People's Theater "Petrushki" as a form of urban entertainment. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: biography, video, interesting facts, creativity

IN folk art was also known puppet theater: marionette theater(in it the dolls were controlled using threads), Petrushka Theater with glove puppets (the puppets were put on the puppeteer’s fingers) and nativity scene(in it, the dolls were fixedly fixed on rods and moved along slots in the boxes).

The Parsley Theater was especially beloved by the people. In the 19th century, the Petrushka Theater was the most popular and widespread type of puppet theater in Russia. It consisted of a light folding screen, a box with several dolls (the number of characters usually ranges from 7 to 20), a barrel organ and small props (sticks or batons, rattles, rolling pins, etc.). The Parsley Theater did not know the scenery. The puppeteer, accompanied by a musician, usually an organ grinder, walked from courtyard to courtyard and gave traditional performances of Petrushka. He could always be seen during folk festivals and fairs. The main character was Petrushka, after whom the theater was named. This hero was also called Pyotr Ivanovich Uksusov, Pyotr Petrovich Samovarov, etc. It arose under the influence of the Italian puppet theater Pulcinello, with which Italians often performed in St. Petersburg and other cities.

Separate satirical scenes were presented at the Petrushka Theater. A.M. Gorky noted that “the invincible puppet hero defeated everyone and everything: priests, police, the devil and death. He himself remained immortal.” 1

This is how D.A. described it. Rovinsky's performance at the Petrushka Theater, which he witnessed:

“This comedy is played in Moscow, near Novinsky. [...] Its content is very simple: first Petrushka appears, lies all sorts of nonsense in verses, burring and nasal in his nose - the conversation is conducted through a typewriter placed to the roof of his mouth, above the tongue, just like that the same way as the French and Italians do. The Gypsy appears, offers Petrushka a horse, and Petrushka examines it, and receives kicks from the horse, first in the nose, then in the belly; the whole comedy is filled with kicks; they constitute the most significant and most ridiculous part for him. spectators. There is a bargain, - the Gypsy speaks without a typewriter, in a bass voice. After a long haggling, Petrushka buys a horse; the Gypsy sits down on his purchase; he throws off Petrushka and runs away, leaving him dead on the stage. Parsley and lamentations for a premature death good fellow. The Doctor comes:

Where does it hurt?

Here!

And here?

It turns out that everything in Parsley hurts. But when the Doctor reaches a tender spot, Petrushka jumps up and hits him on the ear; The Doctor fights back, a fight begins, a stick appears from somewhere, with which Parsley finally calms the Doctor.

What kind of Doctor are you,” Parsley shouts to him, “if you ask where it hurts?” What did you study for? You should know where it hurts!

A few more minutes - Kvartalny, or, in puppet terms, “fatal officer” appears. Since there is a dead body on the stage, Petrushka is subjected to a strict interrogation (in treble):

Why did you kill the Doctor?

Answer (in the nose):

Because he doesn’t know his science well - he looks at what he’s wearing, doesn’t see it, and even asks him.

Word for word, it’s clear that Petrushka doesn’t like Fatalny’s interrogation. He seizes the old stick, and a fight ensues, which ends in the destruction and expulsion of Fatal, to the general delight of the spectators; This puppet protest against the police usually creates a real sensation among the public.

The play, it would seem, is over; but what to do with Parsley? And then a wooden poodle dog runs onto the stage, pasted over its tail and legs with scraps of whipped cotton wool, and begins to bark with all its might (the barking is made from husky at the bottom).

Little darling,” Petrushka caresses her, “let’s come live with me, I’ll feed you cat meat.”

But Shavochka, for no apparent reason, grabs Petrushka by the nose; Parsley to the side, she takes his hand, he takes it to the other, she grabs his nose again; Finally, Petrushka takes to a shameful flight. That's where the comedy ends. If there are a lot of spectators and Petrushkin’s matchmaker, i.e. the main comedian is given vodka, then after that a special interlude called Parsley's wedding. There is no plot in it, but there is a lot of action. Petrushka is brought his bride Varyusha; he examines her like a horse. Petrushka liked Varyushka very much, and he can’t bear to wait for the wedding, which is why he begins to beg her: “Sacrifice yourself, Varyushka!” Then the final scene occurs, in which the fair sex cannot be present. This is already the real and “very last end” of the performance; then Petrushka goes to the outside stage of the booth to lie all sorts of nonsense and invite the audience to a new performance.

In the intervals between the actions of the play, dances of two Arapok are usually presented, sometimes a whole interlude about a Lady who was bitten by a snake (Eve?); here, finally, two Pagliacci are shown playing with balls and a stick. The latter comes out extremely cleverly and funny by experienced puppeteers: the doll has no body, but only a fake simple skirt, to which an empty cardboard head is sewn on top, and arms, also empty, on the sides. Puppeteer sticks a doll into the head forefinger, and in the hands - the first and third fingers; He usually puts a doll on each hand and thus acts with two dolls at once. During puppet comedy there is always a barrel organ, replacing the old classic bagpipes, harp and whistle; At the same time, the organ grinder serves as a “prompter,” i.e. enters into conversations with Petrushka, asks him questions and urges him to continue his lies without stopping." 2

M.: Type. T-va I.D. Sytina, 1918. 20 p., ill. 20.4x15 cm. In the publisher's illustrated chromolithographed cover. The famous "Sytin" popular print book for children.

