Russian theatre for children and Marshak’s Teatr dlja detej

In the first decades of the 20th century, theatre in Russia rapidly develops. Particular attention is devoted to children and to the use of theatre as a didactic-pedagogical tool. At the same time various experts focus on the importance of a theatre for children, instead of plays where children are both viewers and actors. The Russian Revolution brings along epic changes, but most ideas and issues about a theatre for children had been put forward in the years before 1917. In such context poet and translator Samuil Marshak starts his literary career with a collection of plays for children, thus paving the way to future great works in this genre of children’s literature. His use of folklore and stylistic procedures are to be found in his masterpieces of the following years.