Parsley Theater: history, performances. Puppet show. History of the Petrushka Theater. Musical accompaniment of puppet show

Municipal state-financed organization City Palace of Culture of the village of Belye Berega

National Puppet Theater Petrushka.

(Methodological material)

Compiled by:

Choirmaster Borisova A.N.

2. Plays for the folk puppet theater “Petrushka”;

National Puppet Theater of Parsley.

PARSLEY,“the nickname of a farce doll, a Russian jester, a jokester, a wit in a red caftan and a red cap; The whole clownish, puppet den is also called Petrushka” (V. Dahl). Parsley has been known since the 17th century. Russian puppeteers used marionettes (string puppet theater) and parsleys (glove puppets). Until the 19th century preference was given to Petrushka, by the end of the century - to puppets, because parsley makers teamed up with organ grinders. The parsley screen consisted of three frames, fastened with staples and covered with chintz. It was placed directly on the ground and hid the puppeteer. The barrel organ gathered spectators, and behind the screen the actor began to communicate with the audience through a peep (whistle). Later, with laughter and reprise, he ran out himself, in a red cap and with a long nose. The organ grinder sometimes became Petrushka's partner: because of the squeak, speech was not always intelligible, and he repeated Petrushka's phrases and conducted a dialogue. The comedy with Petrushka was played out at fairs and booths. From some memoirs and diaries of the 1840s it follows that Petrushka had full name- they called him Pyotr Ivanovich Uksusov or Vanka Ratatouille. There were main plots: Parsley's treatment, soldier training, the scene with the bride, buying a horse and testing it. The stories were passed from actor to actor, by word of mouth. Not a single character in the Russian theater had the popularity equal to Petrushka.

Usually the performance began with the following plot: Petrushka decided to buy a horse, the musician calls the gypsy horse dealer. Petrushka examined the horse for a long time and bargained with the gypsy for a long time. Then Petrushka got tired of the bargaining, and instead of money, he beat the gypsy on the back for a long time, after which he ran away. Petrushka tried to mount the horse, but it threw him off to the laughter of the spectators. This could go on until people laughed it off. Finally the horse ran away, leaving Petrushka lying dead. The doctor came and asked Petrushka about his illnesses. It turned out that everything hurt him. There was a fight between the Doctor and Petrushka, at the end of which Petrushka hit the enemy hard on the head with a club. “What kind of doctor are you,” shouted Petrushka, “if you ask where it hurts? Why did you study? You yourself should know where it hurts!” The policeman appeared. - “Why did you kill the doctor?” He answered: “Because he doesn’t know his science well.” After the interrogation, Petrushka hits the policeman on the head with a club and kills him. A growling dog came running. Petrushka unsuccessfully asked the audience and the musician for help, after which he flirted with the dog, promising to feed it cat meat. The dog grabbed him by the nose and dragged him away, and Petrushka shouted: “Oh, my little head with its cap and brush is gone!” The music stopped, which meant the end of the performance. If the audience liked it, then they did not let the actors go, applauded, threw money, demanding a continuation. Then they played a little scene Petrushka's wedding. A bride was brought to Parsley, he examined her the way a horse is examined. He liked the bride, he did not want to wait for the wedding and began to beg her to “sacrifice herself.” From the scene where the bride “sacrifices herself,” the women left and took their children with them. According to some information, she used great success another scene in which a clergyman was present. It was not included in any of the recorded texts; most likely, it was removed by censorship. There were scenes in which Petrushka did not participate. It was dancing and juggling with balls and sticks.

Destroy Comedy about Petrushka starts at the beginning of the 20th century. Parsley growers began to appear at children's parties and Christmas trees, the text of the scenes changed, losing its sharpness. Parsley stopped killing. He swung his club and scattered his enemies. He spoke politely, and the “wedding” changed, turning into a dance with the bride. The rude, common speech disappeared, and with it the individuality of the hooligan-joker, to whom both old and young flocked.

To this day, the puppet theater uses glove puppets, and behind the screen of the theater, Petrushka has given way to other heroes. “To our yard today, in the spring, the organ grinder / Dragged the actors of the troupe on his back: / He unrolled the screen in the middle of the yard; / Janitors, footmen, laundresses, coachmen / Crowded around the screens to watch / How Petrushka would represent the comedy.”

It seems that the search for the “first plot” of the first parsley is futile. And not only because they repeat the methodological costs of the “borrowing theory” (and broader than the comparative method in theater studies and folklore studies), but also because in all folk cultures oh, on all continents they will give paradoxically positive results. Archaeological excavations, textual studies, myths, and evidence from ethnographers today make it possible to simultaneously consider culture as the source of this comedy Ancient Rome, and the culture of the countries of the East. A similar doll was found by archaeologists even on Easter Island.

