The first fortress theater. Serfs who became more famous than their masters. Provincial serf theaters

Fortress Theater serf theater

in Russia, a private theater of the nobility with a troupe of serfs. Originated in late XVII c., became widespread in late XVIII - early XIX centuries, mainly in Moscow and the Moscow region (theaters of the Sheremetevs, Yusupovs, etc.). The names of many serf actors entered the history of the theater (P. I. Zhemchugova, T. V. Shlykova-Granatova, etc.). Serf theaters became the basis of the Russian provincial stage.

FORTRESS THEATER

KREPOSTNOY THEATER, a private noble (landowner's home) theater in Russia, which arose on a feudal-serf basis. Separate home performances by serf actors began to be organized at the end of the 17th century, but serf theaters became especially widespread in the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries and existed until the abolition of serfdom (1861).
Types of fortress theaters
The serf theaters, of which there were about two hundred, were distinguished by many significant nuances: some were played only by the nobles themselves, often titled and high-ranking, or their children - such a theater is usually called a noble amateur theater; in others, “domoi,” that is, serf actors, performed next to amateur noblemen; thirdly, “free” artists of the public imperial stage or private professional enterprise were invited to play the main roles, and the rest of the troupe were from their own “homegrown”; fourthly, “free” celebrities, Russian and foreign, appeared only as orchestra directors, choreographers and theater teachers, and the performers were mainly “own” actors; There were also landowner theaters, which turned into public theaters with an entrance fee.
Features of the fortress theater
Any such serf theater, intimate home or public, was created at the whim of the landowner, at his expense, thanks to the labor of his own serfs, used as either actors, or orchestra musicians, or attendants of the stage action, which most often took place in their own (sometimes rented) house, where the owner was the absolute master on stage, behind the scenes and in auditorium, that is, he determined the artistic and aesthetic level of performances, formed the direction (dramatic or musical), chose the repertoire, distributed roles, etc., accommodated the audience at his discretion, and also determined the moral face of the theater.
Spread of serf theaters
At first, serf theaters were set up in the city estates of both capitals, especially in Moscow, where more than twenty of them existed in the 1780-90s alone. In winter, home theaters operated in the city, and in the summer, together with their owners, they moved to country estates. So, in Moscow at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century. theaters operated by: S. S. Apraksin, G. I. Bibikov, I. Ya. Bludov, N. A. and V. A. Vsevolozhsky, P. M. Volkonsky, I. A. Gagarin, A. I. Davydov, N. I. Demidov, I. A Durasova, I. K. Zamyatin, L. K. Naryshkin, N. I. Odoevsky, V. G. Orlov, S. M. and G. P. Rzhevskikh, D. E. and A. E. Stolypin, A. S. Stepanova, P. A. Poznyakov, D. I. and N. N. Trubetskoy, P. B. Sheremetev (cm. SHEREMETEV Petr Borisovich) and N.P. Sheremeteva (cm. SHEREMETEV Nikolay Petrovich), N. G. and B. G. Shakhovskikh, N. B. Yusupov and others. In St. Petersburg, home theaters were especially famous: D. P. Baryatinskaya, P. A. Golitsyna, E. F. Dolgorukaya, A. A. and L.A. Naryshkin, A.N. Nelidinskaya, A.S. Stroganov, I.G. Chernyshev, heir to the throne Pavel Petrovich (cm. PAVEL I Petrovich), and etc.
Count Sheremetev Theater
One of the first and most outstanding was the theater of Counts Sheremetev. He began his activities in St. Petersburg in 1765 as a noble amateur and finally took shape by the end of the 1770s in Moscow (on Bolshaya Nikolskaya Street). From hundreds of thousands of their serfs, the Sheremetevs carefully selected and trained various craftsmen who took part in the creation of the theater (architects F. S. Argunov, A. Mironov, G. Diushin; artists I. P. and N. I. Argunov (cm. ARGUNOV), K. Vuntusov, G. Mukhin, S. Kalinin; driver F. Pryakhin; musicians P. Kalmykov, S. Degtyarev, G. Lomakin (cm. LOMAKIN Gabriel Yakimovich) and etc.). They worked under the guidance and alongside renowned European and Russian masters.
At the Sheremetev estate near Moscow, Kuskovo (cm. KUSKOVO), theaters were built: “air” (in the open air), Maly and Bolshoi. The troupe included serf actors, musicians, dancers, decorators, etc. (more than two hundred people), among them the outstanding actress and singer Zhemchugova (P.I. Kovaleva). The artists were paid in money and food. The troupe was directed and supervised by the serf “his excellency’s librarian” B. G. Vroblevsky, who was educated at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy (cm. SLAVIC-GREEK-LATIN ACADEMY) and visited abroad with N.P. Sheremetev in the early 1770s. Wroblewski translated the plays and remade them at the same time. The theater's repertoire included more than a hundred plays, mainly comic operas, as well as comedies, operas and ballets.
The theater reached its peak in the mid-1780s, when N.P. Sheremetev-son, an enlightened nobleman, became its owner. talented musician and selfless lover theatrical arts, who built a magnificent theater-palace in the village of Ostankino in the early 1790s (cm. OSTANKINO).
