small-form theater - “ Pall Mall ”, since 1917 the “Theater of Easy Comedy and Operetta” - worked in 1916-1920 on the corner of Khreshchatyk and Lutheran Street in the summer building of the Noble Club (the building was not preserved), where there was an auditorium for 400 seats. His repertoire was mainly one-act comedies, farces, sketches, solo performances. Among the artists who performed here are parodist M. I. Rtishcheva , ballerina A. S. Legat, director and actor A. F. Lundin , future People's Artist of the RSFSR E. M. Granovskaya , V. M. Vronsky (1918), A. T Averchenko (1918), prima operetta K. Milovich (1918) ^[30] .

Schools

In 1904, N.V. Lysenko opened the Music and Drama School . Theatrical subjects in it were conducted by M.M. Staritskaya , G. Gaevsky (stage art), V.N. Peretts (drama history). In 1913, the school was named after N. V. Lysenko, and in 1918 it was transformed into the Music and Drama Institute (now the I. K. Karpenko-Kary University of Theater, Film and Television ) ^[31] . In 1918, G.K. Krizhitsky and E.P. Derevyanko-Prosvetov founded the Drama Conservatory, but it was soon closed ^[32] .

In 1917-1920, the political situation in Kiev was particularly unstable, the power in the city during this period changed at least 10 times. In 1918, Kiev became a refuge for a large number of refugees from Soviet Russia . According to the newspaper Stolichniy Golos, dated January 25 (12), 1919, the population of the city increased from 467,703 people to approximately 600,000 during 1918 ^[33] . A significant part of the refugees were representatives of the creative intelligentsia, in particular, theater workers. The city concentrated on directors, directors, artists and entire theater groups, most of them came from Moscow and Petrograd, Kiev in 1918 even received comic nicknames "Moskvokiev" and "Petromoskv". The Opera House and Solovtsov continued to work, and the German Theater opened in the former premises of Livsky and Kruchinin, giving performances in German. In the theater of Bergonier, in the "outlying" theaters (such as the Lukyanovsky People’s House) numerous miniature theaters, operettas performed, theaters in cafes and hotels were adapted for theaters ^{[34] [35]} . In the spring of 1917, the Sadovsky Theater gave the last performance in the Trinity People’s House, and then performed in the Chateau de Fleur park. In January 1919, fearing closure by the Bolsheviks, this theater went to Kamenetz-Podolsky, then to Vinnitsa, and broke up a year later, as most of the actors returned to Kiev. On April 24, 1917, a committee of the Ukrainian National Theater was founded in the Trinity People’s House, and in the fall the National Exemplary Theater , which it created, began to operate, working in August 1918 under the direction of P.K. like a theater to them. M. Zankovetskaya (in February 1923 he left Kiev, now is in Lviv) ^[36] .

The placement and employment of the arriving artists were handled by the board of the Kiev Literary and Artistic Club (CLAC), the Union of Stage Workers and the Union of Kiev Entrepreneurs. CLAC organized free dinners for unemployed actors, money for which was provided by many entrepreneurs ^[37] . The Petrograd B-Ba-Bo Theater, led by N. Ya. Agnivtsev , the Moscow Bat , N. F. Baliev , the founders of the Crooked Mirror Theater A. R. Kugel and Z. V. Kholmskaya , brothers, arrived in Kiev The zones were placed on the Khreshchatyk cabaret “Corner of Moscow”, later it changed its name to “Basement of Muscovites”. A group of B-Ba-Bo artists, headed by Agnivtsev in December 1918, founded the pop and miniature theater " Basement of the Curved Jimmy ", it opened in the cafe "Francois" on the corner of Fundukleevskaya and Vladimirskaya. It was one of the very few miniature theaters that received positive reviews in the Bolshevik press in 1919. He was in Kiev until September 1919. In January 1919, in connection with the advance of the troops of N. A. Schors , a mass departure of Russian refugees began. March 15, 1919 the Bolshevik government issued a decree "On the nationalization of theaters." On the basis of existing collectives, the first Soviet theaters were created, Solovtsov became the Second Theater of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic named after V.I. Lenin , State Drama Theater , founded in 1918 - the First Theater T. G. Shevchenko . The theaters of the Red Army (at the Bergonier Theater) and the First Communist Regiment (at the Gaiman Theater) worked. After the capture of Kiev by Denikins, from September 1919, Soviet theaters again became private and continued to operate ^{[34] [35]} . From spring to the end of 1919 (under the rule of the Bolsheviks, and then Denikinists), the cooperative Society for the Collective Arts “Seeking Grads” was active, which was engaged in the development of theater, cinema, literature and journalism. The society created the Theater Academy (founders G. K. Kryzhitsky , V. V. Sladkopevtsev ), which was taught by famous cultural figures - A. I. Deich , A. S. Voznesensky-Brodsky , S. S. Mokulsky ^{[38] [ 37]} .

