Theatrical intelligentsia in the cultural life of the don region of the late 19th - early 20th centuries

The study reveals the specific features of the theatrical life of the Don region during the Silver Age of Russian culture and analyzes the role of the provincial creative intelligentsia in the processes that accompanied the evolution of performing arts in the cities of the Don Army Region. The main source the authors used is periodicals, which published reviews of plays and characterized their public perception; memoirs of theater workers who worked in the region were also important. The methodology is based on a historical-systemic approach; diachronic and comparative-historical methods were used to identify the specifics of provincial theatrical life and clarify the contribution of specific persons to the development of Don theaters. The professional activities of the director and entrepreneur Nikolai Sinelnikov, who managed the Don theaters at the end of the twentieth century, are considered. Sinelnikov’s progressive influence on changes in the theatrical repertoire, expressed in the production of plays by outstanding Russian and foreign playwrights, is reflected. The contribution of Nikolai Sobolshchikov-Samarin in reforming the Rostov theater scene is analyzed; his creative method is described, and the main directorial works are considered. The facts relating to the Rostov period of the biography of director Konstantin Mardzhanov, who in his works sought to search for new forms of expressiveness, are studied. The role of Rostov theater critics (Pyotr Hertso-Vinogradsky, Marietta Shaginyan, Ivan Pechkovsky, Alexander Tumansky, Alexander Karagichev) in improving the stage repertoire is revealed, and the thematic focus of the reviews published by them in local media is revealed. The study established that the provincial theatrical life of the Don region was not completely secondary, copying the achievements of the capital cities. The authors conclude that the theater intelligentsia played one of the key roles in the cultural life of the Don region. In the conditions of the province, each theater figure was a source of original ideas aimed at revitalizing and updating the regional stage process. Among the specific features of the provincial theater are: (1) the special role of the provincial intelligentsia in cultural life, with its smaller share than in the capitals; (2) commitment to realism, a less pronounced search for new forms in art; (3) significant material dependence of the repertoire on the tastes of the public; (4) the phenomenon of theatrical symbiosis (a combination of drama, opera and operetta on one stage), not typical for the capital cities