Hearing the word "farce", a modern person imagines something very rude and frivolous, contrary to artistic taste. And few people know that this word has another meaning - festive and funny! So what is the original meaning of the word "booth" and its definition?
Etymology
In Russian, this word appeared from Turkish. In a language related to the Turkic branch, a farce is a sleeping tent, a balcony. There is also an alternative version - in the translation from the Tatar language the word "farce" means "temporary structure".
"Comedian Horomins": the history of booths in Russia
The first public theater appeared in Russia thanks to the decree of Peter the Great. In 1700, the emperor ordered the construction of a "comedic choromine." For its construction, Red Square was chosen. The first performance took place two years later, on December 25, 1702. It was then that the Russian public was able to enjoy the game of German comedians for the first time. So the first booth appeared. What fair booths in Russia learned a little later. The tradition of showing performances directly in noisy markets is firmly entrenched after the first show. For the first time, during the days of fairs, performances were shown right in the trading rooms, decorated with colored fabrics and flags. After that, special constructions began to be built for booths. Outside, they were decorated with bright banners, posters and paintings depicting scenes from the production, flags and signs. The basis of the booths were boards, the roof was made of canvas or burlap, and the walls were made of dense canvas. Behind the walls was a stage-platform, which was easy to assemble or disassemble. By the way, a stage for a small number of musicians was provided in front of the stage. In the auditorium there were three sectors: first, second places and the “corral”. Without the latter, it was hard to imagine a real farce. What is a corral? This is the place where the public was forced to stand. Sometimes several hundred people crowded into these places! In the fair booth tents, the front benches were very low, and the rear benches were so high that people sometimes could not get their feet on the floor.
The safety of actors and spectators
Stoves located in wooden booths carried a danger - in the event of a fire, hundreds of people could die. Therefore, the police banned their use. The only heat source was lightning lamps. They were placed in front of the stage, on pillars with iron brackets. Of course, the heat of these lamps was not enough to warm a large room, and therefore in the cold season the booths were sheathed with an additional row of boards and covered with sawdust.
Dwarfs, cannibals, and fortune tellers: who was hiding in small street booths?
The simplest type of tents for performances is the “horned” booth. What is a small gunny "booth"? It is a lightweight construction made of pillar and coarse woven fabric. In such booths one could look at giants and dwarfs, hairy women. Extremely popular was the "African cannibal" who devoured a live bird right in front of the public. Of course, this was a usual trick - instead of a live bird, a scarecrow filled with cranberries was used. In addition, fortune tellers and fortune tellers, puppeteers with puppets took people in booths. Menageries were also seen.
The booth in art
The booth, the definition of which you already know, is often found in the works of the authors of the Silver Age. Bryusov and Akhmatova, Nabokov and Blok - all of them use the image of a booth in their poems. And Stravinsky even wrote the ballet "Parsley". There is an image on the pages of works by Alexei Tolstoy.
Theatrical genre booth: what is?
In modern theater, farce shows are still popular. Comic character, satirical motifs, noise effects and vivid images are the main features of this genre. It requires redundancy and carnival. A prerequisite is the presence of tricks, dances, parodies.
Other values
The traditional home of the Yakuts is a booth. What? The meaning of the word in Yakutia differs from that which was discussed earlier. The Yakuts have this winter home! Thin logs are fixed on the log frame, obtaining inclined walls. They were coated with manure mixed with clay. And the low roof was covered with earth and bark of trees.
There is another definition of the word - figurative. And in the everyday sense, a farce is something that does not correspond to high taste, frivolous.