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THE RUSSIAN THEATRE AFTER STALIN. By Anatoly Smeliansky. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. pp. xxxviii + 232. $59.95.
Accounts of theatre history are normally provided by those separated from it by time or distance; seldom does one get the opportunity to read about history from someone intimately involved in the making of it. Anatoly Smeliansky's The Russian Theatre after Stalin is one of those rare books written by an insightful practitioner who, as a former member of the Moscow Art Theatre, was intimately involved in the theatre of Russia throughout the second half of the twentieth century. Smeliansky's text provides an authoritative account of contemporary Russian Theatre and, since theatre was (and still is) such an integral part of Russian society, an inside look at many of the political battles waged in and around the Russian stage after Stalin's death in 1953.
The text is arranged into three major sections. The first of these, entitled "The Thaw," provides a description of the "meltdown" or theatrical revival that took place in the years immediately following Stalin's death. Included are profiles of important actors and directors of the period (1953-1968), discussion of production content and style, and supplementary observations of the continually changing political landscape of post-Stalinist Russia. Smeliansky notes signs of life which "sprouted through the ashes," following the "conflictless" period of Stalinist theatre, citing the impact of plays by...