The main principles of Mykola Voronyi’s theoretical works on theatre and theatrical pedagogy

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The main principles of Mykola Voronyi's theoretical works on theatre and theatrical pedagogy

Melnychuk Olena

PhD in Art Criticism, senior lecturer,

Professor of Stage Directing Department

of Rivne State Humanitarian University

The purpose of the research. The article deals with M. Voronyi's theoretical legacy including theatrical journalism and theatrical pedagogy in the fledging period of the Ukrainian modern theater at the beginning of the twentieth century. His theatrical works as well as theoretical achievements in theatrical pedagogy, which were based on his considerable acting experience and studies of the achievements in world theatre, are analyzed. The main units of the first Ukrainian theatrical textbook "The director": "The nature of the director's activities", "Preparatory work of the director" and "The director's work with actors", dedicated to the professional education of the director, are analyzed. Methodology. While dealing with historic aspects of the investigation, there have been applied historic, historic comparative and historic genetic methods. While analyzing the achievements of both the world and the national theater, there has also been used the method of drama study. The scientific novelty consists in defining the main points of M. Voronyi's theoretical works on theater and theatrical pedagogy, as well as in comprehending the artist's legacy considering the important culturological aspects, which affected the development of the national culture. Conclusions. The whole M. Voronyi's creative activity was of educational nature and was designed to boost both Ukrainian culture and the Ukrainian modern theater to the level of the world standards.

Keywords: modern theatre, theatrical journalism, theatrical education, culture of Ukraine.

Мельничук Олена Миколаївна, кандидат мистецтвознавства, доцент кафедри театральної режисури Рівненського державного гуманітарного університету

Основні положення теоретичних праць Миколи Вороного про театр та театральну педагогіку

Мета роботи. В статті досліджується теоретичний доробок М. Вороного (театральна публіцистика, театральна педагогіка) періоду становлення українського модерного театру початку ХХ століття. Аналізуються його театрознавчі праці, а також теоретичні надбання з театральної педагогіки, ґрунтовані на значному акторському досвіді та вивченні досягнень світового театру. Розглядаються та аналізуються основні розділи першого українського театрального підручника "Режисер". Методологія. Застосовано історичний, історико-порівняльний та історико-генетичний методи у розгляді історичних аспектів дослідження; театрознавчий метод - в аналізі здобутків світового та вітчизняного театрів. Наукова новизна полягає у визначенні основних положень теоретичних праць М. Вороного про театр та театральну педагогіку, а також в осмисленні доробку митця у сенсі важливих культурологічних аспектів, що вплинули на розвиток вітчизняної культури загалом. Висновки. Уся творча діяльність М. Вороного мала просвітницький характер і була спрямована на те, щоб підняти українську культуру, український модерний театр до рівня світового.

Ключові слова: модерний театр, театральна публіцистика, театральна педагогіка, культура України, М. Вороний.

Мельничук Елена Николаевна, кандидат искусствоведения, доцент кафедры театральной режиссуры Ровенского государственного гуманитарного университета

Основные положения теоретических работ Николая Вороного о театре и театральной педагогике

Цель работы. В статье исследуется теоретическое наследие Н. Вороного (театральная публицистика, театральная педагогика) периода становления украинского современного театра начала ХХ века. Анализируются его театроведческие труды, а также теоретические достижения в сфере театральной педагогики, которые были построены на значительном актерском опыте и изучении достижений мирового театра. Рассматриваются и анализируются основные разделы первого украинского театрального учебника "Режиссер". Методология. В работе применены исторический, историко-сравнительный и историко-генетический методы в рассмотрении исторических аспектов исследования; театроведческий метод - в анализе достижений мирового и отечественного театров. Научная новизна заключается в определении основных положений теоретических трудов Н. Вороного о театре и театральной педагогике, а также в осмыслении наследия художника в свете важных культурологических аспектов, повлиявших на развитие отечественной культуры в целом. Выводы. Вся творческая деятельность Н. Вороного имела просветительский характер и была направлена на то, чтобы поднять украинскую культуру, украинский модерный театр до уровня мирового.

