Recepcija kazališnih uprizorenja dramskih djela i dramatizacija proznih djela Antona Pavloviča Čehova u Hrvatskoj (1897. – 2010.)
Authors:   , Milevoj Šuran Stenni 
Published: May 2024

This paper focuses on the reception of theatre productions of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov’s literary works in Croatia from 1897 to 2010. It deals with the reception of his dramas and, to a lesser extent, with the reception of dramatisations of his prose work, in Croatian theatres, theatre societies and theatre groups, and in relevant theatre criticism in the abovementioned period. Croatian theatre productions of writer’s literary works are being analysed in chronological order, taking into consideration different cities where they were performed, different directors’ poetics and writer’s literary works, as well as the publication of relevant theatre criticism in different media forms, from daily press to theatre journals and books. Methods of analysis, comparison, synthesis and analogy, as well as the historical method of particular data (of theatres, directors and actors, theatre criticism and sociopolitical and cultural changes in theatre) are being applied. The reception of Croatian theatre productions of writer’s literary works is divided into 12 stages. At the end of the 19th century, Chekhov’s works were staged in Croatia for the first time, shortly after his works were published in Russia and staged in Russian theatres. One-act play The Bear was staged in Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb in 1897 and it was interpreted by prominent Croatian actors. It was staged in the period when the theatre was run by Stjepan Miletić, who tried to establish strong ties to European theatre practices. One-actplays were often staged during modernism and were considered to be "light" theatre entertainment. At the beginning of the 20th century director Josip Bach and dramaturge Nikola Andrić advocated for theatre productions of Russian writers in Zagreb’s theatre. Chekhov’s works were again performed on stage and contributed to the formation of particular actors’ and directors’ poetics. Nevertheless, writer’s plays were staged only a few of times and were soon replaced by other plays. They were not popular among Zagreb’s theatre spectators although they gained artistic reputation among theatre critics who had a (significant) influence on the subsequent reception of writer’s works in theatre and literary circles. A literary analysis of Uncle Vanya, a four-act play, was presented for the first time in the newspapers Hrvatsko pravo and became a starting point for twentieth century theatre and literary analyses of writer’s works. The play was interpreted as a lyrical drama that contained both tragic and comic elements and that put emphasis on the psychological state of its protagonists, while Chekhov was associated with impressionism. Taking into consideration some of the elements of this analysis, it is not surprising that spectators had to adjust to changes occuring in modern dramaturgy that Chekhov was inaugurating. In this period Croatian National Theatre in Osijek also staged a one-act play The Bear because its dramaturge Srđan Tucić insisted on theatre productions of plays that were frequently performed in European theatres. Karlovac and Split followed suit. Chekhov’s works were also performed during the First World War, without government censorship. In Zagreb’s theatre, The Bear was performed with a four-act play The Cherry Orchard. Theatre audiences frequently attended theatre performances. The war contributed to a "cultural renaissance" that resulted in comic plays frequently being staged. Theatre critics analysed the style and genre of Chekhov’s plays, the accuracy of its Croatian translations and the influence that current socio-political events had on theatre productions. In 1916 The Bear was again staged in Zagreb. In their analyses critics had opposing views of actors’ performances, based on (not) finding the right balance of tragic and comic elements in the play, which proved to be an indication of multiple layers of meaning of Chekhov’s dramaturgy that cannot be easily associated with a particular style or poetics. During the War, Osijek's theatre also performed one-act plays (they were usually directed and translated by Joza Ivakić), while in the postwar period (1919 – 1922) they were staged in Zagreb and Varaždin. The production of Uncle Vanya by the Russian director Jakov Šuvalov was not very popular with Zagreb’s theatre audiences, despite of the fact that the leading role was performed by Ivo Raić who used the Moscow Art Theatre’s "method" of acting. In the next four decades (1919 – 1962) Zagreb’s theatre no longer had its own productions of Chekhov’s works. Only amateur groups and foreign theatre companies performed on its stage. Zagreb’s Acting school (Državna glumačka škola) staged Chekhov’s works as part of students’ theatre exam productions. Zagreb’s theatre audiences showed a greater interest for the production of an one-act play The Marriage Proposal probably because it was staged a few months after the Russian actors and directors visited Zagreb. On that occasion one group of Moscow Art Theatre (MAT) actors, led by Kačalov, performed Chekhov’s works. At the beginning of the 