Pedagogical factors of formation of improvisational acting skills in amateur theatre

We consider some issues of modern society related to the growing trend of social and emotional isolation of the individual, changes in their worldview, leading to the degradation of thinking and intellectual abilities. There is need to search for psychological and pedagogical ways, means and methods to activate the intellectual, emotional and creative development of the individual. A possible way to solve the identified social issues is the possibility of forming a person's skills for improvisation. We consider the implementation of this process in educational and creative activities of an amateur theater group as a sphere that provides ample opportunities for creative self-realization of the individual. We define the term “improvisation” as a universal ability of the individual, which is manifested in various creative processes, as well as in many other aspects of human life. An actor forms improvisational skills in an amateur theater group due to the organization and implementation of a number of pedagogical conditions, such as: creating a climate of psychological comfort that promotes the self-disclosure of individual and creative abilities of participants in an amateur theater group; using the etude method in the process of mastering the elements of acting improvisation by an amateur actor; mastering the basics of “effective thinking” through specific training exercises. The content component of the implementation of these pedagogical conditions, according to the authors, activates the course of the described process.

Amateur theaters: soviet past and current practices

This work offers an overview of sources devoted to amateur theater as a socio-cultural phenomenon that existed on the territory of the Soviet state and in post-Soviet Russia. Since amateur theater as a socio-cultural phenomenon has a complex nature, it is advisable to apply an interdisciplinary approach to the study of its activities. The activities of amateur theaters are considered in historical, cultural and sociocultural contexts. The authors consider the sociological, pedagogical, organizational aspects of the activities of amateur theaters, as well as their contribution to the culturalpractices of the regions. Throughout the existence of the Soviet state, amateur theaters were considered as means of propaganda and education of amateur artists and their audiences in the spirit of Soviet ideology. Unlike professional theaters, amateur groups in the 60s instantly reacted to a change in ideological paradigms, asked sharp, uncomfortable questions, and reflected an active civic position. The thaw period was marked by the creative heyday of amateur studio theaters, which ended in clashes with Soviet censorship. In the 90s, after the Soviet dissolution and the abolition of the leading role of the CPSU in the life of the state, amateur groups entered the period of experiments both organizationally and aesthetically. A certain boundary of this period was the professionalization of some amateur groups and the cessation of the activities of others. The authors consider the cultural practices of amateur theaters since the 2000s, when the process of transferring part of amateur groups from departmental subordination to municipal was completed. Attention is also given to the conditions for the existence of amateur theaters in the Yaroslavl region nowadays. Amateur theaters position themselves mainly as a way of organizing active creative leisure of the adult population. The pedagogical component in their activities has an insignificant part, the repertoire is entertaining in nature. In the presence of two or three groups known outside the region, the main part of amateur theaters in the Yaroslavl region carry out a cultural and educational function in small settlements where there is no professional theater

ТОВАРИСЬКИЙ РУХ ЯК ЧИННИК КУЛЬТУРНО-МИСТЕЦЬКОЇ КОМУНІКАЦІЇ У ПОЛІЕТНІЧНОМУ СЕРЕДОВИЩІ МІСТА (НА ПРИКЛАДІ СТАНІСЛАВОВА ПЕРШОЇ ПОЛ. ХІХ – ПЕРШОЇ ТРЕТИНИ ХХ СТ.)