There is probably no point in searching for “first parsley”, because this phenomenon belongs to universal human culture. But folk puppet comedy at the same time remains a purely national achievement. It is more reasonable to explain the identity of such comedies in many countries of the world by the similarity of dialectically developing in line with a single historical process folk cultures that are based on identical folk calendar games and socio-historical conditions.

According to travelers, the puppet comedian was always with the leader of the bear, who demonstrated “bear fun.” The content of the comedy was obscene. Here it is necessary to pay attention to the statements of witnesses that the puppeteer, as a rule, also played the role of a goat, a clown, or a jester. It is quite natural that these roles were projected onto the puppet character. The puppet comedy in the complex of the buffoon performance seen was the last, “shock” number, which indicates its success among the audience, who were not embarrassed by the bland content of the comedy. In the 17th century the comedy was accompanied by a guslar or a whistle-player. He was a kind of connecting link between the doll and the audience: he called, collected payment, conducted a dialogue with the hero, and acted as a raeshnik. The accompaniment of puppet comedy has changed over time. In the first half of the 18th century. “Petrushka” performed his songs and dances to the sounds of a whistle and a violin. Later, when the barrel organ appeared in Russia in the second half of the 18th century, this mechanical wind instrument did not require the performer to musical abilities, supplanted folk instruments. The appearance of the barrel organ in the folk system puppet show evidently indicated the beginning of the decline of this type of theater, its transition to a system of commercial farce performance.

During the period under study, the technique of showing puppet comedy performances also underwent partial changes. IN early XVII centuries, the screen was served by an ingenious design that looked like this: “... in front is a man in a woman’s skirt with a hoop at the hem, he raised it up and, having closed it in this way, can calmly move his hands, lift dolls up and present entire comedies...” (18). This extremely movable screen allowed the puppeteer to instantly start the performance and also finish it with lightning speed, if circumstances required it. This design of the screen was convenient for the actor and, if necessary, allowed him to quickly disappear into the market crowd when the guards of order appeared.

It is known that in the 19th century the design of the screen was already different. “A dyed sheet was hung on two sticks, and from behind this sheet the puppeteer performed his performance.” There were also more complex designs, when the puppeteer performed a performance from behind a screen that formed a tetrahedral pillar. Inside the screen there was a box with dolls (19). To install such screens, of course, more time is needed, and therefore a more tolerant attitude of the authorities towards the fact of showing the performance. However, given that in the 17th century. puppet comedy existed in the position of the persecuted folk theater, it is realistic to assume that at one time the screen-skirt was more practical for performers than the screen design of the late 18th - 19th centuries. She, perhaps, relieved the puppeteer from paying tax - the inevitable “every fifth money” in favor of the treasury.

During the performance, dolls that did not participate in this scene were most likely hung on the artist’s chest. When the puppeteer lowered his skirt raised above his head and turned into a clown, a buffoon, the dolls hanging on his clothes served as additional jester decorations and attributes.

In the texts of the Masquerade “Minerva Triumphant” by F. Volkov, until now the following passage was not entirely clear: “Momus or mockingbird. There are dolls and bells on it.” Considering that this part of the masquerade was “theaters with puppeteers,” a natural analogy is with the folk puppeteer, who lowered his screen-skirt and appeared before the audience as the god of tomfoolery, hung with puppets.

It is possible that a new screen design appeared among Russian puppeteers along with the advent of the barrel organ.

The performance “Petrushki” was given by two actors - a puppeteer and a musician-raeshnik. This principle apparently remained unchanged throughout the entire period of the comedy's life. Until the beginning of the 19th century, the tradition of performing this comedy with the help of “glove” puppets probably remained unchanged.

Performances using these puppets require a minimum of skill from the performers. The scenography of such a theater is much simpler, more conventional than scenography professional theater puppets. This is easy to verify by comparing Olearius’s drawing with engravings depicting puppet performances Western Europe that time.

The Petrushka Theater had no scenery. He also did not know the numerous props inherent in the performances of professional puppeteers. The only fake part of the comedy was the baton, which put an end to the finals comic scenes, lowering the heads of parsley's enemies. During the course of the action, the same club was played by the main character as a violin, a broom, and a gun.

Time has changed not only the design of the screen and the accompanying musical instruments, but also the plot of the performances, character, appearance, even the name of the main character.

This hypothesis is the most likely, but not the only one. The hero of the comedy (by consonance) could have adopted his name from the name of one of his predecessors - the ancient Hindu jester Vidushak, who had a hump, a “funny head”, who aroused the amusement of the audience with his behavior (21). Both Vidushaka and Petrushka are both arguers, both are stupid with some special, feigned carnival stupidity. The language of both heroes is the language of the crowd, their weapons of reprisal are the club and laughter.