Ключевые слова: современный театр, театральная публицистика, театральная педагогика, культура Украины, Н. Вороной.

Urgency of the research

The problems of the formation of the Ukrainian national theatre and theatrical pedagogy, which were of a great concern to Ukrainian cultural figures at the beginning of the twentieth century, are dealt with in the works of theorists and practical theatrical workers. Such dynamics is observed when we analyse a creative contribution to the nation's cultural treasure made by the outstanding countryman Mykola Voronyi, who is a poet and a translator, a literary critic, a publicist, an editor, a researcher of national theatre, world art and Ukrainian drama, an actor and a director. “The importance of Voronyi lies first of all in his creative work, which is the living voice of the dynamic, conflicting process and in spite of the fact that it belongs to the past, it continues to live in thousands of connections with the present, which nobody has managed to understand without traditions” [3, 21].

The topic of this article presupposes the analysis of Voronyi's theoretical legacy including theatrical journalism and theatrical pedagogy in the fledging period of the Ukrainian modern theatre at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Such scientists as O. Biletsky, B. Yakubsky, H. Verves, T. Hundorova, M. Moscalenko, I. Lysenko, V. Bazylevsky and O. Kaminchuk were engaged in the investigation of M. Voronyi's creative work. At the same time, we find single articles placed in different collections that represent the art legacy of our Ukrainian cultural figures, which have recently been forgotten (I. Ilienko “Mykola Voronyi” (“At the death's door. Ukrainian writers as victims of Stalin's repressions” K., 1991), V. Kuzmenko “Mykola Voronyi” (A group of invincible singers” (K., 1997). However, the personality of Mykola Voronyi as a theorist of early Ukrainian modern theater and theatrical pedagogy has still remained a research failure.

The purpose of this article is to comprehend M. Voronyi's theoretical legacy including theatrical journalism and theatrical pedagogy in the fledging period of the Ukrainian modern theater at the beginning of the twentieth century, considering the important culturological aspects, which affected the development of the national culture.

Tasks:

1. to analyze the results of the previous researches on the subject;

2. to define the peculiarities of the formation of the Ukrainian modern culture at the beginning of the of the twentieth century as a whole and the Ukrainian modern theatre in particular;

3. to highlight some works on dramatic criticism written by M. Voronyi;

4. to analyze the main chapters of M. Voronyi's theatrical textbook “The director”.

voronyi theoretical theatre pedagogy

Presentation of basic material of the research

M. Voronyi's creative work covers the contradictory period of the development of Ukrainian culture and art in the years between 1910 and 1930, the appraisal of which repeatedly changed along with the changes of trends in the country's social development and political situation during the twentieth century.

“The efforts of almost all human studies are needed to comprehend the phenomenon of Mykola Voronyi as well as of the whole pleiad of artists at the beginning of the twentieth century since he was creating in the conditions of active social reality (the existence of different political parties), scientific life (the activities of the scientific society named after T. Shevchenko), educational and cultural struggle (fighting for Lviv University, the theatre of Ukrainian coryphaei, journalism and others)” [4, 6].

During the past decades, the study of spiritual aspects of Ukrainian culture at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century has become a principal trend in Ukrainian science. Numerous dissertations by literary critics, art critics and culturologists, dedicated to this period, have revealed the fact that the country's problems of those days are close to the problems of the present and they continue to be topical ones nowadays. One of the main problems among them is to define how to enter the European cultural space still preserving our national identity. The topicality of the problem makes us thoroughly investigate all the circumstances of spiritual changes, which the epoch at the turn of the century was rich in.

Many-sided displays of art at the turn of the century have been interpreted by the theorists in the context of modernism. The concept of “modernism” came from Europe as a result of the changes in aesthetic trends, which took place at the end of the century, reflecting the overall sense of contemporaneity and modernity [15, 43].

