Literary and Theatrical Parody in the Context of the Discussion on the Development of the National Theater of the Early 20th Century

Aim. To prove the participation of literary and theatrical parodies of the “Crooked Mirror” cabaret theater in the controversy about the development of Russian drama and theater at the beginning of the 20th century through opposition to the collection of articles “Theater. The book about the new theater”.Methodology. The article analyzes the socio-cultural context of the discussion on the problems of Russian theatrical art and the participation in it of the resonant collection-manifesto “Theater. The book about the new theater”, as well as literary and theatrical parodies staged by the “Crooked Mirror” cabaret theater. Using the method of comparative analysis, the author was able to identify intertextual links between the parodies of B. F. Geyer, L. N. Urvantsov and N. N. Ventzel and the articles of S. F. Rafalovich, Vs. E. Meyerhold and F. Sologub, respectively.Results. During the study, the author concludes that the literary and theatrical parodies by B. F. Geyer “The Evolution of the Theater”, L. N. Urvantsov “Evening Bell”, N. N. Ventzel “The Comedy about Mr. Ivanov” represent a special form of criticism directed against modernist concepts of modern theater and opportunistic phenomena of the Russian theatrical environment.Research implications. The study draws attention to the currently forgotten names of playwrights and their original and popular works at the beginning of the last century and includes them in the general polemical picture of literary and theatrical polemics about the prospects for the development of Russian drama and theater.