2025 № 2 (53)
The Phenomenon of Modern Fire Theatre in the Context of Spectacular and Play Culture
UDC 79
LBC 85.34
DOI: 10.51678/2226-0072-2025-2-128-151
For cit.: Semenovа E.A. The Phenomenon of Modern Fire Theatre in the Context of Spectacular and Play Culture. Hudozhestvennaya kul’tura [Art & Culture Studies], 2025, no. 2, pp. 128–151. https://doi.org/10.51678/2226-0072-2025-2-128-151. (In Russian)
Semenovа Elena A.
PhD (in Pedagogy), Director of the Noncommercial Partnership “Theatre-EKS”, 18/20 Bolshaya Pochtovaya Str., Moscow, 105082, Russia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1316-3162
ResearcherID: ABA-3493-2020
Scopus Author ID: 57200758146
The Phenomenon of Modern Fire Theatre in the Context of Spectacular and Play Culture
Abstract. The subject of the article is modern fire theatre in Russia. The author seeks to show the unique development path of this phenomenon, the least studied one in Russian theatre culture. The research task is to eliminate the etymological confusion due to which modern fire theatre is understood as a fire show. The article expresses a point of view according to which modern fire theatre in Russia is neither a direct descendant of traditional Russian fire amusements, rituals, ceremonies, and imperial pyrotechnic performances, nor a borrowing from foreign fire culture. It identifies several important historical and cultural milestones that influenced the originality of the phenomenon of Russian fire theatre, including the high professional level of pyrotechnic art in Russia and foreign fire culture, intensive development of corporate culture at the beginning of the 21st century, and the activity of V.I. Polunin in reviving street theatre and carnival culture. The author comes to the conclusion that representatives of underground theatre, at the end of the 20th century united in creative collaborations on the basis of experiments with fire as an artistic and expressive means, became the main driving force for the establishment and development of modern fire theatre in Russia as a catalyst for theatre culture, which opened up new prospects for the synthesis of carnival culture and street theatre. The author suggests the definition of modern Russian fire theatre as a result of the creative activity of representatives of Russian underground theatre in integrating drama and street theatre, the art of clowning, fire culture, and world achievements in pyrotechnic art. The study contributes to the clarification of definitions of street culture and can be used in dictionary definitions of fire theatre.
Keywords: fire theatre, Russia, street theatre, V.I. Polunin, underground, fire show, theatre culture
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Received 08.12.2024
Accepted 11.03.2025
