Folk Drama Theater in Irkutsk: connecting the centuries

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The Folk Drama Theater was founded in Irkutsk in 1977. It has been led by Honored Artist of Russia Mikhail Kornev since its inception. Then it was practically a few people united by one idea and tuned to the same wave. Now the theater has its own premises, where meetings and performances are held. 1987 brought the theatre's professional status. The Irkutsk Folk Drama Theater has been written in the history of the Russian people in its books, as it deserves a separate chapter.

History is like a book

in 1998, the City Council gave the actors the premises of the former cinema at their disposal.

And the work began to boil. An artist-decorator, balancing on shaky scaffolding at an incredible height under the ceiling of the theater, painted stucco moldings in the hall with gold leaf. Meanwhile, the troupe settled in a wooden house nearby, where the girls, who looked like Russian beauties from the canvases, prepared a hearty dinner and served it, fragrant andoutgoing ferry, to young actors who look like classic Russian men. The guys were bearded, strongly built, and in winter they wore sheepskin coats and felt boots. A rather picturesque picture of these lunch breaks begging for canvas.

Having cleared everything from the table after the meal, the girls-actresses sat down by the window to sew another costume for the play. They themselves embroidered the fabric with gilded braid, they themselves embroidered patterns on white shirts-kosovorotkas. The guys did not play in the theater, they just lived like that. There were no roles and makeup as such - they showed the life of the Russian people as they themselves felt it. And all this time, God, the Tsar and the Russian soul stood behind them.

Life and work

Irkutsk loves the theater of folk drama and knows its repertoire by heart. Although it contains both the works of European playwrights and modern plays, nevertheless, patriotism and adherence to traditions, a good knowledge of the history of the Russian people, remains. It is in the blood of theater actors and the team teaches this to children, urging them never to forget that they are children of Mother Russia. As the townspeople say, the folk drama theater of Irkutsk lives with the people and for the people. "This is a world, a Russian home, where the life of a Russian person is gathered in work, in a family, in war, in song, in a holiday, in a costume, in musical instruments" - this is how people say about the folk theater. Shrovetide, Christmas, Victory Day and many other great holidays are held in the city with the obligatory participation of the drama theater and its pupils.

The audience does not hide their emotions, someone is crying with emotion, rememberingmaybe moments of their lives, and someone laughs happily, becoming happier from being part of such performances.

The soul of the theater

The emblem of the theater is a trinity: a peasant, a warrior and a monk. She eloquently speaks of the spiritual unity of the Russian people, of their patriotism and strong unity. Actors are well versed in the history of their people. From heroes to military Cossacks, from Tsarist Russia to special forces - the whole range of Russian patriotism is presented by them in their performances and speeches. Not a single Christian or Russian holiday is complete without these daring guys and cheerful girls. But it all started in 1977 with a passion for the European school of acting and skill.

Friendship and loy alty

The People's Drama Theater of Irkutsk is friends with Bishop of Irkutsk and Angarsk Vadim, who on Christmas Day, January 7, 1999, held a housewarming service for the theater in the new building. On this day, the lovingly restored hall was overflowing. Grateful spectators came to congratulate the guys on a double holiday. The authorities of the city were also present at the celebration.

The Irkutsk Folk Drama Theater has been close, long and firmly friends with Sunday school pupils. Children like to attend the performances of this group, they learn stamina, kindness and patriotism of the Russian people. They understand the power of thought, embedded in the laws of God, and learn the history of their ancestors. Children's circles have been created in the theater, where the younger generation studies the history of Russian weapons art, joinsRussian crafts, which the native land was famous for from century to century.

A new world through the ages

Keeping in step with the people, knowing all their joys and hardships, the folk drama theater of Irkutsk with its creativity makes you not forget your native roots, teaches you to love your native land and respect the work of your ancestors. Despite the rapidly developing technologies, the rapidly changing fashion for absolutely everything, the actors of the folk drama theater have remained faithful to the traditions and continue to study them, going further and further into the depths of centuries.

This position allows the children not to break away from their native roots, to know what our ancestors fought for, what they served, and to support the spiritual world protected long ago by great-grandfathers, not allowing high ideals to disappear. The Irkutsk Folk Drama Theater supports and helps the Alexander Nevsky Church. The fact that M. Kornev managed to keep the backbone of the theater in the same composition as in 1977 proves the unity of spirit and common faith. The trinity emblem belonging to the Irkutsk Theater of Folk Drama eloquently confirms this.