ABSTRACT
In the twentieth century Pushkin must be played quite differently, more fully, the very way he wrote, otherwise the images he created tend to become shallow to the point of turning into simple, national types of historic figures. And therefore Pushkin can be presented only in tragic grotesque, as Moliere can be in tragicomic grotesque. And also saw a comic grotesque, or, to be more exact, actors capable of creating it. These were old Zhivokini and Varlamov, both dead now. At that moment they often personified comedy completely. This was not Varlamov coming on to the stage, and perhaps it was not even the incarnation of the good humour of the Russian people in general, but these were seconds and minutes when we saw the embodiment of universal good humour. On the contrary how often one does see a great blown-up form, inflated like a soap bubble, to the point of external, make-believe grotesque, but completely lacking in all content.
