The Theater of the People

My Friends!
Much has changed in here since last I wrote.  It has been my pleasure to roam this great nation and partake of its many pleasures.  However, one pleasure in particular has struck my interest.  As a storyteller, I am always intrigued by the work of others to share history and fantasy in new and exciting ways. However, to understand the trend which I am about to describe to you, there is something dark that must be understood. That being the topic of Serfdom.

A Family of Serfs

Years ago, in an effort to stabilize the country during an hour of great need, it was decided that the peasants should not be allowed to leave the land which they work.  To enforce this decree, the land was given to the local nobility.  This would not seem terribly unusual, but for the fact that the peasants were given along with it as part of the deal.  These days, the common people are bought, sold, leased, and traded by the nobility as one might a cow (Malnick, 1952).
While this situation is not ideal, many nobles are taking advantage of their vast resources to create theatre troupes, employing those whom they have ownership in writing plays, building sets, and performing for rather large audiences (Malnick, 1952).  This is an opportunity that would never be had by most now engaged in the practice were they to be left on their own.  It would be challenging to imagine enough peasants with the capital to buy the materials for the costumes, much less build a set or take time away from farm and house to write plays.

The Mariinsky Theatre

This is  not the case with the Lords of the court.  They spend more on these productions than most will see in their entire lives.  A man at arms in the household of Count Sheremetev told me privately that "[The Count] spent a fortune on his theatres," while Count Kamensky lost all he had (Malnick, 1952).  These are impressive productions, far more elaborate than my simple storytelling.
I, myself have been asked to write a play or two, but that is not where my talent lies.  It has been fascinating to watch the rise of plays written by those native to this land.  In court, it is commonly said that no Russia had no history of plays before 1800, as nothing before then was any good (Schuler, 2009).  These people have stopped merely using the works of others, and have begun to create something fascinating all their own.
These theatres have popped up almost overnight.  They vary in size from tiny troupes of a dozen or so to magnificent productions involving thousands of souls.  Either way, if you find yourself in this country, you simply must attend the theater.  You simply will not be disappointed.

Malnick, Bertha. “Russian Serf Theatres.” The Slavonic and East European Review, vol. 30, no. 75, 1952, pp. 393–411., www.jstor.org/stable/4204342.

Schuler, Catherine. Theatre and identity in imperial Russia. University of Iowa Press, 2009.

A Grand Coronation

My Friends, it has been my great pleasure to experience a magnificent event.  Though the past few weeks have been filled with intrigue, all has been made up in the Catherine's fantastic coronation.  I shall have tales to spread of the event for years to come.  You must forgive me if the events are not quite the clearest in my mind.  The Russian's surely know how to celebrate, and it has been my privilege to trade  a tale or two for a drink more than once during the festivities.  I get ahead of myself.  Allow me to set the stage.
In order to comprehend the importance of the events I will describe, we must first take a brief moment in the past.  According to a woman named Suzanne Massey, Tsarina Elizabeth, may God rest her soul, had bestowed the right to rule upon her nephew, Peter.  It became obvious rather quickly that Peter was not very good at his job.  He married Princess Sophia of Germany, who in a rather clever move, was baptized into the Russian Orthodox church and rechristened Catherine (128-130).
The people loved their new princess.  It has often been spoken in pubs and at churches that Catherine may be more Russian than Peter himself.
After many long and unhappy years, Elizabeth died, passing the crown to Peter.  However, Peter was not to have it long.  Just a few short months after achieving the throne, the palace guards, with Catherine's own lover leading the charge, put Catherine in the role of ruler of all Russia (Massey 130).
This brings us to the coronation.  Oh, what a coronation!  Tales will never do it justice, but though the years may try to dim the memory, it will certainly live on in the hearts of this people through the ages.  The first thing of note was the bells.  Bells are certainly common in Moscow, but a bell unlike any other rang out that day.  Deep and low, this bell was.  One said it was "like the Fullest and lowest tones of a vast organ, or the rolling of distant thunder" (Dixon 4).  This was a summons felt to the very soul of everyone in the city.  It compelled the foundation of every man to heed its call, and come we did.  The crowd gathered seemed to contain every man woman and child in Moscow.  Scarcely could one move through the crowds, and I found myself lucky to gain a vantage where I could see the procession.