Modernism represents an artistic and aesthetic system, which arose at the beginning of the twentieth century as a result of a specific reflection of contradictions in mass and individualistic consciousness. It influenced all areas of creative arts. The theatrical art was not an exception either.

In the Ukrainian cultural scope of that time, “...there flourished the idea of “Europeanization”, which was launched by M. Sadovsky (1907 - 1918 in Kyiv) and later developed by L. Kurbas (“The Early Theatre”, 1918 - 1919) and further on by the Taras Shevchenko State Drama Theatre, founded in Kyiv in 1919” [13, 234]. The Ukrainian artists of rather different social and artistic orientations united under that motto.

Ya. Mamontov, the famous Ukrainian theorist and publicist, wrote in his article “Under the hammer of the day” (dedicated to the anniversary of the Ivan Franko Ukrainian Drama Theatre): “Let's first of all define what the Ukrainian theatre represented in 1920 <...> Everybody realized that it had to be risen to the European level of artistic and technical devices. But how to do that in the conditions of that time <...>. In 1920 our theatrical “europeanization” hardly came out from the cradle, but such question as threatening momento mori was already hanging over it: under military communism, the fencing war, starvation etc., do we need the European repertoire with all its bourgeois entourage?” [13, 234].

The beginning of the twentieth century for Ukraine was marked by joining the All Russian liberation movement. The creative energy that resisted destructive forces at the end of the nineteenth - the beginning of the twentieth century, formed a powerful wave of renewal, touching various forms of social consciousness, including the artistic one. The desire for purification and perfection of the country, the society and the man was combined with a steady desire of the perception of the world. The theatre at its new stage seemed to become not only the main art among other arts, but the center of life, the establishment, where people were supposed to clear themselves and experience the most impressive feelings. The theater started to bear special responsibility, its ideas were considered and responses expected.

M. Voronyi condemned the narrow approach to the theatre as an entertainment. He defined the two main functions of the theatre in his theatrical textbook “The Director” (1925). He highlighted the pedagogical- educational function and the aesthetic one emphasizing that pedagogical and educational tasks were of great importance in those theaters, where spectators were poorly educated. Still, “.the aesthetic task of the theatre being its prime and genuine feature, rejects in its repertoire anything which would show repulsive taste or would tend to satisfy low and rude instincts of the crowd in order to be a cheap success story.<...>The theater, which follows this direction, will stop being the theater<...> The genuine theater itself must raise the crowd to its height. The theater must not limit its repertoire to old and famous things, but it must seek for new trends, as well as to respond to every interesting and fresh manifestation of the new drama” [6, 545] - M. Voronyi noted. In his opinion, it is the repertoire of the theatre that defines its content and trend and shows its real “aesthetic image”. He even formulates some methodological statements concerning the repertoire selection:

1) shifting from the contents of plays to their form;

2) shifting from specific items to abstract ones;

3) shifting from near items to remote ones (from national items to overseas ones);

4) shifting from shorter plays to longer ones [6, 545].

Investigating the state of the Ukrainian theater of those days M. Voronyi cites an aphorism by a famous German playwright Franz Grillparzer(1791 - 1872) in his book “Theatrical Art and Ukrainian Theatre” (1913): “In spite of every effort made by theatrical theorists the German theatre still lacks three things: actors, writers (namely, playwrights. - M. V.) and the audience” [6, 323]. Voronyi comes to the conclusion that, in spite of the certain evolution, the Ukrainian theater lacks the same things.

Due to its social character, the theater has always been dependent on time, customs and the state system reflecting some ethical, aesthetic, religious or political views along with their successive waves of changes. However, it is his deep belief that the stage must be neither a tribune for party ideologists nor a place for unhealthy pleasures. It must become an independent “forum for high transformations of a human spirit and mysterious manifestations of Beauty” [6, 335].

