Skomorokh

Compare with the Old Polish skomrośny, skomroszny[1]) was a medieval East Slavic harlequin, or actor, who could also sing, dance, play musical instruments and compose for oral/musical and dramatic performances.

Furthermore, the Eastern Orthodox Church often railed against them and other elements of popular culture as being irreverent, detracting from the worship of God or being downright diabolical.

Their repertoire included mock songs, dramatic and satirical sketches, called глумы (glumy) in Russian (глуми in Ukrainian), performed in masks and skomorokh dresses to the sounds of domra, balalaika, gudok, bagpipes or buben (a kind of tambourine).

[3] The role of the skomorokhi in the preservation and dissemination of folklore was closely linked with their important contribution to the development of secular music, first in Kievan Rus’ and later in Muscovite Russia.

This attempted suppression was only partially successful, because it was mainly aimed at the more populous urban centers and left the remote rural areas with their flourishing folk music relatively untouched.

Seeking shelter from rain, the main characters enter a barn where a group of villagers are entertained by a skomorokh (played by Rolan Bykov).