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Abstract:

The episodes of the creative history of a series of sketches of scenery and costumes by the artist A.K. Shervashidze-Chachba for the performance of Nikolai Evreinov “Merry Death” are presented. They date back to the beginning of 1919, when Shervashidze-Chachba arrived in Sukhum with his friends, director N. Evreinov and actress N. Butkovskaya. It is emphasized that this was a period of active social activity of the artist in Abkhazia — he dreamed of creating an open-air museum, educational centers, an art studio, and staging performances by N. Evreinov in Sukhum. Turning to memoirs made it possible to see a favorable combination of circumstances that gave the Sukhumi public the opportunity to see the premieres, which were held with great success. With the permission of the administration, rehearsals began, which took place from morning to evening; the work of A. Shervashidze-Chachba on the creation of sketches unfolded, the scenery was prepared in the attic of the theater with students. It is noted that the stage designer helped the director combine the Russian folk theater and the commedia dell’arte. Such an observation was made as a result of the analysis of sketches of the costumes of Harlequin, Columbine and Silent Death.