COMEDY “ALIEN CHILD” BY V. SHKVARKIN IN ESTIMATES OF SOVIET CRITICISM
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2019-1-49-57
Introduction. A brief bibliography, the main milestones of the creative path of Vasily Shkvarkin are given. The history of the plays and publications of the play “Alien Child” is recreated. Aim and objectives. The purposes of this paper is to review the reactions of Soviet criticism to the performances of the comedy «Alien Child» by V. Shkvarkin and to study the meaning that the play had for Soviet dramaturgy of its time. Materials and research methods. The research methodology is based on the historical-typological and hermeneutic approaches. Results and discussion. The study revealed the significance of the role played by the play “Alien Child” in the development of the Soviet comedy. It is shown that the reviews published in the newspaper “Pravda” to a large extent determined further critical discussion of the comedy framework. Conclusion. The performances of «Alien Child» were a huge success with the audience and were hotly discussed in the press. Regional authors in their assessments, follow the text of a review by Rosenthal, published in the «Pravda» newspaper. The piece by Shkvarkin was one of the most important modern comedies, so the “Alien Child” was estimated in a press within the framework of soviet drama in general. The simplicity of the plot of «Alien Child» was perceived in a positive way. Shkvarkin’s play was rated as funny, “sincere” and “warm”. Most reviewers noted in the «Alien Child» both entertaining and moral-like functions. Shkvarkin’s comedy was perceived as a very confident and significant, if not without some flaws, a step towards the development of Soviet comedy. Criticism appreciated the optimistic picture of the future that inspired the audience to work hard for the sake of a happy tomorrow. The same few claims were made to it: some unsuccessful puns and several unfinished plot moves and characters. It was perceived as a very confident and significant, though not devoid of in general insignificant flaws, step towards the development of the Soviet comedy. The artistic merits of “Alien Child” led critics to speculations about the tasks of comedies in the Soviet state.
Keywords: V. V. Shkvarkin, Soviet literature, comedy, Soviet dramaturgy, “Alien Child”, theater criticism
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Issue: 1, 2019
Series of issue: Issue 1
Rubric: PROBLEMATICS AND POETICS OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE OF THE XIX–XXI CENTURIES
Pages: 49 — 57
Downloads: 1754