Parsley- one of the Russian folk characters puppet shows. Depicted in a red shirt, canvas pants and a pointed cap with a tassel; Traditionally, Parsley is a glove puppet (glove doll). Parsley is “the nickname of a farcical doll, a Russian jester, a jokester, a wit in a red caftan and a red cap; The whole clownish, puppet den is also called Petrushka.” The origin of this doll, which appeared in Russia in the second half of the 19th century, has not been reliably clarified. Although in Russia Parsley has been known since the 17th century. Russian puppeteers used marionettes (string puppet theater) and parsleys (glove puppets). Until the 19th century, preference was given to Parsley, by the end of the century - to marionettes, as parsley makers united with organ grinders. Petrushka's appearance is by no means Russian: he has an exaggerated big hands and the head, the facial features are hypertrophied, the face itself (carved from wood) is treated with a special plant liquid, which makes it look darker; large almond-shaped eyes and a huge nose with a hump, completely white eyeballs and a dark iris, due to which Parsley’s eyes appear black. He inherited Parsley's appearance from the Italian Pulcinella. Many people mistakenly believe that Parsley’s wide-open mouth is a smile, but this is not so; being negative character, Petrushka constantly stretches her lips in a grin. He has four fingers on his hands (a possible symbol that Petrushka is not a person, but some character from another world). A typical misconception is to revere Petrushka as an extremely ancient and primordially Russian hero, based on his archetypal character traits, which originated in the depths of human ideas about themselves. Parsley is the younger relative of the older ones: the Neapolitan Pulcinella, the French Polichinelle, the English Punch, the Turkish Karagöz, the German Hanswurst and Kasperle, the Spanish Don Cristobal and others - despite the fact that all of them are theatrical puppets and are controlled using threads. The only analogue of Petrushka in terms of driving technique is the Guignol glove doll, which appeared in Lyon in early XIX century. The famous Russian writer Maxim Gorky, characterizing the image of Parsley, wrote the following:

“...a figure was created... known to all nations...

This is the invincible hero of the folk puppet comedy, he defeats everyone and everything: the police, the priests, even the devil and death, but he himself remains immortal. In a crude and naive image, the working people embodied themselves and their belief that in the end, it is they who will overcome everything and everyone.” The parsley screen consisted of three frames, fastened with staples and covered with chintz. It was placed directly on the ground and hid the puppeteer. The barrel organ gathered the audience, and behind the screen the actor began to communicate with the audience through a peep (whistle). Later, with laughter and reprise, he ran out himself, in a red cap and with a long nose. The organ grinder sometimes became Petrushka's partner: because of the squeak, speech was not always intelligible, and he repeated Petrushka's phrases and conducted a dialogue. The comedy with Petrushka was played out at fairs and booths. In Russia, only men “drove” Petrushka. To make the voice louder and squeakier (this was necessary both for audibility at fair performances and for the special character of the character), they used a special squeak inserted into the larynx. Petrushka’s speech had to be “piercing” and very fast. Before mid-19th centuries in Russia, Parsley did not yet have its current name. Most often he was then called “Ivan Ratyutyu” or “Ivan Ratatouille” (which gives away the French roots of the doll). There is a version about the origin of the nickname Parsley from Ukrainian word“command” (save). The current name came to Petrushka after the appearance of the miniature “Petrushka and the Policeman” among his many everyday scenes, in which, during numerous attacks, the policeman says to Petrushka:

“You don’t even have a passport!”

to which Petrushka proudly replies:

"Eat! According to my passport, I am Pyotr Ivanovich Uksusov!”

From some memoirs and diaries of the 1840s it follows that Petrushka was called Pyotr Ivanovich Uksusov. The famous Russian puppeteer Sergei Obraztsov called Petrushka Pyotr Petrovich Uksusov (the story “The Four Brothers”) or Vanka Ratatouille. There were main plots: Parsley's treatment, soldier training, the scene with the bride, buying a horse and testing it. The stories were passed from actor to actor, by word of mouth. Not a single character in the Russian theater had the popularity equal to Petrushka. According to a widespread but unproven version, plays with the participation of Petrushka were still part of the repertoire of buffoons and consisted of humorous skits and dialogues. Each scene depicted a fight between Petrushka and one character or another (fights were carried out using fists, sticks, etc.). Usually the performance began with the following plot: Petrushka decides to buy a horse, the musician calls the gypsy horse dealer. Parsley examines the horse for a long time and bargains with the gypsy for a long time. Then Petrushka gets tired of the bargaining, and instead of money, he beats the gypsy on the back for a long time, after which he runs away. Petrushka tries to mount the horse, but it throws him off to the laughter of the audience. This could continue until people laughed it off. Finally the horse runs away, leaving Petrushka lying dead. The doctor comes and asks Petrushka about his illnesses. It turns out that everything hurts. A fight ensues between the Doctor and Petrushka, at the end of which Petrushka hits the enemy hard on the head with a baton.

“What kind of doctor are you?” Petrushka shouted,- when you ask, where does it hurt? Why did you study? You yourself should know where it hurts!”

The quarterly appears.

- “Why did you kill the doctor?”

He answers:

“Because he doesn’t know his science well.”

