Stage space and time as a material of art. Stage space and its solution Zoya Sanina, Anninskaya school, Lomonosov district, Leningrad region

Irina Gorbenko

8 min.

How video and projections help directors and artists immerse audiences in a performance, sometimes making them uncomfortable

The actors are the heroes of a reality show, and the performance is voyeurism without judgment. In the end, the viewer’s desire to look into the hidden part of another person’s life is explained not only by curiosity, but also by the desire to compare their experiences with the experiences of the characters in the play. Read about this and more in our material.

Video in the theater: voyeurism, reality TV and security technology

Frank Castorf

In the 90s, rebel and provocateur, German director Frank Castorf made video part of the performance, and the recordings that were broadcast to the audience were often provocative in nature. Almost all of his productions feature one or more large screens on stage. Castorf often takes classic works and turns them into reality shows. What happens on stage contains shocking elements and cliches from pop culture, and the characters are recognizable as heroes of our time.

For example, the action of the play “The Master and Margarita” based on Bulgakov’s novel is transferred to a modern metropolis - with high-rise buildings, cars and a stormy nightlife. Cameras follow the actors everywhere - when they go backstage, everything that happens to the hero is broadcast on a screen installed on the stage. In this way, the provocateur director forces the viewer to peek - just like in a real reality show. Sometimes pre-filmed recordings are displayed on the screens - what remains outside the pages of classical works.

The play “To Moscow! To Moscow!”, director – Frank Castorf, Volksbühne Theater (Berlin).
Source: Volksbühne, photo – Thomas Aurin

Katie Mitchell

British director Katie Mitchell regularly uses video in her performances, working on the border between theater and cinema. Mitchell uses the technique of displaying close-ups of characters on the screen, thanks to which you can see not only a look or gesture, but even wrinkles or the smallest flaws. If we add to this the provocative nature of the topic, for example, in “The Yellow Wallpaper” (Schaubühne, Berlin) the director explores postpartum depression, you get an extremely intimate conversation between the hero and the viewer. The camera follows the characters everywhere - here the heroine is lying in bed with her husband, here she is taking a bath, here her fears are projected onto the wall with wallpaper - all this is shown on the screens in close-up. If viewers want a reality show, they will get it, but with one condition - they will be shown the whole life of the heroine, and not a picture edited for television.

The play “The Yellow Wallpaper”, directed by Katie Mitchell, Schaubühne (Berlin).
Source: Schaubühne, photo – Stephen Cummiskey

Konstantin Bogomolov

Videos and projections are frequent attributes of performances by director Konstantin Bogomolov and artist Larisa Lomakina. The authors use the power of video for several purposes at once, including to demonstrate the lives of the characters behind the scenes. In his "Karamazovs" the appearance of the characters is preceded by their passage through a white corridor - a technique that is often used on television. The video also shows what was left behind the scenes of the performance - when the police come to arrest Mitya Karamazov, the screen shows how two heroes climb the stairs of a multi-story building, ring the doorbell, and Bogomolov himself in a dressing gown opens it for them.

Performance "The Karamazovs", director - Konstantin Bogomolov, Moscow Art Theater. A.P. Chekhov.
Source: Moscow Art Theater named after. A.P. Chekhova, photo – Ekaterina Tsvetkova

Murad Merzouki

Despite the active use of new technologies in the theater, the possibilities of video and projections will not be exhausted for a long time. The theater of the future will be able to use motion sensors that will respond to the actions of the characters and provide a “smart picture” or react with projection. French choreographer Murad Merzouki is working in this direction. Last year, the Territory festival presented his dance performance Pixel. The performance takes place in virtual space: the floor and wall behind the stage are a screen displaying a 3D image, which allows you to create optical illusions - so that the dancers seem to be floating in the air.

Performance “PIXEL / Pixel”, choreographer – Mourad Merzouki, National Choreographic Center of Creteil and Val-de-Marne / Käfig Company (France).
Source: Territory Festival, photo – Laurent Philippe

5 Russian performances that are difficult to imagine without video and projections

"Hamlet. Collage", Theater of Nations
Director: Robert Lepage

In his first Russian performance “Hamlet. Collage" Lepage uses a cube scene that he invented in the early 90s. This cube has doors and removable elements, but the scenery only comes to life when an image is projected onto it. It’s amazing how the space, essentially consisting of three surfaces, turns into Hamlet’s gloomy room, then into the luxurious dining room of the castle, then into the river in which Ophelia drowns.

The play “Hamlet. Collage”, director – Robert Lepage, Theater of Nations.
Source: Theater of Nations, photo – Sergey Petrov

"Dragon", Moscow Art Theater named after. Chekhov
Director: Konstantin Bogomolov

In “Dragon”, there are cameras on both sides of the stage that display close-ups on the screen above the stage - thus, even the audience sitting on the balcony sees the facial expressions of the characters, who often say one thing, but their facial expressions express another. In addition, the projections provide light - sometimes bright white, sometimes red, sometimes pink. “Red fades to pink” - this phrase appears on the wall after one of the scenes. The blood spilled by the hero eventually fades and turns into a glamorous pink spot - again, not without the help of light projections.

Performance “Dragon”, director – Konstantin Bogomolov, Moscow Art Theater. A.P. Chekhov.

This “second reality” is created, of course, primarily with the viewer’s perception in mind. Like the “first reality,” it has its own laws of existence, its own space and time, its own rules and laws for the actor and spectator to master space and time. Living time, orientation in space. But conscious experimentation and conscious, painstaking directorial work with stage space and time is a phenomenon that is far from traditional and not ancient in theatrical art. It appears on the historical stage approximately at the same time when psychological interest in theatrical art appears among directors and spectators; in modern language - when a corresponding social order appears.

The great innovator and experimenter in the Appia Theater (90s of the 19th century) tries to understand why he is not satisfied traditional ways stage design space performances. He finds an unexpected explanation for this: the number of “iconic” elements of a stage picture prevails over the number of “expressive” ones. (Iconic ones help the viewer navigate the plot and appeal to his mind and reason, and expressive ones are addressed to the viewer’s imagination, his emotional sphere, his unconscious See: Bobyleva A.L. Host of the performance: Directing art on turn of the 19th century- XX centuries. M., 2000).

Appiah believes that the measure of realism should be the power of the viewer's experience, and not the degree of scrupulousness in recreating the illusion of the reality of the scene. He proposes to reduce the number of “sign” elements of space to a minimum and increase the number of expressive ones.

Appiah himself was the first of the directors of this period to create the lighting scores for the performance. He prefaces them with figurative descriptions of the scenes. They talk not so much about lighting technology, lighting devices and their placement (although he also wrote about this), but about the semantic and poetic spatial functions of light.

How, for example, does this director select appropriate stage solutions for lyrical and epic heroes Wagnerian drama? If we are talking about the self-disclosure of the main character (lyrical episode), then the picture is built on the principle “the viewer sees the world through the eyes of the hero.” The stage world turns into a reflection of his spiritual movements. (Here’s what Vygotsky wrote about this: “The hero is the point in the tragedy, based on which the author forces us to consider everyone else characters and all the events that happen. It is this point that brings together our attention, it serves as a fulcrum for our feeling, which would otherwise be lost, endlessly deviating in its shades, in its worries for each character.” Vygotsky L. S. Psychology of Art. Rostov-on-Don, 1998. P. 54.

