THEATRE

THEATRE. In Bashkortostan, the oldest stage groups originate from mobile troupes and private theatrical enterprises (known as amateur T.), which arose in the Bashk. Urals in the 18th century. Theatrical performance intensive development in the 19—20th centuries due to the influence of three revolutions in Russia leads to the upgrade of the skill level, development of the artistic and national identity of amateur T., and saturation of the T.’s programs with socialist and communist ideas. Between 1919—21, in the cities, villages, enterprises and military units there were: 1st and 2nd labour theatres, Workshop of Rev. Satire and Freestyle Comedy (all — in Ufa), an opera studio in Sterlitamak, etc. Since the middle of the 19th century, there were various private theatrical enterprises, artistic achievements of which became the herald for the creation of a prof. Russian T. (ref. Russian Drama Theatre). In various years, the prof. theatres were established in Birsk, Beloretsk, Sterlitamak, as well as under the Bashkir Philarmonia. By the 2000s, the Rus. T. in Bashkortostan is represented by the troupes of the Russian Drama Theatre, the Sterlitamak Russian Drama Theatre, the Russian troupes of the National Youth Theatre and the Puppet Theatre.

The Bashkir national T. in its historical development reflects the specifics of the Republic’s theatrical culture. In the 1910s, V.Murtazin Imansky and the Shirket troupe turned to the traditions of the Bashk. national culture and mastered the forms of folk performance. The establishment of national drama deepens the process of the Bashkir T. distinctive aesthetics formation. Between 1919—24, the Murtazin-Imansky theatrical system was established. This system was a creative method which combined various artistic, aesthetic, poetic and stylistic types, including naturalism, consequent realism, expressionism, constructivism, rev. romanticism and satire in the forms of the so-called rally and propaganda dramaturgy theatre). Views of V.Murtazin-Imansky were reflected in theoretic works and artistic work of G.S.Almukhametov, F.A.Gaskarov, I.Zayni, G.M.Mingazhev, B.A.Yusupova, as well as collective and state farms theatres, Sibay Drama Theatre, Salavat Drama Theatre, etc. In 1931, due to the adoption of the Resolution on the Development of the Bashkir National Theatre, there was unification of artistic appearance and eradication of distinctive forms of national T. The reformer
of the Bashkir T. was M.A.Magadeyev, a supporter of the aesthetic doctrines by A.Ya.Tairov, V.E.Meyerkhold and K.S.Stanislavsky. By announcing his commitment to socialist realism, the Bashkir T. began to apply the method and poetics of the Stanislavsky school social and psychol. realism. Outstanding productions of the mid. 30s allowed the Bashkir Drama Theatre to receive the title of an academic theatre. Political repressions and the Great Patriotic War had destructive influence on the T.’s further development. Since the mid. 1950s, freedom of artistic thinking began to return to T. The creative impulse was given by the Decade of the Bashkir Lit. and Art, which took place in Moscow in 1955. In the 1960s, the establishment of the Institute of Arts contributed to the revitalization of the theatrical life of the Republic. Many graduates of the T. department made a significant contribution to the development of the theatrical art in RB. In the 1990s, distinctive aesthetic concepts appeared, including those about the synthetic T., which should be based on a combination of realism, mythology and modernism. The Sterlitamak Bashkir Drama Theatre and the Sulpan theatre were established.

The Tatar T. in Bashkortostan developed in the late 19th — early 20th centuries. It was both formed and developed under the influence of the Russian theatrical culture. The Muslim Drama and Melodrama troupe as well as the Nur, Sayyar, and Shirkat theatrical groups contributed to the establishment of Tat. and Bashkir T. The Tatar and Bashkir T. distinctive features were created by the following playwrights: G. Iskhaki, G. Kamal and M.Fayzi. In the early 1990s, such Tat. theatres as the Nur theatre and Tuymazinsky Drama Theatre were established.

Theatrical art in Bashkortostan is also represented by musical T. (ref. Opera and Ballet Theatre) and T. for children. Theatrical troupes participate in various theatrical festivals and contests, including the Tuganlyk international festival for Turkic-speaking theatres.