Fortress Theater of Prince Yusupov
By the beginning of the 19th century. (around 1818) marks the heyday of the activities of the serf theater of Prince N. B. Yusupov. In 1819, a theater building was built in Moscow, which had a stalls, a semi-circular amphitheater, a mezzanine and two galleries. In the summer, the theater operated in the village of Arkhangelskoye near Moscow, where a magnificent theater building built in 1818 still remains. Pietro Gonzago painted the scenery for the theater (cm. GONZAGO Pietro). Operas and magnificent ballet performances were given at the Yusupov Theater.
"Theatrical phenomenon"
Around 1811, a “theatrical phenomenon worthy of special attention” appeared in Moscow - the serf theater of P. A. Poznyakov, located on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in Leontyevsky Lane. The theater performed mainly lavishly furnished comic operas, for which he wrote the scenery Italian painter Scotty. The serf actors of this theater, who “played incomparably better than many free artists,” were trained by S. N. Sandunov (cm. SANDUNOV Sila Nikolaevich) and E. S. Sandunova (cm. SANDUNOVA Elizaveta Semenovna).
Provincial serf theaters
By the end of the 18th century. serf theaters began to appear in provincial cities and estates, sometimes very remote from the center, including in the Urals and Siberia. Their level was very different: from primitive home-grown performances on hastily put together stages with a painted sheet instead of a curtain to perfectly organized performances in specially built theaters with a well-equipped stage. An example of the first is the theater of Prince G. A. Gruzinsky in the village of Lyskovo; the second - the theater of Prince N. G. Shakhovsky in the village of Yusupovo, and then in Nizhny Novgorod; I. I. Esipov Theater in Kazan; S. M. Kamensky in Orel; S. G. Zorich in Shklov.
Zorich Fortress Theater
In the 1780s, a favorite of Catherine II (cm. CATHERINE II), S.G. Zorich, built a theater on his estate Shklov, Mogilev province, which, according to contemporaries, was “enormous.” The repertoire included dramas, comedies, comic operas and ballets. In addition to the serfs, the dramatic performances included cadets of the Shklov Cadet Corps (established by Zorich) and amateur nobles, among whom Prince P. V. Meshchersky was famous - his acting was highly appreciated by M. S. Shchepkin (cm. SHEPKIN Mikhail Semenovich). In the ballets, which “were very good,” only serf dancers danced. After Zorich's death, his ballet troupe in 1800 was purchased by the treasury for the St. Petersburg imperial stage.
Vorontsov Fortress Theater
Among the provincial theaters, the serf theater of Count A. R. Vorontsov also stood out (cm. VORONTSOV Alexander Romanovich), located in the village of Alabukhi, Tambov province, then in the village of Andreevskoye, Vladimir province. Vorontsov, one of the most educated people of his time, was an ardent opponent of Gallomania, which spread among Russian nobles in the 18th century. Therefore, the repertoire of his serf theater primarily included plays by Russian playwrights: A. P. Sumarokov (cm. SUMAROKOV Alexander Petrovich), D. I. Fonvizina (cm. FONVIZIN Denis Ivanovich), P. A. Plavilshchikova (cm. PLAVILSHIKOV Petr Alekseevich), M. I. Verevkina (cm. VEREVKIN Mikhail Ivanovich),I. B. Princess (cm. KNYAZHNIN Yakov Borisovich), O. A. Ablesimova (cm. ABLESIMOV Alexander Onisimovich) etc. Such plays by Moliere were staged (cm. MOLIERE), P. O. Beaumarchais (cm. BEAUMARCHAIS Pierre Augustin), Voltaire (cm. VOLTER) and other European playwrights.
The total composition of the troupe ranged from 50 to 60 people, including musicians, painters, machinists, tailors, hairdressers, etc. The artists were divided into “first-class” (13-15 people) and “second-class” (6-8 people) and depending from this they received an annual reward in money and things. There was no ballet troupe in the Vorontsov Theater and, when dance scenes were required, “women who dance” were invited.
Public fortress theater
The public serf theater of Count S. M. Kamensky was opened in 1815 in Orel. It was one of the largest provincial theaters. It existed almost until 1835. In the first year of its activity alone, about a hundred new performances were staged: comedies, dramas, tragedies, vaudevilles, operas and ballets. The count, whom his contemporaries called a “remarkable tyrant” (primarily for his attitude towards serf actors), bought talented actors for his troupe from many landowners, and also invited famous “free” artists, for example M. S. Shchepkin, to play the first roles (cm. SHEPKIN Mikhail Semenovich)(his oral story formed the basis of the plot of A. Herzen’s story “The Thieving Magpie”; the atmosphere of this theater is also described by N. Leskov’s story “The Stupid Artist”).
Serf theaters existed in conditions where their owners tried to make the most of the talent of the serfs, as a result of which many of them died prematurely. However, in spite of everything, these theaters made a valuable contribution to the development of national theatrical art and contributed to its wide dissemination - many provincial theaters trace their history back to serf home troupes.

encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .

See what “serf theater” is in other dictionaries:

Fortress Theater in Russian Empire until 1861 (abolition of serfdom) private theater nobleman, consisting of serf actors who belonged to him by right of ownership. Such a troupe performed where, for how long and as the owner indicated... ... Wikipedia

Modern encyclopedia

In Russia, a private theater of the nobility with a troupe of serfs. Arose in the end. 17th century, became widespread in the late 18 start 19th centuries, mainly in Moscow and the Moscow region (theatres of the Sheremetevs, Yusupovs, etc.). The names of many serf actors were included in... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Fortress Theater- FORFERT THEATER, in Russia a private theater of the nobility with a troupe of serfs. They arose at the end of the 17th century, were widespread in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and existed until the abolition of serfdom. Sometimes they had an almost professional character,... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

View of a private noble theater in Russia; troupes were created by landowners from among the serfs. K. t. appeared at the end of the 17th century. They became widespread at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, mainly in Moscow and the Moscow region (at the turn of the 18th - 19th ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

The main house of the Lyublino estate, the Durasov Fortress Theater in Lyublino, was famous throughout Moscow and the outfit ... Wikipedia

Dictionary Ushakova

1. FORFERT1 [sn], serfdom, serfdom. 1. adj., by meaning associated with serfdom. Serfdom. Serf peasant. Serf farming. Fortress factory. Fortress theater. Serf labor. 2. in meaning noun serf... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

Theater of Count Sheremetevs. One of the first and most outstanding was the theater of Counts Sheremetev. He began his activities in St. Petersburg in 1765 as a noble amateur and finally took shape by the end of the 1770s in Moscow (on Bolshaya Nikolskaya Street). From hundreds of thousands of their serfs, the Sheremetevs carefully selected and trained various craftsmen who took part in the creation of the theater (architects F.S. Argunov, A. Mironov, G. Diushin; artists I.P. and N.I. Argunov, K. Vuntusov, G. Mukhin, S. Kalinin; driver F. Pryakhin; musicians P. Kalmykov, S. Degtyarev, G. Lomakin and others). They worked under the guidance and alongside renowned European and Russian masters.

