The Interpretation of the Modern Spirit of Chekhovs Drama on the Contemporary Stage -- Taking Butusov Theater as an Example

Abstract

Chekhovs plays have long been very popular in modern theater, especially in the major theaters of Russia. Many theatrical masters have adapted his classic texts. However, some adaptations have a strong avant-garde and experimental color, and the creators consciousness is too strong. So it is easy to ignore the fundamental of the text, in other words, the modernity problem. This paper takes Russian director Yuri Butusovs adaptation of Chekhovs plays as an example to study how the contemporary drama stage interprets the spirit of modernity in the text. This paper applies the relevant theories, which are all reflected in the Butusov Theater, including Meyerholds cubist stage concept, the contextualizing cubism proposed by the British scholar Amy Skinner, and Bakhtins carnival theory. Butusov deeply explores the modern spirit of Chekhovs drama and presents it with his unique directing art, which is also an alternative expression of the classic text.