After the interrogation, Petrushka hits the policeman on the head with a club and kills him. A growling dog comes running. Parsley unsuccessfully asks for help from the audience and the musician, after which he flirts with the dog, promising to feed it cat meat. The dog grabs him by the nose and drags him away, and Petrushka shouts:

- “Oh, my little head with a cap and a brush has disappeared!”

The music stops, signaling the end of the performance. If the audience liked it, then they did not let the actors go, applauded, threw money, demanding a continuation. Then they played a small scene “Petrushka’s Wedding”. A bride is brought to Parsley, he examined her the way a horse is examined. He likes the bride, he doesn’t want to wait for the wedding and begins to beg her to “sacrifice herself.” From the scene where the bride “sacrifices herself,” the women left and took their children with them. According to some reports, another sketch in which there was clergyman. It was not included in any of the recorded texts; most likely, it was removed by censorship. There were scenes in which Petrushka did not participate. It was dancing and juggling with balls and sticks. Parsley defeated all opponents except one - Death. In the last, final scene, Death took Petrushka with him. However, since Petrushka was used in a farce theater, it is natural that the performance was shown repeatedly and in different places. Thus, Petrushka, who “died” for one circle of viewers, “resurrected” for another. This gives researchers reason to draw parallels between the image of Parsley and many different pagan gods, endlessly dying and resurrecting.

Here is what Alexander Benois remembers about Petrushka:

“In fact, the first performances that I enjoyed were the performances of Petrushka. In any case, I remember Petrushka at the dacha, when we still lived in the Cavalier Houses. Already from afar you can hear a piercing squeal, laughter and some words - all this pronounced by the Petrushechnik through a special machine, which he placed behind his cheek (the same sound can be reproduced if you close both nostrils with your finger). The colorful chintz screens are quickly set up, the “musician” places his organ-organ on the folding trestle, the nasal, plaintive sounds it makes are tuned to a special mood... And then a tiny and very ugly man appears above the screens. He has a huge nose, and on his head is a pointed hat with a red top. He is unusually agile and nimble, his hands are tiny, but he gestures very expressively with them, and he deftly threw his thin legs over the side of the screen. Immediately, Petrushka teases the organ grinder with stupid and impudent questions... Petrushka takes care of the terribly ugly Akulina Petrovna, he proposes to her, she agrees, and both take a kind of wedding walk, holding each other tightly by the hand. But a rival appears - he is a brave, mustachioed policeman, and Akulina apparently gives him preference. Parsley, in a rage, beats the peace officer, for which he ends up as a soldier. But soldier’s teaching and discipline are not given to him, he continues to commit outrages and, horror of horrors, kills his non-commissioned officer. Here comes an unexpected interlude. For no apparent reason, two black araps, dressed in bright costumes, emerge. Each of them has a stick in their hands, which they deftly throw up, throw to each other and, finally, loudly beat each other on the wooden heads with it. The interlude is over. Parsley is on the screen again. He has become even more fidgety, even more active, he enters into daring altercations with the organ grinder, squeals, giggles, but the fatal outcome immediately follows. Suddenly, a figurine gathered into a furry ball appears next to Petrushka. Petrushka is extremely interested in her. He nasally asks the musician what it is, the musician replies: “It’s a lamb.” Parsley is delighted, strokes the “learned, soaked” lamb and sits astride it. The “lamb” obediently makes two or three rounds with its rider along the side of the screen, but then suddenly throws it off, straightens up and, horror of horrors, it is not a lamb at all, but the devil himself. Horned, covered in black hair, with a hooked nose and a long red tongue sticking out of his toothy mouth. The devil butts Petrushka and mercilessly tosses him, so that his arms and legs dangle in all directions, and then drags him to the underworld. Three more times, Petrushka’s pitiful body flies up from some depths, high, high, and then only his dying cry is heard and an “eerie” silence sets in...” Life of an Artist. Memories. Volume 2. Alexander Benois.

It happens in almost all cities, suburbs and villages of Russia.

ACT ONE

Characters:

Parsley, Musician, Gypsy and Horse.

In the distance appears the Musician with a barrel organ, his comrade, the main comedian; he has screens, a box with dolls. Parsley, still sitting in the box, sings in a shrill voice:

Along Piterskaya
Along the path
Petenka is riding
Yes with a bell!

Screens are placed; all this time Petrushka sings and shouts whatever comes into his head. Finally he appears and with a loud laugh sits down on the edge of the screen.

Parsley. Ha ha ha! Dear gentlemen! So I came here, not in a tarantass, but right on an airplane - in an oak box! My respect to you, gentlemen! I am your old friend - Petrushka. I came to amuse you, amuse you and congratulate you on the holiday! ( Addresses the Musician.) The gypsy didn't come?
Musician. It's been waiting for you for a long time.
Parsley. Call here!

Appears Gypsy with a horse.

