During the middle of the 19th century, Russia was undergoing major social and cultural reform, beginning to adopt a new and more modern way of thinking, and Russian theatre followed the same refinement (Martin, 850). Before, Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia’s two “capital” cities, had severe monopolies on Imperial theatres. In 1883 however, the monopoly on theatre held by the Russian government had ended, and citizens were now able to create private theatres and public theatres could expand. As a result, the Russian population began to develop their education, art, and literature, focusing on realism as Russian society believed that art ought to accurately and faithfully portray the physical and social world. Previously, theatre was melodramatic, embodying an overdramatic and over-emphatic acting style, with most productions being melodramas, musical comedies, and farces. Chekhov, especially with his breakout play, The Seagull, sought to abandon this dated theatrical style.
Moscow Art Theatre in the 19th Century
In 1898, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and Konstantin Stanislavski founded the Moscow Art Theatre (MAT), both of whom were advocates of sincerity in the performance experiences, pushing back against melodrama. The MAT, being privately owned, sought to rebel against older conventions of acting, unsatisfactory sets, and star actors that reduced the importance of the ensemble. Therefore, the theatre created breakthroughs in the dramatic world such as having three to five plays per season, extensive analyses of scenes, and long rehearsal periods that could last for as long as twelve hours. In addition, the principal foundations of the theatre were grounded in psychological realism by illustrating a vivid sense of actuality in performance. Due to this sense of realism, Chekhov’s performance of The Seagull, premiering in 1896 at the Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, was a disaster since fans of Chekhov and other literary figures were expecting a melodramatic, farcical production. However, its premiere at the Moscow Art Theatre was rave success because the founders of the theatre understood the dignity of this new style of art. During this reformation period, alongside the popular idea of realism came about a progression towards naturalism as well. In the 19th century, Russia was a perceived to be a cold country whose climate cause all life to suffer. In order to combat this image, while applying realism to his work, Chekhov also incorporated elements of naturalism: to show the world in its natural setting. Thus Chekhov incorporates natural and organic backgrounds into his pieces, showing the significance of nature both on stage and in real life. In his works, Chekhov reflected the convention of realism, popular in 19th century Russia, by emphasizing the importance of social problems and issues that face actual, everyday people rather than conforming to the grandiose and exaggerated elements of melodrama, typical in theatre beforehand.
The Moscow Art Theatre’s 1898 production of Anton Chekhov’s play The Seagull, published in a journal in 1917