Commedia dell'arte in Maxim Gorky's system of dramaturgy

The article deals with the role of commedia dell'arte in Maxim Gorky's dramaturgical system. The writer's interest in the "popular" theater is analyzed in the context of artistic dynamics in Russian and foreign theater at the beginning of the 20th century. Maxim Gorky takes an active part in theatrical discussions in Russia, and after his exile in Italy he remains interested in the most burning cultural issues of the epoch. He personally meets Russian and Italian actors, directors and playwrights (Stanislavski, Leonid Andreyev, Eleonora Duse, Roberto Bracco) and admires the performances by Eduardo Scarpetta based on the principles of commedia dell'arte. Gorky especially appreciates the very idea of the "popular" theater with its collective creativity and improvisation. The idea of collective improvisational theater takes its final shape during correspondence and conversations with Stanislavski, who urges Gorky to use the principles of commedia dell'arte in his own plays. The influence of the "popular" theater becomes most evident in several plays written or conceived in Italy (like "The Reception" and "Counterfeit Money") and in the comic sketch "Workaholic Slovotekov" (1919-1920). The article is mostly devoted to the analysis of these texts which reveals a number of new features introduced in Gorky's plays by commedia dell'arte: a particular type of humor, elements of improvisation and interaction with the audience, specific ways of creating characters. Such plays as "The Reception" and "Counterfeit Money" (in its different versions) present some typical structural components of commedia dell'arte, like the so called "lazzi" (improvised jokes and tricks), constructing characters by the model of commedia dell'arte masks, interludes and prologue addressed directly to the audience. "Workaholic Slovotekov", a brief scenario for improvisation, is the most faithful imitation of commedia dell'arte scenarios in Gorky's work. Some comic elements derived from traditional Italian theater still occur in a number of other Gorky's plays (including those of the Soviet period, like "Somov and Others", "Yegor Bulychov and Others", "Dostigayev and Others"), although instead of the "carnivalesque" humour of "popular" theater there is mostly sharp satire and bitter irony, uncharacteristic of commedia dell'arte. Thus, interest towards commedia dell'arte constitutes a small but significant episode in the writer's work: it does not influence Gorky's dramaturgy in a systemic way but determines a number of important structural features of some Gorky's plays.

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