). And when the time comes for actions and events (epic scenes), the space strengthens its “reality”, its verisimilitude.

Interpreting Hamlet, Appiah understands the conflict of this tragedy in a romantic way. In those works for which Appiah wrote “scripts” or directorial plans, there is always a hero romantic type(more precisely, this is how the director understands it). Siegfried, Tristan, Hamlet, King Lear - they are all heroes, individuals who exceed the spiritual norm. But the world in these dramas is not always given as a lyrical background - it is imperiously present in its reality, objectively independent of the hero.

Appiah wants the viewer to identify with the powerful hero and tries to create directorial techniques that work towards this goal. In moments of important lyrical outpourings, Appiah dissolves the hero in the scenic landscape. The world becomes a virtual embodiment state of mind hero. So this subjective state intensifies and spreads, filling the entire stage and auditorium. This approach assumes that the plot of the hero’s developing relationship with the stage world allows one to feel the hero’s inner experiences. The “psychology” of the characters is cast into a spatial form, unfolding in a picture, in a pose. “We must see the drama with Hamlet's eyes, heart and soul; our attention should not be distracted by those internal obstacles that confused Hamlet: if on stage we emphasize the external world, we will weaken the conflict and inevitably come to the point that we will see and evaluate Hamlet through the eyes of other people.” See: Craig G. Memoirs. Articles. Letters. M., 1988. P. 186. Gordon Craig, in turn, saw Hamlet not only as an involuntary hostage, but also as a “director” of the events taking place in the tragedy. To identify with the “superpersonality” that shapes the world around oneself means to realize oneself in a historically new creative, existential quality.

In Appiah's stage paintings, the darkening of the foreground serves a dual function. Firstly, Appiah follows an old pictorial technique: the darkened foreground contrasts favorably with the illuminated distance. Secondly, Appiah believes that if the action takes place in the depths of the stage, then the viewer perceives it “from the outside”, as some kind of objectively occurring event. Only from the foreground (which is very dangerous to abuse) can heroes appeal to true complicity and sympathy.

Another example comes from our time. With great gratitude and respect, director M. Zakharov recalls his collaboration with artist V. Leventhal and composer A. Kremer while working on the play “Profitable Place” at the Satire Theater. He talks about the huge role of the decision of the stage space of the play, in particular, about the mysterious object, reminiscent of a theatrical model enlarged to enormous size, hanging above the stage. “The object disposed every sensible theater scholar to create a large number of purely “literary” versions of what it meant. Of course, the strange, mysterious box invited reflection. The object had strong scenographic energy, “collected” the space and created a stable zone with a pronounced magical beginning” Zakharov M.A. Contacts at different levels. M., 1988. P. 46..

Another memory is even more interesting. “The performance began out of darkness with the rapid movement of the scenery. Both stage circles rotated in opposite directions. Doorways and rooms flashed by, dimly lit by ancient lamps, and some kind of dull, alarming music sounded, reminiscent, rather, of the grinding of decayed floorboards in an old house and the distant, barely audible, rattling chimes of an office clock. After some time, the gloomy shadow of Vyshnevsky - Menglet flashed in this “whirlwind”, then the white peignoir of Anna Pavlovna - Vasilyeva floated by. Her anxiety, the desire to escape from this nightmare, fear and disgust for her monster husband - everything merged with the feverish movement of lights, the mournful howl of rushing walls and the creaking of floorboards.

In this kind of prologue - in the first scene of Vyshnevsky and Anna Pavlovna - the directors seemed to agree with the viewer that the stage story would be edited quickly, feverishly, partly according to the laws of modern cinema.” Ibid. P. 54.. An amazing thing happens here - even before the first appearance of the actors using means fine arts(scenery) and music the viewer is created dominant throughout the entire subsequent action mood. Moreover, as a result of such a prologue, the authors of the play “agree with the audience”, that is, contact with the audience, dialogue with the viewer begins even before the actual acting. This example once again proves how important the role of the artist and composer is in the theater and again speaks of the synthetic nature of theatrical art.

As with space, special structuring time in the performance it becomes a means of expressiveness of the director's theater. The accumulation of directorial and artistic ideas about time begins when the director more or less consciously creates a “second reality”, and is not simply responsible for staging a theatrical performance. Works with time, the rhythm of the performance.

Compared to the romantic compression of time, when events of several months or even decades took place on stage during the course of a performance, in the “static theater” of Maurice Maeterlinck the passage of time slowed down, words and actions were “washed”, shrouded in silence and external inaction. But this was a specific inaction; external rigidity was a consequence of the excessive activity of inner life.

Maeterlinck builds his dramatic works in such a way that word and silence literally fight each other for possession of the true meaning. Repetitions and complex rhythmic structures of characters’ remarks contribute to the emergence of a mood indirectly related to ongoing events; they have their own score, their own logic of development.

Musicality and rhythm of the dramatic structure are also characteristic of Chekhov's style. Chekhov has an even more colorful picture of the relationship between “objective” and “subjective” time. Although in him, like in Maeterlinck, a pause occurs at the culminating moments of a change of mood, it is often unexpected, asymmetrical, as if it were not at all a continuation of the rhythmic development that preceded it. Chekhov's pause is not even always psychologically motivated - in any case, such a motivation does not lie on the surface of the meaning. Chekhov's pauses are moments when the undercurrent of the play is exposed and becomes visible, giving the viewer the opportunity to ask the question: what actually happened? - but leaving no time for an answer. Silence in Chekhov, like in Maeterlinck, becomes an independent figurative unit; it is already - rather silence, mysterious understatement. These are the 5 pauses in Treplev’s play or a sounding pause ending with “a distant sound, as if from the sky, the sound of a broken string, fading, sad.” The intensity of sound, the rhythmic alternation of loud and quiet scenes act as a means of actively influencing the viewer. Thus, Act 4 of “The Cherry Orchard”, characterized by an accelerated rhythm (the author allotted 20-30 minutes for the entire action, just enough for the characters to catch the train) ends with a quiet scene of Firs’ loneliness and, finally, “silence sets in, and you can only hear how far away in the garden they are knocking on wood with an ax.”

So, the creation of a “second reality” in the theater, according to its special laws, with special space and time, are necessary moments in the creation of a special world that lives its own life, where the viewer is invited. This world is by no means intended for simple, passive and soulless “consumption”, an indifferent presence at a play - no, it is created in order to attract the spirit and soul of a person to co-creation, to work, to creation.

The beginning of a theatrical performance

...For two hours you will become kinder,

“To be or not to be” decide in favor of “to be”,

So that, without regretting anything later,

Go home and forget everything to hell...

