Vaudeville is... The meaning of the word "vaudeville"

Vaudeville is a genre from the world of drama that has characteristic, recognizable features. We can say with confidence that he is the “great-grandfather” of modern pop music. Firstly, this is a very musical play, full of dances and songs. Secondly, it's always a comedy.

Vaudeville is also a theatrical play created in this genre. Its plot is simple and easy. The conflict is built on a funny intrigue and is resolved with a happy ending.

Story

The origin of such an unusual word is curious. Historians claim that it was born in the fifteenth century in Normandy, near the Vir River. Poets lived there and wrote folk songs called val de Vire, translated as “Vir Valley”. The word later changed to voix de ville (literally "provincial voice"). Finally, in French, the term took shape as vaudeville, which means “vaudeville.” This was the name of literary works in which events were presented through the prism of simple-minded, uncomplicated perception. Initially, these were just street joke songs performed by traveling artists. Only in the eighteenth century did playwrights appear who, focusing on the nature of these songs, began to compose plays with similar plots and in a similar style. Since the texts were poetic, music easily fell on them. However, the actors improvised a lot during the performance of plays; they did this most often in prose, and therefore playwrights also began to alternate poetic pieces of text with prose ones.

Vaudeville and operetta

Art critics say that from that moment on, vaudeville had a younger sister - operetta, which, however, very soon became extremely popular. Singing predominated in operetta, and talking in vaudeville. The specialization of form was followed by some difference in content. Vaudeville is not a satirical, but rather a humorous depiction of the life and morals of middle-class people. Comedy situations in it develop rapidly, violently and often grotesquely.

Features of the genre

One of the characteristic features of works of this genre is the actor’s constant addresses to the viewer during the action. Also, the specificity of vaudeville is the obligatory repetition of the same song verses. The peculiarities of vaudeville made it a welcome part of any benefit performance. An actor giving such a performance, after serious dramatic monologues, can please the audience by appearing in a completely different image. In addition, vaudeville is a great opportunity to demonstrate your vocal and dancing abilities.

Impact on cultural traditions

Vaudeville in the era of its inception was very much loved by residents of different countries and continents, but in each culture it went its own way. In America, for example, music hall and other bright, amazing show programs grew out of it. In Russia, vaudeville gave birth to joke plays and comic opera. Some of the brilliant works of A.P. Chekhov (“The Proposal”, “Bear”, “Drama”, etc.) have completely vaudeville content.

An example of Russian vaudeville

“The Miller - a sorcerer, a deceiver and a matchmaker” - a sparkling comic play by Alexander Ablesimov in the spirit of vaudeville was first performed on stage in 1779. Two hundred years later, modern theaters are happy to stage it. The plot is extremely simple: the mother of the peasant woman Anyuta, born a noblewoman, but married to a peasant, does her best to prevent the wedding of her daughter, who has chosen a peasant boy as her husband. The girl’s father doesn’t want to take him as a son-in-law either. The cunning and enterprising miller Thaddeus is called upon to resolve the conflict. Since the village belief says that all millers are sorcerers, Thaddeus does not miss the opportunity to take advantage of this, believing that divination is nothing more than deception. He becomes a matchmaker and, finding his own “key” for everyone, successfully convinces Anyuta’s parents that they cannot find a better son-in-law. This funny sitcom has everything that the word "vaudeville" means.