Stage history of the play “The Snow Maiden. Performance of the Snow Maiden "Snow Maiden" at the Theater of Nations

Play for the theater A.N. Ostrovsky "Snow Maiden"

In 1873, A. N. Ostrovsky, under the influence of the ideas of A. N. Afanasyev, wrote a play so famous and beloved by the Russian people - “The Snow Maiden”. In it, the Snow Maiden appears as the daughter of Father Frost and Spring-Red, who dies during the summer ritual of honoring the Sun God Yarila. Outwardly, she appears in the work as a beautiful pale blonde girl, she is dressed in blue and white clothes with fur trim (fur coat, fur hat, mittens). This whole appearance represents winter with its snow-white snow and cold frost. The spring side of the heroine’s character is represented by her extraordinary emotionality and desire to understand human feelings, albeit destructive for her. Surprisingly, the play was not initially successful with the public; it seemed crude and poorly written. But that was only at the beginning...
The action takes place in the country of the Berendeys in prehistoric times. Prologue on Krasnaya Gorka, near Berendeyev Posad, the capital of Tsar Berendey. The first action in the settlement beyond the river Berendeyevka. The second act in the palace of Tsar Berendey. The third act is in a reserved forest. The fourth act in the Yarilina Valley.

Play for the theater by A. N. Ostrovsky “The Snow Maiden”. Prepared by: 8th grade student G Durnikova Anastasia

ü Biography of Ostrovsky ü What is a play? ü What is theater? ü Snow Maiden ü The history of the creation of the play. ü Research work. ü Conclusion

Biography of A. N. Ostrovsky Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolaevich is a Russian playwright, whose work became the most important stage in the development of the Russian national theater, a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, the author of the works “The Thunderstorm”, “The Snow Maiden”, “The Poor Bride” and others.

In 1874, the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers was formed, of which Ostrovsky remained chairman until his death. In 1885, Ostrovsky was appointed head of the repertory department of Moscow theaters and head of the theater school. A. N. Ostrovsky created a whole repertoire - fifty-four plays. “I have written all over Russian life” - from the prehistoric, fairy-tale times of “The Snow Maiden”, and the events of the past chronicle “Kozma Zakharyich Minin, Sukhoruk” to the topical reality of “Talents and Admirers” and “Guilty Without Guilt”. On June 2 (14), 1886, Ostrovsky died in his Kostroma estate Shchelykovo. The writer was buried next to his father, in the church cemetery near the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki, Kostroma province. After the death of the writer, the Moscow Duma established a reading room named after A. N. Ostrovsky in Moscow.

What is a play? Play - 1. A dramatic work intended for theatrical performance. outdated A short literary work (usually poetry).

What is theater? Theater is one of the art forms in which a figurative reflection of life is achieved through stage performance.

Snegurochka Snegurochka (“Spring Tale”) is a fairy tale play in four acts with a prologue by Alexander Ostrovsky. Graduated as a playwright on March 31, 1873. Published in the magazine “Bulletin of Europe”, No. 9 (1873). The plot is based on a Russian folk tale, drawn by Ostrovsky from the second volume of “Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature” (1867) by A. N. Afanasyev. Staged for the first time in Moscow, on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, on May 11, 1873, at a benefit performance of the artist Zhivokini. Composer P. I. Tchaikovsky wrote music for “The Snow Maiden”.

HISTORY OF THE CREATION OF THE PLAY The appearance of the poetic play “The Snow Maiden” was caused by a random circumstance. In 1873, the Maly Theater was closed for major renovations, and its troupe moved to the Bolshoi Theater building. The management commission of the Imperial Moscow Theaters decided to stage an extravaganza performance in which all three troupes would participate: drama, opera and ballet. A. N. Ostrovsky was approached with a proposal to write such a play in a very short time, who readily agreed to it, deciding to use the plot from the folk tale “The Snow Maiden Girl”. The music for the play, at Ostrovsky's request, was commissioned from the young P. I. Tchaikovsky. Both the playwright and the composer worked on the play with great passion, very quickly, in close creative contact. On March 31, on his fiftieth birthday, Ostrovsky finished The Snow Maiden.