Other versions are equally possible. In traveling actors-puppeteers of the early 18th century. we meet the name of Petrushka Ivanov, and in the first half of the same century, puppeteer Pyotr Yakubovskoy gave performances in Moscow. It is likely that the puppet hero could have borrowed his name from one of the puppeteers, whose performances were the most popular.

The following assumption, although it may seem unlikely, also apparently has a right to exist. Jesters and folk comic heroes often received nicknames based on the names of various foods and seasonings. Gunstwurst - Ivan Sausage (in Russia this name was translated as “hare fat”), Jean Farina - Ivan Muchnik, a French variety of Polichinelle, Pickelgering - Pickled herring, Jack Snack - a light snack. Why shouldn't Petrushka get her name in a similar way? Later (probably in the first third of the 18th century) his surname Samovarov appeared in memory of the technical innovation that had taken root in Russia, introduced by Peter I.

In addition, there is every reason to assume that this hero - a loud-mouthed bully in a red cap, with a rooster's profile, often depicted riding a rooster, himself - the spitting image of a rooster, could have borrowed his name along with his character. Moreover, in Russia every rooster is “Petya”.

One way or another, we should not forget that Petrushka acquired his name in the “Age of Peter”, when the transformer of Russia, who knew no sentimentality, in the apt expression of V.N. Vsevolodsky-Gerngross, “signed his rescripts not with a pen, but with a baton” (22) , and during his leisure hours, under the name of Petrushka Mikhailov, he drank and fooled around at “the most humorous cathedrals.”

UNDER THE NAME "PARSLEY"

(People's Theater / Compiled, introductory article, prepared texts and comments by A.F. Nekrylova, N.I. Savushkina. - M.: Sov. Russia, 1991. - (B-ka of Russian folklore; T. 10), pp. 251-254, comments pp. 506-507).

Exit Parsley.

We wish you good health, gentlemen. Be healthy, happy day and holiday that is today. (Addresses To the musician .) Musician! Do you know what, brother?
Musician. And what?
Parsley. I, brother, want to get married.
Musician. Not a bad thing, but on whom exactly?
Parsley. Oooh! On Praskovya Stepanovna, the merchant's daughter.
Musician. And Vanya, do you take a lot of dowry?
Parsley. Forty-four thousand and half a quart of vodka, two herrings, caviar and three pound bottles.
Musician. The dowry is not bad, but the bride is good?
Parsley. E-ee, very good!
Musician. Come on, show me.
Parsley. I'll call you now. (Calls.) Paraskovia Stepanovna! My darling, my angel, my little flower, come here! (Paraskovia is walking. At this time, Vanya meets and presses and kisses tightly to her heart and asks.) How is your health, Paraskovia Stepanovna? (Addresses the Musician.) Musician! So, is my bride good?
Musician. She's pretty good, but a little blind.
Parsley. Not true! What an eye, what an eyebrow, what a mouth, what a nose, and what titties (and kisses at this time). Musician! Play Kamarinsky for us!

Vanya and the Bride dance and sing:

Well, move on
When the money came in!
Walk, hut, walk, stove,
The owner has nowhere to lie down.

Then Vanya hugs her and takes her home.

Parsley. Musician! Thank God I got married.
Musician. Now I need to buy my young wife a horse.
Parsley. That's it, brother, who should I buy from?
Musician. At the Gypsy Gavryl's.
Parsley. Where does he live?
Musician. On right side in a big tavern.
Parsley (calls Gypsy). Hey, Gavrylo, smeared snout, come here!
Gypsy (walks and sings).
Yes, the fog is fierce,
And the frost is in the valley,
Yes, between the fogs
The gypsies stood.
Howdy, sir. What do you need?
Parsley. I heard that you have a selling horse. Do you want it expensive? And is she good?
Gypsy. It's good, it's good. Not a sopata, not a hunchback, alive, not blown up, but running - the earth trembles, and if it falls - it lies for three days, and in the mud - it will burst, even if you carry it yourself.
Parsley. As much as you want?
Gypsy. Two hundred and fifty rubles.
Parsley. It is expensive.
Gypsy. How much will Pan give?
Parsley. One hundred rubles.
Gypsy. Not enough, sir, give it.
Parsley. One hundred and twenty.
Gypsy. Come on, sir, make a deposit.
Parsley. Bring your horse.
Gypsy. I won’t give up the horse without a deposit. Farewell, sir. (Parsley at this time catches Gypsy by the forelock and hits the wall.) Having bought or bought, there is no need to fight. Come on, sir, make a deposit. (At this time Vanya leaves.) Our business is to steal, sell, exchange, get money, eat, drink. (At this time Vanya is carrying a stick.)
Parsley. Well, gypsy, get your deposit! (And hits him on the head with a stick.) Here's a ruble for you!
Gypsy (shouting). A-ya-yay!
Parsley. Here's two, three, four, five.

