Pierrot in Petrograd

"Commedia dell'arte" was an essential ingredient of the revolution in Russian art in the early 20th century. During this period artists sought inspiration in surprising places - icon painting, primitive art, and (in the theatre) circus, music-hall, and "commedia dell'arte". The devices and motifs of Italian improvisational theatre played a central role in overcoming theatrical realism and naturalism and formed a basis for a new and expressive theatricality. Douglas Clayton examines the tradition of "commedia dell'arte" as the Russian modernists inherited it, from its origins in Italian street theatre through its various transformations: in Italy (Gozzi and Goldini's plays); in France (the development of Pierrot and the restructuring of the plot); and in Germany (Tieck's and Hoffmann's meta-theatre). He also analyzes crucial texts by Gozzi, Lothar, Benavente and Schnitzler that came to play a central role in the Russian theatre. Tracing the history of "commedia dell'arte" on the Russian stage, he demonstrates that the introduction of the tradition was theory-driven and discusses several milestone productions in the pre- and post-revolutionary period. Clayton examines the impact of "commedia dell'arte", Russified as the new theatrical genre of balagan, on both popular and lesser-known Russian playwrights, and, in conclusion, explores the significance of the "commedia dell'arte" as a theoretical underpinning for Sergei Eisenstein's theories of theatre and film. "Pierrot in Petrograd", which includes translations of five short plays and "commedia-style scenarios, should be of particular interest to students of Russian drama and theatre.