A. Makarevich

In the 19th - 20th centuries, with the development of humanitarian research, art criticism, various areas of aesthetics and philosophy of art, many theories were created and many different views were developed on the essence of art, including theatrical and dramatic art. They all contribute to the modern understanding of creativity and art. One of these theories was proposed by F. Schiller (2nd half of the 18th century), a German poet, critic and art theorist. One of the central concepts of Schiller’s aesthetics is play as a free revelation of a person’s essential powers, as an act in which a person asserts himself as the creator of a reality of a higher order, that is, aesthetic reality. It is the desire for play that underlies all artistic creativity.

In the twentieth century, thinkers such as Huizinga, Gadamer, Fink showed that a person plays not because in his culture, in the society around him there are various games, but rather because the principle of play lies in the very essence of man, in his nature. What is important here are such aspects of the game as its non-utilitarian nature, the free activity of a person’s essential forces and abilities, activity that does not pursue any goals outside the game itself, and presupposes the presence of another subject (even a little girl, playing with her doll, alternately “ voices” different roles - mothers, daughters...).

“Game is a form of human action or interaction in which a person goes beyond his normal functions or the utilitarian use of objects. The purpose of the game is not outside of it, but in maintaining its own process, its inherent interests, the rules of interaction... The game is usually contrasted with: a) serious behavior and b) utilitarian action with an object or interaction with other people” Modern Philosophical Dictionary. M.; Bishkek; Ekaterinburg, 1996. P. 193.. It is in this capacity that the game is always present in a theatrical performance.

These essential characteristics of the game allow a person to find complete freedom in the game: the game includes, involves transformed reality, and a person, while playing, can freely choose one kind of existence or another. The game, therefore, seems to be a kind of pinnacle of human existence. Why?

The player not only sees himself from the outside, he portrays himself - but “his other self.” He “completes” himself during the game. This means that he is transformed, becomes different in creating and playing the image. While playing, a person is aware of his image, treats and addresses himself as a mystery, as something unknown, and opens and reveals himself as a person. This is one of the key semantic moments of the game and, of course, one of its aesthetic facets. Is it necessary to clarify that everything said directly and directly relates to theatrical acting, to what the actor performs on stage.

It is the figurative nature of acting that makes the viewer see the actor himself, and therefore “his presence and non-presence in relation to what is being portrayed” Berlyand I. E. Play as a phenomenon of consciousness. Kemerovo, 1992. P. 19.. The figurative nature of the game, providing awareness of the conventions, the “appearance” of the game action, bifurcates the consciousness of the player, making him both open and closed. Figurativeness reveals the aspiration of the consciousness of the player playing for himself, and, consequently, his inner dialogical.

In the process of developing the consciousness of a maturing personality and (since this is an objective process that inevitably leaves an imprint on both the consciousness and the psyche) the physiological maturation of the body against the background of youthful idealizations and romantic aspirations that conflict with parental vetoes and social taboos, the actor was seen by the author as a kind of creator. A creator who not only gives birth himself, grows (literally grows, like a reptile grows new skin before shedding the old one) his images and transforms them at his own whim. With his charm, some strange magical energy, he influences the minds, moods, and feelings of the audience. This is almost hypnosis, a manipulation to which the viewer surrenders consciously and absolutely voluntarily. The opportunity, on the one hand, to live many lives, and on the other, to have the right to the attention of a large number of people, seemed endlessly attractive to the author.

Both seem attractive to the author today, after many years of service to the Amateur Theater. Due to this involvement of the author with the theater, it seems that there may be a reference during the research to personal artistic experience. Perhaps the reader will have a question about the legality of such a reference due to the fact that the author is dealing with amateur, and not academic, professional theater. Two points should be made to justify this possibility.

Firstly, let us refer to the director M. Zakharov, who had experience working with amateurs, first in Perm state university, and later in the student theater of Moscow State University. To the latter he devoted an entire chapter, “Militant Amateurs,” in his book “Contacts at Different Levels,” where he highly praised the phenomenon of amateur theater and, moreover, its contribution to the development of theater in general. Let us present here a rather large quotation, which clearly illustrates the significance of the Student Theater in the cultural situation of Moscow in the 60s and in which an attempt is made to reveal the phenomenon of amateurism in art. “The House of Culture on Herzen Street, quite unexpectedly for many uninitiated, suddenly became the place where new theatrical ideas of the 60s were born. In addition to the Student Theater, another student amateur group began to function in this room - the “Our Home” variety studio. Such a double blow through the efforts of “militant” amateurs created a special creative situation in the small club, which became the subject of close interest of all true connoisseurs of theatrical art and numerous spectators. ...However, why did these “militant” amateurs create such a powerful and stable center of theatrical culture?” And here is his answer. “Given our generally contemptuous attitude towards the amateur, it is worth emphasizing that an amateur who has reached a high intellectual level, possessing human originality, can demonstrate qualities that other successful professionals cannot achieve. G.A. Tovstonogov, talking about Treplev, the hero of Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” convincingly proved that “nihilists” like Treplev, subverters of generally accepted norms in art, are necessary for society even if they themselves know little and are inferior in professionalism Trigorin. ...Amateurs are free people, not burdened by special knowledge, they do not risk anything, a certain irresponsible courage wanders within them. It leads them to insights, bypassing a rationally meaningful search.” Zakharov M. Contacts at different levels. M., 1988. S. 37 - 45..

The second argument in favor of the appropriateness of turning to the experience of an amateur theater actor can be the following consideration. The very definition of “amateur” contains an extremely important point. In contrast to the usual opposition “amateur - professional”, it seems that a deeper meaning, important for understanding the phenomenon, is hidden in the etymology of the word itself. Amateur theater is a theater in which people perform, driven by love for it, they do not earn their daily bread in this way, they go on stage only for the sake of the act of creativity itself. Therefore, amateur theater, along with professional theater, is genuine theater, which means it can also be considered in the context of the topic “Aesthetics of Theatre.”

So, the consciousness of the player is actively dialogical. It presupposes a subject capable of detaching himself from himself - therefore, it presupposes the presence, as it were, of two consciousnesses “within one.” Therefore, acting is like an actor “finishing” himself, his personality. During the performance of a role, the actor treats himself as an Other (in the second chapter of the work we will look at how various theater innovators understood and expressed, each in his own way, each within the framework of his teaching about theatrical art, this position). This is precisely the unifying principle of the existential situations of play and dialogue.

The remarkable author of plays, theater figure and innovator B. Brecht said at the end of his life that real theater must be naive. He explained that staging a play is a form of acting, that watching a play means also playing. It is no coincidence that in many languages ​​the same word is used to denote a play and a game. See: Brook P. Empty Space. M., 1976. P. 132..

Playing theater people(director, actors, artists, composers) create this unique situation of dialogue. They create and cultivate this tense field, the space of interaction. A miracle happens every time - every time the audience gets involved in this dialogue and game, living this particular piece of their life in a special way.

The stage space of delusions was accompanied by a willingness to minimize decorative design - in the middle of the century this became almost an optional requirement, in any case, a sign of good taste. The most radical (as always and in everything) was the position of the Sun. Meyerhold: he replaced the scenery with “construction” and the costumes with “overall clothes”. As N. Volkov writes, “...Meyerhold said that the theater must dissociate itself from the painter and musician; only the author, director and actor can merge. The fourth basis of the theater is the viewer... If you depict these relationships graphically, you will get the so-called “direct theater”, where the author-director-actor form one chain, towards which the viewer’s attention is directed” (31).