The gypsy receives the deposit and runs away.

Parsley (rides out on a horse). And what, musician, is my horse good for a young wife?
Musician. Good, just lame.
Parsley. You're lying, she's good! Play me a gallop.

While riding, the horse throws and hits Vanya and then runs away. At this time Vanya screams.

Parsley. Oh my God! It hurts around the heart! Who will get my Paraskovya Stepanovna?
Musician. What's happened?
Parsley. Call me a doctor!
Musician. And here comes the doctor.
Doctor. I am a physician doctor, a German pharmacist. They bring me to me on their feet, but I send them away on crutches. Where does it hurt?
Parsley. Higher!
Doctor. Here "- where exactly?
Parsley. Lower!
Doctor. Here "- where exactly?
Parsley. Higher!
Doctor. The devil will tell you: now higher, now lower, now higher, now lower! Get up, be healthy!
Vania (rises). How much do you pay for your work, doctor?
Doctor. Five rubles. (Vanya went.) Give me the money quickly! Our job is to prescribe the medicine, tear the money, tear the skin, and send it to the next world.

At this time Vanya comes in and instead of five rubles brings a stick and gives the doctor blows with the stick.

Parsley. Here's a ruble for you, here's two for you! Here's three for you!

The doctor does not receive the rest of the money, but runs away.

Parsley (To the musician). So, did the doctor get paid well?
Musician. Fine.
Parsley. Oh, now I’ll sit down, sit and sing a song.
Chizhik-fawn, where have you been?
I drank vodka at the market.
I drank a glass, drank two -
My head is spinning!
Police officer (hits Vanya). What are you here, you bastard, making noise, shouting, and not letting anyone sleep? I'll send Barbos to you, he'll bite you off a long nose!

At this time he runs in Barbos , Vanya stops and starts teasing him.

Parsley. Qiu-qiu!
Barbos. Bow-wow! (Grabs Vanya.)
Parsley(teases again). Qiu-qiu!
Barbos. Bow-wow! (Grabs him.)
Parsley (says goodbye to the audience and shouts). Barbos, Barbos, my long nose is gone!

End of speaker Vanya.

FOLK PUPPET THEATER, ITS TYPES

The Russians had three types of puppet theater: the marionette theater (in which the puppets were controlled using threads), the Petrushka theater with glove puppets (the puppets were put on the puppeteer’s fingers) and the nativity scene (in which the dolls were fixedly fixed on rods and moved along slots in boxes) . Puppet theater did not become widespread. The Parsley Theater was popular. The nativity scene was distributed mainly in Siberia and southern Russia.

Petrushka Theater is a Russian folk puppet comedy. Its main character was Petrushka, after whom the theater was named. This hero was also called Pyotr Ivanovich Uksusov, Pyotr Petrovich Samovarov, in the south - Vanya, Vanka, Vanka Retatouille, Ratatouille, Rutyutyu (tradition of the northern regions of Ukraine). The Parsley Theater arose under the influence of the Italian puppet theater Pulcinella, with which the Italians often performed in St. Petersburg and other cities.

An early sketch of the Petrushka Theater dates back to the 30s. XVII century This illustration was placed by the German traveler Adam Olearius in the description of his trip to Muscovy. Regarding the drawing, D. A. Rovinsky wrote: “... A man, having tied a woman’s skirt with a hoop at the hem to his belt, raised it up - this skirt covers him above his head, he can freely move his hands in it, display dolls on top and present entire comedies.<...>In the picture, on a portable skirt stage, it is not difficult to discern a classic comedy that has survived to our time about how a gypsy sold a horse to Petrushka." Rovinsky cited Olearius' remark that the puppet comedian was always with the bear leader; he also corrected the "positions" of the goat and clown. The skits, according to Olearius, were always of the most modest content 1

Later, the raised women's skirt with a hoop at the hem was replaced by a screen - at least in descriptions of the Petrushka Theater in the 19th century. the skirt is no longer mentioned.

In the 19th century The Petrushka Theater was the most popular and widespread type of puppet theater in Russia. It consisted of a light folding screen, a box with several dolls (each

number of characters - usually from 7 to 20), from a barrel organ and small props (sticks or batons, rattles, rolling pins, etc.). The Parsley Theater did not know the scenery.