Research

The first dramatic performance of The Snow Maiden took place on May 11, 1873 at the Maly Theater in Moscow. The music for the play was commissioned by P.I. To Tchaikovsky, Ostrovsky, in the process of working on the play, sent its text to Tchaikovsky in parts. “Tchaikovsky’s music for The Snow Maiden is charming,” wrote the playwright. ""Snow Maiden"<...>was written by order of the theater directorate and at the request of Ostrovsky in 1873, in the spring, and was given at the same time, Tchaikovsky recalled later, in 1879. - This is one of my favorite creations. It was a wonderful spring, my soul felt good, as always when summer and three months of freedom approached.

I liked Ostrovsky's play, and in three weeks I wrote the music without any effort. It seems to me that in this music the joyful spring mood with which I was then imbued should be noticeable.”

All three troupes of the then Imperial Theater were involved in the performance: drama, opera and ballet.

“I stage the play myself, as a complete owner,” Ostrovsky happily reported, “here they understand very well that only under this condition will it go well and be a success. Tomorrow I read “The Snow Maiden” to the artists for the third time, then I will go through the roles with each one separately.” The scene of the melting of the Snow Maiden was discussed for a long time. Assistant stage driver K.F. Waltz recalled: “It was decided to surround the Snow Maiden with several rows of very small holes in the floor of the stage, from which streams of water should rise, which, condensing, should hide the figure of the performer, descending unnoticed into the hatch under the spotlight.”

Due to renovations at the Maly Theater, it was decided to play “The Snow Maiden” at the Bolshoi. For dramatic actors, the stage of the Bolshoi Theater turned out to be uncomfortable. It was too large and acoustically not suitable for a natural, everyday-sounding voice. This greatly hindered the success of the performance. Actor P.M. Sadovsky wrote to Ostrovsky, who was not present at the premiere: “The audience listened to the play with great attention, but did not hear much at all, so the scene of Kupava with the Tsar, despite all Nikulina’s efforts to speak loudly and clearly, was only half audible.” The day after the performance, playwright V.I. Rodislavsky sent Ostrovsky a detailed “report” in which he reported on the same shortcomings of the play: “... many wonderful, first-class poetic beauties that you so generously scattered in the play have died and can only be resurrected in print... But I will tell you in order . Leshy’s charming monologue was completely lost. Spring's flight was quite successful, but her poetic monologue seemed long. A witty folk song about birds was lost because the music made it impossible to hear words so poignant that the censors pondered over them. The dance of the birds was applauded. Moroz's wonderful story about his amusements was lost because it was launched not by a story, but by singing with music that drowned out the words. The Shrovetide monologue was unsuccessful because Milensky spoke it from behind the scenes, and not hidden in a straw effigy... In the first act, Lelya’s charming song was repeated... The appearances of the Snow Maiden’s shadow were unsuccessful... My favorite story is about the power of flowers. .. was not noticed, the procession disappeared, the disappearance of the Snow Maiden was not very skillful... The theater was completely full, there was not a single empty seat... The cry of the privet was very successful.”

The reviewer wrote about the public’s attitude towards The Snow Maiden: “... some immediately turned away from it, because it was beyond their understanding, and declared that the play was bad, that it was a failure, etc. Others, to their surprise, noticed that, when they watched it the second time, they began to like it... The music... is both original and very good, the main thing is that it completely matches the character of the whole play.”

During Ostrovsky's lifetime, The Snow Maiden was performed at the Moscow Maly Theater 9 times. The last performance took place on August 25, 1874.

