Spartacus and His Early Soviet Theatrical Representation

Spartacus became one of the key figures Soviet dramaturgy in 1920s. He was presented as only ancient predecessor Bolsheviks and his theatrical image significantly shaped later icon gladiator a brave leader oppressed masses hero acting name proletariat. This article explores early theater mass performance outlines correlation between template Spartacus’ portrayal, Raffaello Giovagnoli’s novel Spartaco (1874), first dramatic adaptations by Vladimir Mazurkevich (1920) Volkenstein (1921). The examines use Bolshevik propaganda traces ways which morphs maps onto wider shifts political cultural policy decades USSR.