Развитие советского водевиля 20-х и начала 30-х годов

Abstract

Vaudeville occupied a separate place in the Soviet dramaturgy of the twenties, parallel to that of the satiricał comedy and the just rising lyrical comedy. The evolution of that genre in the history of the Soviet comedy writing has not been hitherto investigated. The treatise The Developnient of the Soviet Vaudeville... investigates the process of its forming in connection with the literary production of W. Ardow, A. Mass and particularly that of W. Szkwarkin (Round the World on Myself, 1926; The Hostile Element, 1927; Lyre for Hire, 1927; The Gambler, 1928) and W. Katajew (The Square Circle, 1928). Szkwarkin's experiences in the twenties proved that this old enchanting genre could be easily revived. His attempts were not directed at reviving vaudeville in its classical form. Szkwarkin's vaudeviiles demonstrated the ability of the Soviet vaudeville to regenerate itself through the assimiłation of the comical element. Already in the early production of Szkwarkin there appear characteristic features of the future master of vaudeville: compact and dynamic subject, funny situations, witty dialogue and juicy stage humour. AH these, as well as the drive towards the gay, ironic or humorous anecdote, contributed to the revival of the whole naive charm of the old vaudeville in its new form. It is The Square Circle by Katajew that has become a turning point in the artistic revival of the poetic beauty of the old vaudeville. Merry youth and its life problems on the stage found the proper vchicie of expression in the world of vaudeville. For W. Katajew all empty words and stage tricks were always essentially alien. Being extremely skilful in handling the vaudeville forms, he aimed at subordinating the technique of the play to its social thought. The Square Circle is in fact the first Soviet vaudeville in which the vaudevilłe concept of reality has been expressed through the medium of a definitely comical form. The revival of vaudeville was seriously blocked by a prevailing opinion that it was devoid of any social political meaning; this discredited it as a literary genre. Laughter that it caused was thought to be both the means and goal. This opinion, based on the practise of some vaudeville writers of the XIXth century (Scribe, Labiche and others) and connected with the theories of H. Bergson, łasted as late as the twenties of our century. Many comments on vaudeville uttered in this period contain doubts as to the possibility of revivał and further existence of this traditional genre. In the vaudeville of the twenties one can find the reflection of the process characteristic for any comedy of the given period -- the gradual mastery of the new materiał supplied by life itself and the search for new means of expression. The first period was characterized mostly by the adaptation of old means of expression to the new materia] as well as by the transformation of the old literary vehicles to answer the new demands. The experiences of Szkwarkin, and particularly of Katajew influenced greatly the development and achievements of the Soviet vaudeville of the thirties. The achievements of the Soviet vaudeville in the thirties are connected, first of all, with the name of W. Szkwarkin, the author of The Alien Child (1933). The position and importance of this vaudeville in the Soviet dramaturgy has never been justly appreciated. This was due to the general tendency of underestimating the role of the vaudeville both in the thirties and later. Vaudeville as such was commonly thought of only as light entertainment, unable to carry any serious social problem. Szkwarkin's Alien Child was an example to the contrary; exhibiting a series of vaudeville tricks, it supplied material to understanding vaudeville of the new type and explaining its artistic possibilities. The author of the treatise has analysed Alien Child from this point of view. He has thought it important to prove that the vaudeville character of the plot may serve as the efficient means to reveal the real conflicts appearing in life. Vaudeville must not be thought as a light genre, it may show the real clash of the old and new morality, of the old and new ethics in the psychic picture of man. Szkwarkin showed it work in practise. The spring moving the action of The Alien Child is the conflict of varying opinions, interests and characters; these conflicts take place in the typically vaudeville form with funny qui pro quos, and complications. Having this in mind, one can say with certainty that there is no essential difference between the comedy and vaudeville, that latter being in the Soviet dramaturgy under the strong influence of the former: the genre borders are also difficult to establish. The Alien Child gives grounds for doubting the opinion expressed by Jermiłow, that conflicts in a vaudeville are good hearted and naive, and its laughter kind and urbane. The practise of the Soviet vaudeville in the thirties, and Szkwarkin's in particular proved that as a genre it can convey all shades of laughter including those containing the elements of satire. The Alien Child may be justly regarded as one of the highest achievements of the Soviet comedy in the thirties of the XXth century.