The puppeteer, accompanied by a musician, usually an organ grinder, walked from courtyard to courtyard and gave traditional performances of Petrushka. He could always be seen during folk festivals and fairs.

About the structure of the Petrushka Theater D. A. Rovinsky wrote: “The doll has no body, but only a simple skirt, to which an empty cardboard head is sewn on top, and on the sides are arms, also empty. The puppeteer sticks it into the doll’s head forefinger, and in the hands - the first and third fingers; He usually puts a doll on each hand and thus acts with two dolls at once.”

Character traits appearance Parsley - a big nose“hook”, laughing mouth, protruding chin, hump or two humps (on the back and on the chest). The clothes consisted of a red shirt, a cap with a tassel, and smart boots on his feet; or from a clownish two-color clown outfit, collar and cap with bells. The puppeteer spoke for Petrushka with the help of a squeak - a device thanks to which the voice became sharp, shrill, and rattling. (The pischik was made of two curved bone or silver plates, inside of which a narrow strip of linen ribbon was fastened). For the rest characters The comedy puppeteer spoke in his natural voice, moving the squeak behind his cheek.

The performance of the Petrushka Theater consisted of a set of skits that had a satirical orientation. M. Gorky spoke about Petrushka as an invincible hero of a puppet comedy who defeats everyone and everything: the police, the priests, even the devil and death, while he himself remains immortal.

The image of Parsley is the personification of festive freedom, emancipation, and a joyful feeling of life. Petrushka's actions and words were opposed to accepted standards of behavior and morality. Parsley's improvisations were topical: they contained sharp attacks against local merchants, landowners, and authorities. The performance was accompanied by musical inserts, sometimes parodic: for example, the image

funeral under "Kamarinskaya" (see in the Reader "Petrushka, aka Vanka Ratatouille").

Kuznetsova Oksana

This year I was interested in the topic of history of the origin of the Petrushka Theater. The Parsley Theater is a folk puppet theater, but until the end of the 19th century the Petrushka Theater was not a theater specifically for children. About history of the Petrushka Theater You can learn a lot from literature and the Internet. Some information about this presented in the presentation of my publication. I was interested in the question about musical accompaniment of a puppet show, a small research(trip to regional library, children's library, browsing Internet articles, studying literature on local history). This is exactly what my publication is about.

I was lucky to have three toys Parsley(Soviet edition, two toys shown in the photo, and I haven’t had time to fix the third one yet (many colleagues know from previous publications that I collect such dolls and restoring clothes).

Musical accompaniment of the Petrushka Theater.

Part of the majority theater performances« Parsley» there were songs and dances. The comedy heroes performed lyrical songs, dance, couplets of a ditty warehouse, cruel romances, songs literary origin. They danced Kamarinskaya, trepaka, "lady", polka, waltz, etc. For example, under "Kamarinskaya" Parsley dances with the bride, to the sounds of a waltz, a German appears. Played a big role in the comedy musical inserts. Dances and songs, hurdy-gurdy melodies were not just musical design of the performance, they were designed to set the audience in a cheerful, festive mood, to create additional comic effect through the contrasting relationship between melody and action, serve as a characteristic of the characters.

Puppeteer was free to choose his repertoire, distribution it between the characters, in the intensity of the performance musical inserts. First of all, it depended on talent parsley, taste, ability to sing and knowledge of songs and dances, from his ability "feel" the public. However, there were still some limitations and patterns. Firstly, songs and melodies that were popular in the given environment were selected. This was done not only because the performances were designed for the widest, grassroots circle of spectators, but something else is no less important. Due to their specificity, folk puppet shows cannot go on for long and require frequent changes of episodes and rapid action. Therefore, the heroes of such a performance, as a rule, do not sing entire songs and do not dance for a long time, otherwise this will disrupt the tempo and will certainly affect the quality representation. The verse, the initial lines of the song are performed, the first bars of the melody are played, sung or whistled, and, since well-known works are used, the audience themselves instantly restores the whole and tunes in to the desired one. this moment okay In addition, often song- musical the insertion creates a comic effect by parodying some work, and the degree of comedy largely depends on the popularity of the thing being parodied. Often the audience laughs accompanies the song is performed because its content is sharply opposed to the actions of the heroes. Parsley climbs onto the horse with difficulty, sits backwards, comically grabs the tail or mane so as not to fall, and begins to sing a dashing coachman’s song, “I will harness three dark brown greyhounds”. The lines of the romance sound no less contrasting and funny “Don’t leave, my darling, don’t leave your dear fields.”, performed Parsley immediately after how he uses a stick to beat and drive away a blackamoor.