1919

In Kiev, Soviet power was first established on February 8, 1918, but lasted no more than three weeks ( see Ukrainian Soviet Republic ). The second time Kiev passed to the Bolsheviks on February 6, 1919, and on March 10, the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic was formed . On March 15th, a decree of the All-Ukrainian Council of Arts “On the Nationalization of Kiev Theaters” was issued, K. A. Mardzhanov was appointed commissioner of theaters. During the Soviet era many theaters of small forms ("cafe-shantan type") were closed, others were reorganized and renamed. To control the theme of the productions, a city repertoire commission was created. The first army theaters appeared, tickets to which were often distributed among workers and soldiers of the Red Army for free. The basis of the Soviet repertoire was acutely social classic and new works, reflecting the struggle of the people against tyranny. From the 1919 productions, the performance “ Tsar-Famine ” by L.N. Andreev is noted, shown on April 6 at the opening of the Red Army Theater and staged by May Mardjanov in the Second Theater of the Ukrainian SSR “ Sheep Spring ” Lope de Vega in the original interpretation ^[39] .

NEP Period

At the end of August 1919, Kiev was taken by the troops of the All-Union Union of Socialist Republic of Ukraine ; Soviet power was again restored in mid-December. In 1920-1921, theaters worked irregularly due to financial difficulties and the frequent use of their premises for events of communist propaganda ^[40] . In 1920, almost all theaters were closed by orders of the Kiev Provincial Committee and the Provincial Image in the city, only the First and Second Drama Theaters of the Ukrainian SSR and Opera were left. After the Communist Party adopted the New Economic Policy in 1921, private enterprises began to revive, small theaters appeared again. But the authorities continued to struggle with theaters, whose repertoire was not in line with ideology, a press campaign was launched in which entrepreneurs, the theater committee of the People’s Education, and the Sorabis union of art workers were accused of “indulging in anti-art, debauchery, corruption and decay of theaters.” Many of the created theaters were soon closed, and a genre such as operetta in 1922 was completely outlawed ^{[41] [42]} .

The first Soviet theater of miniatures in Kiev was the Theater of Revolutionary Satire, or Terevsat , housed in the building of the former Intimate Theater . In early 1922, he was renamed the "Theater of Art Interludes" and completely changed his repertoire. Already in the autumn of that year, it was closed. Also, the Small Theater PUKVO (Political Administration of the Kiev Military District, 1921-1923), the Theater of Art Comedy (1922-1923), the Theater of Art Miniatures (1922-1923), Mosaic (1923), and the Theater of Sketches ( 1924), “The New Theater of A. Varyagin“ Comedy and Satire ”” (1924–1926), “The Interlude and Satire Theater” (1924–1926), the last of the miniature theaters was the “Theater of the Modern Buffoonade” (late 1927) ^{[43] [44]} .