In the Sheremetev estate near Moscow, Kuskovo, theaters were built: “air” (in the open air), Maly and Bolshoi. The troupe included serf actors, musicians, dancers, decorators, etc. (more than two hundred people), among them the outstanding actress and singer Zhemchugova (P.I. Kovaleva). The artists were paid in money and food. The troupe was directed and supervised over its training by the serf “his excellency’s librarian” B.G. Vroblevsky, who was educated at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy and visited with N.P. Sheremetev in the early 1770s abroad. Wroblewski translated the plays and remade them at the same time. The theater's repertoire included more than a hundred plays, mostly comic operas, as well as comedies, operas and ballets.

The theater reached its peak in the mid-1780s, when N.P. became its owner. Sheremetev the son is an enlightened nobleman, a talented musician and a selfless lover of theatrical art, who built a magnificent theater-palace in the village of Ostankino in the early 1790s.

Fortress Theater of Prince Yusupov. By the beginning of the 19th century. (around 1818) dates back to the heyday of the activities of the serf theater of Prince N.B. Yusupova. In 1819, a theater building was built in Moscow, which had a stalls, a semi-circular amphitheater, a mezzanine and two galleries. In the summer, the theater operated in the village of Arkhangelskoye near Moscow, where a magnificent theater building built in 1818 still remains. Pietro Gonzago painted the scenery for the theater. Operas and magnificent ballet performances were given at the Yusupov Theater.

"Theatrical phenomenon". Around 1811, a “theatrical phenomenon worthy of special attention” appeared in Moscow - the serf theater of P.A. Poznyakova, located on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in Leontyevsky Lane. The theater performed mainly lavishly staged comic operas, the scenery for which was painted by the Italian painter Scotti. The serf actors of this theater, who “played incomparably better than many free artists,” were trained by S.N. Sandunov and E.S. Sandunova.

Provincial serf theaters. By the end of the 18th century. Serf theaters began to appear in provincial towns and estates, sometimes very remote from the center, including in the Urals and Siberia. Their level was very different: from primitive home-grown performances on hastily put together stages with a painted sheet instead of a curtain to perfectly organized performances in specially built theaters with a well-equipped stage.

An example of the first is the theater of Prince G.A. Gruzinsky in the village of Lyskovo; the second - the theater of Prince N.G. Shakhovsky in the village of Yusupovo, and then in Nizhny Novgorod; theater I.I. Esipov in Kazan; CM. Kamensky in Orel; S.G. Zorich in Shklov.

Zorich Fortress Theater. In the 1780s, Catherine II's favorite, S.G. Zorich, on his estate Shklov, Mogilev province, built a theater, which, according to contemporaries, was “enormous.” The repertoire included dramas, comedies, comic operas and ballets. In addition to serfs, cadets of the Shklov Cadet Corps (established by Zorich) and amateur nobles, among whom Prince P.V. was famous, took part in the dramatic performances. Meshchersky - his play was highly appreciated by M.S. Shchepkin. In the ballets, which “were very good,” only serf dancers danced. After Zorich's death, his ballet troupe in 1800 was purchased by the treasury for the St. Petersburg imperial stage.

Vorontsov Fortress Theater. Among the provincial theaters, the fortress theater of Count A.R. also stood out. Vorontsov, who was in the village of Alabukhi, Tambov province, then in the village of Andreevskoye, Vladimir province. Vorontsov, one of the most educated people of his time, was an ardent opponent of Gallomania, which spread among Russian nobles in the 18th century. Therefore, the repertoire of his serf theater primarily included plays by Russian playwrights: A.P. Sumarokova, D.I. Fonvizina, P.A. Plavilshchikova, M.I. Verevkin, Ya.B. Knyazhnina, O.A. Ablesimova and others. The following plays were staged by Moliere, P.O. Beaumarchais, Voltaire and other European playwrights.

The total composition of the troupe ranged from 50 to 60 people, including musicians, painters, machinists, tailors, hairdressers, etc. The artists were divided into “first-class” (13-15 people) and “second-class” (6-8 people) and depending from this they received an annual reward in money and things. There was no ballet troupe in the Vorontsov Theater and, when dance scenes were required, “women who dance” were invited.

