THEATRE OF CZARS UNDER THE SOVIET.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 3, 5 January 1922, Page 5

THEATRE OF CZARS UNDER THE SOVIET.

'. 1 -« ARTISANS IN THE BOXES. If m.ii a-k a Moscow cabman to drive! on 't,. the "Imperial Theatre" he will j: now what you mean all right, though i> damn the red badge of Communism. i iiis fur cap and acknowledge ailfcinnce i no ■ uiperor i-ay.- the Moscow i-orres- , undent of the "Daily Chronicle"). j > N..r will he prote-t hi the misnomer, |! - ii now i~. He will iik- you straight j | way in the great building with its lonic I iin'ico and its eolos-al group "f I'hoeb.u ; i ihe Chariot of the >tin. I.ii of the theaire's "Imperialism" no. liing li.v Ihe mime remain*. K'.cry Aho\e, t'tio entrance there are only a| '-,\ ru-ty nails in the place where form-j rlv lite Imperial eagle raised its twin cad-. Inside a-t'ial vandalism ha- been tigenioiisly avoided The gilded rrouin nd -ci j.ire- over I he royal box ivunili, •i:t \ "U don't see them because ihey are i idden under red hangings. Ihe ""Imperial" Theatre i*. of course,] ike ever;, other institution in Rh-u-U.' he property of the Slate, and U admin-1 .tered l.\ ihe Soviet linvi-rniiient. Tim ; h.tractiT of the performance* is a« .-fore, opera alternating with lalle'. a .id, ,ulh arc presented with their old-time) lagniliicnce and artistic exccll-nce. | This ceriainly applied In the perform-n-e ahi.ii I witnessed of "I'rin.-e Ig.ir.'' j he moiintirg and dressing showed no tin: : there was an orchestra which niltti- I end nearly 11)0; the chorus crowded the; uge -lag.-; both -inging and ensemble j .■ere lir-l .'lass. I Incidentally, a ballet was interpolated I mo one of the scenes. It was a revela- j ion. One realised tiiai the l\iis*ian j allet as j resented abroad. e\en by I'us- ; i.-iv artist-, is a pallid reproduction of he Russian ballet as performed in a I lu--iiiu theatre to a Russian audience. | For t iii niin,n.es the stage wa- a] iotoils orgy of life and colour. it' ■lazed and Nickered like a great lire, for ; yon dancer—and there nit's! have been! it 1.-a-l mi -was in constant motion, j ike a living Ham.-. The setting was Mongolian, so that t he | vhole spectacle wa.- filled with ihe! ningled splendour and ferocity of bar-i larism. It was almost affrighting, yet! 'asciiuii ing. in its sudden revelation of j triniitne Oriental passion and vitality. Hut what was still more interesting ban the performance Mas the character j if the audience. Here, rather than in ■ die obliterated symbols of monarchy, ' ■i.is brought home the change that has' ■ome over Hiisshi. With very few e\,-,-.p- [ ions the whole nudien-.e co Ud l>c lab-Vie d j "proletarian." i In the Imperial box sat a -Red" soldier | surrounded by an obviously artisan : family. Dress circle and st'al's were; hardly distinguishable from gallery, cs- ' Cjit perhaps in a greater uniformity of' Ircss and an oecn*iotii'.l black-coa'cd | "bourgeois.'" . Leaning over the edge of one of the' huge stage boxes was a row of lads with roughened hands and coar-e face.-, who \ yet followed intently every no;,, and j movement. In its great majority it was an obviously working-class audience j which (racked the enormous interior from the floor right up through the five gilded circles. "Roiled" shirts and low-cul dresses might never have been invented. The Hilly touch of ceremonious attire was given by II few soldiers in the "full dress" of the lied army—smart blue limits and criiiieon breeches. While .-mocks with leather belts seemed the favoured garb for youths whose faces -nggesiert the student type.