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Abstract:

The article focuses on Catherine II’s comedies against Freemasonry: “The Deceiver”, “The Deceived One” and “The Siberian Shaman”. They were written in 1785–1786 and were immediately staged. The article analyzes these comedies not only as literary texts, but also as director’s explications. In Catherine’s corpus of dramatic writings, comedies against Freemasonry stand out because of the abundance of stage directions. It is important to keep in mind that the crowned author was not only a playwright, but also a stage director. While writing her plays, Catherine II could already visualize the stage productions. The system of stage directions, which the Empress borrowed from Molière, mainly from his comédies-ballets, makes it possible to carry out a theatrical reconstruction and imagine the performances. The author of the article concludes that despite the dubious literary value of Catherine II’s plays, they are nonetheless quite easy to stage because they allow for the creation of lively theatrical spectacles that appeal to mass audience. That is why these comedies were successful on stage. It was the theatricality of Catherine II’s comedies against Freemasonry that contributed to the effective expression of the political ideas that were integrated in these plays.

Кeywords: Catherine II, comedies against Freemasonry, “The Deceiver”, “The Deceived One”, “The Siberian Shaman”, 18th-century Russian theatre, Molière.