Репрезентовано динаміку поширення товариського руху у Станіславові (нині Івано-Франківську) в контексті поліетнічного середовища міста другої пол. ХІХ – першої третини ХХ ст. Досліджено практику низки українських, польських, єврейських громадсько-просвітницьких товариств, серед яких «Просвіта», «Рідна школа», «Руська Бесіда», «Союз українок», «Каменярі», «Фрогсін», «Гаскала», «Лютня», «Гармонія клейова» та інших, які виявилися активними комунікаторами у музично-мистецькій сфері. Охарактеризовано широкий спектр діяльності цих організацій в таких аспектах: заснування хорів, оркестрів, аматорських театральних гуртків; навчання диригентів для гуртків; відкриття освітніх курсів для режисерів і диригентів; влаштування драматичних вистав і концертів; організація конкурсів драматичних гуртків та хорів; відкриття навчальних закладів різного рівня і напрямів діяльності; проведення різнопланових лекцій і семінарів; започаткування бібліотек з музичною і драматичною літературою тощо. Ключові слова: товариство, культурно-мистецька комунікація, поліетнічне середовище, Станіславів. The article presents the dynamics of social movement in Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk) in the context of the multi-ethnic environment of the city in the second half of the ХІХ th – the first third of the ХХ th centuries. The practice of numbers of Ukrainian, Polish, Jewish public-educational associations, including «Enlightenment», «Native School», «Russian Conversation», «Union of Ukrainians», «Kamenari», «Frogsin», «Gaskala», «Lyutnya», «Glue Harmony» and others who have proven to be active communicators in the music and arts field. A wide range of activities of these organizations is described in the following aspects: foundation of choirs, orchestras, amateur theater groups; training of conductors for circles; opening educational courses for directors and conductors; arranging dramatic performances and concerts; organization of competitions for drama groups and choirs; opening of educational establishments of different level and directions of activity; conducting various lectures and seminars; setting up libraries with music and drama literature and more. Key words: society, cultural and artistic communication, multiethnic environment, Stanislaviv.

Scattered Abroad: The Ukrainian Theatrical Emigration Seen through the Fate of the Actor Fedir Fedorovych

The article concerns the life and activities of the actor FedirFedorovych. His fate was typical for a great number of Ukrainian intelligentsia, who found themselves in emigration after WWII, producing impact on the formation of Ukrainian diaspora culture. Purpose. The author’s intention has been to follow and analyze the main stages in the actor FedirFedorovych’s creative activities within the context of the Ukrainian theater’s development. The research is based on studying the contemporary press and the Fedorovyches’ family archive. Methods. The author has used the cultural-historical method, which implies searching and collecting information concerning the exact object, processing this information, analyzing its correlation with historical and cultural background, and defining the significance of the actor’s activities for development of the theater art in a certain period. Results. The early period of Fedorovych’s activities was closely connected with Kharkiv. The actor was born in the town of Uman in 1895. He took part in the fighting during the First World War. In 1920 he studied at the workshop under Kyidramte (Kyiv Drama Theater), under the guidance of Les Kurbas. Later he acted on stages of the I. Franko Theater, the First Odessa Workers and Peasants’ Theater led by Ye. Kokhanenko, Chervonozavodsky Theater in Kharkiv, the Kharkiv Theater of the Revolution, the Leninist Komsomol Theater in this city. He played mostly character and comic personages in performances after Ukrainian and foreign playwrights. In 1940Fedorovych left Kharkiv for Chernivtsi, where the Leninist Komsomol Theater was transferred. After the Soviet Union got involved in WWII, Fedorovych returned to Kharkiv, staying there under the Nazis. At the time he worked at the T. Shevchenko Theater, then, in 1943, left the city together with the retreating Hitlerite troops. When Germany was defeated, Fedorovych experienced a lot of wandering, in the end finding himself in the “Orlyk” displaced persons’ camp, Bavaria, and founded a theater there. The latter existed until 1950. There Fedorovich as a director put on the stage a number of productions after “The Mistress of the Inn” by C. Goldoni; “Rosy Weaverbird” by Ya. Mamontov; “Martyn Borulia” by I. Karpenko-Karyi; “Going for the First Hangout” by S. Vasylchenko; and some others. In 1950Fedorovich, together with his family, was granted entrance to the U.S., where he organized an amateur theater in NewHaven, Conn. He also worked as both director and actor of the Ukrainian Opera Ensemble (NewYork, NY). Inthelatter, heplayedin “NatalkaPoltavka” byI. Kotliarevsky (1958); “TheMatchmakinginHoncharivka” byH. Kvitka-Osnovyanenko (1963); operas “The Black Sea People” by M. Lysenko (1965); “Cossacks in Exile” by S. Hulak-Artemovsky (1972). Novelty of research. This research is the first one to present an integral evaluation of FedirFedorovych’s creative activities as typical for a member of theatrical community of Ukraine. It also introduces the documents from the Fedorovyches’ family archive into scientific parlance. Conclusions. Fedir Fedorovych’s creative activities testify to the fact that a number of Ukrainian actors in exile proved to be able both to maintain the high level of acting, worked up in the native country, and to preserve the classical repertoire, thus passing their experience to the next generations.