The former "Russian Opera", after nationalization, received the name " Opera of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic named after K. Liebknecht ”, in 1923-1925 staged 47 opera performances, several ballets and operettas, mainly due to touring troupes. In 1925, the theater became stationary again ^[45] , in 1926 it was called the Kiev Academic Opera, in 1934 it was called the Opera and Ballet Theater, and in 1939 it was named after T. G. Shevchenko. The second theater to them. Lenin, a former “Solovtsov”, began to regularly conduct performances designed for a specific target audience - for children (“Boom and Yula” by N. Shklyar, “ Ole Lukoye ” by Andersen ), for students (“She defeated” B. Shaw ), for housewives ("Jimmy Higgins" by E. Sinclair ). In 1922-1923, N. N. Khodotov was the prime minister of the theater; M.F. In 1923, a group of Moscow actors from the Maly Theater and the Moscow Art Theater worked in the theater. In May 1924, the theater was closed, many of its actors moved to the Russian Drama private theater created in the autumn of that year ^[46] . This theater worked until 1926 in the former Bergonier, opened by entrepreneur E. Galanter, and in the second season, V. Dagmarov was the director and entrepreneur. In the fall of 1926 from the Second Theater. Lenin was created by the State Theater of Russian Drama , which has been named after Lesya Ukrainka since 1941. The first theater of the Ukrainian SSR. T. G. Shevchenko is also considered one of the best theater groups in the early 1920s. Here he worked as an actor and director Les Kurbas , the head of the literary part was P. G. Tychina . From January 1923, the theater became mobile, but the former Bergonier building until 1926 continued to be called the “Theater named after Shevchenko. " The team toured in many cities of Ukraine, returning to Kiev for a short time, and in 1927 became a stationary theater in Dnepropetrovsk ^[47] .

In the 1920s, the theaters of working youth, or TRAM, were created in factory and district clubs. In urban areas , six TRAMs worked, the most famous of which was the Sixth District Theater. Lesia Ukrainka, founded on the initiative of P. G. Tychina in the People's Audience . Other TRAMs worked as semi-professional teams run by qualified directors. In these theaters, many famous actors began their activities ^{[45] [48]} .

Berezil

In 1922, the innovative Berezil Theater was created and operated in Kiev until 1926, the activity of which under the Soviet regime was assessed ambiguously. Its creator and leader Les Kurbas in the 1930s was repressed and executed (rehabilitated in 1957); modern researchers believe that his work is far ahead of its time. “Berezil” first performed in various rental premises, and from the autumn of 1924 until the spring of 1926 was constantly in the building of the Solovtsov Theater. In 1923, at the initiative of L. Kurbas, a theater museum was created, which in 1926 was transferred to the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences . Currently, it is located on the territory of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and has the name of the State Museum of Theater, Music and Cinema of Ukraine ^[49] . “Berezil” in 1926 was transferred to Kharkov as the Central Theater of the Republic (now the Kharkov Drama Theater named after T. G. Shevchenko ), and instead the Kharkov Drama Theater named after I. Franco . Theater named after I. Franco was created in 1920 in Vinnitsa, and at first worked as a mobile, in 1923-1926 he worked in Kharkov, then the capital of the Ukrainian SSR. By the time he moved to Kiev, he had already received recognition as a theater with its own high artistic style ^{[50] [51]} .

Jewish Theaters

In 1922, the Kunst-Winkle Jewish Theater arrived on tour in Kiev. The authorities, given the size of the Jewish population of Kiev, decided to leave him here and he became one of the first Jewish stationary theaters. In Kiev, the theater was named after A. Goldfaden , who founded the first Jewish theater in 1876. The Kunst-Winkle Theater (in Yiddish “Corner of Art”) was founded in Poltava in 1918 by R. Zaslavsky, it was staged by A. F. Lundin and A. M. Samarin-Volzhsky , played by L. V. Kalmanovich (subsequently Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR), L. I. Bugova (later People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR). In the mid-1920s, Jewish organizations came under Soviet censorship. In 1925, the “List of plays of the Jewish repertoire not allowed for staging” appeared; at the same time, the Kultur-League educational organization was closed. In 1928, Kunst-Winkle was closed because its repertoire and leadership did not comply with the Soviet ideological line, and in 1929 the Kiev State Jewish Theater (GOSET) was opened. At first, GOSET worked in the former Intimate Theater (Khreshchatyk, 43), and soon it became one of the leading Jewish theaters in the USSR. The building required reconstruction, and it began in 1932, but was never completed. The theater during the reconstruction moved to the building of the former Pall Mall. In 1940, the unfinished building of the Jewish theater was demolished by decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR.

