Balagan: what is it? The meaning of the word "farce" and its definition

Hearing the word "booth", modern people imagine something very rude and frivolous, contrary to artistic taste. And very few people know that this word has another meaning - festive and cheerful! So what is the original meaning of the word "farce" and its definition?

Etymology

In Russian this word appeared from Turkish. In the language belonging to the Turkic branch, the farce is a sleeping tent, a balcony. There is also an alternative version - in translation from the Tatar language the word "booth" means "temporary structure".

"Comedial Horominy": a history of booths in Russia

The first public theater appeared in Russia thanks to the decree of Peter the Great. In 1700, the emperor ordered to build a "comedic horomina." For its erection was chosen Red Square. The first performance took place two years later - on December 25, 1702. That's when the Russian public was able to enjoy the game of German comedians for the first time. So there was the first farce. What is fairgrounds, in Russia learned a little later. The tradition to show performances directly in noisy markets is firmly entrenched after the first show. At first, in the days of the fairs, the performances were shown directly in commercial premises, decorated with colored fabrics and flags. After the booths began to build special buildings. Outside, they were decorated with bright cloths, posters and pictures depicting scenes from the production, flags and signs. The basis of the show booths were boards, the roof was made of tarpaulins or burlap, and the walls were made of thick cloth. Behind the walls was a scene-platform, which was easy to assemble or dismantle. By the way, before the stage there was a place for a small number of musicians. In the auditorium there were three sectors: the first, second places and "corral". Without the last, it was hard to imagine a real farce. What is a "corral"? This is the place where the audience was forced to stand. Sometimes hundreds of people were packed into these places! In the fairground tents, the front benches were very low, and the rear benches were so high that those sitting sometimes could not get their feet on the floor.

Safety of actors and viewers

The furnaces, located in wooden booths, carried a danger - in the event of a fire hundreds of people could die. So the police banned their use. The only source of heat was the lightning bolt. They were placed in front of the stage, on poles with iron brackets. Of course, the heat of these lamps was not enough to heat a large room, and therefore in the cold season the showrooms were lined with an additional row of boards and covered with sawdust.

Dwarfs, cannibals and fortune tellers: who hid in the small street fairy-tale?

The simplest kind of marquees for performances is the "horny" buffoonery. What is a small horny "farce"? This is a lightweight construction made from a pillar and coarse woven fabric. In such booths one could look at giants and dwarfs, hairy women. Frenzied popularity enjoyed the "African eater", which devoured a live bird right before the eyes of the public. Of course, this was a normal trick - instead of a live bird, a stuffed animal was used, filled with cranberries. In addition, in the booths of people took fortune-tellers and fortune tellers, puppeteers with puppets. There were also buffoonery-menageries.

Balagan in art

Balagan, the definition of which you already know, is often found in the works of the authors of the Silver Age. Bryusov and Akhmatova, Nabokov and Blok - they all use the image of the booth in their poems. And Stravinsky even wrote a ballet "Petrushka." There is an image on the pages of works by Alexei Tolstoy.

Theatrical genre of fairgrounds: what is it?

In the modern theater, farce performances are still popular. Comic character, satirical motifs, noise effects and bright images - these are the main features of this genre. It requires redundancy and carnival. An indispensable condition - the presence of tricks, dances, parodies.

Other values

The traditional dwelling of the Yakuts is a booth. What? The meaning of the word in Yakutia is different from the one mentioned earlier. The Yakuts have a winter dwelling! On a log frame fixed thin logs, getting sloping walls. They were coated with manure, mixed with clay. A low roof covered with earth and bark of trees.

There is another definition of this word - portable. And in the everyday sense of the farce - it's something that does not correspond to high taste, not serious.