In 1880 N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov asked Ostrovsky for permission to use the text of “The Snow Maiden” to create an opera. The composer himself composed the libretto, agreeing with the author. Rimsky-Korsakov subsequently recalled: “I read The Snow Maiden for the first time around 1874, when it had just appeared in print. I didn’t like it much when reading it back then; The kingdom of the Berendeys seemed strange to me. Why? Were the ideas of the 60s still alive in me, or were the demands of stories from so-called life, which were in use in the 70s, keeping me in fetters?<...>In a word, Ostrovsky’s wonderful, poetic tale did not make an impression on me. In the winter of 1879-1880, I read “The Snow Maiden” again and clearly saw its amazing beauty. I immediately wanted to write an opera based on this plot.”

The first performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera took place in St. Petersburg, at the Mariinsky Theater, on January 29, 1882.

In the winter of 1882/83, “The Snow Maiden” was performed in a dramatic production by amateurs in the Mamontovs’ house. Prominent representatives of the artistic intelligentsia were attracted to it. The performance marked an attempt at a new interpretation of the play. The artistic part of the production was taken over by V.M. Vasnetsov. The artist’s talent manifested itself most powerfully in this work: he managed not only to penetrate the poetry of Ostrovsky’s wondrous fairy tale, to reproduce its special atmosphere, its Russian spirit, but also to captivate the other participants in the performance. In addition, he perfectly played the role of Santa Claus.

The performance in the Mamontovs’ house was a prologue to the production of “The Snow Maiden” by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov on the stage of the Private Russian Opera S.I. Mamontov in Moscow on October 8, 1885. The artistic design was carried out by V.M. Vasnetsov, I.I. Levitan and K.A. Korovin. The artists' work primarily expressed that new perception of Ostrovsky's fairy tale and Rimsky-Korsakov's opera, which contributed to the revival of public interest in these works. After the premiere, a number of newspapers urgently demanded the inclusion of the opera “The Snow Maiden” in the Bolshoi Theater repertoire. However, “The Snow Maiden” was performed on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater only on January 26, 1893.

In 1900, “The Snow Maiden” was shown in two theaters in Moscow - the New Theater and the Moscow Art Theater. Wonderful Russian actor and director V.E. Meyerhold wrote about the performance at the Art Theater: “The play was staged amazingly. So many colors that it seems there would be enough for ten plays.” It should be noted that the colorfulness of the performance was based on the study of the ethnographic content of the play; it reflected an attempt to convey the true picturesqueness of ancient life and to approach this task seriously, to study, if possible, real forms of folk applied art: costume, living conditions of peasants.

“If there are thirteen at the table, then that means there are lovers here,” noted in Chekhov’s “Three Sisters.” The thirteen characters in the play testify to the same thing. On the stage of the M.N. Theater Ermolova played a love story in which there were victims - “The Snow Maiden”. A fairy tale? Lie! Musical performance. If the first is undeniable, then the second is still growing.

Father Frost, according to Ostrovsky, the father of the Snow Maiden, has been removed from the play. Spring-red appears before the audience in a padded jacket and felt boots - Spring would not have reached our northern regions in any other outfit. With a large janitor's shovel, she collects traces of her husband's presence from the stage - snowdrifts. However, the story is a fairy tale, and therefore the snowdrifts come to life and turn into berendei sleeping under the snow: it is warmer under the snow. They also want to warm up Yermolovsky’s audience with “Spring Tale,” but it is perceived with coolness.

Alexey Kuzmin-Tarasov in this performance is one in three persons - the author of the idea, embodiment and music. There is enough music in the play and the audience is quite happy with it. “The Snow Maiden” is defined as “Scenes from the Outback in 12 songs,” so N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov’s operatic creation remained untouched. But the text by A.N. Ostrovsky, written 140 years ago, fits freely into the rhythms of folk, reggae and rock and roll, performed by the musicians of Garik Sukachev’s group “The Untouchables”. After all, the author of the play also had songs in mind, and therefore such a musical interpretation does not seem alien to the original source. The music in the play is lively and fiery, and the singers do not cause any complaints - everything is in tune: the sounds, the voices, and the swaying of the audience's legs. And yet “The Snow Maiden” is far from a musical, because twelve songs are diluted with “scenes”.

