RECONSTRUCTION OF PERFORMANCES BASED ON PLAYS BY A.N. OSTROVSKY IN A.A. GRIGORIEV’S THEATER CRITICISM

Abstract

The article describes the formation of the technique of reconstruction of an on-stage performance in the theater criticism by A.A. Grigoriev. The author analyzes a well-known text on theater criticism, which has “Poverty is No Vice” by A.N. Ostrovsky, a play staged in the Alexandrinsky Theater in the early 1860s, as the subject of Grigoriev’s attention. The analysis reveals the emergence of the “theater centered” approach in the 19th century Russian theater criticism: A.A. Grigoriev is one of the first to masterfully analyze the stage texts (performances), based on A.N. Ostrovsky’s plays. The critic pays tribute to A.N. Ostrovskiy’s skill of a playwright, and places the actor’s art, which occupied an important place in the national theater of the mid-19th century, in the center of his attention. The author of the article considers a number of reconstructions of the actor’s work in the play “Poverty is No Vice” made by A.A. Grigoriev. The description of the actors’ work in the roles they perform allows the critic to be evident in his sharp judgments about their professional skill. The comparison of the reconstructions of the actors’ works by P.M. Sadovsky Sr. (Maly Theater, 1854) and P.V. Vasilyev (Alexandrinsky Theater, 1863) as Lubim Tortsov enables seeing the skill advance of a theater critic describing an actor’s art. The article also focuses on the role of reconstructing an on-going play in the process of training a theater critic in a modern theater school.