Public fortress theater. Public serf theater of Count S.M. Kamensky was opened in 1815 in Orel. It was one of the largest provincial theaters. It existed almost until 1835. In the first year of its activity alone, about a hundred new performances were staged: comedies, dramas, tragedies, vaudevilles, operas and ballets. The count, whom his contemporaries called a “remarkable tyrant” (primarily for his attitude towards serf actors), bought talented actors for his troupe from many landowners, and also invited famous “free” artists, for example, M.S., to play the first roles. Shchepkin (his oral story formed the basis of the plot of A. Herzen’s story “The Thieving Magpie”; the atmosphere of this theater is also described by N. Leskov’s story “The Stupid Artist”).

In the empress’s retinue was a member of the French embassy, Count Segur, who was quite skeptical about the Russian nobles and their holidays in honor of Catherine II: “These magnificent celebrations are always the same: boring balls, uninteresting shows, magnificent poems for the occasion, brilliant fireworks, after which only smoke remains, a lot of wasted time, money and effort... If it was boring to participate in them, then it’s even more boring to describe them... I, however, will not pass in silence one, given in honor of the Empress by Count Sheremetev.”

Artist Ivan Argunov.

(presumably Anna Izumrudova-Buyanova).

The performance made a particular impression on Segur: “I was surprised by the elegance of the melodies, the richness of the outfits, the dexterity and lightness of the dancers. But what struck me most of all was that the author of the words and music of the opera, the architect who built the theater, the painter who decorated it, the actors and actresses, the dancers and dancers in the ballet, the musicians who made up the orchestra - all belonged to Count Sheremetev, who carefully tried to educate and teaching them."

The Kuskovsky Theater was truly the fruit of the creativity of His Excellency’s “own” people, despite the fact that many opera scores, set and costume designs, designs for the theater and its machinery were sent by Ivar, Nikolai Petrovich’s Parisian correspondent. All this took shape thanks to the architects Argunov and Mironov, decorative artists Funtusov and Kalinin, musicians Kalmykov and Smagin, singers Grigory Kokhanovsky and Stepan Degtyarev, actresses Praskovya Zhemchugova and Anna Izumrudova, dancers Alexei Vorobyov and Tatyana Shlykova.

Sketch of a hero's costume for the theater
Sheremetev. 80s of the 18th century.
Artist M. Kirzinger.

Costume design for the heroine for the theater
Sheremetev in Kuskovo. 1780s.
Artist M. Kirzinger.

This discovery struck Segur because everywhere in Russia he saw traces of “real slavery,” which left the stamp of hopeless downtroddenness and savagery on the serfs. “The common people, immersed in slavery, are not familiar with moral well-being,” the Frenchman noted in his notes, comparing Russians with the Scythians or barbarians of Roman times. And suddenly – such a level of artistic performance, such impeccable musicality and grace?! What a foreigner Segur is when many of our compatriots shared his opinion. For example, a contemporary and close relative of the Sheremetevs, Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Dolgoruky (himself an amateur actor and playwright), was very doubtful about the possibility of inspired creativity among serfs: “what kind of talent can be expected from a slave who is not included (that is, attached), who can be flogged and... seat a chair just by arbitrariness?” He believed that such an actor is only capable of playing “like an ox carrying a weight when Cherkasy drives him with a rod.”

And indeed, Sheremetev could dispose of the serf “soul” that belonged to him at his own discretion and deal with his “own” people, according to the concepts of that century, like a “dear father”: for the slightest deviation “from the will of the count” the owner chose rods, a reduction in salary or another punishment. True, Sheremetev did not resort to them very often. Nikolai Petrovich would later write to his son Dmitry Nikolaevich in a “testamentary letter”: “My parent’s house was different from the others.” And this difference was reflected primarily in the attitude towards serfs, and especially theatrical ones.