1920s the biggest influence on Croatian theatre and theatre critics was exerted by Constantin Stanislavsky and the MAT actors who visited Zagreb. Zagreb’s theatre audiences had the chance to observe Stanislavsky’s approach to acting and directing and watch his theatre productions of Chekhov’s works based on "psychological realism". Their performances had a lasting impact on Croatian theatre productions of Chekhov’s works in most part of the twentieth century. But, Stanislavsky in Russia was already experimenting with other acting techniques (that incorporated actor’s body movements) while the Croatian public was only familiarized with his method based on actor’s psychology. In the period between the two world wars (1923 – 1940) only Zagreb’s Acting school (Zemaljska glumačka škola) staged his works. The production of The Seagull by the Russian director Lidija Mansvjetova was put on stage soon after the MAT’s visit in Zagreb, so it can be assumed that their performance was strongly influenced by what they had witnessed only a few months earlier. Moreover, an even stronger influence on their work was made by Mansvjetova who contributed to the modernisation of the Croatian theatrical expression and to the revival of theatrical productions of Chekhov’s works in different Croatian cities. In addition, Chekhov’s works were staged in Osijek, Split, Dubrovnik and Karlovac, in professional and amateur or semiprofessional theatres, theatre societies and theatre groups. Stanislavsky, MAT and other Russian directors, (in)directly connected to MAT, also had a strong influence on theatre productions of Chekhov’s works in the abovementioned cities. The Second World War in Croatia (1941 – 1945) presented a new stage in the reception of Chekhov’s works on Croatian theatre stage. The play The Marriage Proposal was staged by two partisan organizations. Their performances showed an innovative approach to Chekhov’s literary works: they used improvisations in acting expressions and exhibited a closer connection to the audience. The new political regime, socialist realism, established after the Second World War in Croatia, resulted in limited artistic freedom, on the one hand, and in the formation of new theatres and in the increase of their funding, on the other hand. Consequently, the number of theatre productions of Chekhov’s works raised considerably. Theatre critics interpreted Split’s staging of the play The Three Sisters, directed by Mansvjetova, as a triumph of socrealist art and emphasized the role that the MAT and Stanislavsky’s System had in forming socialist realism. But, in reality Stanislavsky was compromised by his followers who interpreted his work in a doctrinaire manner, regardless of the fact that Croatian theatre practitioners did not know how to apply his theories in practice. This situation continued throughout the 1950s in most theatrical productions. Chekhov became a writer that advocated the love of his country and its people. There were also exceptions to the rule: Chekhov’s one-act plays transformed into puppet shows and performed by Zagreb’s Družina mladih, Zagreb’s Acting School (Zemaljska glumačka škola) and Tito Strozzi’s performance of Uncle Vanya, Student’s theatre "Ivan Goran Kovačić" and their staging of The Three Sisters. Theatrical productions of writer’s works also became part of an exam repertoire for the evaluation of acting and directing students in the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. In the mid 1950s the MAT again visited Zagreb, but their performance of the play The Three Sisters in 1956, directed by V. Nemirovič-Dančenko, did not offer a new or original interpretation of the play. Similar tendencies were present in Croatian interpretations of Chekhov’s works from mid 1940s to mid 1950s. In the 1960s Chekhov’s plays continued to be staged in the form of stage realism, emphasizing their specific poetic elements, on the one hand, while certain tendencies towards antiilusionism, reduction and stylisation were also present, on the other hand. Satire on stage became a way to discuss the current socio-political situation in the country. This was manifested in theatre productions of the Satirical Theatre "Jazavac" in Zagreb, in Vladimir Gerić’s approach to Chekhov’s dramaturgy in Varaždin, in Branko Mešeg’s unsuccessful attempt in Osijek to connect writer’s plays to the theatre of the absurd, in Venturini’s scenography of one-act plays in Zadar etc. The end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s in Croatian society, politics and culture was marked by students’ riots in Zagreb in 1968 and by the rise and fall of The Croatian Spring. These events affected theatre productions of Checkhov’s works by a resurgence of political elements in their staging. Since Croatian theatres wanted to become more independent and find their own artistic modes of expression, it is not surprising that there were new attempts to stage Chehkov’s works, sometimes finding inspiration in European theatrical practices. On the other hand, some productions were still under the influence of stage realism. A new approach to Chekhov was particularly evident in Maffioli’s staging of one-act plays in Rijeka (under the name of Čehovijana) as a theatre-in-theatre experiment, that emphasized farsic and