The development of the provincial theater in the 1920s – the first half of the 1930s (by the example of the Penza Drama Theater named after A.V. Lunacharsky)

Abstract

Background. Being determined by economic, political and social factors, spiritual culture is a reflection of the socio-political state of society. In the context of this relationship, it is of considerable interest to study the conditions in which theatrical business developed at the initial stage of the Soviet theater formation. The tendency of directive management of the theater in order to turn it into a means of political enlightenment of the masses was combined with the requirements of artistry aimed at solving the problems of aesthetic education of the working spectator. The purpose of the article is to study the forms and methods of this work, to determine the degree of their effectiveness in solving the tasks set by the authorities, to assess the overall level of the provincial theater development in the 1920s and early 1930s. Materials and methods. The article is based on materials drawn from documents of the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History and the State Archive of the Penza Region: minutes of the Art Workers Union Board meetings, the personnel book of the Penza Provincial branch of the Art Workers Trade Union, Repertoire commissions protocols, etc. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism and objectivity, comparative and analytical methods, as well as the concept of social constructionism, which contributed to the productive study of the creative theatrical intelligentsia simultaneously in two kinds: on the one hand, as an object of state influence, on the other, as a subject forming a new cultural reality, free from obsolete forms and methods, and accumulating new, Soviet, cultural values. Results. The state policy on the theatrical business management in the country, the implementation of its ideas and principles at the provincial level, the general state of theatrical business are investigated. Conclusions. As a result of the study, the following conclusions were made. The development of theatrical business in the Penza province was in line with all-Russian trends, however, it encountered additional difficulties due, first of all, to the general economic condition of the region, its agrarian specifics. The scarcity of theater budgets did not allow for a long time to form a permanent theater troupe, and the social composition of the artistic environment (mainly noble-bourgeois-peasant) and the almost complete absence of a party stratum in the artistic environment hindered the introduction of a modern, revolutionary repertoire, which the authorities considered necessary for the political education of the masses. In the late 1920s – early 1930s the control over the theaters repertoire was carried out not only by the Glavrepertkom and repertoire commissions on the ground, but also by Artistic and Political Councils at theaters. Their role was not limited to censorship functions – the activity of the Soviets also had significant educational significance. As a result of the whole complex of measures to manage the theatrical business, by the mid – 1930s, the creative intelligentsia had fully adapted to the political line of the authorities in the field of theatrical creativity.

Keywords

• theater
• repertoire
• censorship
• artistic and political council
• nep
• financing
• selfsufficiency
• "box office" plays