Gypsy. Hello, Monsieur Shishel-Myshel! I’m the horse breeder who came to you! How are you living? Do you often get sick? I am Gypsy Mora from the Gypsy choir, I sing in a bass voice, eat pineapple, and wash it down with kvass!
Parsley. That's it, grimy face, Humpty Dumpty! Don’t waste your time wagging your tongue, but speak to the point!
Gypsy. My friend, the Englishman Rock, stuck a pitchfork in his side, roams all over Europe, spends the night on Khitrovka every night... Shishel-Myshel, I heard from someone that you need a good horse.
Parsley. Yes, brother, I have been working for a long time - I want to get a race runner. But is your horse good?
Gypsy. Such a horse, master, that without a collar you can drive with four whips... and then only in the wind! Not a horse, but a fire: when it runs, it trembles, stumbles, but if it falls, it doesn’t get up!
Parsley. Oh oh oh! Matchmaker fathers! That's a horse! And what color?
Gypsy. Brown, bay, thin on the sides, with spots, without a tail or mane - shaggy, crooked in one eye, just like you - hunchbacked. Arabian breed, with a certificate.
Parsley. This is the one I need... How much does it cost?
Gypsy. For someone it’s four thousand, but based on an acquaintance I’ll give it to you for two hundred rubles!
Parsley. What did you, grimy, pay dearly for? Or didn't you wake up?
Gypsy. My request is not on your nose! Speak to your heart: how much do you give?
Parsley. A ruble and a quarter.
Gypsy. What a wolf you are, you can even howl like a wolf! Give the kids some extra milk.
Parsley. Well, here's a hundred rubles for you.
Gypsy. Not enough, the master is good! Add more.
Parsley. Do you want one and a half hundred and two kopecks?
Gypsy. There is nothing to do for a dear friend and an earring from his ear! Give me money.
Parsley. Wait, I'll go get my wallet now. (He leaves and quickly returns with a ratchet club and begins to beat Gypsy on the head.) Here you are a hundred, here you are one and a half hundred! (The gypsy runs away.) Hey, hey! Grimy! Wait - there are still two kopecks left! (He laughs and turns to the Musician.) Musician, did I buy a horse cheap?
Musician. What better way! He just acted dishonestly - he didn’t give two kopecks!
Parsley (laughs). And the horse is good - very young! There is not a single tooth in the mouth! (Sits on horseback.) Farewell, Musician, goodbye, gentlemen, guys!
Musician. Where are you going, Pyotr Ivanovich?
Parsley. From here, through Vologda and Arkhangelsk, I’ll head straight to the Caucasus to drink Kakheti kvass. (The horse kicks.) Whoa! Whoa! Sivka-burka! Hush, you damned one! Otherwise I’ll fall and become hunchbacked for a whole century! (The horse throws Petrushka behind the screen.) Oh, fathers! My daring little head has disappeared! My death is coming!.. Musician. Where is your death, Petra Ivanovich?
Parsley. Oh oh oh! Behind the zemstvo outpost, he's digging potatoes in the garden!
Musician. Don't worry: it won't come soon.
Parsley. Yes, in twenty years, by the Intercession, I will probably die... Call the doctor quickly!
Musician. I'll bring it up in a moment.

ACT TWO

Parsley, Musician and Doctor.

Parsley (lays down and groans).
Let the grave punish me
I am not afraid of my own death!

Included Doctor.

Doctor. Who's sick here? What kind of noise is that? Don’t moan, don’t scream, but lie still until death! I am a famous doctor-healer, a pharmacist from under the Stone Bridge. The obstetrician and farrier, the whole Zatsepsky Val knows me! All sciences originated in Italy and much further; performed operations in Paris and here closer to us! I have talent, I know how to heal: whoever comes to me on his feet will leave me on crutches or be carried on a log. Where is the patient?
Parsley. Father the horse-doctor, the pharmacist from under the bridge! Have pity on me, an orphan, don’t ruin me: don’t carry me on a log, but it’s better in a carriage.
Doctor. Well, tell me about your pain: inside or outside? Here or here? (He feels Petrushka.)
Parsley. Here, between the shoulder blades, near the pit of the stomach, and the right bridge of the ankle is aching.
Doctor. Here?
Parsley. Lower and to the left!
Doctor. Here?
Parsley. Higher to the right!
Doctor. What a fool you are! With you you will lose all peace. Now lower, now higher! Stand up and point it out!
Parsley. Father Doctor, I don’t have the strength to get up! Apparently, my illness dragged on for forty years. Oh oh! Now I’ll get up and show you. (He gets up with difficulty, leaves and returns with a stick, which he uses to hit the Doctor on the head, neck and back.) This is where it hurts! It's moaning here! It hurts in this place, but it’s brainy here!

The doctor runs away.

ACT THREE

Parsley, Musician and German.

German (sings and dances). Tra-la-la! Tra-la-la!

Appears Parsley.

Parsley. Musician, what kind of scarecrow is this?
Musician. And this is a foreign person, he doesn’t speak Russian, ask him in French.
Parsley. How is this in French?
Musician. Parlay-vous-France, Alphonse Rallet.
Parsley. Hey Mister Monsieur! Parlais-vous-france? (The German bows silently.) What the hell! Yes, he doesn’t know a damn thing in French! He must be a German from the Green Isles. Let me ask him in German... Sprechen-si-deutsch, Ivan Andreich?
German. Oh me! Their spreche gut.
Parsley. Who is being burned here? Speak Moscow.
German. Main liberger, you?
Parsley. What kind of kvass did you find here? It’s better if I bring you a glass! (He hits the German with a stick, he runs away.) Musician, where has the German gone? He must have run to drink kvass... I’ll go grab a glass too!
Musician. Wait, he’ll be back now, he probably wants to treat you.
Parsley. That is good! In the meantime, I’ll sing a song. (Sings, shaking his head sadly.)"In the evening of a stormy autumn..." (The German appears, hits Petrushka on the head with a stick and quickly disappears.) What a wonder this is, brother Musician: it was as if a mosquito was flying and touched me on the back of the head with its wing! (The German appears again and bows.) Yeah! Sprechen-see-deutsch is back! Musician, why can’t you see his bottle, but some kind of stick?
Musician. It's his corkscrew.
Parsley. Nice corkscrew! Now I’ll give him a corkscrew! (He snatches the stick from the German and hits him on the head several times; the German falls on the barrier.)
Musician. What have you done, villain! After all, you killed him.
Parsley. Bought? Why do I need it? If you want, I'll give it to you for free - completely with tripe and bones.
Musician. What do I need it for? You'll end up in court with him!
Parsley. Well, I'll sell it at the market. (Puts the German on his back, spins with him in all directions and screams.) Piglets! Piglets! I'll sell it cheap to anyone who needs it!.. (Hides.)