Its actors, singers, musicians, and artists received an excellent education; they were given a fixed salary, consisting of a monetary “dacha” and a “grain dacha”; they were never used in any other work: neither in the field, nor around the house or in general, which was often the case with other, even very wealthy, owners of home theaters; the first performers ate from the count's table and used the services of the count's doctor. However, “laziness, negligence and inattention in learning” were punished by having the offenders “put on their knees or put on bread and water” (educational measures quite widespread in the 18th century).

All the actors were entrusted to the “strong supervision” of Vasily Voroblevsky, who was obliged to watch over them physically and morally. Special attention was paid to the observance of morality: on the Sheremetev stage, love reigned in all plays with its temptations and calls (in a newfangled and progressive spirit) to free choice your lover. But since the count created a theater for himself and those similar to himself in position, then all these calls should have had nothing to do with his serfs. They tried to strictly protect stage attendants outside the theater from the temptations of love and, most importantly, from its free choice. This was achieved by the absence of idleness and the impossibility of communicating with the opposite sex, for which the same Vasily Voroblevsky, slavishly devoted to the owner, was responsible.

Material from Uncyclopedia

The serf theater arose in Russia in the second half XVIII century, When nobility received from Catherine II unlimited power over the peasants, lands, palaces, estates, thousands of serf souls.

Serf actors were not exempt from their usual duties: in the mornings they worked in the fields, in the kitchen, in the barnyard, and in the evenings they had to “present” at the theater. Offending artists were severely punished. And despite all this, history has preserved for us the names of outstanding serf actors, true talents. Among them are T. V. Granatova (Shlykova), P. I. Zhemchugova (Kovaleva), musicians S. A. Degtyarev, G. Ya. Lomakin, instrumental master I. A. Batov and others.

As a thirteen-year-old girl, the young daughter of the blacksmith Parash Kovalev played the role of Louise in the opera “The Runaway Soldier,” touching and captivating the audience of the Sheremetev Theater. She, the pearl of the Sheremetev troupe, was given the pseudonym Zhemchugova. She had a wonderful voice ( lyric soprano) and great dramatic talent. Among her best roles is Eliana in A. Grétry’s opera “The Samnite Marriages.” Serf Parasha Zhemchugova became Countess Sheremeteva. But she soon died of consumption.

The marvelous decoration of the theater buildings in the Sheremetev estates of Kuskovo and Ostankino, near Moscow, competed with the Hermitage Theater of Catherine II and the best theaters Europe. The serfs from the Sheremetev troupe studied with the best actors of that time - I. A. Dmitrevsky, S. N. and E. S. Sandunov, P. A. Plavilytsikov.

The serf theaters differed from each other in both the composition of the troupe and the repertoire. If the Sheremetevs mainly gave operas, mainly Western European ones, then the Yusupov theaters in Moscow and the Arkhangelsk estate staged ballets and had a strong ballet troupe that studied with the famous Moscow dance master Iogel.

Dramatic performances were staged in the theaters of A. R. Vorontsov in Alabukha and Andreevsky near Moscow. A. N. Radishchev’s friend A. R. Vorontsov was an enlightened man of his time. Its serf artists received a salary, and it was the only theater in which the dignity of the serfs was not humiliated, where corporal punishment was abolished. On the stage of the Vorontsov Theater were “Dmitry the Pretender” by A. P. Sumarokov, “The Brigadier” and “The Minor” by D. I. Fonvizin, and comedies by Moliere.

The tragic, powerless fate of the serf artist worried the best Russian writers. M. S. Shchepkin, who began his career as a serf actor, suggested to A. I. Herzen the plot of the story “The Thieving Magpie,” which tells about cruel morals Kamensky Theater in Orel, about the death talented actress Kuzmina, called Aneta in the story. N. S. Leskov described with amazing power the sufferings and sorrows of the serf actress Lyuba and the theater hairdresser Arkady in the story “The Stupid Artist”.

Serf theaters contributed to the formation of the provincial stage in Russia - in Nizhny Novgorod (now Gorky), Orel, Penza, Kazan, Kharkov and other cities, the wide dissemination of theatrical art, and the establishment of a realistic democratic direction in it.

