The literary heritage of Nikolai Kanivetsky in modern theatrical perception

The aim of the article is to consider the problem of theatrical interpretation of Kuban folklore in retrospect. On the example of the play Baklava of Stupidity, based on the stories of the Kuban writer Nikolai Nikolaevich Kanivetsky (1857-1911), staged in Krasnodar’s Odin Teatr in 2023, the features of the figurative implementation of Kanivetsky’s prose and its vivid ethnographic component are revealed. The research methodology includes an analysis of a specific work and its correlation with the broad context of performances on a “local theme”. This shows the evolution of this problem in time, its comprehension in the stage work of a number of theater figures. Their experience logically leads to an understanding of the evolution of folklore as presented on the stage of dramatic and musical theaters, of what it loses and gains when transferred from the natural, everyday environment. The author focuses on the linguistic specifics of literary texts, their perception by the viewer of different generations, gives historical facts of spectator participation in performances with a strong folklore component. Such performances were traditionally warmly received by the public, whose reaction was the joy of recognizing the realities of life. The sound of an almost forgotten speech norm revived historical memory, helped to realize one’s cultural roots. The author also raises the problem of historicism and social conditionality of drama and prose, and their stage embodiment. In this vein, the once resonant performances of the Krasnodar Drama Theater named after Maxim Gorky Kochubey (1958, 1977) by A. Perventsev, Plavni (1967) by B. Kramarenko, A Good House, But a Hassle in It (1995) by I. Varavva are considered. The performances of the Krasnodar Musical Comedy Theater on a local theme or by local authors (We have in Kuban (1954) by M. Kirakosov, Oksana’s Love (1957) by D. Falileev, and others) are also studied. The author’s main conclusions are connected with a new understanding of folklore in the course of its theatrical interpretation. On the one hand, there is a request for authenticity, a scientific study of primary sources. On the other hand, the development of folklore is obvious through its adaptation on the theater stage and concert stage, as well as in everyday life. The play Baklava of Stupidity demonstrates both approaches. Its creators involve the author’s texts and the techniques of theatrical postmodernism in their plan. The staging of Kanivetsky’s two stories is indicative as an attempt to give an answer to eternal questions - the legacy of centuries and the truth of modernity.