ACT FOUR

Parsley, Musician and then Corporal.

Parsley(dancing and singing).
Everyone knows I'm for grabs,
At least I’m ready to swear to you, -
From Varvarka to Arbat
And to Presnensky Ponds!..

Appears Corporal, Parsley instantly disappears.

Cpl. Musician, where did Petrushka disappear?
Musician. I can’t know, Mr. Corporal! He went left, or maybe turned right.

Only Parsley's head is visible from behind the screen.

Parsley. Musician, tell him that I went to Paris...
Corporal (turns quickly and grabs Petrushka). So I’ll show you, you swindler, Paris - you’ll get a kick out of it! You keep getting rowdy here and being rude to noble people! You scream, you yell, you don’t give peace to all of Moscow! So, my dear, I’ll take you as a soldier without a deadline!.. You’ll start kicking frogs out from under my guns.
Parsley. Your frying pan, Mr. Corporal! What kind of soldier am I - a cripple with a hump? The nose is crooked, the head is a knot, and he himself is a box! And then I don’t have a backbone!
Cpl. You're lying! Where is your hump?
Parsley. I lost my hump on Trubnaya Square!
Cpl. This won't get you off me! Here's your gun, stand in front!
Parsley. This is not a gun, but a stick!
Cpl. Fools are first taught with a stick, and then with a gun. Attention! Be equal! K no-o-o-gi!
Parsley. Oops, fleas bite!
Cpl. Listen to the command: on the shoulder!
Parsley. Oooh, it's painfully hot!
Cpl. Right shoulder forward!
Parsley(hits him with a stick). Here you go, here you go!
Cpl. What are you doing, fool? You won't get the next rank.
Parsley. I stumbled just a little, Mr. Corporal!..
Cpl. Listen to the command: all around, march! (Parsley walks behind the Corporal.) Left, right! One, two!
Parsley. Damn curly! (Hits the Corporal on the back of the head.) Three, four, five, six! Go comb your fur?

The corporal runs away.

ACT FIVE

Parsley, Musician and Mongrel.

Parsley. Ha ha ha! How well did I, the Musician, serve? Received the rank of reserve ensign!
Musician. What's better? Now you, Pyotr Ivanovich, should think about the wedding... Prepare the dowry.
Parsley. I have a rich dowry: all the things are good - five caftans with new patches, three rumpled hats, one and a half arshins of linen, a horse on three legs, without a tail, in the barn there is an onion and a soldier’s button... There is a teapot without a lid with one handle, and It's been sent in for repair!
Musician. Dowry is important! You will live as a full house!

A big shaggy one jumps out dog and with an angry bark rushes at Petrushka.

Parsley (smacks). Shavochka! Little mongrel!.. (The dog grabs him by the caftan.) Where are you going, catechumen? Stop, stop! You will tear the government uniform. Oh, fathers, it hurts! Shavochka, darling! Let's come live with me - I'll feed you cat meat! (The dog rushes and grabs him by the nose.) Ay-ay! Darlings, matchmaking brothers! Intercede, dear ones! Don't let a dog die! Get lost, my daring little head, with a cap and a brush!

The dog fiddles with Parsley and drags him away by the nose.

Petrushka Theater

Petrushka Theater

The Russians had three types of puppet theater: the marionette theater (in which the puppets were controlled using threads), the Petrushka theater with glove puppets (the puppets were put on the puppeteer’s fingers) and the nativity scene (in which the dolls were fixedly fixed on rods and moved along slots in boxes) . Puppet theater did not become widespread. The Parsley Theater was popular. The nativity scene was distributed mainly in Siberia and southern Russia.

The Petrushka Theater is a Russian folk puppet comedy. Its main character was Petrushka, after whom the theater was named. This hero was also called Pyotr Ivanovich Uksusov, Pyotr Petrovich Samovarov, in the south - Vanya, Vanka, Vanka Retatouille, Ratatouille, Rutyutyu (tradition of the northern regions of Ukraine). The Parsley Theater arose under the influence of the Italian puppet theater Pulcinella, with which the Italians often performed in St. Petersburg and other cities.

An early sketch of the Petrushka Theater dates back to the 30s. XVII century This illustration was placed by the German traveler Adam Olearius in the description of his trip to Muscovy. Regarding the drawing, D. A. Rovinsky wrote: “... A man, having tied a woman’s skirt with a hoop at the hem to his belt, raised it up - this skirt covers him above his head, he can move in it freely, move his hands, put dolls on top and present entire comedies.<...>In the picture, on a portable skirt stage, it is not difficult to discern the classic comedy about how the gypsy sold Petrushka a horse." Rovinsky cited Olearius' remark that the puppet comedian was always with the bear leader; he also corrected the "positions" of the goat and the clown. The skits, according to Olearius, were always of the most modest content.

