An Alternative History of Theatre / The Arbuzov Studio

An Alternative History of Theatre

A cycle of lectures hosted jointly with Theatre magazine. The lectures illuminate an alternative history of theatre, a research project that began in the magazine's thirty-third issue.

Lecture 10.
The Arbuzov Studio

Lecturer: Alexandra Mashukova

The Arbuzov Studio is a phenomenon in the history of the Soviet theatre: it originated in 1938, when theatres were being destroyed en masse. It collectively created the play The City at Dawn with the help of acting improvisations. In their work with studio students Alexei Arbuzov and Valentin Pluchek consciously and consistently connected the Stanislavsky System with the aesthetic heritage of Meyerhold.

Alexandra Mashukova is a theatre critic, scholar, journalist, and editor. She graduated from RATI (course of Natalya Krymova). She worked at Moscow Observer magazine, Obshchaya gazeta; was a theatre columnist for the culture department of Vedomosti. Friday. She has published in the magazines Theatre, The Art of Cinema, Contemporary Dramaturgy, the newspapers Screen and Stage, Literary Gazette, Actor's House and others. She is the author of articles for the children's encyclopedia Music. Cinema. Theatre, Avanta+ publishers. She is the editor of the book Meyerhold and Designers. The Evolution of Space. She is a co-compiler of the two-volume book Anatoly Efros. Living Dead.