ludic elements and that was staged under the influence of Russian directors V. Meyerhold and E. Vahtangov. Gerić’s staging of The Three Sisters in Dubrovnik showcased a tendency towards synthesization of a "global metaphor" from the play and connected Gerić to Giorgio Strehler’s theatre productions of Chekhov’s works. In the second half of the 1970s and at the beginning of the 1980s there were more frequent directors’ attempts to use new approaches when staging Chekhov’s works. They were based on the poetics of the theatre of the absurd, they emphasized the importance of the actor’s body in performances, they were in some aspects close to Meyehold’s theatre poetics or to Brecht’s epic theatre. At the end of the 1970s there was a tendency towards "critical directing" in which the director assumed the role of a critic, while the text was deconstructed. Chekhov became a predecessor of Ionesco’s and Beckett’s theatre of the absurd. New approaches were particularly evident in performances of one-act plays by Theatre Workshop "Pozdravi", which emphasized the importance of the actor’s body, and in Petar Veček’s theatre productions in Varaždin that had some similarities with Brecht’s V-effect and political theatre. In the period from 1982 to 1990 theatre productions of Chekhov’s works were mainly influenced by the theatre of the absurd and by the existentialist philosophy. Ivica Kunčević emphasized existential elements in his productions. Paolo Magelli directed his attention towards existentialism, on the one hand, and towards Artaud’s theatre of cruelty and ritual theatre, on the other hand. Zlatko Bourek adapted and directed one-act plays as part of his theatre of figures. He used a Japanese "bunraku" technique and created a Brechtian, expressionistic theatre. Vida Ognjenović added certain motifs and scenes to her theatre production of The Three Sisters to emphasize its inherent existential elements. Political events of the 1990s, especially the Homeland War (1991 – 1995), had a strong influence on theatre productions of Chekhov’s works staged from 1991 to 2001. Theatre productions (Veček’s staging of The Seagull, Magelli’s Russian Cycle (The Cherry Orchard, The Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya), Brezovec Zagreb’s and Ljubljana’s production of The Three Sisters, theatre productions of Chekhov’s works during Split Summer Festival directed by Georgij Paro, Bulgarian production of the The Three Sisters on Eurokaz) were characterized by the following methods and approaches. Chekhov’s texts were deconstructed and fragmented and sometimes subsequently integrated with texts of other prominent playwrights. Directors searched for new forms of stage venues which ocassionally became integrative and interactive with the ones set for the spectators. Performances no longer had a clear beginning and a clear end. The actor’s body took on an important role because actors exposed themselves as artists through the process of decomposition (their role was also created by private comments of their lifes). Sometimes it was a challenge to find the "true" meaning of the performance because theatre productions no longer depicted the play’s storyline. Other media forms (video installations) and the newest technological inventions were introduced in theatre productions. Croatian actors collaborated with foreign actors and directors on joint theatre projects based on Chekhov’s works. In the first decade of the 21st century Chekhov’s works and their adaptations were continually produced in Croatian theatres, also taking a form of "postdramatic theatre". They were characterized by the following features. On the one hand, they deconstructed and fragmented Chekhov’s texts, while, on the other hand, they disengaged from deconstruction and from a direct comment of the Homeland War. Sometimes entire productions were deconstructed by the introduction of poetry or music. Strict boundaries between different literary genres were broken, actors became performers of states, emotions or dramatic functions. Minimalism of stage design and costume was introduced, as well as the expansion of the theatre stage into the auditorium. Actors formed a closer relationship with the audience. There were no more clear boundaries between reality and fiction (documentarism) and productions questioned current societal problems. There was a strong influence of "new realism", strong interventions were made in the original text (interpolations, contractions, deletion of key scenes), videoprojections and sound recordings were introduced, the story-line was set in a non-specific time and place etc. To conclude, the significance of the Croatian reception of theatrical productions of Chekhov’s works is interpreted within the context of aesthetic and historical development of Croatian theatres, theatre groups and theatre societies. Features that characterized national and international theatre practices, as well as dominant political, ideological and socio-cultural conditions of the period, exerted a great influence on the relationship established between certain theatre managers, directors, actors, dramaturges, scene and costume designers and Chekhov’s texts; on the structure of stage action, on the choice of Chekhov’s works and, finally, on their critical evaluation.