In the Eye of the Beholder

Decadence, an unhealthy deviation from an undefined norm, is necessarily in the eye of the beholder, and this was never more apparent than in theatrical representations of the modern woman. Through analyzing the performance history and reception of two fin-de-siècle plays centered on a rebellious woman—Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (1891) and Sudermann’s Magda (1893)—this article examines the instability of the notion of decadence as applied to the heroines of avant-garde drama. As professionals, themselves negotiating assumptions about their sexual and moral status as public performers, the actresses who chose to perform these roles were well aware of the artistic and moral debates that surrounded them. Their performances can thus be understood as active interventions in debates about literary, cultural, and social notions of decadence and the role of women within them.

Scenographic Charac-ters of Tetiana Medvid. Figural, Architectural and Textural Attributes

The article for the first time examines the scenographic projects of Tetiana Medvid, which were created during the 70–90s of the XX century, in the theaters of Ukraine, with different directors, but united by one artistic technique — the creation of scenographic characters in the form of figural, architectural and textural elements of the stage scenery, which act as separate material characters and reveal the idea of the play. The purpose of the article is to find out the function of scenographic characters — created by figural, architectural and textural elements of stage scenery in the creative works of Tetiana Medvid within the system of effective scenography in terms of creating a visual image of the play. The subject of research — scenographic projects of Tetiana Medvid: “Threepenny Opera” by B. Brecht (1975), “Living Corpse” by L. Tolstoy (1975), “Do not shoot at white swans” by B. Vasilyev (1977), “Interrogation” by S. Rodionov, D. Liburkin (1979), G. Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” (1993), “In the Labyrinth” by V. Vynnychenko’s play “Nailed” (1996), “Christian’s Dreams” by H. Ch. Andersen, “Ole Lukoje” (1995), “Tartuffe” by Moliere (1999) on the stage of the Taras Shevchenko Kharkiv Academic Ukrainian Drama Theatre; and “Caligula” by Albert Camus (1998) at the Donetsk National Academic Ukrainian Musical and Drama Theatre named after Artem. Research methodology — use of the method of primary sources, conceptual analysis, the method of theoretical generalization. Results. It is determined that the main expressive element of most scenographic projects of T. Medvid were scenographic characters of different typological series, in particular characters in the form of figural, architectural and textural elements of stage scenery, and the basis of Tetiana Dmytrivna’s work were the principles of visual directing: idea, thought. Novelty. For the first time in Ukrainian art history, one of the typological series of the main means of expression of the outstanding scenographer — T. Medvid — was analyzed and systematized, namely — scenographic characters in the form of figural, architectural and textural elements of stage scenery. The practical significance lies in the possibility of using the presented information in scientific researches of art and theater studies, as well as collected and meaningful factual and illustrative material has the opportunity to become an integral part in further study of the work of scenographers of Ukraine.

Concluding Remarks

After Hedda Gabler, Ibsen wrote four more plays: The Master Builder, Little Eyolf, John Gabriel Borkman, and When We Dead Awaken. With its darker tone and dense, image-laden prose, his late work has been described as melancholy. In each of these late plays, the topic of the past, of individual and collective history, features centrally. At least two of the late plays—three, if we include ...

History and Existence (Hedda Gabler)

“History and Existence” investigates Ibsen’s presentation of history and historians in Hedda Gabler. It shows how Ibsen, in a Nietzschean spirit, scrutinizes the disconnect between the past and the prosaic reality of the new and educated middle classes. The discussion focuses on the two historians of the play, but also on Hedda’s fight against nihilism. For Ibsen, though, it seems that it is the task of the artist, rather than just the historians and philosophers, to mend, or at least articulate, this gap between the past and the present.