GOSET staged plays by Soviet as well as pre-revolutionary Jewish and classical authors. The theater regularly went on tour, patronized enterprises and military units. In 1934, in connection with the transfer of the capital of Ukraine to Kiev, the Kiev State Jewish Theater of the Ukrainian SSR was merged with the Kiev GOSET. In 1941, the theater was evacuated to Kazakhstan, but after the war he did not return to Kiev, but was sent to Chernivtsi, in 1950 it was closed by a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR.

In addition to Kunst-Winkle and GOSET, the Unzer Winkle (Our Corner), Onoyb (The Beginning), Yiddish Folks Binh (Jewish Folk Stage) theaters operated in Kiev in the early 1920s ), Jewish TRAM, Jewish Youth Theater, Jewish Puppet Theater, Mobile Theater "Gezkult" ^{[52] [53]} .

Second half of the 20s - 30s

The period of collapse of the NEP and the following years is characterized by a sharp transition of theaters to Soviet themes in their repertoires and to the principles of socialist realism . Drama theaters staged plays by A. N. Afinogenov , D. A. Furmanov , N. G. Kulish , V. V. Ivanov , and works by Maxim Gorky have become popular since 1932. A significant part of the repertoire was made up of the classic pre-revolutionary works of Russian and Ukrainian authors. The best productions of plays about the revolution are called theater performances. I. Franco “ Armored Train 14-69 ” by V.V. Ivanov, “Rebellion” by D. A. Furmanov and “Dictatorship” by I. K. Mikitenko ; performances of the Russian drama theater “Fear” by A. N. Afinogenov, “ Optimistic tragedy ” by V. V. Vishnevsky , “ At the bottom ” by M. Gorky ^[54] .

In 1926-1932, eight state theater groups worked in Kiev. Theater named after I. Franko, whose leader at that time was G.P. Yura , the first of the Ukrainian Soviet theaters in 1926 was invited to tour in Moscow. This theater was also the most visited in the city ^[54] .

In 1924, A. I. Solomarsky and I. S. Deeva created a children's theater ( Kiev Youth Theater ). At first, he was in self-financing and did not have his own premises, he performed in the former "Intimate Theater" (Khreshchatyk, 43), clubs, and schools. In 1925, the theater received at its disposal a cinema building at 36 Khreshchatyk (not preserved). In the 1926 season, the theater opened as a state theater, in the same year it was given the name of I. Ya. Franko, and in the 1930s it became a theater to them. M. Gorky. In 1934-1936, the former building of the Livsky and Kruchinin Theater was rebuilt for the Youth Theater, in which the club of the Woodworkers Union was located in the first Soviet years. After the war, Youth Theater received a building on the street. R. Luxembourg ( Lipsky ), which is located to the present. In 1927, as a branch of the Youth Theater, a puppet theater was opened, which in 1936 was allocated the building of the then Palace of Pioneers (before the revolution - the Merchants' Assembly, now the National Philharmonic of Ukraine ) ^{[55] [56]} .

In 1929-1935, the Kiev Radio Theater worked (from September 1934 - the Capital Radio Theater). It was first located in the Column Hall of the Philharmonic, and in 1934 it officially opened on Khreshchatyk, where the building of the former Winter Nobility Club was converted for it (at the beginning of the century it housed the Kramskoy Maly Theater). The Radio Theater hosted performances and music concerts organized by the Kiev Philharmonic, while they were also broadcast on the radio. The radio theater had its own symphony orchestra conducted by M. M. Kanershtein. This orchestra currently exists as the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine . During the existence of the Radio Theater, many bands and solo performers, both Soviet and foreign, performed in it. Since April 1935, the concerts of the Radio Theater were already going on as concerts of the Philharmonic Society ^[57] .

In 1931, the theater of the Kiev Military District was created , which was subsequently renamed several times. In 1933-1941, he was constantly on the street. Firdousi ( Zankovetskaya ), in the building of the former Gaiman Theater , which was reconstructed in 1938. During the war he acted as a front-line theater on different fronts, in 1944-1953 he was in Odessa, and then transferred to Lviv. Now it is the Lviv Drama Theater. Lesia Ukrainka ^[58] .

