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Abstract:

The article is the first to recreate the history of stage performances of O. Wilde’s works on the stage of Moscow theaters in the post-Soviet period over three decades (1990–2020). In the first decade, the appeal to Wilde was associated with the de-ideologization of society and the desire for aestheticism and eroticism. The most popular work of this period was “Salome”. Among the five performances by A. Sigalova, K. Strezhnev, S. Voskresenskaya, D. Bryantsev and R. Viktyuk, the performance of the “Roman Viktyuk theater” has got a long stage life. One may consider as the main result of the second decade (2000–2010) the entry into an independent creative life of A. Vasiliev’s students, who were brought up on the texts of O. Wilde and applied the method of the master’s game structures in practice. Two “Salomes”: that by V. Ageev at the “Modern Theater” and another by I. Yatsko at the “School of Dramatic Art” marked a new stage in mastering the complex aesthetics of Wilde. The results of the third decade of interaction of the Moscow scene with the works of Wilde are strikingly fruitful. If in the first and second decades there were no more than ten productions, then over the past ten years there have been more than thirty. The leader in popularity can be considered “The Canterville Ghost”, which is shown on the stages of both drama and puppet theaters (6). The brilliant comedy “The Importance of Being Earnest” (4) is still in demand. Very interesting versions of the novel “Dorian Gray” (4) have emerged. “The Ideal Husband” was staged three times, and K. Bogomolov’s performance at the “Moscow Art Theater” became not only theatrical, but also a public event of the 2013 season.