The Kamerny Theatre was a

chamber theatre Chamber theater is a method of adapting literary works to the stage using a maximal amount of the work's original text and often minimal and suggestive settings. In chamber theater, narration is included in the performed text and the narrator mig ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, founded in 1914 by director

Alexander Tairov Alexander Yakovlevich Tairov (russian: Александр Яковлевич Таиров; uk, Олександр Якович Таїров; 6 July 1885 – 5 September 1950) was a leading innovator and theatre director in Russia before and durin ...

(1885–1950). Over the next 35 years, this small, intimate theater became "recognized as a major force in Russian theater". Considered among the better presentations staged at the theater were: '' Princess Brambilla'' (1920), ''Phèdre and Giroflé-Girofla'' (1922), ''

Desire Under the Elms ''Desire Under the Elms'' is a 1924 play written by Eugene O'Neill. Like ''Mourning Becomes Electra'', ''Desire Under the Elms'' signifies an attempt by O'Neill to adapt plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy to a rural New England setting. ...

'' (1926), ''Day and Night'' (1926), ''The Negro'' (1929), ''

The Beggars' Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satiri ...

'' (1930) and Vishnevsky's ''

An Optimistic Tragedy ''Optimistic Tragedy'' (russian: Оптимистическая трагедия) is a play written by Vsevolod Vishnevskiy in the Soviet Union in 1933 with a dedication to the 15th anniversary of the Red Army. The play is set in St. Petersb ...

'' (1933). Tairov's primary collaborator in building the sets was

Aleksandra Ekster Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "pr ...

, and these were based upon the period's constructivist style. The decor for the theatre was designed by

Konstantin Medunetsky Kazimir (Konstantin) Kostantinovich Medunetsky (1899, Moscow - c. 1935) was a Constructivist sculptor and stage designer who was a pupil of Vladimir Tatlin and Alexander Rodchenko at Vkhutemas (Higher Art and Technical Studios) and founder memb ...

.Smith, Bernard. (1998) ''Modernism's History: A Study in Twentieth Century Art and Ideas''. New Haven:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Univers ...

, p. 170. , For three decades the theater survived the effects of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

by remaining unpolitical, instead adopting a post-revolutionary romantic idealism and relying heavily on classical material from the east and west. However, in 1928, the Kamerny put on ''Purple Island'' by

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Soviet writer, medical doctor, and playwright active in the fir ...

, which was a satire that openly mocked the government. As a result, Stalin labeled the Kamerny 'a real bourgeois theater'. Thereafter, the theater had need to reform their presentation. The Soviet authorities developed a deep distrust of Tairov, calling him the last representative of the "bourgeois aestheticism". In 1937, the Realistic Theater was merged with the Kamerny. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the theater was heavily bombed during the siege of Moscow and it did not re-open until December 25, 1943. The last production staged at the Kamerny was ''The Seagull'' by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

in 1946. The same year the Soviet communist party "condemned all formalism and experimentation in literature and the arts". The Kamerny was closed in 1949 as a result of the

Zhdanov Doctrine The Zhdanov Doctrine (also called Zhdanovism or Zhdanovshchina; russian: доктрина Жданова, ждановизм, ждановщина) was a Soviet cultural doctrine developed by Central Committee secretary Andrei Zhdanov in 1946. It ...

References

Further reading