SERPENT THEATER, a type of private theater in Russia, a home noble (landowner) theater with the participation of serfs. Home performances were organized in Russia at the end of the 17th century, but the serf theater became widespread in the 2nd half of the 18th - early 19th centuries; existed until the abolition of serfdom. In addition to serfs, amateur actors from the nobility and “free” professionals (actors, musicians) could participate in the serf theater; at the same time, in some theaters only the nobles themselves or their children performed, while the serfs provided the performances (construction and equipment of the stage, production of scenery and costumes, musical accompaniment etc.); in others, they were played by both amateur nobles and “house” or “own” actors (that is, serfs). In some serf theaters, “free” artists of the public imperial stage or private professional enterprise were invited to play the main roles; sometimes “free” Russian and foreign celebrities appeared only as bandmasters, choreographers and theater teachers, and the performers were mainly “own” actors. Home theaters of landowners could be turned into public theaters with an entrance fee. Serf actors and musicians were sometimes bought into the treasury.

One of the first and most outstanding serf theaters is the Sheremetev Counts Theater. It began its activity around 1765 as an amateur noble theater in St. Petersburg, then (at the end of the 1770s) it took shape as a serf theater in Moscow in a house on Bolshaya Nikolskaya Street. At the same time, in the Moscow region estate of P.B. Sheremetev in the village of Kuskovo, 3 theaters were built: “air” (that is, in the open air), Maly, then Bolshoi. The Sheremetev troupe reached its peak in the mid-1780s, when N.P. Sheremetev became its owner, who built a new magnificent theater-palace in the Ostankino estate near Moscow in the early 1790s. The Sheremetevs maintained a huge staff of serf craftsmen, among them: architects P. I. Argunov, A. Mironov, G. Dikushin; artists Argunovs, K. Funtusov, G. Mukhin, S. Kalinin; driver F. Pryakhin; musicians S. A. Degtyarev, G. Ya. Lomakin, instrumental master I. A. Batov and others. They worked under the guidance and alongside famous European and Russian “free” masters. The troupe and orchestra included more than 200 people. The best actors were P. I. Kovaleva (Gorbunova, on stage - Zhemchugova), T. V. Shlykova (Granatova), G. Kokhanovsky, A. Novikov, T. Bedenkova, A. Buyanova (Izumrudova), A. Kalmykova (Yakhontova), F. and M. Urusov (Biryuzov) and others. The artists were entitled to a salary in money and food. The troupe was led by the serf “librarian of His Excellency” V. G. Voroblevsky, who was educated at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy and visited abroad with N. P. Sheremetev. He was also involved in translations and adaptations of plays. The repertoire included more than 100 plays, the bulk of which were comic operas, as well as comedies, operas and ballets.

The end of the 1810s saw the flourishing of another outstanding serf theater, which belonged to Prince N.B. Yusupov. In 1819, a theater building was built in Moscow “in the Yauzskaya part at No. 83”, which had a stalls, a semi-circular amphitheater, a mezzanine and 2 galleries. In the summer, the theater operated in the Arkhangelskoye estate, where the theater building built in 1817-18 and part of the scenery painted by P. di G. Gonzago were preserved. The Yusupov Theater gave mainly operas and lavish ballet performances; the best actresses were A. Borunova, S. Malinkina, A. Rabutovskaya. Around 1811, the P. A. Poznyakov Theater appeared in Moscow, located in Leontyevsky Lane. Mostly very lavishly furnished comic operas were performed here (the scenery was painted by the Italian painter G.B. Scotti). Serf actors were trained by S. N. and E. S. Sandunov. One of the best actresses of this theater is Lyubochinskaya. In Moscow at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century there were also theaters of S. S. Apraksin, G. I. Bibikov, I. Ya. Bludov, N. A. and V. A. Vsevolozhsky, P. M. Volkonsky, I. A. Gagarin, L.K. Naryshkin, N.I. Odoevsky, N.G. and B.G. Shakhovskikh and others. E. home theaters were famous in St. Petersburg. P. Baryatinskaya, P. A. Golitsyna, E. F. Dolgoruky, A. A. and L. A. Naryshkin, A. N. Nelidinskaya, A. S. Stroganov, I. G. Chernyshev, Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich and others.

