Performing Arts History & Criticism
Pierrot in Petrograd
Commedia dell'Arte/ Balagan in Twentieth-Century Russian Theatre and Drama
- Publisher
- McGill-Queen's University Press
- Initial publish date
- Jan 1994
- Category
- History & Criticism, Drama
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9780773564411
- Publish Date
- Jan 1994
- List Price
- $110.00
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Description
Douglas Clayton examines the tradition of commedia dell'arte as the Russian modernists inherited it, from its origins in Italian street theatre through its various transformations: in Italy (Gozzi and Goldini's plays); in France (the development of Pierrot and the restructuring of the plot); and in Germany (Tieck's and Hoffmann's metatheatre). He also analyses crucial texts by Gozzi, Lothar, Benavente, and Schnitzler that came to play a central role in the Russian theatre. Tracing the history of commedia dell'arte on the Russian stage, he demonstrates that the introduction of the tradition was theory-driven and discusses several milestone productions in the pre- and post-revolutionary period. Clayton examines the impact of commedia dell'arte, russified as the new theatrical genre of balagan, on both popular and lesser-known Russian playwrights, and, in conclusion, explores the significance of the commedia dell'arte as a theoretical underpinning for Sergei Eisenstein's theories of theatre and film.