RUSSIAN THEATRE.—This stage is an example of the "theatricality” of the great producer, Okhlopkov, whose work is discussed in a book reviewed on this page. Then is no scenery, or properties, on two bare rectangular platforms placed at angles to each other. The two platforms span the orchestral pit diagonally; a hundred members of the audience sit on the stage, the rest occupying the auditorium and its galleries. Attendants move about the stage in full light, distributing and removing props, in the manner of the Chinese theatre. When a table is needed, two attendants bring on a rectangular piece of green baize; squatting on the floor, they hold it taut while characters gather round it in conference. By such means, Okhlopkov reminds the audience that, no matter how realistic a picture of life in a labour camp the play (“Aristocrats”) may be, it is still only a theatrical production and is to be accepted as such.

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30028, 12 January 1963, Page 3

RUSSIAN THEATRE.—This stage is an example of the "theatricality” of the great producer, Okhlopkov, whose work is discussed in a book reviewed on this page. Then is no scenery, or properties, on two bare rectangular platforms placed at angles to each other. The two platforms span the orchestral pit diagonally; a hundred members of the audience sit on the stage, the rest occupying the auditorium and its galleries. Attendants move about the stage in full light, distributing and removing props, in the manner of the Chinese theatre. When a table is needed, two attendants bring on a rectangular piece of green baize; squatting on the floor, they hold it taut while characters gather round it in conference. By such means, Okhlopkov reminds the audience that, no matter how realistic a picture of life in a labour camp the play (“Aristocrats”) may be, it is still only a theatrical production and is to be accepted as such.