Such an attitude towards the decorative design of a performance, albeit not in such extreme forms, has not been eliminated to this day. Its supporters explain their refusal of a clear stage design by the desire for “theatricality.” Many people objected to this. masters of directing; in particular, A.D. Popov noted that $ ...the return of the actor to the background of the canvas wings and his liberation from any acting details does not yet mark the victory of romanticism and theatricality on stage” (32). That is, from the discovery that the auxiliary arts are not the main ones on the stage, it does not at all follow that they are not needed at all. And attempts to rid the theater of scenery are echoes of the previous hypertrophied respect for stage design, only “upside down”: they reflect the idea of ​​independence and independence of scenography.

In our time, this question has become completely clear: art

stage design plays minor role in relation to

passion for the art of acting. This situation is by no means

"denies, but, on the contrary, assumes a certain influence, which

4 can and should influence the design of the performance on the stage

| action. The measure and direction of this influence is determined by

|: the rage of action, which is where the primary, op-

the decisive role of the latter. The relationship between plastic

".the composition of the performance and its decorative design are very

; visible: the point of their closest contact is the mise-en-

review. After all, mise-en-scène is nothing more than a plastic form

“action taken at any stage of its development in time and in

u. stage space. And if we accept the definition of directing as

art of plastic composition, then you can’t come up with anything

better than the popular formula of O.Ya. Remez, who said: “Mise-en-scene

The Director's Language" and to prove this definition we write

who lost an entire book.

Possibilities for the actor to move in the stage space

| depend on how this space is organized scenically

|! count. The width, length and height of the machines are naturally determined

I know the duration and scale of movements, the breadth and depth of the world

t of the stage and the speed of their replacement. Stage tablet tilt angle

| We make our own demands on acting skills. Besides that-

First, the actor must take into account the perspective of the pictorial image.

1 design and texture of prop parts, so that the loss of the necessary

distance does not destroy the illusion, does not expose it to the audience

lem true proportions and true material of constructions and

hand-drawn scenery. For the director, dimensions and shape of the machines

and sites are the “proposed circumstances” for creating a plan-

stic composition. Thus it becomes obvious

direct connection between the architectural and constructive side of the de-

decorative design and plastic composition of the performance.

Influence on the plastic composition of pictorial and color

decisions about scenery and costumes are manifested more subtly. Gamma

colors chosen by the artist affects the atmosphere of the action

viya; moreover, it is one of the means of creating the necessary atmosphere

spheres. The atmosphere, in turn, cannot but influence the selection

plastic means. Even the color ratio itself

costumes, scenery, stage clothing can have an effect on the viewer

a certain emotional impact that must be taken

take into account when arranging figures in mise-en-scène.

The connection between the plastic composition of the spec-

tackle with the furnishings of the stage area - furniture, props -

that and all other objects that actors use in

process of stage action. Their weight, their dimensions, material,

from which they are made, their authenticity or conventionality - everything

this dictates the nature of handling these items. At the same time

requirements can be directly opposite: sometimes you need

overcome some qualities of the object, hide them, and sometimes,

against, to expose these qualities, to emphasize them.

Even more obvious is the dependence of the physical behavior of a person

pressure from suits, the cut of which can constrain, limit-

to create or, conversely, to free up the acting skills.

Thus, the multifaceted relationship between decorative

design and plastic composition of the performance are not subject to

lives in doubt. HELL. Popov wrote: “The mise-en-scène of the body, presum-

Gaya plastic composition of the figure of an individual actor, strictly

is completely interdependent on the neighboring one associated with it

figures. And if there is none, there is only one actor on stage, then in this

case, this one figure must “respond” to nearby

volumes, be it a window, door, column, tree or staircase. In ru-

kah of a director who thinks plastically, the figure of an individual actor

tera is inevitably linked compositionally and rhythmically with the oc-

environmental environment, with architectural structures and

space" (33).

Scenography can be invaluable to the director and actors.

a great help in constructing the form of the performance, but it may also hinder

formation of a complete work depending on

to what extent the artist’s plan is in tune with the director’s plan. A

since in the relationship between stage action and decor -

tive design assigns a subordinate role to the second, then

It is obvious that in the creative collaboration of the director and artist

the latter must direct the work of his imagination

to realize the overall concept of the performance. And yet the situation

an artist in the theater cannot be called powerless. Formation

style and genre of the performance does not follow the path of suppression, depersonalization

understanding the creative individualities of its creators, but along the way

their summation. This is a rather complicated process even when

when it comes to bringing the works of two artists into harmony,

operating with the same means of expression. In this

In no case, a harmonious combination of two different

types of arts, two different types of creative thinking, two

different means of expression; therefore, here the question is mutual

conformity, which should result in the creation

giving the stylistic and genre integrity of the work, especially

complex and cannot be exhausted by simply stating the pre-

property rights of one and subordination of the other. Direct,

elementary subordination of the scenography of the performance to utilitarian

needs of stage action may not give the desired

result. According to the definition of A.D. Popov “...design of spec-

taklya is artistic image places

actions and at the same time a platform, pre-

providing rich opportunities for

carrying out stage performances on it

in and I" (34). Therefore, it would be more correct to say that subordination

the design of the action must arise as a result

composition of creative handwriting, as a result of the joint work of

independent creative individuals. Hence,

we can only talk about the soil that is most favorable

clear for this cooperation, about those common positions that

give a unified direction to the development of creative thought of each of them

creators of the play. Building your plan on this common ground,

the scenographer can use many features of expressive

of his art, without violating the genre and style

unity of the entire production.

1. denouement of the action in the sketch

The denouement of the action is the final part of the plot, following the climax. At the denouement of the action, it usually becomes clear how the relationship between the warring parties has changed and what consequences the conflict had.

Often, in order to destroy the stereotype of readers’ expectations (“wedding” or “funeral”), writers completely omit the denouement of the action. For example, the absence of a resolution in the plot of the eighth chapter of Eugene Onegin makes the ending of the novel “open”. Pushkin, as it were, invites readers to reflect on how Onegin’s fate could have developed, without prejudging the possible development of events. In addition, the character of the main character also remains “unfinished”, capable of further development.

Sometimes the resolution of the action is the subsequent story of one or more characters. It is a narrative device used to communicate how the characters' lives have turned out after the main action has ended. A brief "subsequent history" of the heroes " The captain's daughter"A.S. Pushkin can be found in the afterword written by the “publisher”. This technique was quite often used by Russian novelists of the second half of the 19th century century, in particular I.A. Goncharov in the novel “Oblomov” and I.S. Turgenev in the novel “Fathers and Sons”.

2. The place of musical noise in the sketch.

The sound score is a guiding document that tells the sound engineer those moments during the program when to turn on and when to turn off the soundtrack. It is necessary to understand the general musical accompaniment of the project and represents a “draft” of the main theme song, sound logo, etc.

