''Mystery-Bouffe'' (russian: Мистерия-Буфф; Misteriya-Buff) is a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

tic

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

written by

Vladimir Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (, ; rus, Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский, , vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ məjɪˈkofskʲɪj, Ru-Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.ogg, links=y; – 14 Apr ...

in 1918/1921. Mayakovsky stated in a preface to the 1921 edition that "in the future, all persons performing, presenting, reading or publishing ''Mystery-Bouffe'' should change the content, making it contemporary, immediate, up-to-the-minute."

Plot

Si tratta di una parodia del racconto biblico che identifica il diluvio con la Rivoluzione, in cui il Mistero è ciò che la rivoluzione ha di grande e il Buffo è ciò che ha di ridicolo. Il luogo scenico consisteva nel globo terrestre raffigurato da un enorme emisfero blu che occupava tutto il palco sul quale si arrampicavano con fatica gli uomini scappati alle onde: 7 coppie di puri (borghesi) e 7 coppie di impuri (proletari).

Google Translate's English Version

It is a parody of the biblical story that identifies the flood with the Revolution, in which the Mystery is what is great about the revolution and the Funny is what is ridiculous about it. The scenic location consisted of the terrestrial globe depicted by an enormous blue hemisphere that occupied the whole stage on which the men escaped from the waves climbed with difficulty: 7 pairs of pure (middle-class) and 7 pairs of impure (proletarians).

First version

The play was written for the anniversary of the 1917 revolution, and was accepted by the Central Bureau to be part of the festivities. The title is likely a reference to the

opera buffa ''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...

opéra bouffe Opéra bouffe (, plural: ''opéras bouffes'') is a genre of late 19th-century French operetta, closely associated with Jacques Offenbach, who produced many of them at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, inspiring the genre's name. Opéras bouff ...

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

genres popular at the time. This original version was directed and produced by

Vsevolod Meyerhold Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (russian: Всеволод Эмильевич Мейерхольд, translit=Vsévolod Èmíl'evič Mejerchól'd; born german: Karl Kasimir Theodor Meyerhold; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre ...

, and the art was done by Kazimir Malevich. The premiere was in the Theatre of Musical Drama on November 7, 1918. Mayakovsky himself played the role of the "simple man", as well as some bit roles including Methuselah and one of the demons. This version of the play lasted three seasons.

Second version

After two years, Mayakovsky reworked the text of his play. This second version premiered in the First Theatre of the RSFSR on May 1, 1921. A printed edition of the second version was released in June of that year. This version of the play lasted about 100 shows.

Later versions

A 60-minute animated film adaptation of the play was made in 1969, directed by David Cherkasskiy. It was the first animated feature to be made in Ukraine. The Soviet government banned screenings outside of the Ukrainian SSR. In 2015, the director of the fil
uploaded it to Youtube
In 2007, after several decades of the play not being seen anywhere, the Moscow A.R.T.O. theatre put on an updated version of the play which was dubbed "Mystery-Bouffe. The Clean Variant", based on the texts of the first and second versions. It premiered in France on May 1, 2007.Московский театр "А.Р.Т.О." представит спектакль "Мистерия-Буфф"
''Wordpaso''. 14-03-2008

Characters

# Seven Pairs of the Clean: #:1) The Negus of Abyssinia #:2) An Indian Raja #:3) A Turkish Pasha #:4) A Russian Merchant (Speculator) #:5) A Chinese #:6) A Well-fed Persian #:7) Clemenceau #:8) A German #:9) A Russian Priest #:10) An Australian #:11) His Wife #:12) Lloyd George #:13) An American #:14) A Diplomat # Seven Pairs of the Unclean: #:1) A Soldier of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

#:2) A Lamplighter #:3) A Truckdriver #:4) A Miner #:5) A Carpenter #:6) A Farmhand #:7) A Servant (Female) #:8) A Blacksmith #:9) A Baker #:10) A Laundress #:11) A Seamstress #:12) A Locomotive Engineer #:13) An Eskimo Fisherman #:14) An Eskimo Hunter # A Compromiser # An Intellectual # The Lady with the Hatboxes # Devils: #:1)

Beelzebub Beelzebub ( ; he, ''Baʿal-zəḇūḇ'') or Beelzebul is a name derived from a Philistine god, formerly worshipped in Ekron, and later adopted by some Abrahamic religions as a major demon. The name ''Beelzebub'' is associated with the Can ...

#:2) Master-of-ceremonies Devil #:3) First Messenger #:4) Second Messenger #:5) Guard #:6) 20 of the Clean with Horns and Tails # Saints: #:1)

Methuselah Methuselah () ( he, מְתוּשֶׁלַח ''Məṯūšélaḥ'', in pausa ''Məṯūšālaḥ'', "His death shall send" or "Man of the javelin" or "Death of Sword"; gr, Μαθουσάλας ''Mathousalas'') was a biblical patriarch and a f ...

#:2)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

#:3)

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

#:4)

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions ( Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ ...

#:5) First Angel #:6) Second Angel #:7) Angels. # Jehovah # Actors of the Promised Land: #:1) A Hammer #:2) A Sickle #:3) Machines #:4) Trains #:5) Automobiles #:6) A Carpenter's Plane #:7) Tongs #:8) A Needle #:9) A Saw #:10) Bread #:11) Salt #:12) Sugar #:13) Fabrics #:14) A Boot #:15) A Board and Lever # The Man of the Future

Settings of the Acts

# - The entire universe. # - The Ark. # - Hell. # - Paradise. # - Lord of chaos. # - The promised land.

References

External links

English translation of the 1921 version1918 version

{{Authority control 1918 plays Plays by Vladimir Mayakovsky