Visualization of the Daily Life of Prisoner Ukrainian Officers in the Camp of Cassino (Italy) Through the Eyes of Illustrators of the Camp Editions, 1919 – first half of 1920

The article examines the daily life of the Ukrainian officers (elders) imprisoned in the Camp of Cassino (Italy) in 1919 – the first half of 1920. It deals with illustrated materials published by the camp editions. The community of Prisoner Ukrainian officers has a special place in the history of Ukrainian captivity in Italy. It is determined by the level of national consciousness of its members, and those significant achievements in the field of culture and education that were made due to their morality and active citizenship. Living in the conditions of camp and being almost completely isolated from the national life of Ukraine, the Prisoner Ukrainian elders managed to organize the work of schools and educational courses. They organized a choir, orchestra and amateur theater. They celebrated national Ukrainian holidays as well. Most of the Prisoner Ukrainian elders were ready to give their assistance to the UNR in its fight against the Bolshevik Russia by joining the national army. The camp press vividly reflected the national self-consciousness of the Prisoner Ukrainian elders. It contributed to the unity of camp prisoners and helped them to overcome strength to overcome the difficulties of everyday life. The production of the camp editions, such as «The Prisoner» magazine and its satirical-humorous appendix «Lazaroni», faced a lot of problems. The editions were produced manually in the amount of one (or several) copies of each issue. Nevertheless the camp editions met the prisoners’ demand for information effectively. They also performed an extremely important functions of mobilizing and educating the prisoners.The author emphasizes that the camp press was highly important not just for the prisoners, but for the whole Ukrainian community in Cassino. It contributed significantly to preserving the Ukrainian national identity and supported the idea of Ukraine’s independence.

Researches of Kharkiv’s Theater Culture of the 19th and the first half of the 20th cc.: Problems of Historiography