Since the close of the operetta theater, only mobile troupes worked in Kiev (in 1922-1924 and 1927-1928). In 1934–1935, in connection with the transfer of the capital to Kiev, the stationary “Theater of Musical Comedy” was opened in the Trinity People’s House, now the Kiev National Academic Operetta Theater ^[59] .

The opera house, which has already become famous outside Ukraine, in March 1936 participated in the first decade of Ukrainian art in Moscow ^[60] .

Post-war period

During the Great Patriotic War, Kiev theaters were evacuated and performed in various republics of the USSR. After the liberation of Kiev on November 6, 1943, temporary theater groups began to be created. Already on November 14, a large concert of the musical theater troupe was held at the opera house. In 1944, the Opera and Ballet Theater. T. G. Shevchenko, Drama Theaters. I. Franco and L. Ukrainka. The opera for the season of 1944 showed 176 performances, on which eight operas and 3 ballets were staged ^[61] .

After the war, composers worked in Kiev, who created a number of operas and ballets on folklore, literary and contemporary themes - K. F. Dankevich , V. B. Gomolyak , G. I. Mayborod , O. A. Sandler , G. L. Zhukovsky , Yu.S. Matus , V.D. Kireyko . A. P. Ryabov , who worked as a conductor of the Musical Comedy Theater, created the best Ukrainian Soviet operettas “Wedding in the Robin”, “Wonderful Land”, “Krasnaya Viburnum”. Operettas were also written by O. A. Sandler, J. S. Tseglyar , S. S. Zhdanov . In 1951 and 1960, the Kiev Opera and Ballet Theater again participated in the Moscow decades of literature and art and in celebrating the 300th anniversary of the reunification of Ukraine and Russia in 1954. The best post-war performances of the theater. I. Franko is called “Makar Dibrova”, “Viburnum Grove”, “Professor Buiko” and “Martyn Borul”, staged by G. P. Yura, Lesia Ukrainka - “ Uncle Vanya ” by Anton Chekhov , “In the Forest” by Lesia Ukrainka, “ Under the Golden Eagle ” by J. A. Galan ^[62] .

According to the encyclopedic reference book “Kiev” , in 1980, 19 theaters operated in the city (including the circus, pop theater, and music hall) ^[63] .

comments

links to publications

• Kiev: encyclopedic dovnik. - K .: Golovna editorial office of the URE, 1981. (Ukrainian)

  ( Kiev: encyclopedic reference book )

• History of Kiev (in three volumes, four books) / ch. ed. Yu. Yu. Condufor. - K .: Naukova Dumka, 1982. - T. 1. Ancient and medieval Kiev.
• History of Kiev (in three volumes, four books) / ch. ed. Yu. Yu. Condufor. - K .: Naukova Dumka, 1984. - T. 2. Kiev of the period of late feudalism and capitalism.
• History of Kiev (in three volumes, four books) / ch. ed. Yu. Yu. Condufor. - K .: Naukova Dumka, 1985. - T. 3 book. 1. Kiev is socialist.
• M.O. Ribakov. From the history of the Kiev dramatic theaters, but the addresses of the Kyiv melodious // Nevidіa malovіdomі storinki іstorії Kyiv. - K .: Kiy, 1997 .-- ISBN 966-7161-15-3 . (Ukrainian)

  ( M. A. Rybakov. From the history of Kiev drama theaters, or addresses of Kiev melpomene. // Unknown and little-known pages of the history of Kiev)

• M.O. Ribakov. Vulitsa Architector of Gorodetsky. - K .: Fenix, 2007 .-- ISBN 978-966-651-499-1 . (Ukrainian)

  ( M. A. Rybakov. Street of the Architect Gorodetsky)

• M.O. Ribakov. Khreschatyk Vidomy and Nevdomy. - K .: Kiy, 2003 .-- ISBN 966-7161-50-1 . (Ukrainian)

  ( M. A. Rybakov. Khreshchatyk known and unknown)

• The memory of history and culture of Ukraine: 28 volumes. / goal ed. V. Smoliy. - K .: "Ukrainian Encyclopedia", 2011. - T. Kiev. Prince I h. III. - ISBN 966-95478-2-2 . (Ukrainian)

  (Code of monuments of history and culture of Ukraine. Kiev)