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PH1763
Photographs: PH1763
Title
Lydia Mikhaylovna Koreneva as Verochka and Richard Boleslavsky as Aleksei Belyayev
Subject
Date
1909
Dimensions
height: 9cm
width: 14cm
width: 14cm
Provenance
Presented by Michael Gaunt, September 2023.
Other number
E0146
This postcard depicts Lydia Mikhaylovna Koreneva in the role of Verochka and Richard Boleslavsky as Aleksei Belyayev in Ivan Turgenev's play 'A Month in the Country'.
Koreneva and Boleslavsky were members of the Moscow Art Theatre (MAT), which was formed in 1898. The actor Konstantin Stanislavski and his co-founder, the writer and drama teacher, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, wanted to break away from the state-run theatres, bring back high standards and professionalism in acting, and strive towards emotional truth and realism in their performances. Ivan Turgnev wrote 'A Month in the Country' in 1850 and it was performed by the Moscow Art Theatre in 1909.
The play takes place on a country estate, when the arrival of a tutor, Aleksei, disrupts the family harmony, and creates a rivalry between the Lady of the house, and the daughter, Vera (Verochka), who compete for his attention.
The scene depicted in the postcard is at the beginning of Act II when Verochka and Aleksei sit on a bench in the garden. Aleksei hands Verochka a kite and asks for her help to fasten the tail on. She asks him to arrange the kite in her hands in a way where she can see him fixing the tail.
The actors, Koreneva and Boleslavsky, are shown in three-quarter length and seated on a wooden bench. Koreneva, on the left, wears a long sleeved off-the-shoulder white blouse, dark long skirt, and a wide-brimmed sunhat, which is placed behind her neck. She holds a rectangular paper kite in her hands and looks at Boleslavsky on the right. He wears a dark coloured double-breasted coat and trousers with a peaked cap, and he gazes down at his lap where his hands hold the kite’s tail.
Koreneva and Boleslavsky were members of the Moscow Art Theatre (MAT), which was formed in 1898. The actor Konstantin Stanislavski and his co-founder, the writer and drama teacher, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, wanted to break away from the state-run theatres, bring back high standards and professionalism in acting, and strive towards emotional truth and realism in their performances. Ivan Turgnev wrote 'A Month in the Country' in 1850 and it was performed by the Moscow Art Theatre in 1909.
The play takes place on a country estate, when the arrival of a tutor, Aleksei, disrupts the family harmony, and creates a rivalry between the Lady of the house, and the daughter, Vera (Verochka), who compete for his attention.
The scene depicted in the postcard is at the beginning of Act II when Verochka and Aleksei sit on a bench in the garden. Aleksei hands Verochka a kite and asks for her help to fasten the tail on. She asks him to arrange the kite in her hands in a way where she can see him fixing the tail.
The actors, Koreneva and Boleslavsky, are shown in three-quarter length and seated on a wooden bench. Koreneva, on the left, wears a long sleeved off-the-shoulder white blouse, dark long skirt, and a wide-brimmed sunhat, which is placed behind her neck. She holds a rectangular paper kite in her hands and looks at Boleslavsky on the right. He wears a dark coloured double-breasted coat and trousers with a peaked cap, and he gazes down at his lap where his hands hold the kite’s tail.