The director begins to practically implement his idea of ​​musical and noise design during the rehearsal period of working on the program. At the final stage of the rehearsal work, when all the musical and noise numbers have been determined, that is, cues for turning on and off, sound plans and sound levels for each sound fragment have been established, the sound engineer compiles the final version of the sound score for the event.

The score is the document following which the sound accompaniment of the project is carried out. It is checked with the director's copy of the script, agreed with the head of the musical part and approved by the director. After this, all changes and corrections to the score are made only with the permission of the director.

True mastery, mastery expressive means stage art depends, along with other factors, on the level of musical culture. After all, music is one of the most important elements of theatrical performances of almost any genre.

No book can replace music itself. She can only guide

attention, to help understand the features of the musical form, to introduce the composer’s intentions. But without listening to music, all knowledge acquired from a book will remain dead and scholastic. The more regularly and attentively a person listens to music, the more he begins to hear in it. But listening and hearing are not the same thing. It happens that piece of music At first it seems complex, inaccessible to perception. You shouldn't rush to conclusions. Repeated listening will surely reveal its figurative content and become a source of aesthetic pleasure.

But in order to experience music emotionally, you need to perceive the sound fabric itself. If a person reacts emotionally to music, but at the same time can distinguish, differentiate, “hear” very little, then only a small part of its expressive content will reach him.

Based on the way music is used in action, it is divided into two main categories.

Plot music in a play, depending on the conditions of its use, can have a wide variety of functions. In some cases, it gives only the emotional or semantic characteristics of a separate scene, without directly invading the dramaturgy. In other cases, story music may rise to become a major dramatic factor.

Story music can:

· Characterize the characters;

· Indicate the place and time of action;

· Create the atmosphere and mood of the stage action;

· Talk about an action that is invisible to the viewer.

The listed functions, naturally, do not exhaust the variety of techniques for using plot music in dramatic performances.

It is much more difficult to introduce conventional music into a performance than plot music. Its convention may conflict with the reality of life shown on stage. Therefore, conventional music always requires convincing internal justification. At the same time, the expressive possibilities of such music are very wide; a variety of orchestral, as well as vocal and choral means can be used for it.

Conditional music can:

· Emotionally enhance dialogue and monologue,

· Characterize the characters

· Emphasize the constructive and compositional structure of the performance,

· Exacerbate the conflict.

Introduction

Modern stage language owes its emergence not only to the processes of renewal that took place in drama and acting at the turn of the century, but also to the reform of the stage space, which was simultaneously carried out by directing.

In essence, the very concept of stage space, as one of the structural foundations of the performance, arose in the process of the aesthetic revolution begun by naturalists in prose and theater. Even among the Meiningen people in the 70s of the last century, their written scenery, carefully verified and brought into line with the data that historical science had at that time, taking into account even the latest discoveries of archaeologists, was nevertheless just a background for the actors’ play. The historically accurate sets of the Meiningen performances did not perform the functions of organizing – one way or another – the space of the stage. But already at Antoine's Free Theater, as well as among German or English naturalist directors, the scenery received a fundamentally new purpose. She has ceased to perform the passive function of a beautiful background in front of which the acting action develops. The set took on a much more responsible mission, declared a claim to become not a background, but a scene of action, that specific place where life, captured by the play, takes place, be it a laundry, a tavern, a rooming house, a butcher shop, etc. Objects on the stage, furniture Antoine had real ones (not fake ones), modern ones, and not museum ones, like the Meiningen people.

In the complex and acute struggle of various artistic trends in theatrical art that subsequently unfolded at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th. each time the stage space was reinterpreted in a new way, but was invariably perceived as a powerful and sometimes decisive means of expression.

Stage space organization

To carry out a theatrical production, certain conditions are needed, a certain space in which the actors will act and the audience will be located. In every theater - in a specially built building, in the square where traveling troupes perform, in the circus, on the stage - the spaces of the auditorium and stage are laid out everywhere. The nature of the relationship between the actor and the viewer and the conditions for perceiving the performance depend on how these two spaces are related, how their shape is determined, etc. The types of relationships between the actor and spectator parts of the theatrical space have historically changed (Shakespearean theatre, box stage, arena stage, area theater, simultaneous stage, etc.), and in the performance this is reflected in the spatial design of the theatrical work. Three points can be distinguished here: this is the architectural division of the theater space into spectator and stage parts, in other words, geographical division; dividing the theatrical space into the mass of actors and spectators, and therefore interaction (one actor and a hall filled with spectators, a mass stage and an auditorium, etc.); and, finally, the communication division into the author (actor) and the addressee (viewer) in their interaction. All this is united by the concept of scenography - “organization of the general theatrical space of the performance.” The term “scenography” is often used both in art history literature and in theater practice. This term denotes both decorative art (or one of the stages of its development, covering the end of the 21st - beginning of the 20th centuries), and the science that studies the spatial design of a performance, and, finally, the term “set designer” denotes such professions in the theater as production designer , stage technologist. All these meanings of the term are correct, but only insofar as they outline one of the aspects of its content. Scenography is the entire set of spatial solutions for the performance, everything that is built in a theatrical work according to the laws of visual perception.

The concept of “organization of stage space” is one of the links in the theory of scenography, and reflects the relationship between the real, physically given, and the unreal, formed by the entire course of development of the action of the play, stage performance. The actual stage space is determined by the nature of the interconnectedness of the stage and the auditorium and the geographical features of the stage, its size, and technical equipment. The real stage space can be diaphragmed by curtains, curtains, or reduced in depth by “curtains,” i.e., it changes in the physical sense. The surreal stage space of the performance changes due to the relationship between the masses of space (light, color, graphics). Remaining physically unchanged, it at the same time changes in artistic perception depending on what is depicted and how the scene is filled with details that organize the space. “The stage space is highly saturated,” notes Y. Lotman, “everything that gets on stage tends to be saturated with additional meanings in relation to the immediate objective function of the thing. A movement is made by a gesture, a thing is made by a detail that carries meaning.” The feeling of size and volume of space in its artistic perception is the starting point of organizing the stage space, the next step is the development of this space in a certain direction. Several types of such development can be distinguished: closed space (as a rule, this is a pavilion set structure depicting the interior), perspective and horizontally developing (for example, depiction using written “curtains” of distances), simultaneous or discrete (showing simultaneously several places of action with their own given space) and directed upward (as in the play “Hamlet” by G. Craig)

The stage space is essentially a tool for the actor’s performance, and the actor, as the most dynamic mass of the stage space, is its accentuating principle in building the compositional structure of the scenography of the play. And therefore, such a concept in the theory of scenography as “the relationship of the masses in the acting ensemble” is necessary. it reflects not only the interaction of the acting ensemble in the space of the stage, but also its dynamic relationship during the development of theatrical action. “The stage space,” as A. Tairov notes, “in each of its parts there is an architectural work, and it is even more complex than architecture, its masses are living, moving, and here achieving the correct distribution of these masses is one of the main tasks.” During a stage performance, actors constantly form separate semantic groups, each actor-character enters into complex spatial relationships with other actors, with the entire playing space of the stage; during the development of the play, the composition of the groups varies, their masses, construction graphics, are highlighted by light and color spots individual actors, individual fragments of acting groups are emphasized, etc. This dynamics of the acting masses is in many ways already embedded in the dramatic material of the performance and is the main thing in creating a theatrical image. The actor is inextricably linked with the world of objects around him, with the entire atmosphere of the stage, he is perceived by the viewer only in the context of the stage space, and on this mutual determination all artistically significant images of spatial relations, the very dynamics of regulation of the masses, the visually significant environment of the performance from the point of view of aesthetic perception are built.

