George Hüfner
[2] Researchers have identified features in Givner's plays that reflect elements of 17th-century English comedy, Western Russian school drama theatre [ru], medieval miracles, and even court ceremonies.
[8] When in the summer of 1679 Andrew Vinius was promoted to clerk of the Apothecary's Order, Hüfner was invited to fill the vacant position in the Embassy Office on the advice of other translators.
Another interesting fact was that Lutherans, pastors Meineke and Bartold, and translator of the Embassy Order Yuri Mikhailovich Hüfner expressed an even harsher opinion about Kuhkmann".
[9] Hüfner and another employee of the Embassy Order, clerk Ivan Tyazhkogorsky, familiarized themselves with the papers seized from Kuhkmann and compiled the so-called Translators' Opinion, which was then attached to the search case.
The sovereign entrusted the organization of the Russian theater to Artamon Matveev, the manager of the Embassy Order and the tutor of Tsarina Natalia Kirillovna.
[11] In Moscow, however, little hope was placed in this mission, and almost immediately after von Staden's departure, the court turned to the German Quarter, where amateur productions were occasionally performed.
[Note 1][12] On June 4, just six days after the birth of Tsarevich Peter Alekseevich, there was a royal decree that Pastor Gregory, without waiting for foreign directors, should "create a comedy".
A large amount of money was allocated for the production —695 rubles— and the manuscript of Artaxerxes' Action was later presented to the Tsar and bound in morocco with gilding by his order.
[19][7] Hüfner, together with his teacher Johann Palzer and the author of the famous notes on Russia, physician Lavrentiy Ringuber, supervised the work on the text of the roles, designed to be performed for many hours.
[Note 3][14][20] At the same time, in Moscow, a state acting school was opened at the yard of the Dane Vinonta Ludden — one of the first educational institutions of this kind in Europe.
[25] In the list of guests admitted to the tsar's hand at the solemn reception in the Kremlin on April 7, 1673, the name of "teacher Mikhailov" stands immediately after Gregory.
[27] For the manufacture of 32 decorations, Peter Engels and Andrei Abakumov, who worked in the village of Sofronov, were provided with 700 arshins of canvas and "any other attire" on 18 wagons in the summer of 1675.
The performances did not achieve the previous success, and, receiving an insignificant salary ("3 rubles per month, plus 6 measures of bread, oats on the same, and a pud of salt for the year"), Hüfner was not honored with a personal tsar's award.
[29] Nevertheless, according to the testimony of the traveler Jacob Reitenfels, the action of the plays was accompanied by the sound of the orchestra of the court men of boyar Matveev, trained by German musicians:"In another place, it would have been necessary to apologize before the performance for not everything being done properly; but in this case, it would be completely unnecessary: the costumes, the freshness of the stage, the majestic word... and the quality of the unheard music made the happiest impression on the Russians and gave them complete pleasure, earning them astonishment".
[30]"Comedies" that followed Artaxerxes' Action were written immediately in Russian and were characterized by external entertainment, an abundance of farcical scenes, and crude naturalism.
[34] In addition to summarizing the play, these prologues included abstract reasoning: "Nothing frightens a man as much as the expectation of future events, about which he is both anxious and sorrowful.
[38] Often, the tsar's cronies avoided attending the theater under various pretexts, as evidenced by documents from Ivan Polyansky, clerk of the Order of Secret Affairs.
[39] Chizhinsky, who replaced Hüfner shortly before the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, managed to stage two comedies, About David with Goliath and About Bacchus with Venus.
Although the order functioned as a sort of "literary center" throughout the 17th century, its staff included few translators from multiple languages, and even fewer independent authors.
[45] There is also speculation about a distant connection between the Action and the Tale of Temir-Aksak, a historical work from the early 15th century about the miraculous rescue of Moscow from Timur's invasion.
[52] It is worth noting that around the same time, tragedies like Jean Racine's Bajazet (1672) and Nicholas Rowe's Tamerlane (1702) were also written, filled with allusions to the political situation in Europe.
Tamerlane, or Temir-Aksak, is portrayed as an Orthodox ruler who defends his co-religionists from the Greek land of Caesar Paleologos, who are oppressed by the impious Saltan.
Givner drew upon the European "chivalric" tradition for this portrayal; however, in Russian chronicles and monuments (such as The Tale of the Icon of the Vladimir Mother of God and the chronographs of 1441 and 1512), Tamerlane is depicted as a ruthless conqueror.
It is fitting for a warrior to rob and kill, to leave no baby in the womb, and to ensure that not a single dog remains alive in the entire Greek land".
[54]Upon learning of the threat through the "mail with sheets," Temir-Aksak is primarily concerned for the subjects of "Caesar": "I am not only saddened for my brother and ally Palaiologos, but even more for the simple innocent souls who are being oppressed".
The political message of the Action is underscored in the final scene, where all the participants bow before the "peaceful" Alexei Mikhailovich, exclaiming: "Give, God, the Tsar happiness!
"[59] Alongside the heroic characters, the performance featured "foolish persons" such as Pickelgerring and Telpel — jesters who bickered among themselves and stole wine and snacks from the soldiers.
[60] The alternation of bloody scenes with comic episodes brought Temir-Aksakov's Action closer to the repertoire of the theater of "English comedians" that was popular in Protestant Europe at the time.