The Snow Maiden is a winter, festive character, but A.N. Ostrovsky wrote a spring fairy tale, and therefore Moroz’s daughter, who took after her father in spirit, will not have long to celebrate. Veronica Ivashchenko, who plays this role, appears either as an angular, tousled (from the forest) “bluestocking” (in a blue dress), or as a spectacular cold blonde, on whom field wreaths every now and then wither - a sharp temperature difference. Well, there are some motifs from a children’s party and a white and blue fur coat with an inventory number. The Snow Maiden desires love without having any idea about it. For her, in the play, an arrogant and arrogant person, love is something like a dress code, without which she will not be allowed to attend the party on the occasion of Yarilin's Day. That’s why she pronounces the words: “Mom, give me love!” with a dispassionate, everyday intonation like: “Mom, give me money!” The Snow Maiden will dress up both her figure and her heart, but this outfit is akin to what Medea gave to Creusa, a dress soaked in poison (in this case, love). The ending is known - “melts, melts, disappears.” The Snow Maiden will leave a wet spot and dry eyes of the audience.

For reasons stemming from childhood, the twists and turns of “The Snow Maiden” cannot surprise you, so you expect a reason for surprise from the actors. And you get it. The actors of the play, recent graduates of theater universities, strangely enough, did not bring the heat and energy of youth to the performance. On the contrary, they play according to the weather - “the sun is shining, but it’s not warming.” Not that they can be called “Thugs” (play by Kirill Serebrennikov), but their reaction and dynamics leave much to be desired. The performers are slow, relaxed, pampered, but their characters lack sun, there is no “golden laziness pouring from the sky” here, and the severe frosts, it would seem, should have stirred up the Berendeys. They don’t cook sbiten, and it’s not clear how they warm it up. Soul flame? But his sparks do not reach the audience. The words in “The Snow Maiden” do not “sound,” but the songs do.

Lel (Artem Efimov), the first guy in the village (and the village, judging by Leonid Shulyakov’s set, is one house) sings with an overweight guitar (from which, however, he doesn’t make a sound), along with Vesna (excellent work by Elizaveta Pashchenko) and Snegurochka. There is a barely noticeable competition between mother and daughter for the shepherdess's heart. “The guys from our backyard” are also good, like Kurilka (Anton Kolesnikov), a kind of street bully with chains on his jeans, twirling the keys to a... non-working motorcycle on his finger, or the big guy Brusila (Nikolai Zozulin). Also notable are the girls-friends of the offended Kupava (Anna Kuzmina) - Radushka (Margarita Tolstoganova) and Malusha (Valentina Oleneva), and the amusingly strange Beautiful Elena (Kristina Pivneva). From the general motley canvas of the play, only the oriental youth Mizgir (Rustam Akhmadeev) and his bodyguard, unforeseen in the play, named by the simple “Slavic” name Emil (Egor Kharlamov), stand out. If the Slobozhans of Berendeyevka would be fine with a light accent, then Mizgir does not at all suit a clear accent. However, Mizgir is a stranger in Berendeyev Posad, and therefore his oriental flair is like an addition, contrasting him with the posad guys. Another excellent feature of the actor is his deliberate seriousness in the interpretation of the proposed circumstances: the actor presents his hero with anguish, a sharp gesture, a tragic grimace, which makes him ridiculous against the backdrop of relaxed, calm “colleagues”. And this is not so much a problem of the performance as of the actor making a light production heavier. “The east is burning,” notes the Snow Maiden and, judging by Mizgir’s ardor, it seems that he will answer her; "Juliet is the sun."