The three named concepts are links unified system ordering the masses of the stage space and form the compositional level of the theory of scenography, which determines the relationship of masses (weights) in the spatial solution of the performance.

The next compositional plan of scenography is the coloristic saturation of the performance, which is determined by the laws of light distribution and the color palette of the stage atmosphere.

Light in a theatrical work manifests itself in its external form primarily as general illumination, the general saturation of the space of the performance. External light (theater lighting fixtures or natural light on an open stage area) is designed to highlight the volume of the stage, saturate it with light, and most importantly, make it visible. The second task is the general lighting condition, the certainty of the timing of the action, and creating the mood of the performance. External light also reveals the shape and color palette of the organized stage space and the acting ensemble operating in it. All this should be included in the concept of scenography theory “external stage light”.

Coloristic diversity is manifested in the color definition of all stage objects, volumes, in the color scheme of curtains, in actors’ costumes, in makeup, etc. All this should be reflected in the concept of “internal light of stage forms”, which will concentrate the general pattern of color interactions in the stage space.

External and internal light (color) can be completely separated only theoretically; in nature they are inextricably linked, and on stage this is expressed in light-color interaction color range masses of space, including costume, actor's makeup and the light rays of theatrical spotlights. Here we can highlight several main directions. This is the identification of the stage space, where every detail must be revealed or “taken” into the depths of space, depending on the logic of the theatrical performance. The interpenetration of light and color of the masses of the stage determines the entire coloristic structure in the performance. The nature of the light-color interaction in the performance also depends on the semantic loads during the development of the action. This is also the participation of light, light and color spots in the space of the stage, color dominants in the playful elements of the stage performance: light and color accents, the dialogical nature of light with the actor, spectator, etc.

The third compositional level of scenography is the plastic development of the stage space. Since an actor acts on stage, this space must be plastically developed and must correspond to the plasticity of the acting ensemble. The composition of the plastic solution of the performance is manifested through the plasticity of stage forms - firstly; secondly, through the plastic drawing of the acting, and thirdly, as a correlating interaction (in the context of the development of a theatrical work) of the plastic drawing of the acting and the plastic forms of the stage space.

The transitional link from a single mass to plastic is the tactility of the surface, the definiteness of the texture: wood, stone, etc. In the emerging theory of scenography, the content of the concept of “plasticity of stage forms” should be dictated mainly by the influence of the dynamics of lines and body plasticity on the objective world of the stage. Stage things are in continuous dialogue with the plastic development of the actors’ poses, ensemble formations, etc.

Plastic human body found its reflection in the art of sculpture, receiving its own in works of theatrical creativity, especially in ballet further development. In the performance, the plasticity of the acting ensemble is manifested in the construction and dynamic development of mise-en-scenes, which subordinate the actors and the entire stage space to a single task aimed at revealing the content stage work. “Plastic acting” is the most developed concept of scenography. It is revealed in the works of K.S. Stanislavsky, A.Ya. Tairova, E.B. Vakhtangov, V.E. Meyerhold, A.K. Popova and others.

The plastic development of the stage space finds its compositional completion in the interaction of acting and the plasticity of stage forms, the entire visually defined environment of the performance. The mise-en-scene design of a stage work develops in the dynamics of the action, every detail of it is connected with the actor by direct and feedback, is included in the development of the action of the performance, is constantly changing, every moment is a new visually significant “word” with new accents and nuances. The variety of plastic language is associated both with the movement of stage masses, changes in light and color saturation and direction, and with the course of development of dramatic dialogue and the action of the play as a whole. The plastic solution of the performance is formed in the constant communication of the actors with the objective world of the stage, the overall stage environment.

Three compositional levels of performance scenography: the distribution of masses in the stage space, the light-color state and the plastic depth of this space are in constant correlating interaction in a theatrical work. They form every stage detail, therefore, in the theory of scenography, we can consider the actor, who is the main one in the scenography of the play, as a certain mass of theatrical space, interacting with other masses of this space, as a color spot in the general coloristic structure of the performance, as a dynamically developing plastic throughout the plastically deepened space of the stage.

“The whole world is a theater!”

I'M GOING TO CLASS

Zoya SANINA,
Anninskaya school,
Lomonosovsky district,
Leningrad region

“The whole world is a theater!”

Experience of analytical work with dramaturgical productions in the 7th–8th grades of secondary school

And the study of dramatic works in a school literature course is a special methodological process - this is facilitated by the specificity of drama (works are intended more for performance on stage than for reading), when in the course of even the most detailed analysis of the play it is often impossible to achieve the main thing - “transfer”, albeit mental, all the remarks, movements, experiences of the characters from paper into a situation similar to the situation in real life. Theatrical productions (mainly productions on a professional stage, but amateur performances with the participation of children themselves are also possible) based on works studied at school are a good assistant for students and teachers, as they help to better feel the idea and pathos of the work, to “plunge” into the atmosphere era, understand the thoughts and feelings of the author-playwright, realize his individual style.

A visit to the theater helps to develop students’ written speech by first creating a review (in the 7th and 8th grades, in Russian language and literature lessons, schoolchildren receive the basic, basic techniques for analyzing a text, necessary for writing it), and then a review, which develops critical skills analysis.

After reading and analyzing the play in class, students are already prepared for visiting the theater: they have received information about the author and the era in which the work was written, know the plot twists of the play, have an idea of ​​the system of images and the main characteristics of the characters, and therefore during the performance they will not be passive spectators, but, rather, by young critics who are able to evaluate the director’s ideas and compare them with the author’s intent, and compare their own mental images of the characters with how the actors present these roles. Writing a review or review of a performance is intended to help students understand their thoughts, feelings, and preferences.

This article will give examples of the work of seventh-graders on a review of the play “Romeo and Juliet” at the Baltic House Theater (produced by B. Tseitlin) and by eighth-graders on a review of the play “Intrigue and Love” at the Bolshoi Drama Theater (produced by T. Chkheidze).

The individuality of perception and evaluation of any theatrical production necessitates the absence of a review and review plan. Nevertheless, students certainly need supporting questions, phrases, words that draw their attention to the most important moments of the performance in its connection with the features of the original text, direction and acting.

During a discussion of the play with seventh-graders, they were asked to answer the following questions (orally):

• What is your impression of the performance as a whole (what did you like, what did you not like)?
• Remember the names production director performance, leading actors. Are they familiar to you from other performances and films?
• What is unique about the performance? Which director's findings did you like the most? Which ones didn't you like?
• Describe the images of the main characters created by theater actors. Are they in tune? images of heroes, created by actors on stage, to your ideas?
• Which of the characters in the play did you like most before visiting the theater? Has your opinion changed after watching the performance? If so, what influenced him?
• How does the director use stage space? (What are the advantages and disadvantages scenery performance? Do they match the director's idea, author's remarks, your thoughts before the performance?)
• Describe costumes characters of the play. Did you like them? Do they contribute to revealing the character of the main and minor characters?
• Have you noticed the use of music in the play? Did it help or hinder the understanding of key mise-en-scène plays?

