ABSTRACT
The wealth of theatrical opportunities in Poland and elsewhere suggests the potential for Eastern Europe as a bridge for the transmission of theatrical texts and styles into the Soviet Union via 'theatre tourists'. An examination of Soviet amateur's experiences in Eastern Europe reaches beyond scholarship on Cold War diplomatic rivalries. It also flies under the radar of explorations of superpower cultural diplomacy, some of which treat cultural exchanges as artistic ICBMs lobbed into one or another culture while the artistic activities themselves supposedly remained unaffected. Instead, an examination of theatre tourists adds to recent work that emphasises smaller states, non-state actors and cooperation. Russian theatre had been dominated by the ideas of Konstantin Stanislavsky, who led the Moscow Art Theatre from 1898 to 1937. The All-Russian Theatrical Society (VTO) sponsored regional seminars throughout the Soviet Union for amateurs to share productions and receive technical assistance from VTO consultants.