Later, the raised women's skirt with a hoop at the hem was replaced by a screen - at least in descriptions of the Petrushka Theater in the 19th century. the skirt is no longer mentioned.

In the 19th century The Petrushka Theater was the most popular and widespread type of puppet theater in Russia. It consisted of a light folding screen, a box with several dolls (according to the number of characters - usually from 7 to 20), a barrel organ and small props (sticks or batons, rattles, rolling pins, etc.). The Parsley Theater did not know the scenery.

The puppeteer, accompanied by a musician, usually an organ grinder, walked from courtyard to courtyard and gave traditional performances of Petrushka. He could always be seen during folk festivals and fairs.

About the structure of the Petrushka Theater D. A. Rovinsky wrote: “The doll does not have a body, but only a simple skirt is faked, to which an empty cardboard head is sewn on top, and hands, also empty, on the sides. The puppeteer sticks his index finger into the doll’s head, and hands - the first and third fingers; he usually puts a doll on each hand and thus acts with two dolls at once."

Character traits appearance Parsley - a large hooked nose, a laughing mouth, a protruding chin, a hump or two humps (on the back and on the chest). The clothes consisted of a red shirt, a cap with a tassel, and smart boots on his feet; or from a clownish two-color clown outfit, collar and cap with bells. The puppeteer spoke for Petrushka with the help of a squeak - a device thanks to which the voice became sharp, shrill, and rattling. (The pischik was made of two curved bone or silver plates, inside of which a narrow strip of linen ribbon was fastened). For the rest characters The comedy puppeteer spoke in his natural voice, moving the squeak behind his cheek.

The performance of the Petrushka Theater consisted of a set of scenes that had satirical orientation. M. Gorky spoke about Petrushka as invincible hero puppet comedy, which defeats everyone and everything: the police, the priests, even the devil and death, but he himself remains immortal.

The image of Parsley is the personification of festive freedom, emancipation, and a joyful feeling of life. Petrushka's actions and words were opposed to accepted standards of behavior and morality. Parsley's improvisations were topical: they contained sharp attacks against local merchants, landowners, and authorities. The performance was accompanied by musical inserts, sometimes parodic: for example, an image of a funeral under “Kamarinskaya” (see in the Reader “Petrushka, aka Vanka Ratatouille”).

Zueva T.V., Kirdan B.P. Russian folklore - M., 2002

Introduction

No one in the world has established, or will ever establish, the exact year of birth of the theater. No one in the whole world has said, and will not say, on which piece of the calendar its original date should be indicated.

The lifetime of the theater is measured by a measure unprecedented in historical terms - the lifetime of the human race itself.

The day of the emergence of the theater is hidden behind the mountain range of long-gone centuries and millennia, in the depths of the most ancient, most distant era of human history. That era when a person, who first took into his hands the tools of primitive labor, became a man.

Introducing himself to work brought him poetic insight; man began to discover within himself a poet, the aesthetic ability of poetic perception of the world.

In those distant centuries, the newly emerging poetry did not have powerful wings; it had not yet been touched by the powerful breath of free flight. Until a certain time, until a certain time, its purpose was reduced only to the subordinate accompaniment of rites and rituals that were established in the life of the primitive community. And when the time had come for her to mature, to become an independent poetic existence, poetry broke free, breaking the shackles of its former inseparability from everyday life. And then the time came for the fate of poetry to converge with the fate of the theater.

In the golden age of humanity's childhood, the first poets of the earth were the great Greek tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, like good geniuses poetry bent over the cradle of the theater. They called him to life, turned him to serving people, glorifying the spiritual power of man, his indomitable strength, the moral energy of heroism. Over the millennia that have passed since then, the name of one of the first heroes of the theater has not yet faded. He was Prometheus of Aeschylus - a rebellious fighter against God, condemned by Zeus to eternal torment for serving people, for getting fire for them, teaching them crafts and sciences. Chained to a rock forever, he proudly praised the freedom and dignity of man:

Know well that I would not trade

Your sorrows into servile service,

I'd rather be chained to a rock

What better way to be than to be a servant of Zeus.

Marx called the hero of Aeschylus’s tragedy “Prometheus Bound” the most noble saint and martyr in the philosophical calendar... Together with Aeschylus, his younger contemporary, Sophocles, equally passionately glorified man: “There are many wondrous forces in nature, but stronger than man no." Behind them, his mighty predecessors, rose Euripides - the most tragic poet of the ancient world. And, perhaps, the most fearless. Renouncing the given mythological plots, he forged the real characters of people living with intense passions, feelings, thoughts, experiences.

Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides laid, according to history, a great beginning of a great work. Eternal cause! Century after century - at all times, in all eras lived by countless human generations, the theater has invariably, inextricably accompanied the movement of human history.

Whatever changes took place on earth - era followed era, one

socio-economic formation replaced another, states, countries, empires, monarchies arose and disappeared, Atlantis disappeared in the depths of the ocean, the angry Vesuvius flooded unfortunate Pompeii with hot lava, for many centuries the sands brought Troy, glorified by Homer, to the Hissarlik hill, but nothing ever interrupted the eternal existence of the theater.

