Ostankino, Kuskovo and Lyublino. A look into theatrical past of three Moscow estates

Serf theatres reached their heyday in the second half of the 18th century, when the nobles were exempted from their mandatory 25-year civil and military service, so they had plenty of leisure time. Theatre performances became the trendiest hobby of aristocracy of that time.

Catherine II was a big fan of dramatic art. She loved court performances, in which the beau monde felt honoured to participate. During her reign, many aristocrats became passionate theatregoers, and a number of members of the most noble families, such as Sheremetev, Yusupov, Vorontsov, Naryshkin, Gagarin, Apraksin, opened their own theatres, with their serfs turned into "play actors by master's will".

Serf artists were treated in the same way as regular serfs. It was a common practice to flog a low-performing artist, send him or her to do hard work or military service. Theatres that prohibited corporal punishment were an exception. Literary works such as 'The Tonsorial Artist' by Nikolai Leskov and 'The Thieving Magpie' by Alexander Herzen, based on true stories of Oryol Serf Theatre owned by Count Sergei Kamensky, speak for that. They engaged themselves in selling tickets at the box office, and during performances, they were vigilantly looking for mistakes that the actors would make. There were whips hanging over the stage to keep actors in fear.

Buying and selling artists was quite common and it could bring the owner a good income. An almost incredible case occurred in 1806, when great-grandfather of Mikhail Lermontov, a Penza landowner Stolypin offered his troupe for sale. When the artists found out that they had been put for sale, they dared to appeal to Alexander I personally, begging him to buy them for the Imperial Theatre. The audacious request had been granted, and the Treasury bought the Stolypin troupe of 74 people for 34,000 roubles. The names of former serfs were written on the posters with preceding letter "г." meaning in Russian Mr or Ms/Mrs.

Sheremetev Theatre

The Sheremetev Theatre was a perfect embodiment of a serf theatre’s concept. Its founder, count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev (1713-1788), started with amateur performances in his St. Petersburg and Moscow houses.

"My late father got an opportunity to arrange a small theatre, the idea was facilitated by the already established orchestra," his son Nikolai Petrovich recalled.

In the 1760s, an open-air theatre was arranged in the formal park of the count's estate in Kuskovo. Catherine II was a frequent guest at its performances. A large stage with an orchestra pit, the count's box and an amphitheatre with a capacity of about a hundred spectators can be viewed only on the estate plan dated 1782. Presently, only the stage outlines can be seen on the site.

The count's initiative was taken up by his son. Since his childhood, he had played in home performances and, during his four-year trip to Europe, he got finally addicted to the theatre. In Paris, he took lessons from Ivar, the cellist of the Royal Academy of Music. Subsequently, they had been writing letters to each other for many years, thanks to which Sheremetev had a possibility to receive any information he required, from notes of the last Parisian performances to stage machinery drawings.

In the 1780s, a wooden three-tier theatre in the image and likeness of Versailles theatre was built in Kuskovo at the initiative of Nikolai Petrovich. Its repertoire mostly featured foreign operas and comedies, first translated into Russian.

Gifted actors had been sought among serfs. Peasant sons with acting abilities were sent for training. Home-grown composer Stepan Degtyarev, who had studied in Italy and composed about 60 major works, was in charge of a musical score. ‘Home librarian of his Excellence’ Vasily Voroblesky was engaged in translations of foreign plays and libretto writing, the scenery was created by Kondraty Funtusov and the artists representing two generations of the Argunovs family, Fedor Pryakhin, the 'machinist', was in charge of the stage machinery.

The count took pride in his troupe that was able to play five performances in different genres within one day. Praskovya Kovaleva-Zhemchugova stood out from the actresses, as her gift had been developed by the best teachers since her childhood. A blacksmith's daughter was not only a muse, but also a wife of the count, and their love story is still much told about.

It was for Praskovya that Sheremetev built a theatre palace in Ostankino to become the pearl of the theatrical architecture of his time. It was possible to turn huge stage and orchestra seats arranged one and a half meter higher into a perfect ballroom in less than an hour. All other palace halls were built around in the form of a theatre lobby.

He was in a hurry to open the theatre for the arrival of Paul I, who was coming to Moscow in 1797 for coronation. They had been brought up together with Nikolai Sheremetev, so the Emperor demanded Sheremetev to come to the court, and the count, together with his relatives, had to move to St. Petersburg the same year. Part of the troupe went with him.

Because of the damp climate in St. Petersburg, Praskovya had to leave the stage due to exacerbation of tuberculosis. It was the time the Sheremetev troupe began breaking up - the most honoured artists received their freedom, some of them were put up for sale. By 1800, only 14 dancers were left in the company. In 1801, they took the stage in Ostankino for the last time, when Sheremetev held a reception of the new Emperor, Alexander I.

In 1803, Praskovya Sheremeteva died at the age of 34, a few days after her son's birth. Her death put an end to the Sheremetev Theatre's history.

Mysterious Durasov Theatre

The estate of Nikolai Durasov (1760-1818) in Lyublino was built around the serf theatre. The buildings of serf theatre and theatre school of the early 19th century have survived but for some losses and restructuring.

We know little about Durasov's theatre arrangement and its stage stars. We don't even have a portrait of this landowner. His estate in Lyublino, as well as the Sheremetev estate in Ostankino, was built not for living but for entertainment. It is implicitly confirmed by the fact that in the days of Durasov, there was no church built either in his estate or in the neighbourhood. It means that the owner and his guests came there only to see the performance and return back to Moscow.

In its best years, the Durasov theatre employed about a hundred of serf actors. The troupe was headed by the famous Moscow artist and teacher Pyotr Plavilschikov, who was also a school teacher at the Petrovsky Theatre (presently Bolshoi Theatre). The history of the theatre in Lyublino, like many others, ended with the death of his owner, who had no family and heirs.

Decline

Some serf theatres did not survive even until the early19th century. The reason was the months-long mourning announced in connection with Catherine the Great's death late in 1796.

When Paul I ascended the throne, theatre owners’ life became even harder. The Emperor issued an order stating that "no plays shall be performed until they are played in big state-owned theatres and censored." A police officer was to supervise every performance. A tax was also introduced on "public entertainment and performances" implying all performances of both public and private theatres. A fixed amount was required even from those theatres that staged performances only to entertain owner's guests, without charging an entrance fee.

Nevertheless, serf theatres in Russia existed until the abolition of serfdom in 1861. The artists could then leave their owners, move to other theatre companies and create their own ones. Some theatres started to work on their own, but most of them were empty.