ABSTRACT
This is a transitional chapter, carrying us from the trio of disciples who first practiced and taught Analysis through Action to the next generation. But before arriving at the epoch called the Thaw, 1953–1964, this chapter briefly traces the history of governmental oversight of the Russian theatre going back to founding state principles and early Imperial theatre edifices, both of which remain in some form today. Following a brief artistic eruption just before and after the Revolution, radical new theatre flourished. But with the ascension of Joseph Stalin as the dictatorial leader of the Communist Party, directives and censorial repressions became harsher than ever, to the point of massive arrests and executions. Beginning in 1953, the year of Stalin’s death, there was a moderation called the Thaw that allowed some new freedoms to theatre artists. Then, when anti-Stalinist Nikita Khrushchev was forced out of office in 1964, the Soviet steel doors closed in again. But those who had tasted relative freedom fought on. One of in particular, director Anatoly Efros, was the foremost practitioner of Analysis through Action in this second generation, suffered mightily to move the Russian theatre forward.