The most ancient creation of man, to this day retains an unchanged attractive force, indestructible vitality, that miraculous

the elixir of youth, the secret of which was never discovered by the alchemists of the Middle Ages. In all previous eras, no matter how many there are, there has always been an eternal need for theater in man. That need that once arose at the ancient Dionysian festivals of the Rhea grape in honor of the mythical deity of earthly fertility

People have always needed theater!

Tens of thousands of spectators - almost the entire population of cities - traveled to theatrical performances in Ancient Greece. To this day, majestic amphitheaters, dilapidated by time, built in times infinitely distant from us, serve as reminders of this.

How the fate of the theater has changed in the past! He experienced and survived everything until he found his permanent home - the theater building. His performances were given everywhere - in squares and fairs, on church porches, in the castle of a noble feudal lord, in a monastery monastery, in a gilded palace hall, in an inn, on the estate of a noble serf owner, in a church school, at a village festival.

Anything happened in his fate... He was cursed, hated, banned, subjected to persecution and mockery, punishment and persecution, excommunicated from the church, threatened with whips and gallows, all heavenly and earthly punishments.

No trials, no troubles and adversities have broken the eternal vitality of the theater.

The school of life is the oldest, most amazing and emotional, the most festive, inspiring, great school like no other - that’s what theater is.

“Theater is a school of life,” - this is what they said about him from century to century. They spoke everywhere in Russia, France, Italy, England, Germany, Spain...

Gogol called the theater the department of goodness.

Herzen recognized him as the highest authority for resolving vital issues.

Belinsky saw the whole world, the whole universe with all its diversity and splendor in the theater. He saw in him an autocratic ruler of feelings, capable of shaking all the strings of the soul, awakening a strong movement in minds and hearts, refreshing the soul with powerful impressions. He saw in the theater some kind of invincible, fantastic charm for society.

According to Voltaire, nothing tightens the bonds of friendship more closely than the theater.

The great German playwright Friedrich Schiller argued that “the theater has the most well-trodden road to the mind and heart of man.”

The immortal creator of Don Quixote, Cervantes, called the theater “a mirror of human life, an example of morals, a model of truth.”

A person turns to the theater as a reflection of his conscience, his soul. He recognizes himself, his time and his life in the theater. The theater opens up amazing opportunities for spiritual and moral self-knowledge.

And even though theater, by its aesthetic nature, is a conventional art, like other arts, what appears on stage before the viewer is not real reality itself, but only its artistic reflection. But there is so much truth in that reflection that it is perceived in all its unconditionality, as the most authentic, true life. The viewer recognizes the ultimate reality of the existence of stage characters. The great Goethe exclaimed: “What could be greater nature than the people of Shakespeare!”

Isn’t this where the miraculous spiritual, emotional energy of the theater is hidden?

the unique originality of its impact on our souls.

And in the theater, in a lively community of people gathered for a stage performance, everything is possible: laughter and tears, grief and joy, undisguised indignation and wild delight, sadness and happiness, irony and mistrust, contempt and sympathy, guarded silence and loud approval, in a word, all the riches of emotional manifestations and shocks of the human soul.

A good performance remains in the theatrical repertoire for a long time, but every time, with each new meeting with the audience, it arises anew, is born anew.

And no matter how much time passed after that between the stage and auditorium the wonderful fire of the relationship between soul and thought will flare up again. And the intensity of this emotional, spiritual exchange will certainly affect both the actor’s performance and the entire atmosphere of the auditorium.

Parsley Theater Parsley Theater Sergei Obrazlov Theater puppet theaters

PETRUSHKA, “the nickname of a farcical doll, a Russian jester, a jokester, a wit in a red caftan and a red cap; The whole clownish, puppet den is also called Petrushka” (V. Dahl).

When and in what country did the Parsley Theater appear? Whose hands created the world's first doll? No one knows and cannot know this, because all peoples of the world had dolls a thousand and ten thousand years ago.

Dolls were made from clay, wood, straw or rags. And the children played in them: put them to bed, treated them, hunted clay or wooden deer, elephants, hippopotamuses. And this is also a theater. Puppet. Because the actors in it are dolls.

Adults in ancient times made figurines to represent gods. Gods have different nations there were many. The god of the sun, the god of water, the god of war, the god of hunting, even the god of cockcrow. These gods were made of wood, sculpted from clay or carved out of leather into flat figures and displayed on a stretched canvas under the light of an oil lamp. And still in many countries, especially in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, such ideas exist. It's part worship service, part puppet theater.

Gradually, fairy tales, fables, and various funny and sometimes sharply satirical scenes began to be played out with dolls more and more often. There are four main types of driving puppets: on fingers, on strings, on sticks and shadow figures.

The main character of the skits in Russia was Petrushka. Petrushka was a finger puppet. Such dolls are still played in many theaters around the world. An actor with a puppet on his fingers stands behind a screen, raising his hand. The doll is visible above the screen.

The first mention of puppet theater in Russia dates back to 1609. One of the first dolls was Parsley. His full name Pyotr Petrovich Uksusov. I saw Parsley for the first time in Russia German writer, traveler and diplomat Adam Olearius. This was almost 400 years ago!