To work with children in kindergarten I picked up Russian folk tunes, dance songs, children's nursery rhymes and songs. IN modern conditions Parsley acts not as a rude and deceiver, but as someone who needs to be taught good manners and correct behavior.

Publications on the topic:

Fairy tales: “Zayushkina’s hut”, “Rukavichka” and Christmas story about carols. Puppet show- very loved by children, and always when announced.

Theater is Magic world. He gives lessons in beauty, morality and ethics. And the richer they are, the more successful the development is. spiritual world children...”

Methodological development of the puppet show “The Tale of Gray Baikal” fairy tale of Gray Baikal. Based on the Buryat folk tale"The Magic Chest" PREFACE: The basis of the theatrical puppet show.

Scenario for a puppet theater based on the fairy tale by K. I. Chukovsky “Fedorino Grief” Scenario for a puppet theater based on the fairy tale by K.I. Chukovsky “Fedorino’s grief” (Fedora can barely walk) I would wash the dishes, But I can’t lift my hands.

The Russians had three types of puppet theater: the marionette theater (in which the puppets were controlled using threads), the Petrushka theater with glove puppets (the puppets were put on the puppeteer’s fingers) and the nativity scene (in which the dolls were fixedly fixed on rods and moved along slots in boxes) . Puppet theater did not become widespread. The Parsley Theater was popular. The nativity scene was distributed mainly in Siberia and southern Russia.

The Petrushka Theater is a Russian folk puppet comedy. Its main character was Petrushka, after whom the theater was named. This hero was also called Pyotr Ivanovich Uksusov, Pyotr Petrovich Samovarov, in the south - Vanya, Vanka, Vanka Retatouille, Ratatouille, Rutyutyu (tradition of the northern regions of Ukraine). The Parsley Theater arose under the influence of the Italian puppet theater Pulcinella, with which the Italians often performed in St. Petersburg and other cities.

An early sketch of the Petrushka Theater dates back to the 30s. XVII century This illustration was placed by the German traveler Adam Olearius in the description of his trip to Muscovy. Regarding the drawing, D. A. Rovinsky wrote: “... A man, having tied a woman’s skirt with a hoop at the hem to his belt, raised it up - this skirt covers him above his head, he can move in it freely, move his hands, put dolls on top and present entire comedies.<...>In the picture, on a portable skirt stage, it is not difficult to discern the classic comedy about how the gypsy sold Petrushka a horse." Rovinsky cited Olearius' remark that the puppet comedian was always with the bear leader; he also corrected the "positions" of the goat and the clown. The skits, according to Olearius, were always of the most modest content.

Later, the raised women's skirt with a hoop at the hem was replaced by a screen - at least in descriptions of the Petrushka Theater in the 19th century. the skirt is no longer mentioned.

In the 19th century The Petrushka Theater was the most popular and widespread type of puppet theater in Russia. It consisted of a light folding screen, a box with several dolls (according to the number of characters - usually from 7 to 20), a barrel organ and small props (sticks or batons, rattles, rolling pins, etc.). The Parsley Theater did not know the scenery.

The puppeteer, accompanied by a musician, usually an organ grinder, walked from courtyard to courtyard and gave traditional performances about Petrushka. He could always be seen during folk festivals and fairs.

About the structure of the Petrushka Theater D. A. Rovinsky wrote: “The doll does not have a body, but only a simple skirt is faked, to which an empty cardboard head is sewn on top, and hands, also empty, on the sides. The puppeteer sticks his index finger into the doll’s head, and hands - the first and third fingers; he usually puts a doll on each hand and thus acts with two dolls at once."

Characteristic features of Parsley's appearance are a large hooked nose, a laughing mouth, a protruding chin, a hump or two humps (on the back and on the chest). The clothes consisted of a red shirt, a cap with a tassel, and smart boots on his feet; or from a clownish two-color clown outfit, collar and cap with bells. The puppeteer spoke for Petrushka with the help of a squeak - a device thanks to which the voice became sharp, shrill, and rattling. (The pischik was made of two curved bone or silver plates, inside of which a narrow strip of linen ribbon was fastened). The puppeteer spoke for the rest of the characters in the comedy in his natural voice, moving the squeak behind his cheek.

The performance of the Petrushka Theater consisted of a set of skits that had a satirical orientation. M. Gorky spoke about Petrushka as an invincible hero of a puppet comedy who defeats everyone and everything: the police, the priests, even the devil and death, while he himself remains immortal.

The image of Parsley is the personification of festive freedom, emancipation, and a joyful feeling of life. Petrushka's actions and words were opposed to accepted standards of behavior and morality. Parsley's improvisations were topical: they contained sharp attacks against local merchants, landowners, and authorities. The performance was accompanied by musical inserts, sometimes parodic: for example, an image of a funeral under “Kamarinskaya” (see in the Reader “Petrushka, aka Vanka Ratatouille”).

