Anna Brenko
| Anna Brenko | |
|---|---|
 Anna Brenko in 1870s | |
| Born |
Anna Chelishcheva April 7, 1848 Vladimir, Russian Empire |
| Died |
November 15, 1934 (aged 87) Moscow, USSR |
| Occupation | stage actress, theatre entrepreneur, playwright, memoirist |
| Years active | 1873–1920s |
| Spouse(s) | Iosif Levenson |
| Awards | Meritorious Artist of RSFSR |
Anna Alekseyevna Chelishcheva (Russian: Анна Алексеевна Челищева, April 7, 1848, Vladimir, Russian Empire – November 15, 1934, Moscow, USSR), better known by her stage name Anna Brenko (Анна Бренко′), was a Russian, Soviet stage actress, theatre entrepreneur, playwright and memoirist, honored with the Meritorious Artist of RSFSR title in 1924.
Life
Brenko was born in Vladimir in 1848 and she first worked as a teacher. She trained as an actress in St Petersburg and she married Iosif Levenson who was a music critic.[1]
Having made herself a name at the Maly Theatre where she organised concerts to gather funds for exiles in Siberia. The banker Melkiel backed her plans and she launched the first ever Russian private theatre in 1880 (officially called A.A. Brenko Drama Theatre, popularly known as the Pushkin Theatre, but only because it was situated close to the Pushkin Square in Moscow).[2] Brenko paid much higher salaries, insisted on new scenery and three week rehearsals for productions that included works by William Shakespeare and Aleksandr Ostrovsky.[1]
Brenko shared the management decisions with actors Modest Pisarev and Vasili Andreev-Burlak it was her final say.[2] Brenko was driven by the artistic event and she was exploited by other actors and directors.[2]
The theatre folded for financial reasons in 1882 (to be later purchased by the entrepreneur Fyodor Korsh), Brenko taught drama (in 1890–1905 in her own theatre college) and in 1915 opened the free-for-all Workers' Theatre where in the course of two years 25 plays had been produced.
Not only did Anna Brenko embrace the 1917 October Revolution, but, as a 69-year-old, she enlisted in the Red Army to perform with some of her troupe's actors, at battle fronts. Anna Brenko authored four plays (1883–1916) and six books of memoirs (1924–1933).[3][4]
External links
- The Archives of Anna Brenko / Бренко А.А., архив.
References
- 1 2 Laurence Senelick (13 August 2015). Historical Dictionary of Russian Theatre. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 75–. ISBN 978-1-4422-4927-1.
- 1 2 3 Catherine Schuler (17 June 2013). Women in Russian Theatre: The Actress in the Silver Age. Routledge. pp. 115–122. ISBN 978-1-136-15597-0.
- ↑ Анна Алексеевна Бренко at the Krugosvet Online Encyclopedia // Энциклопедия Кругосвет
- ↑ The Russian Theatre's Hisrotry. Театр и его история. Анна Алексеевна Бренко.