Tag: theatre

Who was Gordon Craig?

On By europeancollectionsIn Historical collections, Special collectionsLeave a comment
Gordon Craig in 1903 (picture via Wikimedia Commons)

Have you ever noticed the Gordon Craig Theatre when travelling through Stevenage station and wondered who Gordon Craig was? I did and after a quick search on my phone it was soon apparent that this was a figure with an interesting and complex life worth writing about. Born in Stevenage (hence the theatre being named after him), Gordon Craig (1872-1966) was the son of the famous actress Ellen Terry, and as a young man he too was an actor alongside his mother in Henry Irving’s company. Much of his later work related to the theatre – stage designs, directing and writing widely on the theatre – but he also produced woodcuts and bookplates. This blog post will explore some aspects of his life and work using the UL’s rich collections. Continue reading “Who was Gordon Craig?” →

The nativity in Ukrainian puppet plays : the December 2021 Slavonic item of the month

On By europeancollectionsIn Slavonic, UkrainianLeave a comment

The Institute of History of Ukraine in its online encyclopedia (in Ukrainian) explains that the vertep, a telling of the Christmas story through puppet theatre, is thought to have appeared in the second half of the 17th century and lasted until the early 20th century.  In 1929, I︠E︡vhen Markovsʹkyĭ published a book about vertep which was due to be the first volume of a set but which was never added to.  The UL’s copy has its record here.

The front cover of the book, with two pages showing puppets and a stage.

The vertep stage was often a two-storey house, with the story of the nativity taking place on the higher floor while the other provided other religious or secular puppet plays, with a strong strain of comedy running through the secular plays.  The Museum of Theatre, Music, and Cinema of Ukraine shows a beautiful array of vertep houses on this page.

Secular stories involved stock characters, among which often featured a Ukrainian peasant couple, a Zaporozhian Cossack, clerics, a Jewish character, a Polish character, Russian soldiers, and various animals.

Continue reading “The nativity in Ukrainian puppet plays : the December 2021 Slavonic item of the month” →

Connections with the past : provenance and the August Slavonic items of the month

On By europeancollectionsIn New Acquisitions, Russian, SlavonicLeave a comment
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Dedication to Michel Fokine.

Three recent acquisitions – The Russian theatre (New York, 1922), Bonfire : stories out of Soviet Russia (London, 1932), and A history of Russian literature (1927)  – bear marks of provenance that make their addition to the Library’s collections particularly valuable.  The first, for example, contains a lengthy dedication to the Ballets Russes choreographer Michel Fokine from theatre producer Morris Gest.

Oliver M. Sayler’s The Russian theatre is a much-expanded version of an earlier work, The Russian theatre under the Revolution, and covers theatrical work in late Imperial and early Soviet Russia as well as Russian theatre in other countries.  On the flyleaf in our copy (at Syn.5.92.110) is the following text:

To Michel Fokine, To whom America and in fact the whole world is indebted for his great artistry and for his genius which spoke the first word for Russia to America through his great creations of the Ballet Russe. For myself I shall always cherish the moments of our association and always be proud of knowing you! Affectionately, Morris Gest

Continue reading “Connections with the past : provenance and the August Slavonic items of the month” →

Trial access to Sovetskaia kul’tura digital archive in February 2014

On By europeancollectionsIn E-resources, Russian, Slavonic1 Comment

The current weekly Russian newspaper Kul’tura (Culture) was published during the Soviet period under a variety of titles, the longest-standing of which was Sovetskaia kul’tura (1953-1991). The latest database from EastView is a digital archive of the newspaper, from its earliest days up to late 2013. Only a very few issues of the newspaper are available in physical form in the University Library.

Please send feedback on the trial to slavonic@lib.cam.ac.uk by Monday, 10 February 2014. This date is determined by deadlines for the Library’s Accessions Committee, which will decide whether or not to purchase permanent access. The trial will run until the end of February 2014, but readers’ comments must be submitted by the 10th. The trial can be accessed through the following link: http://ezproxy.lib.cam.ac.uk:2048/login?url=http://dlib.eastview.com/browse/udb/1790

"Moscow subway station, Okhotny Ryad, escalator ca. 1935", Municipal Archives of Trondheim, Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/trondheim_byarkiv/

EastView describe the newspaper as an “indispensable source of information on the developing and ever changing attitudes towards arts and culture in the Soviet and Russian societies. Throughout the years the newspaper articles reviewed major events in Russian cultural life, in literature, theater, cinematography and arts. In the Soviet period it published critical diatribes against dissident writers Pasternak, Solzhenitsyn, Aksyonov and others, infamous articles condemning modern art exhibitions, chastising avant-garde composers and abstract painters. In modern Russia its reviews and event listings often focus on the cultural life of Moscow and regions, it is known for its topical commentaries on popular culture and politics.”

Mel Bach