Zueva T.V., Kirdan B.P. Russian folklore - M., 2002

The history of this doll goes back to the beginning of the 17th century. Although she has many prototypes in the folk theaters of Italy, France, Germany, and Turkey. The Parsley Theater enjoyed enormous popularity, first among ordinary people, and then among the more affluent segments of the population.

History of the theater

The Petrushka People's Theater is one of the oldest in Russia. It is precisely established that it existed at the very beginning of the 17th century in Rus'. Confirmation of this fact can be found in the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, where the fresco depicts a puppeteer raising the curtain.

This is also evidenced by the entries in the travel diary of the scientist, diplomat and traveler Adam Olearius (Elschläger), which was republished several times. He was in Russia twice: in 1633-1634 - as secretary of the German embassy, ​​in 1635-1639 - as a scientific researcher.

Olearius described in detail the puppet theater of Petrushka, supplementing his story with an illustration, later made by an engraver at the request of the author. The nature and type of puppet shows that Adam Olearius portrayed suggests that these performances were the prototype of the Petrushka theater of the 19th century.

Description of the theater

The Parsley Theater was a screen that consisted of frames fastened with special staples, covered with fabric, most often chintz. This structure was attached around the puppeteer's body. After it was raised above the head, a kind of stage was formed on which the performances took place.

In the performance of the Petrushka puppet theater in the 17th century, a guslar or a whistle-player participated, who maintained dialogues with the puppet and with the audience. The musician invited the audience to the performance and collected payment at the end.

In Rus', only a man could be the puppeteer of Petrushka. When he “drove” the doll and voiced it, the actor inserted a whistle (squeaker) into his larynx. This made the character’s voice ringing and loud, which was necessary at fair performances where there was a large number of of people. At the same time, because of the squeak, speech was not always intelligible; in such cases, an accompanist came to the rescue and explained everything to the viewer.

The history of the doll

Parsley is a glove puppet that the puppeteer places on his hand and controls it with his fingers. This character is dressed in a red shirt, canvas pants and a pointed cap with a tassel at the end. In V. I. Dahl’s dictionary, Petrushka is positioned as a farcical doll, a jokester, a Russian jester, a wit in a red caftan and cap.

His appearance is not at all Slavic, although he was the main character of the Russian folk theater Petrushka. The doll has greatly enlarged arms and a head, which were carved from wood treated with a special compound to darken it.

Parsley has hypertrophied facial features, huge almond-shaped eyes with eyeballs white and a black iris. A large, long nose with a hump and a wide-open mouth, which some take for a smile, but in fact it is an evil grin. Petrushka got his appearance from the doll of Pulcinella, an Italian comedy character.

Origin of the name

How this doll got the name Parsley is not known for certain. There is a version that the famous comedic character was named after his namesake, Pietro Mirro (Pedrillo or Petrucha-Farnos). This was the court jester of the Russian Tsarina Anna Ioannovna. This version is supported by texts and popular prints (amusing sheets) identical to the plots of the Parsley Theater.

There is also a hypothesis that Petrushka received his name from famous puppeteer actors who lived in early XVIII century, these are Pyotr Ivanov and Pyotr Yakubovsky. It is quite possible that the doll was named after one of these amusements, whose performances were most popular at that time.

It is believed that Petrushka was named because of the similarity of his profile and ringing, noisy voice with a rooster. This version is supported by the fact that in Russia roosters are called Petya, Petrusha.

The puppet character got his name in the “Petrine Age,” when Emperor Peter I, according to one expression, signed his rescripts not with a pen, but with a club, and in his free time he drank and fooled around under the name of Petrushka Mikhailov in “the most drunken cathedrals.”

Performance scripts

There were several scenarios in the Parsley Theater. The main plots are buying a horse and riding it, learning to be a soldier, preparing a wedding, a scene with a gendarme or a policeman, with a dog or death. Almost every scene showed a fight between Petrushka and another character, in which he invariably won.

Usually the performance began with Petrushka wanting to buy a horse, and the accompanist calling for a gypsy salesman. Main character examines the horse for a long time, and then begins a long bargaining with the gypsy, as a result of which he beats the latter on the back with a stick for attempting to deceive.

After this, Petrushka gets on the horse, but she throws him off and runs away. He remains lying on the ground, waiting for the doctor, who appears later. There is also a conflict with the doctor, and it all ends in a fight with a club. Later there is a skirmish with a gendarme or a policeman, in which Petrushka also defeats them with a stick. And it all ended with his meeting with a dog or with death, after which he died.

