Petersburg Actresses On and Off Stage (1775–1825)

Abstract

In the half-century ending in 1825, theatre was one of the chief forms of public entertainment in Russia, particularly in St Petersburg, and actresses therefore played a prominent part in the social life of the upper classes, in both its ‘respectable’ and its covert manifestations. Theatre audiences were socially diverse, spectators ranging from peasants to grandees, but the largest and best documented was the upper-class segment, particularly male spectators, whose memoirs, letters and poems give frank insights into their relations with actresses. Audiences, of course, included women; indeed, special areas of the theatre were identified as suitable seating for them. But women’s responses to theatrical performances – what they enjoyed or were shocked by, how they perceived actors and actresses – are undocumented. The focus here will therefore be male–female audience–actress relations.