Background. Recently, specialists in drama studies have displayed growing interest to the problems of historiography concerning theaters. One of its most urgent tasks is to reveal just how much the scientific approach is applied to creating a historical paper. This goes hand in glove with studies into sociopolitical and scientific worldview of authors of the researches, the sources used, the interpretation of facts as well as the style of material’s presentation. Objectives, methods and materials of the research. The purpose of this study is to outline the circle of the most important sources, which contain the data on the history of theater in Kharkiv; to characterize their authors; to define the degree of their mastering of accessible information while writing books and articles on various periods in the development of theater culture in this city in the 19th c.; to establish the main challenges to researchers they have to face under modern conditions. In this study, the author has chosen to apply the traditional cultural-historic method of research. It generally consists of collecting primary information on a certain phenomenon or a prominent figure, working it out, finding its correlation with appropriate historic events, and then making an attempt to substantiate the meaning and importance of the phenomenon / figure studied, in the context of the development of arts in the region. The article based on memoirs, archive materials, periodic publications (containing articles on the activities of theater companies, theatrical managers, actors etc.) and literature on the history of drama as well as general publications, which include items on the theater life in the city. Due to the lack of an entire elaborated bibliographic system, researchers have to engage themselves in painstaking browsing through the entire corpus of periodicals. In Kharkiv, the main sources of relevant information are such periodicals as the “Ukrainskiy vestnik” magazine (1816–1819) and some newspapers: “Kharkovskie gubernskie vedomosti” (1838–1915), “Yuzhnyy kray” (1880–1919), “Utro” (1906–1916), Kharkov (1877–1880), Kharkovskiy listok (1898–1905) and more. Results. The former newspaper “Kharkovskie gubernskie vedomosti” published, in 1841, the essay “Theater in Kharkov” by dramatist and a prominent public figure Hryhoriy Kvitka-Osnov’yanenko (1778–1843), who described the very first period in the history of theater in Kharkiv (1780–1816). In the 1870s, the “Kharkovskie gubernskie vedomosti” started to publish regularly analytical and summarizing articles, which were an attempt at creating theater’s history of a certain period. There was, for one, an article “The Kharkov Drama Theater in Recent Ten Years” by Ivan Ustinov, published in 1877 and dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Diukovs’ private theater company. I. Ustinov not only gave a brief analysis of the theater’s repertoire between 1867 and 1877, but also included biographies and short characteristics of the actors, which were playing then on Kharkiv stage. Ustinov also is famous as the compiler of the bibliographic index “The Books on Kharkov Governorate” (1886), with certain information on the history of theater in this city. In the 1880s, Konstantin Schelkov, a graduate of the Kharkiv University’s Law School, wrote his articles on the theater in the “Kharkovskie gubernskie vedomosti”. The newspaper published, among others, his article “Materials for the History of Theater in Kharkiv” (1881), in which he described the activities of the theater’s management headed by N. D. Alferaki in 1845–1848. In the early 1880s, another big newspaper, the “Yuzhnyy kray”, was started. Its columnist Nikolay Chernyaev took a great interest in the history of theater in Kharkiv. Mr. Chernyaev’s works include a systematic review of theater culture in Kharkiv from Catherine II epoch until 1843 as well as a number of essays on the development of theater in Kharkiv up to 1880. The author collected wide documentary material dedicated to specific periods of history as well as to certain artistic figures. Chernyaev studied many various sources: dailies and magazines, published in the capital cities and in provinces, many collections of documents, memoirs and so on. Chernyaev’s works proved to be useful to historians D. I. Bagalei and D. P. Miller who covered the history of theater in their famous book “The History of the City of Kharkov during 250 Years of its Existence.” In the first half of the 20th c., there were no integral and systematic researches on the history of the city of the previous century, so the monograph “The Beginnings of the Theater in Kharkov” by Arkadiy Pletniov, published in 1960, one can consider as summarizing. The author based much of his study on the works of N. I. Chernyaev. He also widely used the materials resting in the A. A. Bakhrushin Museum of Theater, Moscow, and in many archives. In his monograph, Dr. Pletniov did not limit himself with listing the events of theatrical life, but thoroughly analyzed the activities of the Board of Trustees and such managers as I. Shtein and L. Mlotkovskiy. In several supplements, one can find lists of main roles played on Kharkiv stage by its prominent actors (N. Rybakov, L. Mlotkovskiy, K. Solenik). Pletniov’s work, enriched by references and commentaries, played an important part in creating the complex picture of Kharkov’s theatrical life. Due to abundance of the facts and clear style, Dr. Pletniov’s book stays up to now a valuable source on the subject. Conclusions. The analysis of historiography concerning the theater in Kharkiv of the 19th and early 20th cc. enables the author to come to conclusion that the main challenges a modern researcher has to face are as follows: the absence of system in bibliographic manuals; lacunas in the funds of periodicals of most libraries; the absence of important documents in archives. Theater life in Kharkiv has been studied far from satisfactory level yet. The following problems of history especially need thorough research work from historical point of view: theater critique; drama art; architecture of theater buildings in Kharkiv; amateur theater companies; charity for theaters; and some other points. The task of modern researchers, as we see it, lies in gradual filling the gaps mentioned above.