Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

The Interpretation of the Modern Spirit of Chekhov’s Drama on the Contemporary Stage -- Taking Butusov Theater as an Example

Wenzheng WeiSichuan Normal University*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

Chekhov’s plays have long been very popular in modern theater, especially in the major theaters of Russia. Many theatrical masters have adapted his classic texts. However, some adaptations have a strong avant-garde and experimental color, and the creator’s consciousness is too strong. So it is easy to ignore the fundamental of the text, in other words, the modernity problem. This paper takes Russian director Yuri Butusov’s adaptation of Chekhov’s plays as an example to study how the contemporary drama stage interprets the spirit of modernity in the text. This paper applies the relevant theories, which are all reflected in the Butusov Theater, including Meyerhold’s cubist stage concept, the “contextualizing cubism” proposed by the British scholar Amy Skinner, and Bakhtin’s carnival theory. Butusov deeply explores the modern spirit of Chekhov’s drama and presents it with his unique directing art, which is also an alternative expression of the classic text.

Keywords: Yuri Butusov; Chekhov’s dramas; modernity; directors’ art; avant-garde theater
Published: May 24, 2024
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/33/20240047
Volume: CHR Vol.33
pp. 40-45
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