Catherine, Dressed for her Coronation

It was a grand sight to behold.  Catherine embodied grandeur as she crossed the square from the church to the palace within the Kremlin.  Her robe, a gorgeous silver, was stunning.  Surely, a finer garment never graced the throne in Moscow.  However, the dress itself paled in comparison with the crown upon her head.  Even from my distant vantage, the crown sparkled like the night sky condensed and laid upon her brow.  Indeed, the entire treasury must have been then located upon her head (Massey 132).  There she stood, a gilded angel before five full regiments of palace guard arrayed in their finest (Dixon, 5).  A fitting audience, given they were the ones who had run the coup that put her in power.
However, the most meaningful part of the celebration to the Russian people is the food and drink!  The feasting lasted a whole week, with almost never a break.  I myself have forgotten most of what I ate, but the stories and songs were shared by all.  These Russians, a people who excel at leisure, never fail to impress with their feasting.  It was as if they expected to never eat or drink again after.  An event to be remembered, for sure.

Refferences
Massie, Suzanne.  Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia.  HeartTree Press, 1980.
Dixon, Simon.  Catherine the Great.  Profile Books LTD, 2010.

A City of Ghosts and Stone

My friends, Russia itself is changing swiftly.  I am worried an old man as myself cannot keep up as the hand of God moves time onward. I had the pleasure of briefly meeting the tsar, Peter, during part of his tour of Europe.  However, the wonders he has created are such that I could not possibly rest until I had seen them for myself.  

I had the pleasure of briefly meeting the tsar, Peter, during part of his tour of Europe.  Truly, the stories about the life of this man, and his many accomplishments, will pass into legend as surely as those of Heraclese and Achilles.  A giant of a man, Peter commands respect everywhere he goes, and he never fails to meet the expectations he creates.  The man himself is a genious.  From sailing and farming to war, the tsar has made himself an authority on everything he can get his hands upon.  This is an amazing time of prosperity.  However, there is one accomplishment of his that I believe will survive long past the others.  The new jewel of Russia, St. Petersburg.

Peter, in a show of iron will, has raised a great city from the marshes near the Neva river.  Notably, a city of stone, built to survive the elements and stand as a testament to the accomplishments of this great people.  Peter has since moved his entire court to the city, seeking to strengthen the cultural ties to the other European countries.  It seems, Peter hopes to establish this nation as the greatest in the civilized world.  

The problem lies in the hearts of the people.  It seems they do not care for this city Peter has forced them to build out of harsh rock in this forsaken part of the land.  They whisper things about it, calling it bad luck or even as much as cursed.  Part of that resentment probably comes as a remembrance of those died during its construction.  The swamp, and the disease that came with it, cost the lives of thousands during the building of the city.  It may well be said that the foundation of this city was laid with Russian bones.  

The city itself lends to this bleak picture, with its dark shadows.  

Through the Eyes of Another

My Friends!

When last I wrote to you, times were dark under the rule of the Mongol hordes.  However, we have pulled through, and peace and prosperity abound once again.  It all, happened so long ago, now, that I will spare you the details.  Suffice it to say that all is joyous again in Muscovy.  Ivan is now tsar, and he rules from the Kremlin in Moscow.  He can be a terror to the nobles in court, but as of yet, the people are simply glad to be a free people once more.

Chancellor, on his arrival in Moscow

By chance, I ran into a fellow foreigner recently who had himself stumbled into Russia quite by accident.  His name was Richard Chancellor, and he told me of his remarkable journey into the heart of Russia.  He had initially left on a voyage to China, but made landfall in Russia in 1553 at a monastery by the sea (Berry and Crummey, 2012).  From there, he has traveled all around this beautiful country, and seems to have developed something of a love for it.  He leaves soon, but has decided he must return soon.  I was surprised to see his son with him on this journey

Among the many experiences he recounted was his trip to Moscow and his audience with Ivan the Tsar.  It seems he was surprised, if not particularly impressed with Moscow itself, claiming that it was "as in bigness. . . as great as the city of London", if a bit haphazard (Berry and Crummey, 2012).  I have not as yet been to London, and could therefore not say how it compares.

Berry, Lloyd E., and Robert O. Crummey, eds. Rude and Barbarous Kingdom: Russia in the Accounts of Sixteenth-Century English Voyagers. University of Wisconsin Pres, 2012.

Morfill, William Richard. The Story of Russia. New York, GP Putnams Sons; London T. Fisher Unwin, 1890.
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