The funny thing about this hero was that when he went on stage, he immediately began to beat everyone with a stick, and at the end of the performance death came out and took Petrushka off the stage for his a long nose. Petrushka had brothers all over the world. So, in Hungary there was the Knight Laszlo. He was distinguished by the fact that he beat everyone not with a stick, like Parsley, but with a frying pan.

But let's return to Russia. In 1730, the newspaper “St. Petersburg Vedomosti” first published an article about the puppet theater, the author of which gave the best definition of a puppet theater that is capable of “showing the nature of things.”

Many descriptions of these street performances have been preserved. IN late XIX centuries, parsley makers were usually paired with organ grinders. From morning until late evening, puppeteers walked from place to place, repeating the story of Petrushka's adventures many times a day - it was not long, and the entire performance lasted 20-30 minutes. The actor carried a folding screen and a bundle or chest with dolls on his shoulder, and the musician carried a heavy, up to thirty kilograms, barrel organ.

The set and order of scenes varied slightly, but the basic core of the comedy remained unchanged. Petrushka greeted the audience, introduced himself and started a conversation with the musician. The organ grinder from time to time became Petrushka's partner: entering into a conversation with him, he either admonished him, then warned him of danger, or suggested what to do. These dialogues were also determined by a very important technical reason: Parsley’s speech was not always intelligible enough because of the peep, and the organ grinder, conducting the dialogue, repeated Parsley’s phrases, thus helping the audience understand the meaning of his words.

S. V. Obraztsov in his book “On the Steps of Memory” recalls how he saw Petrushka’s performance as a child: “The one that squeaked appeared above the screen. Petrushka. I see him for the first time in my life. Funny. Incomprehensible. Big hooked nose , big surprised eyes, a stretched mouth. A red cap, some kind of deliberate hump on his back and wooden arms like shoulder blades. He appeared and sang in the same inhuman squeaky voice.”

With the advent of the 20th century, “The Comedy about Petrushka” begins to quickly collapse. There were more than enough reasons for this. First of all, this was facilitated by the extremely strict control of the authorities, which reached the point of direct persecution and bans. The guardians of order and morality were irritated by the seditious content of some scenes, the rudeness and cynicism of expressions, and the immorality of the hero’s behavior. Petrushka's situation worsened even more when the first World War. Famine and devastation engulfed Russia; the people had no time for entertainment, and Petrushka catastrophically quickly lost its viewers.

And in order to earn a living, puppeteers are increasingly beginning to perform their comedy in front of “well-bred” children’s audiences. They are invited to children's parties, New Year trees; in the summer they go to the dachas. Naturally, under such conditions, the text and action of many scenes inevitably changed. Petrushka was becoming almost a good boy.

Parsley could not stand such violence. Having lost the main traits of his character, having lost his main partners, having lost the urgency of situations, he withered away and soon became of no use to anyone. They tried to revive it in propaganda performances of the first post-revolutionary years, then in educational performances for children. But his “data” did not correspond to the spirit and character of these performances, and he had to be replaced with other heroes. Parsley's story ended here.

In pre-revolutionary Russia there was a home theater, which can be compared to a bridge connecting traditional folk performances with the new modern theater. The history of Russian home puppet shows apparently begins at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. In the 19th century, animated dolls did not lose their universal popularity, but they were increasingly classified as children's entertainment. In educated circles, it was customary to invite a puppeteer to children's parties, and sometimes to give puppet shows on their own.

In the pre-revolutionary home puppet theater, three types of performances can be distinguished. They appeared, apparently, not at the same time, but they all survived until the October Revolution.

The first type is a children's puppet show, performed with almost no adult participation. The attitude of adults is encouraging, but passive; their main role is that of spectators. This is a performance-game, a performance in which the child is given complete freedom. You can read about such performances from K. S. Stanislavsky.

The second type is a puppet show for children, performed by adults. The role of adults becomes more active. The initiative passes into their hands. The home puppet stage is used for education and training purposes; The performance takes on a pedagogical orientation. Children and adults change places: children increasingly become spectators, adults become performers and authors of plays.

The third type is a performance by adults for adults. In the home theater, aesthetic concepts are embodied and developed, the best examples of literature and drama are staged, and political and social topics begin to be addressed. Home theater attracts the attention of the artistic intelligentsia and becomes the center of theatrical experimentation. His work takes on a semi-professional, studio character.

European puppeteers are rushing to take advantage of the new hobby of the Russians and are opening “puppet theaters for children” in Russia. Puppet theater is firmly integrated into home education. Brochures with "children's" versions of "Petrushka" are printed, "Guides on how to build small theater and everything related to the action of the figures", dramatizations of fairy tales are published with explanations of how to stage them on the puppet stage. Russian manufacturers are establishing the production of domestic dolls for home theater use, tabletop cardboard theaters with sets of figures and scenery for various plays.

At the beginning of the 20th century, home puppet theater “matured” even more. His repertoire increasingly goes beyond the scope of children's educational tasks; more and more often he touches on topics that concern adults.

The ongoing “maturation” of the public and performers of the home puppet theater can be explained not only by the need to respond to political and social events, to express their attitude towards them, but also by a whole complex of other reasons.

Among them, one of the main places is occupied by the flaring interest in folklore, in particular in the folk puppet theater. The intelligentsia goes to watch a performance by a folk puppeteer in a booth. His art increasingly evokes surprise and admiration.