Twentieth-Century Russian Theatre and Tradition: Continuities, Ruptures, Transformations

Abstract

The Russian theatre of the second half of the 20th century confronted mainly its own past: the work of Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Vakhtangov. It almost a set rule for theatre artists to openly declare their attachment to heritage of the past. Katarzyna Osińska take a closer look at this heritage: theatrical ideas, particular techniques and methods as well as the elusive subject matter that is the ethos or atmosphere that guided the experiments undertaken by the pioneers of 20th-century theatre, especially the studio theatre. Also analysed are ways in which tradition has been transmitted: directly from the masters (or their pupils), via literature, and through second-hand accounts.