Popularity of the heroes of the Parsley Theater

All the characters participating in the performance changed periodically. The only constant was Petrushka, who was also called Pyotr Petrovich Samovarov, Vanka Ratatouille or Pyotr Ivanovich Ukusov. The comedy with his participation was very popular and widespread in Russia. Love common people to the main character of the speeches was explained in different ways. Some argued that the reason was the topicality of the satire, while others spoke of the accessibility, simplicity and understandability of the speeches.

In the monthly magazine “A Writer's Diary” in 1876, F. M. Dostoevsky wrote a story on the theme of the Petrushka puppet theater. In it, he describes the performance that took place in the St. Petersburg house of artists. Fathers and their children stood in a crowd and watched the always popular comedy, and in fact this performance was the most fun of the whole holiday. The author asks questions: why do you feel so funny because of Parsley, so happy when you look at him? Why is everyone happy - both old people and children?

Relatives of Parsley

Some historians believe that Petrushka has so-called relatives in the theatrical puppet world of other countries. This is, for example, Pulcinella - a character considered the ancestor of Parsley, since he appeared in the 16th century. In France, this is Polichinelle - the hero of the folk theater, a hunchback, a cheerful bully and a mocker. In England, this is Punch, who is described as a hunchback with a pointed, hook-shaped nose and wearing a cap. He is a rogue, a fighter, a merry fellow and a reveler.

In Turkey, the prototype of the Parsley Theater was a shadow theater, the main character of which was a doll named Karagöz (in Turkish - black-eyed). He also had a cheerful, cocky personality. People's dissatisfaction with the existing government was often expressed in performance scenes.

In Germany, Parsley's brother was the Kaschperle (Casper) doll, who also participated in comic performances at fairs and festivities. By nature, Kasper was a simple, cheerful joker who joked about topical topics.

Petrushka Theater in the 19th century

After a while, this character ceased to exist only as a street performer. Puppeteers and accompanists are increasingly being invited to the houses of gentlemen, where the scenes in which Petrushka participates lose their sharpness and topicality. He stops killing and beating his stage partners, and only scolds and drives them away.

IN late XVIII- At the beginning of the 19th century, changes took place in the theater. Musical instruments such as the harp and whistle are being replaced by the violin and organ-organ. The latter is especially widespread. In fact, she was the first mechanical musical instrument and was liked by the public. It did not require special playing skills and therefore gradually replaced the harp, violin and buzzer.

Also in the 19th century, the structure of the screen itself changed; now it consists of two poles on which coarse fabric is stretched, most often dyed, with Blue colour. Because of this design, the puppeteer showed his performance.

From wit to hero of children's parties

Petrushka's speech changes from common folk to more acceptable for manor houses, and the “parsley man” is no longer a street actor, but a salon actor. The stage itself is decorated with beautiful lush draperies, and those participating in the performance dress in satin clothes with shiny tinsel, which makes the performance ceremonial and solemn.

Parsley turns from an evil wit with obscene jokes into a kindly, cheerful character at children's parties and matinees. Moreover, after some time he glove puppet degenerates into a puppet, like his foreign relatives Pulcinella, Polichinelle, Punch and Karagöz. More and more often you can see the performance of Petrushka the puppet, and not the glove puppet.

Parsley in the twentieth century

IN Soviet time appears new character- Comrade Petrushka, at the same time he leaves the stage and turns into the hero of stories and literary plays. Now the old Petrushka Theater in which much was permissible does not exist. Frivolity is lost in the 20th century storyline, the events unfolding in the plays and stories are aimed at promoting hygiene, literacy and recycling.

All that remains of the original Petrushka is his tendency to accuse. He points out, identifies and condemns drunkards and slackers, and explains to readers the elementary standards of decency and decent behavior in society.

The doll's appearance also undergoes a transformation. Thus, the red shirt in which Petrushka was previously dressed turns into a tunic or blouse, and instead of a pointed cap, a cap, budenovka or cap appears on his head. Even his long nose with a hump shortens and initially becomes snub-nosed, and later becomes completely ordinary.

Parsley in modern times

The history of the Parsley Theater is now being studied by scientists and theater experts. And today this character has not outlived its usefulness. For example, Petrushka became the hero of the ballet of the same name, which is often identified with the peculiar emblem of the Russians. ballet seasons.

He was a real key figure for the work of the composer I. F. Stravinsky, who wrote wonderful music for the ballet, for the founder of the classical Russian ballet school M. M. Fokin, who created this production, as well as for the dancer V. Nijinsky, who performed the main roles in this ballet.

Petrushka remained in the image of an irreconcilable fighter against injustice and negative characteristics person. Making fun of all this, he tries to change it for the better.