Striving of those days for the perception of the world through art considerably influenced dramatic pursuit. Seeking after some new artistic tools and modifying their ideological positions, the participants in that art process were closely monitoring the art legacy of both their contemporaries and their predecessors. They enriched their nation's cultural treasure and demonstrated their concern for its fate. “Seeking after some new expressive forms and artistic tools, the progressive Ukrainian writers tried to raise the Ukrainian literature to the level of world standards. That is why they were extremely interested in the advances of Russian literature as well as of other world literatures, European literature in particular” [9, 237].

As early as in 1901, when working on the almanac “From behind the clouds and valleys”, on the pages of “Literaturno-naukovy visnyk”, M. Voronyi appealed to the writers to send his highly-spiritual stories, bearing the impress of philosophical depth and European orientation:“It is desirable that the stories would contain at least a little philosophy with a patch of the far blue sky, which has been attracting us for centuries by its unattainable beauty and its bottomless mystery” [12, 14].

On S. Yefremov's initiative, who was the Russian critic (“In search of the new beauty” 1902), “On the dead-spot” (1904), this appeal was proclaimed the manifesto of Ukrainian modernism. In 1929, O. Biletsky wrote: “Still, M. Voronyi's address appears to be a step forward in the overall development of literature” [2, 253].

Special attention should be paid to Vorony's social and political essays. His articles on the theater, drama and fine arts, his memoirs about outstanding figures of Ukrainian culture as well as his reviews are of great value. His works on drama study including his book “The theater and the drama” and his articles “Mykhaylo Schepkin”, “The Ukrainian theater in Kyiv” etc. have still preserved considerable topicality.

Voronyi was guided by the realistic Russian theater, Stanislavsky and Nemyrovych-Danchenko's creative search, in other words, by that school, which in due course became the foundation of the soviet theatrical art” [3, 19] - H. Verves noted.

At the same time, the artist “actively studies the cultural legacy of the world theater: he analyzes Sophocles' fatalism, Euripides' skepticism, Aristophanes' satire, mysteries of medieval theater and the Spanish theatre of Calderon and Lope de Vega, Shakespeare's drama, French classical drama (Corneille, Rasine, Moliere) and the educational drama (Diderot). He highlights the origin and conditions of the romantic drama, and he finally concentrates on a thorough research of the realistic and psychological drama of his time” [3, 20]. It was his firm belief that the European theatre had to be understood and its artistic experience had to be used in order to succeed in finding our own ways.

The importance of M. Voronyi's contribution to the theatrical pedagogy can scarcely be overestimated. “His works based on his considerable acting experience and studies of the achievements in the world theater assumed ever greater meaning of a textbook for numerous Ukrainian theatrical troupes before the Socialist revolution of 1917. They did not only teach the whole theatrical history since classical antiquity, but they also pointed to the significance of the theatre's cultural, educational and civil roles during each period of its evolution and its impact on the society. While explaining the social and educational functions of the theatre, Voronyi is guided by the authority of V. Belinsky, M. Hohol and L. Tolstoi and by M. Schepkin's performing as well as by the activities of Ukrainian theatrical leaders” [3, 20].

At the same time, the theorist pays considerable attention to the director's professional education calling him “a master of his craft”. In his opinion, the director must know everything and be able to do everything, must be competent and authoritative in his theatrical activities. M. Voronyi marks out two types of directors: a technician director and a creator director. “The first type is a literal translator, the second one is an interpreter <...> For both of them, the play is like a score for conductors (one is like a slave, who follows it exactly, the other reproduces its deep content) <...> It is difficult to explain the difference in creative work between the two directors, but it's easy to feel it” [6, 547].

Exploiting V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko's formula about three sides of director's activities (an interpreter director, a “mirror” director and an organizer director) [10, 43], M. Voronyi suggested his own wording: “the director's activities are revealed through the activities of three figures, being an organizer, a master and a creator of the performance” [6, 544].