“The Snow Maiden” set to music is pleasant to listen to, but strange to see. No folklore, at least folk. They saved money on the costume designer - he is not in the program, and no trace of him can be found on the stage. The actors are dressed in everyday clothes, devoid of a unified style, some in what - a summer sundress, a sweater, a dress. Musicians in hats (although they take them off), actors with thermoses and plastic cups, extraneous (not from Ostrovsky) lines... In combination with student signs of the performance, a complete illusion is created of an open rehearsal to which the public was allowed. People on stage are like people from the street, at least in terms of external characteristics, and this “democracy” is not good for “The Snow Maiden”. The lack of a unified style can only be justified by what is mentioned in the program with a capital letter, Outback. There is such a “shelter of peace, work and inspiration” on the map of the Pskov region, but it is unlikely that the costumes were based on the local residents there.

Despite the lightness of the concept and the significant editing of the text, there are interesting moments in the play, but not developed (by the director). Thus, the dialogue between the Tsar (Sergei Badichkin) and the “close boyar” Bermyata (Yuri Kazakov) turns out to be very consonant with the time (not stage, local). The Tsar complains that the people’s “service to beauty has disappeared”, in general about the decline of morals, to which the adviser offers a remedy that is universal at all times for those in power: “Issue a decree!” “Can we expect any benefit?”, the Tsar clarifies, “No benefit,” he hears in response, “Cleansing for us.”

The state of affairs in Berendey’s kingdom is akin to Karamzin’s diagnosis - “They are stealing”, however, this kingdom is “not enough, there is nowhere to roam,” and therefore Bermyata clarifies: “Little by little.” “And do you catch it?”, His Majesty asks without much interest; - “Why catch them, / Waste your efforts? /Let them steal for themselves,/Someday they will get caught...” But, judging by the simple decoration of the royal chambers, everything has already been stolen. And the king himself, who exchanged the scepter and orb (or maybe with a capital letter?) for a massive clock and an ax, which he thrusts into the platform on stage, does not look much like a king. Although it just so happened, they are kings either with or under the ax. In a different way - only in fairy tales, where “porridge from an axe”. For "The Snow Maiden" both the porridge - a mixture of genres, and the ax - a montage of text and meanings - are symbolic.
“The generous people are great in everything,” the Tsar sings a cheerful song at the end of the performance. The Berendeis sadly sing along with the king. As befits the people under the Tsar - in chorus. A few scenes before the finale, the “generous people” rejoiced at the death sentence handed down to Mizgir, shouting: “When? At what time?". Winter and spring crops are in the field, but you also need to nourish your soul with spectacles. But the execution will be canceled, however, Mizgir’s death cannot be avoided. The people's sacrifice is manifested here in the every-minute readiness to make a sacrifice. Or rather, the sacrifice of those who do not live “in the Berendey way,” those who are not accustomed to bowing “more often, but lower.”

The musical numbers in the performance go off with a bang, but as soon as the vocalists start to recitate, the record seems to jam. The style of the performance is a kind of jam session (not musical, but artistic), which is performed without special preparation, thought or expenditure of effort. It seems that the artists on stage are having a good time, and the audience, in general, is also happy with everything. Both those on stage and those in the hall manage to have a fairly tolerable leisure time for about two hours. “The Snow Maiden” is not an evening at the theater, but a theatrical evening. There is no need to talk about interpretations of images, super-tasks and relevance here, but such an evening cannot be called lost. “The Snow Maiden” in combination with the theater’s democratic and hospitable buffet is an ideal option for meetings, while away evenings and moments when there is a strong desire to be in public. Cute, intelligent, not expensive. Not the heart, but not the wallet either. But this kind of theater, which is “not low, not high,” not only can, but must exist. “Drive away your worries: there is a time for care,” they sing in the play, and they are right.

“The Snow Maiden,” according to the director, is played in “timelessness,” but this is probably due to its temporary presence in the theater’s repertoire. Her appearance, however, is completely justified - the theater is not afraid to open its doors to young directors, and this is worth a lot. We are, of course, not talking about losses. “Snegurochka” is a universal, family, easy and spring project. “Spring is coming,” “the mind and heart are not in harmony,” but “The Snow Maiden” has every chance not to melt, but to tune in to the right mood.

"Komsomolskaya Pravda", "Theatron"