Italian commedia dell'arte in 18th century Russia is a phenomenon which demands careful attention from students of the Russian theatre, particularly since comedy was the most important dramatic development of this century. It is significant that Russian dramaturgy vaulted from infancy to maturity in the short space of a century. This remarkable literary feat was contingent upon the influence of commedia dell'arte on Russian comedy. One hundred years, before the Italian Comics first graced the Russian stage, commedia dell'arte-inspired interludes which came from Poland with the Church School Theatre entertained the Slavic indigenes. Later, German players offered the Russian public their adaptations of Italian improvised comedy, and finally, the Comic Masks accepted an invitation to animate the court. The Masks quickly won a large appreciative, audience and, as a result, distinguished Italian comic artists were attracted to Russia. In their wake followed a host of minor comic performers who flooded the country with productions of commedia dell'arte, opera buffa and intermezzi. This cultural 'invasion' which lasted well into the next century, left a permanent impression on the Russian comic repertory. Works of 18th century Russia's most typical comic dramatists, Ya. B. Knyazhnin and I. A. Krylov, have been selected for analysis since they harbour the key principles of Italian commedia dell'arte and therefore facilitate a fruitful comparison. The inclusion of a short section dealing specifically with commedia dell'arte is intended to outline briefly its artistry in order to make more evident the relationship between the Russian comedy and the Italian Comedy of Masks. The comprehensive bibliography presents a spectrum of works concerning this topic but not necessarily referred to in the thesis. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

The following is a historical analysis on the Moscow Art Theatre’s (MAT) tours to the United States in 1923 and 1924, and the developments and changes that occurred in Russian and American theatre cultures as a result of those visits. Konstantin Stanislavsky, the MAT’s co-founder and director, developed the System as a new tool used to help train actors—it provided techniques employed to develop their craft and get into character. This would drastically change modern acting in Russia, the United States and throughout the world. The MAT’s first (January 2, 1923 – June 7, 1923) and second (November 23, 1923 – May 24, 1924) tours provided a vehicle for the transmission of the System. In addition, the tour itself impacted the culture of the countries involved. Thus far, the implications of the 1923 and 1924 tours have been ignored by the historians, and have mostly been briefly discussed by the theatre professionals. This thesis fills the gap in historical knowledge.