The course of the discussion may be different, depending on the overall impression of the performance, as well as the level of understanding of the play by the students. After such an analysis, seventh-graders learn the main, key points of the analysis, on the basis of which they are asked to write a review of the performance. It should be noted that there is a significant negative aspect of discussion in the class: students develop an average, so-called “collective idea” on almost all issues, as a result of which the teacher runs the risk of receiving a certain amount of fairly monotonous feedback with completely similar value judgments. However, we should not forget that at this stage the main task is to develop the skills and abilities of writing a review of the performance, along with the improvement of which the individuality of statements will certainly appear.

While working on a review of the play “Romeo and Juliet,” most of the seventh-graders focused on thinking about the originality of the production (and it is indeed quite original) and their impressions.

“...And so the performance began: the eternal, bloody specter of enmity that accompanies humanity. The originality of the performance is that it began on English. The presenter's voice tells us about the beautiful Italian town of Verona. It seems that it was created for the joy and happiness of people, but there is no rest for them: they quarrel, fight, kill each other. Two noble families live in the town - the Montagues and the Capulets. It was in this beautiful country that the love of two young creatures blossomed.”

Shimenkova Sveta

“...The end of the play is also peculiar: the main characters in black clothes, which mean death, go to the gate, to the light. They are together forever and nothing can stop that.”

Semenyuta Zhenya

“...True, I didn’t like a lot of things in the play. Firstly, there was little scenery, so it was not interesting to watch. But then I remembered that in Shakespeare’s time there were no scenery at all in the theater. Secondly, the climax of the play, when Romeo learns of Juliet's death, is not very tense. And another drawback is the end: in the work it is tragic, but on stage the main characters remained together (though they look at everything from another world), and the families that had been at odds for a long time made peace.

The director probably didn’t want the ending to be so sad, but I think the ending should be the way Shakespeare saw it.”

Lukina Zhenya

The musical accompaniment of the performance is noteworthy:

“...During the performance, solemn music sounded, which characterized the state of the main characters. For example, when Romeo was talking to Juliet standing on the balcony, the music was very beautiful, listening to it, I understood how the characters felt: they were happy, it was true love.”

Lukina Zhenya

“...However, music does not help in this performance everywhere. For example, the climax, when Romeo learns of Juliet's death, is not very tense and exciting..."

Semenyuta Zhenya

And, of course, the images of the heroes created by the actors deserve to be appreciated.

“...The images of the main characters are carefully thought out in the play. Juliet (K. Danilova) is a fragile, cheerful girl. Romeo (A. Mascalin) is a madman in love who will stop at nothing to win Juliet's love. Nanny (E. Eliseeva) is a plump, cheerful woman who fed Juliet. Brother Lorenzo (I. Tikhonenko) - smart, kind person, who helps lovers and blames himself for their death. All these roles were well thought out and executed. But most of all I liked Mercutio performed by the artist Ryabikhin. This is an ardent, brave, selfless man who loves life very much and, dying, curses both families, through whose fault he dies, he fades away young, like many other people who were killed in these feuds.

The secondary characters are also important in the play. Juliet's father, played by A. Sekirin, stands out for his unique character. This man is quite cruel and stubborn, he is sure that his daughter will be happy with Paris, although he does not even ask her about it. Paris (V. Volkov) is depicted as a funny, stupid little man who saw how beautiful Juliet was and decided to definitely marry her, without thinking whether she loved him or not...”

Semenyuta Zhenya

In their initial works, 7th grade students in most cases do not pay attention to the idea of ​​the performance, the symbolism of details and scenery, and so on. Gradually, reviews turn into more thorough and thoughtful reflections on the features of the production, the uniqueness of the actors’ performances, and the role of scenery and costumes. Therefore, when working with eighth graders, you can avoid verbal discussion of the play in class and encourage them to concentrate on their own thoughts. Instead of a plan, in order to avoid turning the review into sequential answers to questions with standard statements like “I really liked this performance,” students can use supporting words and expressions, which are better not arranged sequentially:

This arrangement is reminiscent of a mosaic, which, when assembled in one order or another, we will get a fairly complete review of the performance.

Reflecting on the play “Cunning and Love” at the Bolshoi Drama Theater, eighth-graders first of all pay attention to the features of the title (built on the principle of antithesis) and the plot of the play (an eternal love story):

“Staging a play at the Bolshoi Drama Theater necessarily requires wonderful actors, original direction, famous plays. All this is combined in the tragedy “Cunning and Love”. This is a story from the life of the bourgeoisie, opposed to the world of wealth and nobility. Here two principles collide: deceit and love. What else is there in the play? We understand that love..."

Zlobina Vika

“Schiller’s play “Cunning and Love” is based on the tragic love story of Louise and Ferdinand. The title itself contains a contrast between two principles: deceit opposes the power of love, and in the BDT performance, in my opinion, there is more deceit than love. The heroes of the tragedy are divided into two groups: philistines who are looking for truth and happiness in this cruel world, represented by music teacher Miller and members of his family (his wife and daughter Louise) and court-aristocratic circles (President von Walter, Hall of Famer Kalb, Lady Milford, Secretary Wurm)..."

Kuprik Nadya

"Love! Love is the most beautiful of all human feelings. But how sad it is when something interferes with love. And how terrible it is when two loving hearts are destined to die.

The immortal plot of “Romeo and Juliet” is repeated in Friedrich Schiller’s tragedy “Cunning and Love.” Two young people are in love with each other. But their love is hampered by the difference in social status: they belong to different classes. He is a major, the son of the president at the palace of a German duke. She is a bourgeois, the daughter of a music teacher. Everyone opposes their love. Louise and Ferdinand, overcome by despair, decide to commit suicide.”

Zheleznova Ksenia

From textbooks and critical articles in magazines, students can learn additional information about the work, the actors and the theater and include it in the review.

“I remember this performance because I saw many actors I knew from films and serial television productions. This is A.Yu. Tolubeev, K.Yu. Lavrov, N. Usatova and, of course, Alisa Freundlich, famous from the film “The Three Musketeers”. I remember their characters well. The hero von Walter is very changeable: at first he seems good, then bad, then good again. I remember Lady Milford with her passionate love, I was struck by the destructive power of Wurm, which creates only for its own good. These are real living people with their real living feelings and non-fictional behavior. The images of Ferdinand and Louise remain in my memory. Although they were played by not very young artists M. Morozov and E. Popova, they perfectly performed the roles of young heroes.”

Ivanov Zhenya

“Schiller’s tragedy “Cunning and Love” became the pinnacle of educational realism, and Schiller was the first to write not only about kings and nobles, but also about ordinary people. This idea was transferred to the stage and wonderfully embodied in the play by T.N. Chkheidze.”

