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Russia's Theatrical Past
Court Entertainment in the Seventeenth Century
Claudia R. Jensen (Author), Ingrid Maier (Author), Stepan Shamin (Author), Daniel C. Waugh (Author)
9780253056337
Hardback, published 1 June 2021
316 pages, 14 b&w illus. - 14 Illustrations, black and white
23.5 x 15.6 x 2.6 cm, 0.667 kg
Russia's Theatrical Past: Court Entertainment in the Seventeenth Century presents an exceptional model of what can be achieved through international cooperation. Russia's Theatrical Past convincingly reveals how Russia's importation of musical and theatrical culture began before Peter the Great's reign and presents a strong argument for why Russia should be included on the grand map of Europe's theatrical world even before Peter's "Europeanization" of the country. This study makes an important contribution to the question of quality and periodization of West-Eastern cultural exchange. We hope it will be widely received and we look forward to further studies by the four authors.
In the 17th century, only Moscow's elite had access to the magical, vibrant world of the theater. In Russia's Theatrical Past, Claudia Jensen, Ingrid Maier, Stepan Shamin, and Daniel C. Waugh mine Russian and Western archival sources to document the history of these productions as they developed at the court of the Russian tsar. Using such sources as European newspapers, diplomats' reports, foreign travel accounts, witness accounts, and payment records, they also uncover unique aspects of local culture and politics of the time. Focusing on Northern European theatrical traditions, the authors explore the concept of intertheater, which describes transmissions between performing traditions, and reveal how the Muscovite court's interest in theater and other musical entertainment was strongly influenced by diplomatic contacts. Russia's Theatrical Past, made possible by an international research collaborative, offers fresh insight into how and why Russians went to such great efforts to rapidly develop court theater in the 17th century.
Acknowledgments
A Note on Dates, Transliteration, and Translation
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: The Comedians Come to Pskov
1. Court Music at Home and Abroad
2. The Theater of Diplomacy
3. Introducing Pickleherring: The Origins of the Russian Court Theater
4. The Plays and "Ballets" for the Tsar
5. The Play of Tamerlane
6. From Tamerlane to Tamerlane and Beyond
Bibliography
Index