Ivan Dmitrevsky

Ivan Afanasievich Dmitrevsky ( _ru. Ива́н Афана́сьевич Дмитре́вский; 1734 – 1821) is generally regarded as the most influential actor of Russian Neoclassicism and "Russia's first great tragedian" [The Cambridge Guide to Theatre, ed. by Martin Banham. Cambridge University Press, 1995. ISBN 0521434378. Page 949.] .

Together with his friend Fyodor Volkov he inaugurated the first Russian theatre in his native Yaroslavl (1750), later moving with the rest of the troupe to St Petersburg (1756). His tragic parts in Alexander Sumarokov's plays were admired by Catherine the Great and her friend Ekaterina Dashkova. Later, he delivered lectures on theatre in the Russian Academy, of which he was a member. In his writings and plays, Dmitrevsky emphasized reason over emotions, propagating "the loud, artificial declamatory acting style" of French Neoclassicism. [Ibidem. Page 298.]

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