ABSTRACT
No account of the Soviet theatres in war would be complete if it did not take notice of the many smaller organisms attached to the main body and travelling with it. Nor would it be correct to say that there was no more propaganda on the Soviet stage. Before the war the Moscow Planetarium had a small staff theatre called “The Star”, which did plays on astronomical themes, like Kochelnikov’s dramatic biography of Copernicus in ten scenes. The object was to popularise and stimulate general interest in astronomy. A more important competition was held the following year in Moscow, by decision of the Committee for Art Affairs. Big prizes were offered, because more and more small units were forming and there was a dearth of good, short plays. There is not a great deal of information about the war-time activities of the best-known pre-war Soviet scene designers.