Abramov Zhenya

The characteristics of the main and secondary characters given by eighth-graders include a description of the traits inherent in a particular character, and personal judgments and assessments.

“This tragedy was staged at the Bolshoi Drama Theater by stage director T.N. Chkheidze. Many famous actors play in the play: K. Lavrov, N. Usatova, A. Freundlich and others. This, it seems to me, is the success of the performance. I watched them play with bated breath, especially when Alisa Freindlich appeared on stage (by the way, on that day she received the award “ Golden mask"for great success in art). The actors of this theater perform so wonderfully that you are immediately and unconditionally drawn into the plot.

As for the roles, they are not similar to each other. For example, von Walter is played by K.Yu. Lavrov. The actor managed to show us a tough, firm, decisive, powerful and unforgiving ruler and a kind, loving father who hides his feelings from his son, not knowing how to express them. This father is contrasted with another father, more sincere and tender towards his daughter - music teacher Miller, played by V.M. Ivchenko. The role of Wurm, the President's personal secretary, is played by A.Yu. Tolubeev. This is a very cunning hero who does everything for his own benefit. You can notice that he appears in those episodes where something intriguing happens, as if he is a spy for the Duke. Von Kalb plays A.F. Chevychelov. I think it's very interesting role, personifying all socialites who constantly gossip about each other. Ferdinand performed by M.L. Morozov, although a nobleman by birth, is not at all like his father, the president, and his entourage. True, in some cases noble prejudices appear in him, but he is very emotional, he is one of those Sturmers who were against the existing order and fought for personal freedom. His beloved Louise (actress E.K. Popova) is a calm, determined heroine, ready to do anything for love.”

Kuprik Nadya

“What I liked most was the way Miller, his daughter Louise and the president’s son Ferdinand were played. All these roles are performed by folk artists. In Chkheidze's production, Louise is a young girl who is ready to do anything for love. Ferdinand, on the other hand, is influenced by those around him, strives for power, but is loving and does not forget about loyalty. Miller is a caring father who imagines how tragically his daughter's love could end. And I believe that he is right when he thinks that Louise and Ferdinand, representatives of different classes, will not be happy in love. The main opponents of their love are Wurm, cunning, insidious, always appears where something happens, he always gets his way; Lady Milford is an ambiguous person; both deceit and love are clearly expressed in her. In this performance, in my opinion, there is still more love than deceit.”

Abramov Zhenya

“Most of all I liked the performance of Nina Usatova, who played the role of Louise’s mother. When I read the tragedy, this is exactly how I imagined it. This heroine is brave, smart and fair, she is completely on the side of her daughter; she always says what she thinks, even about the courtiers. I really liked Alisa Freindlich. Her Lady Milford managed to embody the qualities of the kind-hearted and sweet bourgeois woman she once was in her youth, and the majestic, proud aristocrat.”

Kuprik Nadya

“...But, it seems to me, the most striking character is Lady Milford. This role was played by People's Artist of the USSR Alisa Brunovna Freindlikh. Lady Milford experienced a lot in life: poverty, death of loved ones, she did not know human happiness. Fatal passion forced her to go to any lengths to achieve Ferdinand's love. However, realizing that she cannot break the chain that binds her lovers, Lady Milford retreats. In this heroine, deceit and love merged together. This role is played very emotionally. No wonder, when the performance ended, it was announced that Alisa Freindlich received the Golden Mask award for best stage image. She seemed to have gotten used to her heroine, and it seems that this is the lady Schiller wrote about.”

Zheleznova Ksenia

It is also interesting to observe how the director uses the stage space.

“Producer Chkheidze, like Schiller, is not afraid to break the boundaries of classicism. I liked that the scene showed two houses at once: Ferdinand's house and Louise's house. The rooms in these houses are separated by transparent curtains - this allows the director to accurately convey the meaning of a particular mise-en-scène.”

Lazarev Misha

“The interior of the scene itself represents details of three different houses: in Miller’s house there is a simple wooden table with exactly the same chairs, in Lady Milford’s living room there is a comfortable and luxurious sofa with a table for drinks, and in the interior of the palace there is a table with business papers and an inkwell , and next to it is a soft chair with a high back. In the background there is a door that opens from time to time. Behind the door you can see a ray of light, it’s as if it’s in another world: that’s where Louise ran, drinking poison to get away from all her problems.”

Abramov Zhenya

“The scenery of the play is also interesting. On one stage there is both the home of a simple tradesman and the palace of the president. It’s as if two worlds have connected: the lives of poor and rich people. On the other hand, these are two worlds of feelings - deceit and love. And they were separated only by white transparent curtains, which were raised and then lowered again. The poverty of the interior in Miller's house was emphasized by a low table and two chairs. And in the presidential palace there was a luxurious table on lion paws, on it there was a small candlestick; next to it is a large chair with a high back; the luxury was also emphasized by a luxurious chandelier. The position in society was also determined by the lighting: Miller’s house was illuminated from below, Lady Milford’s palace from the side, von Walter’s house from above.”

Kuprik Nadya

“I really liked the scenery in the play. I was amazed how several houses and several different spaces were placed on one stage. The curtain rises, and in front of us is the house of the musician Miller; one of the curtains falls - we find ourselves in the rich house of President von Walter; another curtain falls - and we are in the house of Lady Milford, the Duke's favorite. This is how, thanks to the white curtains, we can find ourselves in different places. It is remarkable that the director, following the playwright, is not afraid to break the rules of classicism. The play does not maintain the unity of place (we are transported from one house to another) and time (two dialogues can be conducted at once in different places).”

Zheleznova Ksenia

“The music box also caught my attention. She stood at the back of the stage and at first glance was not attractive in any way. But in fact, the box played an important role: it was like a link connecting different classes. I believe that the box symbolizes the love of Louise and Ferdinand, the consonance of their souls.”

Suslova Masha

By making a conclusion in a review of a performance that is meaningful and heartfelt, students are likely to bypass well-known cliches in an attempt to most accurately express why they liked (or disliked) the given performance.

“The play shows different loves: the romantic love of Louise and Ferdinand, the fatal passion of Lady Milford, the destructive feeling of the cruel but strong Wurm. Different and parental love. And although the main characters die, we understand that love still won.”

Lazarev Misha

“After reading the tragedy “Cunning and Love”, I realized that for true love there are no barriers, and even if lovers perish, love will live forever. And the theater convinced me of this even more.”

Zheleznova Ksenia

Modern literature programs provide great opportunities to address theatrical productions for a deeper understanding of dramatic works. And written works allow you to comprehend what you saw on stage, express your attitude to the performance, and justify your point of view. A thoughtful reader learns to be a smart viewer. The theater helps to “revive” the best creations of world classical literature.

The article was published with the support of the ArtKassir.ru website. By visiting this site, which is located at http://ArtKassir.ru, you can get acquainted with the theater and concert posters of Moscow. Do you want to please your loved ones and give original gift? Theater tickets will be the best solution for you. You can also find tickets for sporting events and concerts on the ArtKassir.ru website classical music. Convenient search by site categories, as well as a flexible payment system will save you time and money.