Brecht’s Epic Theatre in the Stage Interpretations of the 1930s-2010s: Tairov, Lyubimov, Butusov

Throughout the scholarly studies on Brecht’s methodological approaches, the dramatist’s epic theatre was scrutinized in both Russian and Western theoretical context. Until recently, the dramatist’s main theatrical principles were viewed in terms of the socialist movement and its aesthetics. Consequently, the aim of this study, which analyses and compares the different directors’ stage interpretations: The Threepenny Opera (Tairov, 1930) and The Good Person of Szechwan (Ljubimov, 1963-1964, and Butusov, 2013), appears to contribute to the overall reception of Brecht’s epic theatre. In our research we described and analysed the following archival documents: on Tairov's theatrical representation – a typewritten text of the translation of the play, correspondence of Petropolis Verlag publishing house with Chamber Theater, the model of scenery and sketches of costumes, scenography and acting in the performance; on Lyubimov's theatrical representation – a director's script of the play, scenography of the performance and journalistic references; on Butusov's theatrical representation – earlier unpublished copy of the translation of the play and critical reviews. The overall picture shows that the stage interpretations of Brecht’s plays under study had a director-centered approach. Each director applied specific theatrical techniques to impart his own vision of the dramatist’s plays to the Brechtian epic theater. Hence, the textological and semiotic analysis of the theatrical performances was conducted to contribute to the further development of the critical and theatrical reception of Brecht’s drama within Russian stage interpretation context.