By the end of the 18th century, serf theaters began to appear in provincial towns and on estates remote from the center. In the 1780s, S. G. Zorich (former favorite of Empress Catherine II) created a serf theater on his estate in Shklov. His theater, according to contemporaries, was “enormous”; the repertoire included dramas, comedies, comic operas and ballets. In addition to serfs, cadets of the Shklov Cadet Corps and amateur nobles took part in the dramatic performances, among whom Prince P. V. Meshchersky was famous (his acting was highly appreciated by M. S. Shchepkin). Only serfs danced in ballets, the best of them being K. Butkevich and P. Azarevicheva (Azarevich). After the death of Zorich, the ballet troupe was bought by the treasury in 1800 for the St. Petersburg imperial stage. Among the many home theaters, the gr. A. R. Vorontsov, which existed (around 1793-1805) in the village of Alabukhi, Tambov province, and then in the village of Andreevskoye, Vladimir province. The repertoire included primarily plays by Russian playwrights. The troupe numbered from 50 to 60 people, including musicians, painters, machinists, tailors, hairdressers, etc.; artists who received annual remuneration in money and things were divided into “first-class” (13-15 people) and “second-class” (6-8 people). The troupe was headed by a “theater director” of serf actors (first I. Petrov, then F. Yakovlev). M. Kaptelova was considered the best actress and singer, the first actor was F. Yakovlev, then Y. Kirilov.

In the early 1790s, the theater of Prince N. G. Shakhovsky appeared, which in the summer was located in the village of Yusupovo, Nizhny Novgorod province, and in the winter in Nizhny Novgorod itself. In 1797, the prince built a theater building in Moscow, in the “Serpukhov part”. However (probably due to financial considerations) the Shakhovsky Theater did not play for long in Moscow. It was one of the first commercial serf theaters that charged admission. In the summer, Shakhovskoy took his theater to the Makaryevskaya Fair for the whole of July. The repertoire consisted of tragedies, comedies, dramas, operas with ballets and vaudevilles. The troupe in 1820 numbered about 90 people. Most famous actors- A. Ershov, M. Polyakov, D. Zavidov, A. Vysheslavtseva, N. Piunova, A. and N. Strelkov. After Shakhovsky's death (1824), his heirs sold the theater (1827). The actors received freedom and continued to play on the stage of the theater, which became a city theater. A similar public serf theater was created in Kazan by P. P. Esipov (circa 1803-14), who previously had a home serf theater in the village of Yumatovo near Kazan. The best actors of Esipov’s troupe were considered F. Lvov, the famous “Feklusha” and Kuzmina (she served as A.I. Herzen’s prototype for the heroine of the story “The Thieving Magpie”). In 1815, the theater of Count S. M. Kamensky opened in Orel, also public, with an entrance fee - one of the largest provincial serf theaters: in the first year alone, about 100 comedies, dramas, tragedies, vaudevilles, operas and ballets were staged. The Count bought for his troupe talented actors from many landowners, and also invited famous “free” artists to play the first roles (M. S. Shchepkin and others played for him). The serf theater made a valuable contribution to the development of national theatrical art, contributed to its wide dissemination not only in major cities, but also in the provinces.

Lit.: Golitsyn A.L. From the past. Materials of serf landowner theaters in the Oryol province. Orel, 1901; Drizen N.V. On the history of the serf theater // Capital and estate. 1914. No. 12/13; Sakhnovsky V. G. Fortress estate theater. L., 1924; Evreinov N. N. Serf actors. 2nd ed. L., 1925; Kashin N.P. Theater N.B. Yusupov. M., 1927; Beskin E. Fortress Theater. M.; L., 1927; Elizarova N. A. Sheremetev Theaters. M., 1944; Gozenpud A. Musical Theatre in Russia. From the origins to Glinka. L., 1959; Starikova L. M. Theatrical life of ancient Moscow. M., 1988; Lepskaya L. Repertoire of the Sheremetev serf theater. M., 1996; Krasovskaya V. Russian ballet theater from its origins to mid-19th V. 2nd ed. St. Petersburg, 2008.