Stage Fright

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. “An Aspiration to Novelty”: Contours of the Performing Arts in Late Imperial Russia

2. “Such a Risky Time”: Arts Institutions and the Challenge of Politics

3. “Politics Are Death”: Imperial Theater Performers

4. “Our Theater Will Not Strike!”: Private and Popular Theater Performers

5. “You Dare Not Make Sport of Our Nerves!”: The Audiences

6. “A New Bayreuth Will Save No One”: Russian Modernism and Its Discontents

“Art Must Be Apolitical”: A Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

“Grounded in extensive research in archival, primary and secondary sources, Stage Fright is an important contribution to recent studies of Russian theatre and its conclusions will spark fruitful debate. It should be read by anyone interested in the relationship of politics and the arts.”

—Anthony Swift, Revolutionary Russia