A separate chapter of the theoretical textbook is dedicated to the director's work with actors. M. Voronyi uses the professional experience of the German ideologist and director Karl Gageman, who deduced a certain formula of exerting control over the means of actors' expressiveness. This formula is based on four main principles:

1) using expressive means must meet the requirements of economy through the actor's own control;

2) artistic expressiveness must be subordinated to stage expressiveness;

3) artistic expressiveness must meet the requirements of simplicity;

4) all expressive means must be subordinated to the law of gracefulness [6, 560 - 561].

M. Voronyi defined the main stages of creative process: idea - reflex - performance. He proved that both the director working on a performance and the actor working on a role would pass through the stages. He found it very important to cast roles properly, noting “that it is better to take into consideration an actor's personality rather than his dramatic type, because keeping strictly to the actor's dramatic type produces only stereotype and platitude, under which the talent can remain uncovered” [6, 559].

The scientific novelty of the work consists in comprehending M.Voronyi's theoretical legacy of the specified period in view of the important culturological aspects, which affected the development of the national culture. After considering and analyzing the main units of the first Ukrainian theatrical textbook “The director”, dedicated to the professional education of the director, there has been proclaimed the artist's valuable contribution to national theatrical pedagogy.

Conclusions

M. Voronyi demanded that his actors would work thoroughly on both their nature and the role. His innovation was topical, because he exposed hypocrisy on the stage, unnatural acting, forced pathos and pompousness. He longed for the truthfulness and simplicity insisting on getting rid of theatricality on theater stage.

Summing up, it is essential to note that M. Voronyi's theatrical journalism can be considered encyclopedic since it contains a lot of data and it is written in the highly-artistic vivid literary language. He was always worried about a highly-artistic level of stories and above all about their educational function. The whole of M. Voronyi's creative activities was designed to raise both Ukrainian culture and the Ukrainian modern theatre to the world standards.

The analysis of M. Voronyi's legacy testifies to his great contribution to the formation of the Ukrainian modern theatre at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Література

1. Базилевський В. Микола Вороний (1871-1938). Надземне і земне / Володимир Базилевський // Слово просвіти. Ч. 44. 3-9 листопада 2011. - С. 8-9.

2. Білецький О. Микола Вороний: Критико-біографічний нарис / Олександр Білецький // Микола Вороний. Поезії. - Харків: Рух. - 1929. - С. 26 - 27.

3. Вервес Г. Поет повертається на батьківщину / Г. Вервес // Микола Вороний. - К.: Дніпро, 1989. - С. 5-22.

4. Вервес Г. Д. Микола Вороний / Г. Д. Вервес // Вороний М. К. Поезії. Переклади. Критика. Публіцистика; [упоряд. і приміт. Т. І. Гундорової]. - К.: Наукова думка, 1996. - С. 5-30.

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6. Вороний М. Твори / М. Вороний. - К.: Дніпро, 1989. - 687 с.

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8. Гундорова Т. Проявлення Слова: Дискурсія раннього українського модернізму: Постмодерна інтерпретація / Тамара Гундорова. - Львів: Літопис, 1997. - 297 с.

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10. Кнебель М. Поэзия педагогики / М. Кнебель. - М.: Всероссийское театральное общество, 1976. - 526 с.

11. Лисенко І. Любив красу, як рідну Україну / І. М. Лисенко // Лицар честі і краси. Микола Вороний у спогадах, листах і матеріалах. - К.: Рада, 2011. - С. 5-8.

12. Літературно-науковий вісник. Кн. 9. - Львів: Український видавничий союз, 1901. - С. 14.

13. Мамонтов Я. Театральна публіцистика / Я. Мамонтов. - К.: Мистецтво, 1967. - 327 с.

14. Москаленко М. Шлях Миколи Вороного / Михайло Москаленко // Вороний М. У сяйві мрій. - К.: ВАТ "Видавництво "Київська правда", 2002. - С. 3-12.

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