Petrushka Theatre: history, performances. Puppet show

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

It is believed that the birthplace of modern puppet theater is India and Ancient China. Later, this type of democratic art was brought by itinerant artists, possibly gypsies, to ancient Greece, and from there it spread throughout Europe. It is not known for certain when puppeteers appeared in our country, but the Russian folk theater Petrushka was very popular with people of all ages and classes for about three centuries.

Backstory

Researchers believe that there were 3 types of puppet theater in Russia:

• puppet, in which puppets were controlled with threads;
• Petrushka Theater - with figures of characters put on the puppeteer's fingers;
• nativity scene - a theater in which puppets were motionless fixed on rods and moved along slots made in a special box.

The last option was popular only in the southern regions of the country and in Siberia, and until the end of the 19th century, puppets, due to the complexity of the figurines, were used quite rarely. Thus, speaking about Russian pre-revolutionary puppet shows, most often they havemind the Petrushka Theatre. It got its name from the name of the protagonist of funny performances played right on the street.

Who is Parsley

This nickname was given to a glove puppet, which was usually dressed up in a red shirt, canvas pants and a pointed cap with a tassel. It is still not entirely clear why her physiognomy was traditionally given "non-Russian" features. In particular, he has an excessively large head and hands, a swarthy face, huge almond-shaped eyes, and a hooked nose. Most likely, Petrushka's appearance is due to the fact that he was created in the image and likeness of the Italian Pulcinella.

As for the character of the character, he is a rogue and a swindler who has no laws.

Appearance of Parsley

In Russia, a glove doll with strange features and named Ivan Ratyutyu appeared in the 17th century. However, it received its greatest distribution and its final name only 200 years later. By the way, Petrushka himself introduced himself as Pyotr Ivanovich (sometimes Petrovich) Uksusov.

Description of theater at an early stage

In the 17th century, performances were played without a screen. More precisely, the traditional Petrushka theater assumed the participation of only one actor, who tied a skirt to his belt. A hoop was sewn to its hem, lifting which, the puppeteer was hidden from prying eyes. He could move his arms freely and imagine scenes with the participation of two characters. At the same time, the comedian almost always worked in tandem with the bear leader and also performed the functions of a buffoon.

Description of the theater after the middle of the 19th century

From the 1840s the screen was used. It consisted of three frames, which were fastened with staples and tightened with chintz. She was placed directly on the ground, and she hid the puppeteer. An obligatory attribute, without which it was impossible to imagine the Petrushka Theater, was a hurdy-gurdy. Her sounds invited the audience, and behind the screen, the comedian communicated with the audience through a special whistle. During the performance, he could run out to the audience in the costume of Petrushka: with a long nose and a red cap. At the same time, the organ grinder became his partner, and together they acted out comic scenes.

Puppeteers

The Petrushka Theater, whose history has not been fully studied, was considered purely masculine. To make the puppeteer's voice more squeaky and loud, a special beeping whistle was used, which was inserted into the larynx. In addition, the puppeteer tried to speak very fast and laugh disgustingly at his every joke.

Plots

The theater plays (Petrushka was their main, but not the only hero) were rather monotonous. The main plots are: treatment and training for a soldier's service, a date with the bride, buying and testing a horse. The scenes followed one after another in a certain order. At the same time, the duration of the performance depended on how long the audience paid their attention to this street performance.

The action took place in the following sequence:

• Petrushka decides to buy a horse from a gypsy horse-dealer. He negotiated with the seller for a long time. Thenthis occupation bothers him, and he beats the gypsy, who runs away.
• Petrushka tries to get on the horse, but the horse throws him off and goes after the horse-dealer, leaving the cunning man lying motionless.
• The doctor is coming. He asks Petrushka about his illness. It turns out that he has a thousand diseases. The doctor and Petrushka fight because the patient calls the doctor rude. The bully hits the Medic hard on the head with a club.
• The quarterman appears and asks Petrushka why he killed the doctor. Plut replies that he "does not know his science well." Then Petrushka beats the quarterman with a club and kills him. The dog comes running. Petrushka turns to the public and asks her for help. He then tries to appease the dog and promises to feed her cat meat. The dog grabs Petrusha by the nose and drags her away. With this, the performance ended and the audience dispersed.

Petrushka's wedding

Sometimes, usually during Maslenitsa and other festivities, the performance, at the request of the public, could go on even longer. Then they played the scene "Petrushka's Wedding". Her story was crude and frivolous. Petrushka was brought a bride, whom he examined as if it were a horse. After he agreed to marry, long persuasion of the bride began to "sacrifice herself" before the wedding. From that moment on, the spectators left the performance, taking the children away. The remaining men listened to Petrushka's greasy jokes with delight.

There was also a scene with a priest or deacon. However, due to censorship considerations, it was not included in any of the collections where the texts of performances were recorded withParsley.

Death

Among the characters of the Petrushka Theater there was one of the most sinister, who defeated the main character. It was Death, who, after a verbal skirmish, took Petrushka with her. However, the hero soon resurrected in another place. This circumstance was the reason that some researchers began to find a connection between Petrushka and pagan deities, who endlessly died and were reborn here and there.

Puppet theaters of Moscow

Before the October Revolution, such permanent cultural institutions did not exist, and performances were staged by solo artists on the streets or in booths, or they were invited to private homes in order to entertain guests. The first real puppet theaters in Moscow appeared in the early 1930s. The most famous of them eventually became the largest in the world. This is the theater. S. Obraztsova. It is located at: st. Sadovaya-Samotechnaya, 3. In addition to it, at about the same time, the Moscow Puppet Theater appeared in the capital, originally created to popularize children's literature. He toured the country and introduced viewers to new works by Soviet authors written specifically for the younger generation.

Later, other puppet theaters in Moscow appeared: "Albatross", "Firebird", "Fairytale", "Chamber" and others. In them you can watch not only children's performances, but also performances specially created for adults.

Petrushka Puppet Theater

To preserve the traditions of Russian street performances for children and adults, Andrey Shavel and artist Valentina Smirnova organized a new creative team. It was called the Russian Folk Theater "Petrushka" and debuted in 1989 in the city of Fresino.

The theater puts on performances lasting 30 minutes right on the street and tries not to deviate from the traditional scenarios of farce performances.

The appearance of the Petrushka theater is connected with the desire of its creators to preserve the best that was in the street mass art of past centuries.

Performances are also played indoors. In such cases, the audience is also introduced to the history of Petrushka and the Russian farce theater. In their work, the actors use props that are an exact copy of the screens and dolls that their predecessors used to entertain the public on the streets of Russian cities 150-200 years ago.

Now you know how Russian folk puppet theater arose. Parsley is still of interest to children today, so be sure to take them to some show in the farce style.